Petr Kuzmich Kozlov is one of the greatest explorers of Central Asia. An associate and successor of the works of N.M. Przhevalsky, he, together with him, basically completed the elimination of the "blank spot" on the map of Central Asia. Research and discoveries of P.K. Kozlov in the field of nature and archeology earned him wide popularity far beyond the borders of our country.
Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov was born on October 16, 1863 in the town of Dukhovshchina, Smolensk province. His father was a minor prasol. He was a simple and illiterate man, not paying attention to his children, not caring about their education and upbringing. Mother was constantly absorbed in household chores. Thus, the boy grew up practically outside the influence of the family. However, thanks to his inquisitive and inquisitive nature, he early became addicted to books, especially geographical and travel books, which he literally read.
At the age of twelve he was sent to school. At that time, the Russian traveler in Central Asia, Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky, was in the halo of world fame. Newspapers and magazines were full of reports about his geographical discoveries. His portraits were published in almost all periodicals. Young people enthusiastically read the fascinating descriptions of Przhevalsky's travels, and more than one young man, reading about the discoveries and exploits of this remarkable traveler, lit up with a dream of the same exploits. PC. Kozlov greedily caught everything that was printed about Przhevalsky. The articles and books of Przhevalsky himself ignited in him a romantic love for the expanses of Asia, and the personality of the famous traveler in the imagination of the young man took on the appearance of an almost fairy-tale hero.
At the age of sixteen, P.K. Kozlov graduated from a four-year school and, since he had to earn a living, he joined the office of a brewery 66 kilometers from his native Dukhovshchina, in the town of Sloboda, Porech district. The monotonous, uninteresting work in the office of the factory could not satisfy the young man's lively nature. He was eagerly drawn to learning and began to prepare for admission to the teacher's institute. But one summer evening in 1882, fate made a different choice. Subsequently, he himself wrote: “I will never, never forget that day, that day is one of the most significant for me.”
The young man sat on the porch. The first stars twinkled in the sky. His eyes opened to the endless expanses of the Universe, and his thoughts, as always, hovered in Central Asia. Immersed in his thoughts, P.K. Kozlov suddenly heard:
- What are you doing here, young man?
He looked around and froze in amazement and happiness: in front of him stood Przhevalsky himself, whose image he so well imagined from the portraits. N.M. Przhevalsky came here from his estate Otradny in the same Smolensk province. He was looking for a cozy corner here in which he could write his books in between travels.
What are you thinking about so deeply? - simply asked Przhevalsky.
With barely restrained excitement, finding the right words with difficulty, Kozlov replied:
- I think that in distant Tibet these stars should seem even more sparkling than here, and I will never, never have to admire them from those distant desert heights ...
Nikolai Mikhailovich was silent for a while, and then said quietly:
- So that's what you think, young man! .. Come to me. I would like to talk to you.
Feeling in Kozlov a person who sincerely loves the cause, to which he himself was selflessly devoted, Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky took an ardent part in the life of a young man. In the autumn of 1882 he settled P.K. Kozlov at home and began to supervise his studies.
The first days of life in the estate of Przhevalsky P.K. Kozlov seemed just a fabulous dream. The young man was under the spell of Przhevalsky's exciting stories about the delights of wandering life, about the grandeur and beauty of the nature of Asia.
“After all, so recently I only dreamed, only dreamed,” wrote P.K. Kozlov, - how can a sixteen-year-old boy dream and dream under the strong impression of reading newspapers and magazines about the return of Przhevalsky's glorious expedition to St. Petersburg ... dreamed and dreamed, being terribly far from the real thought of ever meeting Przhevalsky face to face ... And suddenly my dream and dreams came true: suddenly, unexpectedly, that great Przhevalsky, to whom all my aspiration was directed, appeared in the settlement, was fascinated by its wild charm and settled in it ... "
PC. Kozlov firmly decided to become Przhevalsky's companion in the near future. But it wasn't that easy. N.M. Przhevalsky made up his expeditions exclusively from the military. Therefore, P.K. Kozlov, willy-nilly, had to become a military man.
But above all, he considered it necessary for himself to complete his secondary education. In January 1883 P.K. Kozlov successfully passed the exam for the full course of the real school. After that, he entered the military service as a volunteer and, after serving for three months, was enrolled in the expedition of N.M. Przhevalsky.
“My joy knew no end,” writes P.K. Kozlov. “Happy, infinitely happy, I experienced the first spring of real life.”
PC. Kozlov made six trips to Central Asia, where he explored Mongolia, the Gobi Desert and Kam (the eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau). The first three trips were carried out by him under the command - successively - N.M. Przhevalsky, M.V. Pevtsova and V.I. Roborovsky.
The first journey of P.K. Kozlov in the expedition of N.M. Przhevalsky on the study of Northern Tibet and Eastern Turkestan was a brilliant practical school for him. Under the leadership of N.M. Przhevalsky, an experienced and enlightened researcher, he received a good hardening, so necessary to overcome the difficult conditions of the harsh nature of Central Asia, and even a baptism of fire in the fight against numerically superior armed forces of the population, which was repeatedly set on a handful of Russian travelers by local lamas.
Returning from his first trip (1883-1885), P.K. Kozlov entered a military school, after which he was promoted to officer.
In the autumn of 1888 P.K. Kozlov went with N.M. Przhevalsky on his second trip. However, at the very beginning of this journey near the city of Karakol (near the shore of Lake Issyk-Kul), the head of the expedition N.M. Przhevalsky fell ill and soon died. He was buried, as requested, on the shore of Lake Issyk-Kul.
