Russian navigators, along with European ones, are famous pioneers who discovered new continents, sections of mountain ranges and vast water areas. They became the pioneers of significant geographical objects, took the first steps in the development of hard-to-reach territories, and traveled around the world. So who are they, the conquerors of the seas, and what exactly did the world learn about thanks to them?

Afanasy Nikitin - the very first Russian traveler

Afanasy Nikitin is rightfully considered the first Russian traveler who managed to visit India and Persia (1468-1474, according to other sources 1466-1472). On the way back he visited Somalia, Turkey, and Muscat. Based on his travels, Afanasy compiled the notes “Walking across the Three Seas,” which became popular and unique historical and literary aids. These notes became the first book in Russian history not written in the format of a story about a pilgrimage, but describing the political, economic and cultural features of the territories.

He was able to prove that even being a member of a poor peasant family, you can become a famous explorer and traveler. Streets, embankments in several Russian cities, a motor ship, passenger train and aircraft.

Semyon Dezhnev, who founded the Anadyr fortress

Cossack ataman Semyon Dezhnev was an Arctic navigator who became the discoverer of a number of geographical objects. Wherever Semyon Ivanovich served, everywhere he sought to study new and previously unknown things. He was even able to cross the East Siberian Sea on a homemade kocha, going from Indigirka to Alazeya.

In 1643, as part of a detachment of explorers, Semyon Ivanovich discovered Kolyma, where he and his associates founded the city of Srednekolymsk. A year later, Semyon Dezhnev continued his expedition, walked along the Bering Strait (which did not yet have this name) and discovered the easternmost point of the continent, later called Cape Dezhnev. An island, a peninsula, a bay, and a village also bear his name.

In 1648, Dezhnev hit the road again. His ship was wrecked in the waters located in the southern part of the Anadyr River. Having arrived on skis, the sailors went up the river and stayed there for the winter. Subsequently, this place appeared on geographical maps and received the name Anadyr fort. As a result of the expedition, the traveler was able to do detailed descriptions, make a map of those places.

Vitus Jonassen Bering, who organized expeditions to Kamchatka

Two Kamchatka expeditions inscribed the names of Vitus Bering and his associate Alexei Chirikov into the history of marine discoveries. During the first voyage, the navigators conducted research and were able to supplement the geographical atlas with objects located in Northeast Asia and on the Pacific coast of Kamchatka.

The discovery of the Kamchatka and Ozerny peninsulas, the Kamchatka, Krest, Karaginsky bays, Provedeniya Bay, and St. Lawrence Island is also the merit of Bering and Chirikov. At the same time, another strait was found and described, which later became known as the Bering Strait.

The second expedition was undertaken by them to find a way to North America and study the Pacific Islands. On this journey, Bering and Chirikov founded the Peter and Paul fort. It took its name from the combined names of their ships (“St. Peter” and “St. Paul”) and subsequently became the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

On the approach to the shores of America, the ships of like-minded people lost sight of each other, due to heavy fog. "St. Peter", controlled by Bering, sailed to west coast America, but was caught in a severe storm on the way back - the ship was thrown onto an island. The last minutes of Vitus Bering’s life passed on it, and the island subsequently began to bear his name. Chirikov also reached America on his ship, but completed his voyage safely, having discovered several islands of the Aleutian ridge on the way back.

Khariton and Dmitry Laptev and their “name” sea

Cousins ​​Khariton and Dmitry Laptev were like-minded people and assistants to Vitus Bering. It was he who appointed Dmitry as commander of the ship “Irkutsk”, and his double boat “Yakutsk” was led by Khariton. They took part in the Great Northern Expedition, the purpose of which was to study, accurately describe and map the Russian shores of the ocean, from the Yugorsky Shar to Kamchatka.

Each of the brothers made a significant contribution to the development of new territories. Dmitry became the first navigator to photograph the coastline from the mouth of the Lena to the mouth of the Kolyma. He compiled detailed maps of these places, using mathematical calculations and astronomical data as a basis.

Khariton Laptev and his associates conducted research on the northernmost section of the Siberian coast. It was he who determined the dimensions and outlines of the huge Taimyr Peninsula - he carried out surveys of its eastern coast, and was able to identify the exact coordinates of the coastal islands. The expedition took place in difficult conditions - a large amount of ice, snowstorms, scurvy, ice captivity - Khariton Laptev’s team had to endure a lot. But they continued the work they had started. On this expedition, Laptev's assistant Chelyuskin discovered a cape, which was later named in his honor.