Interrupted by the death of N.M. Przhevalsky, the expedition resumed in the autumn of 1889 under the leadership of Colonel, and later Major General M.V. Pevtsov, author of the well-known book Essay on a Journey through Mongolia and the Northern Provinces of Inner China. The expedition collected rich geographical and natural-historical material, a considerable part of which belonged to P.K. Kozlov, who explored the regions of Eastern Turkestan.
The third expedition (from 1893 to 1895), in which P.K. Kozlov, was held under the guidance of Przhevalsky's former senior assistant - V.I. Roborovsky. She had as her task the exploration of the Nanshan mountain range and the northeastern corner of Tibet.
On this journey, P.K. Kozlov independently, separately from the caravan, carried out surveys of the surroundings, passing along some routes up to 1000 km, in addition, he collected the vast majority of zoological specimens. Halfway through, V.I. fell seriously ill. Roborovsky. PC. Kozlov took over the leadership of the expedition and successfully brought it to the end. He presented a full report on the expedition, published under the title “Report of the Assistant Head of the Expedition P.K. Kozlov.
In 1899 P.K. Kozlov made his first independent journey as the head of the Mongolian-Tibetan expedition. 18 people took part in the expedition, 14 of them were from the convoy. The route started from the Altaiskaya postal station near the Mongolian border, then it went first along the Mongolian Altai, then along the Central Gobi and along the Kam - the eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau, almost unknown to the scientific world.
PC. Kozlov made detailed descriptions of numerous physical and geographical objects of the route - lakes (including Lake Kukunor, lying at an altitude of 3.2 km and having a circumference of 385 km), the sources of the Mekong, Yalongjiang (a major tributary of the Yangtze River), a number of the greatest mountains , including two powerful ridges in the Kunlun system, unknown to science until then. One of them P.K. Kozlov called the Dutreille-de-Rance ridge, after the famous French traveler in Central Asia, who died shortly before in these places at the hands of the Tibetans, and the other - the Woodville-Rockhill ridge, in honor of the English traveler.
In addition, P.K. Kozlov gave brilliant essays on the economy and life of the population of Central Asia, among which stands out the description of the curious customs of the Tsaidam Mongols with an extremely complex ritual of celebrating the most important events of life - the birth of a child, weddings, funerals, etc. From this expedition, P.K. Kozlov took out an abundant collection of fauna and flora from the traversed areas.
During the expedition, travelers more than once had to fight their way through bloody battles with large armed detachments, numbering up to 250-300 people, set on the expedition by local lamas. The almost two-year isolation of the expedition from the outside world was the reason for the persistent rumor about its complete death, which reached St. Petersburg.
The Mongolian-Tibetan expedition was described by P.K. Kozlov in two large volumes - "Mongolia and Kam" and "Kam and the way back". For this journey, P.K. Kozlov was awarded a gold medal by the Russian Geographical Society.
In 1907-1909. PC. Kozlov made his fifth journey (Mongol-Sichuan expedition) along the route from Kyakhta to Urga (Ulaanbaatar) and further into the depths of Central Asia. It was marked by the discovery in the sands of the Gobi of the dead city of Khara-Khoto, which provided archaeological material of great value. Of exceptional importance is the library of 2000 books discovered during the excavations of Khara-Khoto, mainly in the “unknown” language of the Xi-Xia state, which turned out to be the Tangut language. This was an exceptional discovery: none of the foreign museums or libraries has any significant collection of Tangut books. Even in such a large repository as the British Museum in London, there are only a few Tangut books. Other finds in Khara-Khoto are also of great historical and cultural significance, as they vividly depict many aspects of the culture and life of the ancient Tangut state Xi-Xia.
The collection of woodcuts (cliches) for printing books and cult images discovered in Khara-Khoto is remarkable, indicating the acquaintance of the East with book printing hundreds of years before its appearance in Europe.
Of great interest is the collection of printed paper money opened in Khara-Khoto, which is the only collection of paper money of the 13th-14th centuries in the world.
Excavations at Khara-Khoto also yielded a rich set of statues, figurines and various cult figurines and more than 300 Buddhist images painted on wood, silk, linen and paper.
After the discovery of the dead city of Khara-Khoto, the expedition of P.K. Kozlova carefully studied Lake Kukunor with the island of Koysu, and then the huge little-known territory of Amdo in the bend of the middle reaches of the Yellow River. From this expedition, as well as from the previous one, P.K. Kozlov, in addition to valuable geographical material, took out numerous collections of animals and plants, among which there were many new species and even genera. The fifth journey of P.K. Kozlov is described by him in a large volume entitled "Mongolia and Amdo and the dead city of Khara-Khoto".
During the sixth journey, made by him in 1923-1926, P.K. Kozlov explored a relatively small area of Northern Mongolia. However, here, too, he obtained major scientific results: in the mountains of Noin-Ula (130 km northwest of the capital of Mongolia, Urga, now Ulaanbaatar), P.K. Kozlov discovered 212 cemeteries, which, according to archaeologists, turned out to be Hunnic burials 2000 years ago. This was the greatest archaeological discovery of the 20th century. Numerous items were found in the cemeteries, which can be used to restore the economy and life of the Huns for a period of time at least from the 2nd century BC. BC e. according to the 1st century n. e. Among them were a large number of artistically executed fabrics and carpets from the time of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom, which existed from the 3rd century BC. BC e. until the 2nd century n. e. in the northern part of the modern territory of Iran, in Afghanistan and the northwestern part of India. In terms of the abundance of samples of Greco-Bactrian art, the Noin-Ula collection has no equal in the whole world.
The sixth journey of P.K. Kozlov was the last. After that, he lived in retirement, first in Leningrad, and then 50 km from Staraya Russa (Novgorod region), in the village of Strechno. In this place he built a small log house with two rooms and settled in it with his wife. Soon P.K. Kozlov gained great popularity among the local youth. He organized a circle of young naturalists, whom he taught to collect collections, to accurately identify animals and plants scientifically, and to dissect birds and animals.
PC. Kozlov was an excellent storyteller and lecturer. In between travels, he often spoke to various audiences with stories of his travels that captured the attention of listeners. No less interesting are his appearances in the press. Peru P.K. Kozlov owns over 60 works.
He died of heart sclerosis in a sanatorium near Leningrad on September 26, 1935.
Petr Kuzmich Kozlov was world famous as a researcher of Central Asia. The Russian Geographical Society awarded P.K. Kozlov medal named after N.M. Przhevalsky and elected him an honorary member, and in 1928 he was elected a full member by the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. Among the researchers of Central Asia, Petr Kuzmich Kozlov occupies one of the most honorable places. In the field of archaeological discoveries in Central Asia, he is positively unique among all researchers of the 20th century.
V.V. ARTEMOV,
member of the Writers' Union of Russia
Bibliography:
Ivanov A.I. From the finds of P.K. Kozlov in the city of Khara-Khoto. - St. Petersburg, 1909.
Pavlov N.V. Traveler and geographer Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov (1863-1935). - M., 1940.
All place names are given in the current spelling. - Approx. ed.
WHERE and HOW to use this material in the educational process |
Material about the personality and travel routes of P.K. Kozlov can be used in the lessons in the courses of physical geography of continents and oceans (7th grade) and physical geography of Russia (8th grade). Name P.K. Kozlov is mentioned in the textbooks "Geography of Continents and Oceans" by V.A. Korinskaya, I.V. Dushina, V.A. Shchenev (topic “Research of Central Asia”) and “Geography. Continents and oceans” O.V. Krylova (topic "Geographical position of Eurasia. History of discovery and research"). In both books there is no map that would show the routes of the expeditions of P.K. Kozlov, so students can be invited to independently apply them to the contours of Eurasia. All the necessary information about the paths of all six journeys can be found in the article by V.V. Artemov. |
(1863 - 1935)
The name of P. K. Kozlov is among the names of the largest figures in Russian geographical science, whose works contributed to the worldwide recognition of Russian research in Central Asia and glorified our travel geographers. We owe to Kozlov, as well as to his predecessors and contemporaries from the N. M. Przhevalsky galaxy, the scientific knowledge of the most deaf, remote and hard-to-reach inland regions of the central part of the Asian continent.
The expeditions of P.K. Kozlov are of exceptional importance for the knowledge of Asia. They also shed light on the history of the outlying regions of the Chinese state. XI- XIIIcenturies and delivered collections of objects of worship and everyday life of the peoples inhabiting Central Asia, unique in their value, as well as materials on geology, relief, composition of flora and fauna.
A distinctive feature of Kozlov is perseverance in achieving the intended goal. He widely, with his characteristic skill, popularized his travels and their results in numerous lectures and books.
Kozlov was born on October 3, 1863 in Dukhovshchina, Smolensk region. The case brought him together with N. M. Przhevalsky, already then a world-famous traveler. This acquaintance determined the rest of Kozlov's life and work. In order to be able to travel with Przhevalsky, who formed his expeditions in the form of a general rule from the military, Kozlov had to enter the army as a volunteer. After serving his term of service, Kozlov took part in Przhevalsky's fourth expedition to Central Asia. Kozlov made his first journey in 1883-1885, when he passed through the Gobi desert, the Nanshan ranges and the upper reaches of the Yellow River. The travelers were the first Europeans to visit the headwaters of this great Chinese river. He then visited Tibet, Kunlun, Kashgaria (Oinjiang province) (And crossed the vast sandy desert of Takla Makan, returning to his homeland through the Tien Shan ranges to Kyrgyzstan.
Already during this expedition, which lasted more than two years, Kozlov showed himself to be an energetic traveler-explorer, who did not stop at any difficulties and dangers.
After that, Kozlov devoted his whole life to the study of Asia. One trip spawned another. The years passed in a difficult way. The greatest desert of Asia - the Gobi was replaced by the icy mountains of the Eastern Tien Shan, Nanshan, the rocky plateaus of Mongolia and the cold expanses of Tibet.
In 1888, Kozlov took part in the new expedition of Przhevalsky. At the beginning of this expedition, Przhevalsky died.
Then Kozlov was only 25 years old. A year later, another well-known explorer of China and Mongolia, M. V. Pevtsov, led the expedition, from whom Kozlov learned a lot, especially in terms of geodetic work. In the writings of this Tibetan expedition, Kozlov published his first account of his travels in Western China and northern Tibet.
In 1893, Kozlov set off again. The unknown distance attracts the indefatigable explorer. Together with V. I. Roborovsky, he left for a new expedition - to the regions of Nanshan and northeastern Tibet.