Noting the great contribution of the Laptevs to the development of new territories, members of the Russian Geographical Society decided to name one of them after them. largest seas Arctic. Also, the strait between the mainland and the island of Bolshoy Lyakhovsky is named in honor of Dmitry, and the western coast of the island of Taimyr is named after Khariton.

Krusenstern and Lisyansky - organizers of the first Russian circumnavigation

Ivan Kruzenshtern and Yuri Lisyansky are the first Russian navigators to circumnavigate the world. Their expedition lasted three years (began in 1803 and ended in 1806). They and their teams set off on two ships, which were named “Nadezhda” and “Neva”. The travelers passed through the Atlantic Ocean, entered the waters Pacific Ocean. The sailors used them to reach the Kuril Islands, Kamchatka and Sakhalin.

This trip allowed me to collect important information. Based on data obtained by seafarers, a detailed map Pacific Ocean. Another important result of the first Russian round-the-world expedition was the data obtained about the flora and fauna of the Kuril Islands and Kamchatka, local residents, their customs and cultural traditions.

During their journey, the sailors crossed the equator and, according to maritime traditions, could not leave this event without a well-known ritual - a sailor dressed as Neptune greeted Krusenstern and asked why his ship had arrived where he had never been Russian flag. To which I received the answer that they are here exclusively for the glory and development of domestic science.

Vasily Golovnin - the first navigator who was rescued from Japanese captivity

Russian navigator Vasily Golovnin led two expeditions around the world. In 1806, he, being in the rank of lieutenant, received a new appointment and became commander of the sloop "Diana". Interestingly, this is the only case in the history of the Russian fleet when a lieutenant was entrusted with the control of a ship.

The leadership set the goal of the round-the-world expedition to study the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, with special attention to that part of it that is located within the borders of their native country. Diana's path was not easy. The sloop passed the island of Tristan da Cunha, passed the Cape of Hope and entered a port owned by the British. Here the ship was detained by the authorities. The British informed Golovnin about the outbreak of war between the two countries. The Russian ship was not declared captured, but the crew was not allowed to leave the bay. Having spent more than a year in this situation, in mid-May 1809 the Diana, led by Golovnin, tried to escape, which the sailors successfully succeeded in doing - the ship arrived in Kamchatka.

Golovnin received his next important task in 1811 - he was supposed to compile descriptions of the Shantar and Kuril Islands, the shores of the Tatar Strait. During his journey, he was accused of not adhering to the principles of sakoku and was captured by the Japanese for more than 2 years. It was possible to rescue the team from captivity only thanks to the good relations between one of the Russian naval officers and an influential Japanese merchant, who was able to convince his government of the harmless intentions of the Russians. It is worth noting that before this, no one in history had ever returned from Japanese captivity.

In 1817-1819, Vasily Mikhailovich made another trip around the world on the Kamchatka ship, specially built for this purpose.

Thaddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev - discoverers of Antarctica

Captain of the second rank Thaddeus Bellingshausen was determined to find the truth in the question of the existence of the sixth continent. In 1819, he went out to the open sea, carefully preparing two sloops - Mirny and Vostok. The latter was commanded by his like-minded friend Mikhail Lazarev. The first round-the-world Antarctic expedition set itself other tasks. In addition to finding irrefutable facts confirming or refuting the existence of Antarctica, the travelers planned to explore the waters of three oceans - the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian.

The results of this expedition exceeded all expectations. During the 751 days that it lasted, Bellingshausen and Lazarev were able to make several significant geographical discoveries. Of course, the most important of them is the existence of Antarctica, this historical event occurred on January 28, 1820. Also, during the trip, about two dozen islands were found and mapped, sketches of Antarctic views, and images of representatives of the Antarctic fauna were created.

Interestingly, attempts to discover Antarctica were made more than once, but none of them were successful. European navigators believed that either it did not exist, or it was located in places that were simply impossible to reach by sea. But the Russian travelers had enough perseverance and determination, so the names of Bellingshausen and Lazarev were included in the lists of the greatest navigators of the world.

There are also modern travelers. One of them.