In 1899, Kozlov led a large expedition organized by the Geographical Society to the upper reaches of the Huang He, Yangtze and Mekong rivers, which surpassed all previous ones both in difficulty and in its scientific results. Enormous material on geography, zoology, botany, ethnography was brought to Russia. New rivers, mountains, ranges appeared on the map of Asia. This expedition is known as the Kama expedition (after the name of the Kam. region of eastern Tibet). Its scientific results were published in St. Petersburg in many editions, of which two volumes were written by Kozlov himself.
In 1907, Kozlov went on a new large expedition, which glorified his name throughout the world. This time, the middle and southern parts of Mongolia and other regions of Central Asia were explored. But this is not the main merit of this expedition. G. N. Potanin heard from the Mongols that there was a buried city, the dead city of Khara-Khoto. The sands of Asiatic deserts covered the remains of this once bustling city,
hid from the eyes of inquisitive scientists the riches stored there. Having learned about the existence of Khara-Khoto, Kozlov decides to find and dig it out at all costs, to solve the mystery of the "dead city" - the ancient capital of the cultural state Sisya.
This task, despite all the difficulties, was brilliantly solved by Kozlov. The dead city was found east of the lower reaches of the Edzin-Gol River. The results of the excavations exceeded the wildest expectations. Enormous archaeological material was collected, the value of which for modern historical science cannot be disputed by anyone. Objects of Buddhist worship, art, coins, utensils, weapons, the only copies of banknotes of the Yuan (Mongolian) dynasty in the world were found. The greatest value, of course, was the rich library, consisting of two thousand books and manuscripts, some of which were written in the hitherto unknown language of the Sisya people. The library was brought to St. Petersburg and handed over to the Russian and Asian museums. The excavations of the dead city of Khara-Khoto thus opened the whole culture of the era XIII- XIV centuries.
Like all previous studies of Kozlov, this expedition was a complex geographical expedition, which provided great materials on zoology, botany, geology, climate, etc. Note that the remains of the skeletons of a rhino, giraffe, three-toed horse and others animals.
This expedition entered the history of the geographical study of Asia under the name of the Mongol-Sichuan (after the name of the province of China - Sichuan).
After the Mongol-Sichuan expedition, Kozlov could not get funds from the tsarist government for further research. Only the Soviet government gave him this opportunity.
After the revolution, Kozlov, despite his advanced years - he was then already 60 years old, went on another, his last Mongolian expedition, where he was engaged in archaeological excavations in the Ulaanbaatar region, which provided materials on the history of Mongolia and Central Asia.
He also explored the central part of the Mongolian People's Republic, the Khangai range and the Gobi desert within this country. Travel diaries were published in Moscow under the title "Journey to Mongolia 1923 - 1926". This was the last expedition of P.K. Kozlov.
Kozlov died on September 26, 1935 near Leningrad. He bequeathed to his homeland - the Soviet Union the richest unique collection of gilded bronze figurines of the Buddhist cult. This unique collection includes up to 200 figures ranging in size from one centimeter to half a meter. The second collection - figurines of people, animals, birds, jewelry and other objects skillfully made of jade - is an illustration of the skill of Mongolian and Chinese carvers. This collection is also transferred to the state.
Kozlov was a brave traveler who knew no obstacles, an excellent public figure and an energetic organizer. He took an active part in the work of the Geographical Society, which elected him an honorary member.
With his numerous reports and vividly written and fascinating articles, Kozlov managed to arouse great interest in Central Asia among the Soviet youth.
The significance of Kozlov's six expeditions for Russian science is very great. It seems that there is no such discipline of natural history that would not use his materials. The zoological collections alone have been used in the work of over a hundred researchers. Kozlov's expeditions enriched the herbarium of the Botanical Garden in Leningrad with the most valuable collections.
Kozlov earned the world name of a geographer-traveler and scientist. He was elected an honorary member of many foreign geographical societies. The Ukrainian Academy of Sciences elected him an honorary member. From the Russian Geographical Society, at the end of the last century, he received the N. M. Przhevalsky medal. A glacier in the mountains of the Mongolian Altai and many species of animals and plants are named after Kozlov.
Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov
Researcher of Central Asia, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (1928). Member of the expeditions of N. M. Przhevalsky, M. V. Pevtsov, V. I. Roborovsky. He led the Mongol-Tibetan (1899-1901 and 1923-1926) and Mongol-Sichuan (1907-1909) expeditions. He discovered the remains of the ancient city of Khara-Khoto, burial mounds of the Huns (including Noin-Ula); collected extensive geographical and ethnographic materials.
In the city of Sloboda, in the Smolensk region, the famous traveler Przhevalsky accidentally met the young Pyotr Kozlov. This meeting abruptly changed Peter's life. An inquisitive young man liked Nikolai Mikhailovich. Kozlov settled in the Przhevalsky estate and, under his guidance, began to prepare for exams for the course of a real school.
A few months later, the exams were passed. But Przhevalsky enrolled only the military in the expedition, so Kozlov had to enter the military service. He served in the regiment for only three months, and then was enrolled in the Przhevalsky expedition. This was the fourth expedition of the famous traveler to Central Asia.
In the autumn of 1883, the caravan left the city of Kyakhta. The path of the expedition lay through the steppe, desert, mountain passes. The travelers descended into the valley of the Tetunga River, a tributary of the Huang He, the great Yellow River. "... The handsome Tetung, sometimes formidable, sometimes majestic, sometimes quiet and even, kept Przhevalsky and me on his bank for hours and plunged my teacher into the best mood, into the most sincere stories about the journey," Kozlov wrote.