The great geographical discoveries are the most important period in human history from the late 15th to the mid-16th centuries. The brave discoverers of Spain and Portugal discovered Western world new lands, thereby marking the beginning of the development of new trade routes and connections between continents.

The beginning of the period of great geographical discoveries

Throughout the existence of the human race, many important discoveries were made, but only those that took place in the 16th and 17th centuries were included in history under the name “great”. The fact is that neither before this period of time, nor after it, none of the travelers and explorers were able to repeat the success of the medieval discoverers.

Geographic discovery refers to the discovery of new, previously unknown geographical objects or patterns. This could be a part of the earth or an entire continent, a water basin or strait, the existence of which on Earth cultural humanity did not suspect.

Rice. 1. Middle Ages.

But why did the Great Geographical Discoveries become possible precisely between the 15th and 17th centuries?

The following factors contributed to this:

• active development of various crafts and trade;
• the growth of European cities;
• the need for precious metals - gold and silver;
• development of technical sciences and knowledge;
• serious discoveries in navigation, the emergence of the most important navigation instruments - the astrolabe and compass;
• development of cartography.

The catalyst for the Great Geographical Discoveries was the unfortunate fact that Constantinople in the Middle Ages came under the rule of the Ottoman Turks, who prevented direct trade between European powers and India and China.

Great travelers and their geographical discoveries

If we consider the periodization of the Great Geographical Discoveries, the first to give the Western world new routes and limitless opportunities were the Portuguese navigators. The British, Spaniards and Russians, who also saw great prospects in the conquest of new lands, did not lag behind them. Their names will forever go down in the history of navigation.

• Bartolomeu Dias - a Portuguese navigator who, in 1488, in search of a convenient route to India, circumnavigated Africa and discovered the cape Good Hope and became the first European to land in the Indian Ocean.
• - it is with his name that the discovery of an entire continent - America - is associated in 1492.

Rice. 2. Christopher Columbus.

• Vasco da Gama - commander of the Portuguese expedition, who in 1498 managed to build a direct line trade route from Europe to Asia.

For several years, from 1498 to 1502, the northern coast was carefully explored by Christopher Columbus, Alonso Ojeda, Amerigo Vespucci and many other navigators from Spain and Portugal. South America. However, acquaintance with Western conquerors did not bring local residents nothing good - in pursuit of easy money, they showed themselves to be extremely aggressive and cruel.

• Vasca Nunens Balboa - in 1513, a brave Spaniard was the first to cross the Isthmus of Panama and open the Pacific Ocean.
• Ferdinand Magellan - the first person in history who, in 1519-1522, traveled around the world, thereby proving that the Earth is spherical.
• Abel Tasman - opened Australia to the Western world and New Zealand in 1642-1643.
• Semyon Dezhnev - Russian traveler and explorer who was able to find the strait connecting Asia with North America.

Results of the Great Geographical Discoveries

Great geographical discoveries significantly accelerated the transition from the Middle Ages to the New Age, with its most important achievements and the flourishing of most European states.

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Humanity looked at things differently the world around us, new horizons opened up for scientists. This contributed to the development of natural sciences, which could not but affect the general standard of living.

The conquest of new lands by Europeans led to the formation and strengthening of colonial empires, which became a powerful raw material base of the Old World. There was cultural exchange between civilizations in various areas, there was a movement of animals, plants, diseases and even entire peoples.

Rice. 3. Colonies of the New World.

Geographical discoveries continued after the 17th century, which made it possible to create a complete map of the world.

What have we learned?

When studying the topic “Great Geographical Discoveries” in the 6th grade geography program, we learned briefly about the great geographical discoveries and their significance in world history. We also did brief overview the greatest personalities who managed to do important discoveries in the geography of the Earth.

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Without Russian discoverers, the world map would be completely different. Our compatriots - travelers and sailors - made discoveries that enriched world science. About the eight most noticeable ones - in our material.

Bellingshausen's first Antarctic expedition

In 1819, the navigator, captain of the 2nd rank, Thaddeus Bellingshausen led the first round-the-world Antarctic expedition. The purpose of the voyage was to explore the waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans, as well as proof or refutation of the existence of the sixth continent - Antarctica. Having equipped two sloops - "Mirny" and "Vostok" (under the command), Bellingshausen's detachment went to sea.

The expedition lasted 751 days and wrote many bright pages in the history of geographical discoveries. The main one was made on January 28, 1820.

By the way, attempts to open the white continent had been made earlier, but did not bring the desired success: a little luck was missing, and perhaps Russian perseverance.

Thus, the navigator James Cook, summing up the results of his second voyage around the world, wrote: “I went around the ocean of the southern hemisphere in high latitudes and rejected the possibility of the existence of a continent, which, if it could be discovered, would only be near the pole in places inaccessible to navigation.”

During Bellingshausen's Antarctic expedition, more than 20 islands were discovered and mapped, sketches of Antarctic species and the animals living there were made, and the navigator himself went down in history as a great discoverer.

“The name of Bellingshausen can be directly placed alongside the names of Columbus and Magellan, with the names of those people who did not retreat in the face of difficulties and imaginary impossibilities created by their predecessors, with the names of people who followed their own independent path, and therefore were destroyers of barriers to discovery, which designate epochs,” wrote the German geographer August Petermann.

Discoveries of Semenov Tien-Shansky

Central Asia at the beginning of the 19th century was one of the least studied areas globe. An undeniable contribution to the study of the “unknown land” - as geographers called Central Asia - was made by Pyotr Semenov.

In 1856, the researcher’s main dream came true - he went on an expedition to the Tien Shan.

“My work on Asian geography led me to a thorough acquaintance with everything that was known about inner Asia. I was especially attracted to the most central of the Asian mountain ranges - the Tien Shan, which had not yet been touched by a European traveler and was known only from scanty Chinese sources.

Semenov's research in Central Asia lasted two years. During this time, the sources of the Chu, Syr Darya and Sary-Jaz rivers, the peaks of Khan Tengri and others were mapped.

The traveler established the location of the Tien Shan ridges, the height of the snow line in this area and discovered the huge Tien Shan glaciers.

In 1906, by decree of the emperor, for the merits of the discoverer, the prefix began to be added to his surname - Tien Shan.

Asia Przhevalsky

In the 70−80s. In the 19th century, Nikolai Przhevalsky led four expeditions to Central Asia. This little-studied area has always attracted the researcher, and traveling to Central Asia has been his long-time dream.

Over the years of research have been studied mountain systems Kun-Lun , ridges of Northern Tibet, sources of the Yellow River and Yangtze, basins Kuku-nora and Lob-nora.

Przhevalsky was the second person after Marco Polo to reach lakes-swamps Lob-nora!

In addition, the traveler discovered dozens of species of plants and animals that are named after him.

“Happy fate made it possible to make a feasible exploration of the least known and most inaccessible countries of inner Asia,” Nikolai Przhevalsky wrote in his diary.

Kruzenshtern's circumnavigation

The names of Ivan Kruzenshtern and Yuri Lisyansky became known after the first Russian round-the-world expedition.

For three years, from 1803 to 1806. - that’s how long the first circumnavigation of the world lasted - the ships “Nadezhda” and “Neva”, having passed through the Atlantic Ocean, rounded Cape Horn, and then through the waters of the Pacific Ocean reached Kamchatka, the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin. The expedition clarified the map of the Pacific Ocean and collected information about the nature and inhabitants of Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands.

During the voyage, Russian sailors crossed the equator for the first time. This event was celebrated, according to tradition, with the participation of Neptune.

The sailor, dressed as the lord of the seas, asked Krusenstern why he came here with his ships, because the Russian flag had not been seen in these places before. To which the expedition commander replied: “For the glory of science and our fatherland!”

Nevelsky Expedition

Admiral Gennady Nevelskoy is rightfully considered one of the outstanding navigators of the 19th century. In 1849, on the transport ship “Baikal”, he went on an expedition to the Far East.

The Amur expedition lasted until 1855, during which time Nevelskoy made several major discoveries in the area of ​​the lower reaches of the Amur and the northern shores Sea of ​​Japan, annexed the vast expanses of the Amur and Primorye regions to Russia.

Thanks to the navigator, it became known that Sakhalin is an island that is separated by the navigable Tatar Strait, and the mouth of the Amur is accessible for ships to enter from the sea.

In 1850, Nevelsky’s detachment founded the Nikolaev post, which today is known as Nikolaevsk-on-Amur.

“The discoveries made by Nevelsky are invaluable for Russia,” wrote Count Nikolai Muravyov-Amursky “Many previous expeditions to these regions could have achieved European glory, but none of them achieved domestic benefit, at least to the extent that Nevelskoy accomplished this.”