In the upper reaches of the Yellow River, the expedition was attacked by robbers from a wandering Tangut tribe - a horse gang of up to 300 people armed with firearms. The robbers, having received a worthy rebuff, retreated.
Peter learned a lot on his first journey. He conducted eye surveys, determined heights, helped Przhevalsky in collecting zoological and botanical collections.
Returning from an expedition to St. Petersburg, Kozlov, on the advice of his teacher, entered a military school. After graduation, Pyotr Kuzmich, already in the rank of second lieutenant, was again enlisted in the Przhevalsky's new expedition.
While preparing for a campaign in the city of Karakol on November 1, 1888, Przhevalsky died of typhoid fever.
After the death of Nikolai Mikhailovich - sudden, stunning, it seemed to Kozlov that life had lost all meaning. Many years later, Pyotr Kuzmich wrote: "Tears, bitter tears choked each of us ... It seemed to me that such grief could not be endured ... Yes, it has not yet been experienced yet!"
He decided to continue the work of Przhevalsky. The exploration of Central Asia became for him the main goal of his life.
The expedition assembled by Przhevalsky was led by Colonel of the General Staff Pevtsov. Under his leadership, in 1889-1891, Kozlov again traveled through northern Tibet, visited East Turkestan and Dzungaria. He made several independent trips. Having crossed the Russian Range, he discovered an intermountain depression behind it, and in it, at an altitude of 4258 meters, a small lake. Along the valley of the river flowing into this lake, Kozlov went to its upper reaches along the foot of the Russian ridge and from the Dzhapakaklyk pass saw the eastern tip of the ridge. Together with Roborovsky, he established the length of the Russian Range (about 400 kilometers) and completed its discovery. Later, Kozlov explored the second wandering river of the Lop Nor basin - the Konchedarya and Lake Bagrashkul Kozlov made observations of the animal world, collected a zoological collection. For these studies, he was awarded a high, recently established award - the Przhevalsky silver medal ...
Then there was the third expedition of Pyotr Kuzmich, which was called only "the expedition of Przhevalsky's satellites." Its leader was Vsevolod Ivanovich Roborovsky.
In June 1893, travelers set out from Przhevalsk to the east and passed along the Eastern Tien Shan, following through the least explored areas. Descending then into the Turfan depression, Roborovsky and Kozlov crossed it in different directions. In different ways, they went from there to the basin of the Sulehe River, to the village of Dunhuang (at the foot of Nanshan). Kozlov moved south, to the lower reaches of the Tarim, and studied the Lop Nor basin. He discovered the dried up ancient bed of the Konchedarya, as well as traces of the ancient Lop Nor 200 kilometers east of its then location, and finally proved that the Konchedarya is a wandering river, and Lop Nor is a nomadic lake.
In February 1894, travelers began to explore the Western Nianshan. By different routes during 1894 they crossed it in many places, traced a number of longitudinal intermountain valleys, accurately established the length and boundaries of individual ridges, correcting, and often greatly changing the maps of their predecessors. In winter, intending to pass through a mountainous country to the southeast, into the Sichuan depression, with frosts up to 35 °, they reached the Amne-Machin ridge (up to 6094 meters) south of Kokunor, beyond the 35th parallel, and crossed it with a wild rocky gorge.
In the depths of Central Asia, on the Tibetan Plateau, Roborovsky was paralyzed, and a week later, in February 1895, Kozlov, who took over the leadership of the expedition, turned back. Returning to the Turfan depression, they headed northwest and for the first time crossed the sands of Dzosotyn-Elisun. Instead of many ridges shown on old maps, Kozlov discovered the Kobbe sands. Having finished their journey in Zaisan at the end of November 1895, Roborovsky and Kozlov traveled a total of about 17 thousand kilometers.
During this expedition, Pyotr Kuzmich made 12 independent routes. In the zoological collection he collected, there were three rare specimens of skins of wild animals. Kozlov made mainly entomological collections, collecting about 30 thousand specimens of insects.
Travel to Central Asia (1899-1901) was his first independent expedition. It was called Mongol-Tibetan: it can be defined as geographical, in contrast to the next two, which are mainly archaeological. In the middle of the summer of 1899, the expedition proceeded from the border along the Mongolian Altai to Lake Orog-Nur and, at the same time, made a detailed study of this mountain system. Kozlov himself walked along the northern slopes of the main ridge, and his companions, the botanist Veniamin Fedorovich Ladygin and the topographer Alexander Nikolaevich Kaznakov, crossed the ridge several times, and also traced the southern slopes. It turned out that the main ridge extends to the southeast in the form of a single mountain range, gradually lowering, and ends with the Gichgeniin-Nuru ridge, and then the Gobi Altai stretches, consisting only of a chain of small hills and short low spurs. Then all three crossed the Gobi and Alashan deserts in different ways; united, they climbed to the northeastern outskirts of the Tibetan Plateau, bypassed the country of Kam, located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze and Mekong rivers, from the north.
In the mountainous country of Kam, Kozlov was struck by the extraordinary richness of vegetation and the diversity of the animal world. Travelers met new specimens unknown to science. From these places, Kozlov planned to go to the capital of Tibet, Lhasa, but the head of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, categorically opposed this. The expedition had to change the route.