North of Vilkitsky

The purpose of the hydrographic expedition of the Arctic Ocean in 1910-1915. was the development of the Northern Sea Route. By chance, captain 2nd rank Boris Vilkitsky took over the duties of the voyage leader. Icebreaking steamships "Taimyr" and "Vaigach" went to sea.

Vilkitsky moved through the northern waters from east to west, and during his voyage he was able to compile a true description north coast Eastern Siberia and many islands, received the most important information about currents and climate, and also became the first to make a through voyage from Vladivostok to Arkhangelsk.

The expedition members discovered the Land of Emperor Nicholas I., known today as New Earth- this discovery is considered the last of the significant ones on the globe.

In addition, thanks to Vilkitsky, the islands of Maly Taimyr, Starokadomsky and Zhokhov were put on the map.

At the end of the expedition, the First World War began. The traveler Roald Amundsen, having learned about the success of Vilkitsky’s voyage, could not resist exclaiming to him:

"IN peacetime this expedition would excite the whole world!”

Kamchatka campaign of Bering and Chirikov

The second quarter of the 18th century was rich in geographical discoveries. All of them were made during the First and Second Kamchatka expeditions, which immortalized the names of Vitus Bering and Alexei Chirikov.

During the First Kamchatka Campaign, Bering, the leader of the expedition, and his assistant Chirikov explored and mapped Pacific Coast Kamchatka and Northeast Asia. Two peninsulas were discovered - Kamchatsky and Ozerny, Kamchatka Bay, Karaginsky Bay, Cross Bay, Providence Bay and St. Lawrence Island, as well as the strait, which today bears the name of Vitus Bering.

Companions - Bering and Chirikov - also led the Second Kamchatka Expedition. The goal of the campaign was to find a route to North America and explore the Pacific Islands.

In Avachinskaya Bay, the expedition members founded the Petropavlovsk fort - in honor of the ships "St. Peter" and "St. Paul" - which was later renamed Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

When the ships set sail to the shores of America, by the will of an evil fate, Bering and Chirikov began to act alone - because of the fog, their ships lost each other.

"St. Peter" under the command of Bering reached the west coast of America.

And on the way back, the expedition members, who had to endure many difficulties, were thrown onto a small island by a storm. This is where Vitus Bering’s life ended, and the island where the expedition members stopped for the winter was named after Bering.
Chirikov’s “Saint Paul” also reached the shores of America, but for him the voyage ended more happily - on the way back he discovered a number of islands of the Aleutian ridge and safely returned to the Peter and Paul prison.

“Unclear Earthlings” by Ivan Moskvitin

Little is known about the life of Ivan Moskvitin, but this man nevertheless went down in history, and the reason for this was the new lands he discovered.

In 1639, Moskvitin, leading a detachment of Cossacks, set sail to the Far East. The main goal of the travelers was to “find new unknown lands” and collect furs and fish. The Cossacks crossed the Aldan, Mayu and Yudoma rivers, discovered the Dzhugdzhur ridge, separating the rivers of the Lena basin from the rivers flowing into the sea, and along the Ulya River they reached the “Lamskoye”, or Sea of ​​Okhotsk. Having explored the coast, the Cossacks discovered the Taui Bay and entered the Sakhalin Bay, rounding the Shantar Islands.

One of the Cossacks reported that the rivers in open lands“sable, there are a lot of all kinds of animals, and fish, and the fish are big, there is no such thing in Siberia... there are so many of them - just throw a net and you can’t drag it out with the fish...”.

Geographic data collected by Ivan Moskvitin formed the basis of the first map Far East.

travelers

in paintings by artists N. Solomin and S. Yakovlev

Russian travelers wrote brilliant pages in the history of geographical discoveries. They not only explored the vast expanses of the Motherland, but also made discoveries and research far beyond its borders.

Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnev (born around 1605 - died in 1672/3) - famous explorer and sailor. Served in Tobolsk, Yeniseisk, Yakutsk; went on long and dangerous trips to the Yana, Indigirka, and Oymyakon rivers. Setting out in 1648 from the Lower Kolyma fort, Dezhnev sailed from the Arctic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and practically proved the existence of a strait separating Asia from America.

Thaddeus Faddeevich Bellingshausen (1779-1862) - famous navigator and prominent scientist. He took part in the expedition of Krusenstern and Lisyanek, then commanded, together with M.P. Lazarev, the sloops “Vostok” and “Mirny” in 1819-1821. This expedition to the South Pole made a great geographical discovery - it reached the shores of Antarctica, and also conducted extensive research in the equatorial and tropical zones of the Pacific Ocean and made improvements to sea maps.

Pyotr Petrovich Semenov-Tyan-Shansky (1827-1914) is a remarkable Russian geographer and traveler. The first of the Europeans penetrated into the hard-to-reach areas of the Central Tien Shan and established that the Chu River does not flow into Lake Issyk-Kul, discovered the sources of the Naryn and Saryjaz rivers, the second highest Tien Shan peak - Khan Tengri, and huge glaciers covering its slopes.

Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov (1863-1936) - a remarkable Russian traveler, explorer of Central Asia. Participating in the expeditions of N. M. Przhevalsky, M. V. Pevtsov and V. I. Roborovsky, he repeatedly crossed Mongolia and China. From 1899 to 1926, Kozlov led three expeditions to Central Asia. He studied the mountains of the Mongolian Altai, penetrated the least explored areas of the Tibetan Plateau; opened in the center of the Mongolian deserts ancient city Khara-Khoto; carried out excavations of the Khentei-Noinulinsky mounds, enriching science with diverse information about the regions of Central Asia.

Nikolai Nikolaevich Miklouho-Maclay (1846 - 1888) - famous Russian traveler and scientist, anthropologist and ethnographer. He spent twelve years in New Guinea, Malacca, Australia and the Pacific Islands, studying the peoples inhabiting them. The founder of modern anthropology, Miklouho-Maclay was a passionate fighter against racial discrimination and colonial oppression.

Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky (1839-1888) - great Russian traveler and geographer. Already after the first expedition to the Ussuri region (1867-1869), he became famous as a talented explorer of distant and little-known lands. He conducted four expeditions to Central Asia, during which he crossed vast spaces from the Sayan Mountains to Tibet and from the Tien Shan to Khingan.

Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev (1788-1851) - famous navigator, naval commander and scientist-researcher. Together with F. Sh. Bellingshausen, he commanded a remarkable naval expedition that discovered Antarctica. Even before that, he circumnavigated the world on the ship "Suvorov", and after sailing to Antarctica, he made a trip around the world for the third time, commanding the frigate "Cruiser". He devoted the last seventeen years of his life to the education of Russian sailors and the construction of the Black Sea Fleet.

Slide No. 10

Ivan Fedorovich Kruzenshtern (1770-1846) - a remarkable navigator and scientist-researcher. He commanded the first Russian round-the-world expedition from 1803 to 1806. The expedition clarified the map of the Pacific Ocean, collected information about the nature and inhabitants of Sakhalin, the Pacific Islands and Kamchatka. Krusenstern published a description of his journey and compiled a two-volume atlas of the Pacific Ocean.

Slide No. 11

Georgy Yakovlevich Sedov (1877-1914) - brave navigator, Arctic explorer. In 1912 he came up with a project for traveling to the North Pole. Having reached the ship “St. foka" of Franz Josef Land, Sedov made a bold attempt to reach the North Pole by dog ​​sled, but died on the way to his cherished goal.

Slide No. 12

Gennady Ivanovich Nevelskoy (1813-1876) - an outstanding researcher of the Far East. He spent about six years in the Amur region, studying its nature. In 1849, Nevelskaya, during voyages along Sea of ​​Okhotsk proved that Sakhalin is an island separated from the mainland by the navigable Strait of Tartary.

Slide No. 13

Vladimir Afanasyevich Obruchev (1863-1956) - a wonderful traveler, the largest Soviet geologist and geographer. After research in Central Asia(1886) and numerous expeditions in Eastern Siberia, in 1892 the scientist went to Mongolia and China for two years, covering more than thirteen and a half thousand kilometers during this time. Obruchev headed major geological research in Siberia.

Slide No. 14

Afanasy Nikitin (died 1472) - the first Russian traveler to India and Persia. From 1466 to 1472 he traveled to foreign lands. All this time he was leading travel notes, which he called “Walking across the Three Seas.” In them he spoke about his voyage along the Volga and the Caspian Sea to Persia and from there across the Arabian Sea to distant India, described Indian cities and villages, the nature of the country, the morals and customs of its people, reported interesting information from the history of India.