Kozlov discovered four parallel ridges of the southeast direction: on the left bank of the Yangtze - Pandittag, on the right - of the Russian Geographical Society - the watershed between the upper Yangtze and the Mekong, on the right bank of the Mekong - the Woodville-Rockhill ridge, to the south - the Dalai Lamas - the watershed of the basins of the upper Mekong and Salween.
On the way back, after a detailed description of Lake Kukunor, the travelers again crossed the Alashan and Gobi deserts. They were expected in Urga. The messenger, sent to meet the expedition, handed a letter to Kozlov from the Russian consul Ya. P. Shishmarev, which stated that "the hospitable shelter is ready to shelter dear travelers."
December 9, 1901 reached Kyakhta. Kozlov's telegram dispelled persistent rumors about their death - for almost two years no information was received from them.
Travelers have collected valuable material. The geological collection contained 1,200 rock samples, and the botanical collection contained 25,000 plant specimens. The zoological collection contained eight birds unknown to science.
After this journey, Kozlov's name becomes widely known, and not only in scientific circles. They talk about him, write in newspapers, call him the successor of the Przhevalsky case. The Russian Geographical Society honors him with one of the most honorable awards - the Konstantinovsky gold medal. In addition to major geographical discoveries and magnificent collections - botanical and zoological, he studied little-known and even completely unknown Eastern Tibetan tribes inhabiting the upper reaches of the Huang He, Yangtzejiang and Mekong. This expedition is described by Kozlov in the two-volume work "Mongolia and Kam", "Kam and the way back".
Kozlov, believing that "a settled life for a traveler is like a cage for a free bird," began preparations for the next expedition.
He had long been attracted by the mystery of the dead city of Khara-Khoto, lost somewhere in the desert, and the mystery of the Xi-Xia people, who disappeared with him. On November 10, 1907, he left Moscow and went on the so-called Mongol-Sichuan expedition. His assistants were topographer Pyotr Yakovlevich Napalkov and geologist Alexander Alexandrovich Chernov. Following from Kyakhta through the Gobi desert, they crossed the Gobi Altai and in 1908 reached Lake Sogo-Nur, in the lower reaches of the right branch of the Zhoshui (Edzin-Gol) River.
Turning south, after 50 kilometers Kozlov discovered the ruins of Khara-Khoto, the capital of the medieval Tangut kingdom Si-Xia (XIII century).
They entered the city from its western side, passed a small structure with a preserved dome - it seemed to Kozlov that it resembled a mosque, and found themselves on a vast square area, criss-crossed in all directions by ruins. The foundations of the temples, laid out of brick, were clearly visible.
Having determined the geographical coordinates of the city and its absolute height, Kozlov began excavations. In just a few days, books, metal and paper money, all kinds of jewelry, and household utensils were found.
In the northwestern part of the city, they managed to find the remains of a large rich house that belonged to the ruler of Khara-Khoto, Khara-jian-jun. There was a hidden well here, in which, as legend has it, the ruler hid treasures, and then ordered to throw the bodies of his wives, son and daughter, who were killed by his hand, in order to save them from the bullying of the enemy, who had already broken into the eastern walls of the city... These events took place over 500 years ago.
The finds were priceless. Stucco decorations of buildings in the form of bas-reliefs, frescoes, rich ceramics - heavy water vessels with ornaments and the famous, extremely fine Chinese porcelain, various objects made of iron and bronze - all spoke of the high culture of the Xi-Xia people and their extensive trade relations. Perhaps the life of the once beautiful city would not have ended if its ruler, the batyr Khara-jian-jun, had not intended to seize the throne of the Chinese emperor. A whole series of battles that took place near Khara-Khoto ended in the defeat of its ruler and forced Khara-jian-jun to seek salvation outside the city walls. The fortress held out until the besiegers blocked the Zhoshui channel with sandbags and deprived the city of water. In desperation, through a breach in the northern wall, the besieged rushed at the enemy, but in an unequal battle, everyone died, including their ruler. Having captured the defeated city, the winners could not find the treasures of the ruler...
From Khara-Khoto, the expedition moved southeast and crossed the Alashan desert to the Alashan ridge, with Napalkov and Chernov exploring the territory between the Zhoshui and middle Yellow Rivers and the western strip of the Ordos. In particular, they established that the Zhoshui is the same meandering river as the Tarim, and that the Arbiso Range, on the right bank of the Yellow River, is the northeastern spur of the Helanshan Range. Turning to the southwest, the expedition penetrated the upper bend of the Yellow River - into the highland country of Amdo - and for the first time comprehensively explored it.
The Russian Geographical Society, having received a message about the discovery of a dead city and about the finds made in it, in a response letter suggested that Kozlov cancel the planned route and return to Khara-Khoto for new excavations. Pyotr Kuzmich, following the instructions, turned towards the dead city. But while the letters were going to St. Petersburg and back, the expedition managed to make a long journey through the Alashan desert, climb to the alpine lake Kukunor, go to the highlands of northeastern Tibet, where Russian travelers had to fight off the robbers, who were led by one of the local princes.
In these parts, in the large monastery of Bumbum, Kozlov met - already for the second time - with the spiritual ruler of all Tibet - the Dalai Lama Agvan-Lobsan-Tubdan Dzhamtso.
The Dalai Lama, a cautious and distrustful man, who was wary of foreigners as the greatest evil, was imbued with complete confidence in Kozlov, spent a lot of time talking with him, and in parting presented two wonderful sculptural images of the Buddha, one of which was strewn with diamonds, and in addition invited to Lhasa. The latter was most valuable to Kozlov. How many European researchers dreamed and strove to visit it - and in vain!