World travelers

Find out for yourself what discoveries they made.

Amundsen
Vasco da Gama
Vespucci
Hudson
Humboldt
Dampier
Drake
d'Urville
Cabot
Columbus
Cook
La Perouse
Livingston
Magellan
Mercator
Nansen
Piri
Pissaro
Polo
Stanley
Tasman
Enrique

History of humanity and travel. Herodotus - the first great traveler and father modern history. Arab and European travelers of the Middle Ages...

From Masterweb

26.06.2018 14:00

The exploration of our planet took place over several centuries, and many people distinguished themselves, whose names and merits are captured in many historical books. All great travelers sought to escape from routine existence and look at the world with different eyes. A thirst for new knowledge, curiosity, a desire to expand known horizons - all these qualities were inherent in each of them.

About history and travelers

The history of mankind should be perceived as the history of travel. It's impossible to understand what it would be like modern world, if previous civilizations had not sent travelers to the borders of a then unknown world. The thirst for travel is embedded in human DNA, because he has always strived to explore something and expand his own world.

The first people began colonizing the world 100,000 years ago, moving from Africa to Asia and Europe. In the Middle Ages and modern times, travelers went to unknown countries in search of gold, glory, new lands, or they simply ran away from their miserable existence and poverty. However, all great travelers possessed an impulse of power of the same nature, the endless fuel of explorers - curiosity. It only takes something that a person does not know or does not understand to create an alluring and irresistible force that cannot be resisted. The following article describes the exploits of the great travelers and their discoveries, which had a huge impact on the development of humanity. The following individuals are noted:

• Herodotus;
• Ibn Battuta;
• Marco Polo;
• Christopher Columbus;
• Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastian Elcano;
• James Cook;
• Charles Darwin;
• explorers of Africa and Antarctica;
• famous Russian travelers.

Father of modern history - Herodotus

The famous Greek philosopher, Herodotus, lived in the 5th century BC. His first journey was exile, as Herodotus was accused of plotting against the tyrant of Halicarnassus, Lygdamis. During this exile, the great traveler travels throughout the Middle East. He describes all his discoveries and acquired knowledge in 9 books, thanks to which Herodotus received the nickname of the father of history. It is interesting to note that another famous historian ancient Greece, Plutarch, gave Herodotus the nickname "father of lies." In his books, Herodotus talks about distant countries and the cultures of many peoples, information about which the philosopher collected during his travels.

The stories of the great traveler are filled with political, philosophical and geographical reflections. They also contain sexual stories, myths and crime stories. Herodotus's style of presentation is semi-artistic. Modern historians consider Herodotus' work to be a paradigm of curiosity. The historical and geographical knowledge brought by Herodotus had a great influence on the development of Greek culture. Geographic map, which Herodotus compiled, and which included the limits from the Danube to the Nile, and from Iberia to India, for the next 1000 years determined the horizons of the then known world. Let us note that the scientist was very concerned that the knowledge he had acquired would not be lost by humanity over time, and therefore he outlined it in detail in his 9 books.

Ibn Battuta (1302 - 1368)

Like every Muslim, twenty-year-old Battuta began his pilgrimage from the city of Tangier to Mecca on the back of a donkey. He could not even think that he would return to his hometown only 25 years later, with enormous wealth and a whole harem of wives after making the journey mostly peace. If you wonder which great travelers first explored Muslim world, then we can safely call Ibn Battuta. He visited all countries, from the kingdom of Granada in Spain to China, and from Caucasus Mountains to the city of Timbuktu, which is located in the Republic of Mali. This great traveler traveled 120,000 kilometers, met more than 40 sultans and emperors, served as ambassador to various sultans, and survived a number of disasters. Ibn Battuta always traveled with a large retinue, and in every new place he was treated as an important person.

Modern historians note that in the first half of the 14th century, when Ibn Battuta made his travels, the Islamic world was at the apogee of its existence, which allowed the traveler to quickly and easily move across many territories.

Just like Marco Polo, Battuta did not write his book ("Travels"), but dictated his stories to the Granadan polymath Ibn Khuzai. This work reflects Battuta's thirst for pleasure in life, which includes stories of sex and blood.