All the way back to Khara-Khoto, almost 600 miles long, the expedition passed very quickly - in just nineteen days - and at the end of May 1909 set up camp outside the walls of the dead city. After the Russian expedition, no one had time to visit the excavations. Climbing the walls of the ancient city-fortress over 10 meters high, Kozlov saw the stocks of pebbles prepared by the inhabitants for defense. They hoped to fight off the attackers with stones ...
It was necessary to conduct excavations in difficult conditions. The earth under the sun heated up to sixty degrees, the hot air flowing from its surface carried dust and sand with it, penetrating into the lungs against their will.
This time, however, there were few interesting finds. Household utensils, uninteresting papers, metal and paper money still came across ... Finally, a large suburgan was opened, located not far from the fortress on the banks of a dry riverbed. Rare luck! A whole library was found - about two thousand books, scrolls, manuscripts, more than 300 samples of Tangut painting, colorful, made on thick canvas and on thin silk fabric; metal and wooden figurines, clichés, models of suburgans made with amazing care. And everything was in excellent condition." And on the pedestal of the suburgan, facing its middle, there were about two dozen large clay statues - the height of a man, in front of which, as if in front of lamas conducting worship, were huge books. They were written in the language of si -Xia, but among them - books in Chinese, Tibetan, Manchurian, Mongolian, Turkish, Arabic, there were also those whose language neither Kozlov nor any of his people could determine.Only a few years later it was found out that this is the Tangut language.
The Xi-Xia language - the language of a people that has gone into the past - would certainly have remained an unsolved mystery for science, if not for the Xi-Xia dictionary found here.
In the spring of 1909, Kozlov arrived in Lanzhou, and from there returned to Kyakhta by the same route, completing his outstanding archaeological journey in mid-1909.
After this expedition, Kozlov, promoted to colonel, worked for two years on materials about Khara-Khoto and finds. The result was the work "Mongolia and Amdo and the dead city of Khara-Khoto", published in 1923. He gave a lot of reports, lectures, wrote articles in newspapers and scientific journals. The discovery of the dead city made him a celebrity. The English and Italian Geographical Societies awarded the traveler large golden royal medals, and a little later, the French Academy awarded one of its honorary prizes. In Russia, he received all the highest geographical awards and was elected an honorary member of the Geographical Society. But Kozlov admitted: “As never before in my life, I especially want to quickly rush again into the Asian expanses, once again visit Khara-Khoto and then go further, in the heart of Tibet - Lhasa, which my unforgettable teacher Nikolai Mikhailovich dreamed of in love ... "
When Russia entered the First World War, Colonel Kozlov asked to be sent to the active army. He was refused and seconded to Irkutsk as the head of an expedition for the urgent procurement of livestock for the army.
In 1922, the Soviet government decided to go on an expedition to Central Asia. Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov was appointed at the head of the expedition.
He is sixty years old, but he is still full of strength and energy. Together with him, the wife of Peter Kuzmich, Elizaveta Vladimirovna, an ornithologist and his student, set off on a journey.
They explored the upper basin of the Selenga River for a long time and in the southern Mongolian semi-desert, in the mountains of Noin-Ula, they found more than two hundred burial mounds and excavated them. A lot of remarkable finds related to ancient Chinese culture were found in these burial grounds, items made of gold, bronze, iron, wooden lacquered items - luxury items, flags, carpets, vessels, incense burners, a wooden device for making fire, paper banknotes of the Yuan dynasty with a formidable "Forgers will have their heads cut off." And on the top of Ikhe-Bodo in the Mongolian Altai, at an altitude of about three thousand meters, the expedition discovered an ancient khan's mausoleum. But the most amazing of the discoveries was made in the mountains of Eastern Khangai, where a tomb of thirteen generations of the descendants of Genghis Khan was found.
The Dalai Lama gave Kozlov a pass to Lhasa - half a silk card with teeth on the edge. The second half of the "saw" was at the mountain guard on the outskirts of the capital of Tibet. However, the British, who took all measures to prevent the Russians from entering Lhasa, disrupted this trip.
At the age of seventy-one, Pyotr Kuzmich still dreams of traveling, plans a trip to the Issyk-Kul basin to once again bow to the grave of his dear teacher, climb to the snows of Khan Tengri, see the peaks of the Heavenly Mountains covered with blue ice ... He lives then in Leningrad, then in Kyiv, but more in the village of Strechno, not far from Novgorod. Despite his advanced age, he often traveled around the country, lecturing about his travels.
Pyotr Kuzmich died in 1935.
- (1863-1935), researcher of Central Asia, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR (1928). He graduated from the Infantry Junker School in St. Petersburg (1887). Participated in the expeditions of N. M. Przhevalsky. He also led a number of expeditions (1899-1901) to the regions of Mongolia and ... ... Encyclopedic reference book "St. Petersburg"
- (1863 1935), researcher of Central Asia, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR (1928). He graduated from the Infantry Junker School in St. Petersburg (1887). Participated in the expeditions of N. M. Przhevalsky. He also led a number of expeditions (1899 1901) to the regions of Mongolia and ... ... St. Petersburg (encyclopedia)
Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov Pyotr Kozlov in his office. photograph of Karl Bulla (1908) Date of birth: November 3, 1863 Place of birth: Dukhovshchina, Smolensk province Date of death: October 26, 1935 Me ... Wikipedia
- (1863 1935), researcher of Central Asia, academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR (1928). Member of the expeditions of N. M. Przhevalsky, M. V. Pevtsov, V. I. Roborovsky. He led the Mongol-Tibetan (1899 1901 and 1923 26) and Mongol Sichuan (1907 09) expeditions. ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
Kozlov: Contents 1 Settlements 1.1 Russia 1.2 Ukraine ... Wikipedia
Kozlov is one of the most common Russian surnames. It comes from the ancient non-Christian name Goat. It was found out how this surname arose among the boyars, when the overgrown ancient clans split up: in the first half of the 15th century. Grigory Kozel, son of a boyar ... Wikipedia
Kozlov is one of the most common Russian surnames. It comes from the ancient non-Christian name Goat. It was found out how this surname arose among the boyars, when the overgrown ancient clans split up: in the first half of the 15th century. Grigory Kozel, son of a boyar ... Wikipedia
Kozlov is one of the most common Russian surnames. It comes from the ancient non-Christian name Goat. It was found out how this surname arose among the boyars, when the overgrown ancient clans split up: in the first half of the 15th century. Grigory Kozel, son of a boyar ... Wikipedia
1. Alexei Semyonovich KOZLOV (born 1935), saxophonist, composer, Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1988). Since 1973, the organizer and leader of the jazz-rock ensemble Arsenal. Author of jazz compositions, works in the field of electronic and computer music. Author ... ... Russian history
Books
- Tibet and the Dalai Lama. The Dead City of Khara-Khoto, Kozlov Petr Kuzmich. The new volume of the series "Great Travelers" is dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding Russian traveler and explorer Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov (1863-1935). The basis of the anniversary…
- Diaries of the Mongolian-Sichuan Expedition, 1907-1909, Kozlov Petr Kuzmich. Diaries of the Mongolian-Sichuan Expedition 1907-1909. under the guidance of the famous Russian researcher of Central Asia P.K. Kozlov contain valuable information on geography, ethnography,…
The significance of P.K. Kozlov's expeditions to Central Asia is so great that, perhaps, there is no natural history discipline that would not use the materials he collected.
In 1881 he met N. M. Przhevalsky and in 1882-1883. under his leadership, he continued his education, and then was included in his fourth expedition. He gained rich experience in collecting scientific collections of topographic surveys, thoroughly studied the reconnaissance method of research in 1889 - 1890, and spent independent routes as part of the Tibetan expedition of M.V. Pevtsov. Then for several years he was a senior assistant to V.I. Roborovsky on his journey through Central Asia. He made 12 separate routes with a length of about 8500 km, during which half of the cartographic work of the expedition was made, a zoological collection was collected and summarized. In 1899, P.K. Kozlov led an expedition of the Russian Geographical Society to explore Eastern and Inner Tibet, Central and Mongolian Altai, covering 10,000 km with surveys. At the same time, he studied the sources of the Huang He and the Yangtze, visited and explored the upper reaches of the Mekong for the first time, collected unique botanical and zoological collections. During the years of the Russo-Japanese War, on the instructions of the Russian government, he worked to establish diplomatic and cultural ties with the head of Tibet, the Dalai Lama.
In 1907 - 1909. a complex expedition led by Kozlov to northern and southern Mongolia, to Lake Kukunor and northwestern Sichuan, discovered the city of Khara-Khoto, covered with sands, the center of the Tangut state Xi-Xia, which died under the blows of Genghis Khan in 1226. A century later, the Chinese captured the fortress, blocking it with dams branches of the river and left the defenders of the city without water; after that, the once flourishing oasis was no longer reborn. It was, one might say, the first human-caused environmental disaster in history. In addition to rich archaeological discoveries, large natural-science collections and ethnographic material on Tibet were collected. During the First World War, Kozlov did not remain idle - he served as a military censor, commandant of cities occupied by the Russian army, head of an expedition to purchase cattle for the army. Then he was the commissioner of the Askania-Nova reserve.
But the "nomad nomad", as Pyotr Kuzmich called himself, was called new distances. In 1923, he led an expedition to Mongolia and discovered numerous burial mounds of the Han era (II century BC - III century AD) in the mountains of Noin-Ula, in the foothills of Khangai - the tomb of Genghis Khan and the grave of his wife. Many years of expeditionary experience intuitively helped Kozlov in reconnaissance of new archaeological sites. On his travels, he was often accompanied by the Mongol Chumyta Dorji, who became for him a kind of Dersu Uzala and visited him in Russia.
In total, Kozlov covered more than 40 thousand km in routes in 6 expeditions. He discovered and described the mountain ranges of the Russian Geographical Society, Watershed, Ronkhila, Dutreil de Rensa, Dergekh, Nanchinsky, and for the first time in Central Asia made limnological and hydrological studies. His expeditions delivered more than 1,400 specimens of mammals, over 5,000 birds, and about 800,000 insects. Kozlov is credited with elucidating the initial history of human life in Central Asia. He was awarded the Gold Medal. Przhevalsky and Konstantinovsky gold medals of the Russian Geographical Society. A glacier in the Tabyn-Bogdo-Ole massif in the Mongolian Altai is named after him. In the last years of his life, he acted as a propagandist and popularizer of geographical science, wrote a number of interesting books about his many travels (“Mongolia and Kam”, “Through Mongolia and to the borders of Tibet”, “Tibet and the Dalai Lama”, “Mongolia, Amdo and the dead city of Khara-Khoto).
Years of life 1863 - 1935