Marco Polo (1254 - 1324)

Marco Polo is one of the important names of great travelers. The book of the Venetian merchant Marco Polo, which tells in detail about his travels, became extremely popular 2 centuries before the invention of printing. Marco Polo traveled the world for 24 years. Upon his return to his homeland, he was imprisoned during the war between the Mediterranean trading powers of Genoa and Venice. In prison, he dictated stories of his travels to one of his unfortunate neighbors. As a result, in 1298 a book appeared called “Description of the World, Dictated by Marco.”

Marco Polo, together with his father and uncle, who were famous merchants of jewelry and silks, set off at the age of 17 on a journey to the Far East. During his trip, the great geographical traveler visited such forgotten places as the island of Hormuz, the Gobi Desert, the coasts of Vietnam and India. Marco knew 5 foreign languages ​​and was the representative of the great Mongol Khan Kublai Khan for 17 years.

Note that Marco Polo was not the first European to visit Asia, however, he was the first to compile its detailed geographical description. His book is a mixture of truth and fiction, which is why many historians question most of its facts. On his deathbed, one priest asked Marco Polo, who was 70 years old, to admit his lies, to which the great traveler replied that he had not told half of what he saw.

Christopher Columbus (1451 - 1506)

Speaking of travelers great era discoveries, first of all, Christopher Columbus should be named, who shifted the human economy to the west and marked the beginning of a new era in history. Historians note that when Columbus sailed to discover the New World, the word “gold” rather than the word “land” was most often found in his logbook entries.

Christopher Columbus, with information provided by Marco Polo, believed that he could reach the Far East, full of gold and riches, by sailing west. As a result, on August 2, 1492, he sailed from Spain on three ships and headed west. The journey across the Atlantic Ocean lasted longer than 2 months, and on October 11, Rodrigo Triana from the ship La Pinta saw land. This day radically changed the lives of Europeans and Americans.

Like many great travelers of the Age of Discovery, Columbus died in 1506 in poverty in the city of Valladolid. Columbus did not know that he had discovered a new continent, but thought that he managed to sail to India through the west.

Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastian Elcano (16th century)

One of the amazing routes of the great travelers of the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, is the route of Ferdinand Magellan, when he was able to get through a narrow strait from Atlantic Ocean to Quiet, which Magellan named after its calm waters.

In the 16th century, there was a serious race for dominance of the seas and oceans between Portugal and Spain; historians compare this race with the race for space exploration between the USA and the USSR. Since Portugal dominated the African coast, Spain sought ways to reach the Spice Islands (modern Indonesia) and India via the west. Ferdinand Magellan became just the navigator who had to find a new route to the East through the West.

In September 1519, 5 ships with total number 237 sailors went to the West, led by Ferdinand Magellan. Three years later, only one ship returned with 18 sailors on board, led by Juan Sebastian Elcano. This was the first time a man sailed around the entire globe. The great traveler Ferdinand Magellan himself died in the Philippine Islands.

James Cook (1728-1779)

This British great explorer is considered the most famous explorer of the Pacific Ocean. He left his parents' farm and became a great captain in the Royal Navy. He made three great voyages from 1768 to 1779, which filled in many of the blank spots on maps of the Pacific. All of Cook's voyages were conducted by Britain to achieve a range of geographical and botanical objectives in Oceania, Australia and New Zealand.

Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882)

Few people know that the story of great travelers and their discoveries must include the name of Charles Darwin, who at the age of 22 set off on a voyage on the brigantine Beagle in 1831 to explore east coast South America. On this journey, Charles Darwin sailed around the world in 5 years, collecting a wealth of information about the flora and fauna of our planet, which turned out to be key to Darwin's theory of the evolution of living organisms.

After that long journey, the scientist locked himself in his house in Kent in order to carefully study the collected material and draw the right conclusions. In 1859, that is, 23 years after his trip around the world, Charles Darwin published his work “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection,” the main thesis of which was that it is not the strongest living organisms that survive, but the most adapted to environmental conditions. .

Exploring Africa

The great travelers who distinguished themselves in the exploration of Africa are mainly British. One of the famous explorers of the black continent is Dr. Livingston, who distinguished himself in research central regions Africa. Livingstone is credited with the discovery of Victoria Falls. This man is a national hero of Great Britain.

Other famous Britons who distinguished themselves in the exploration of Africa are John Speke and Richard Francis Burton, who made numerous trips to the African continent in the second half of the 19th century. Their most famous journey is the search for the sources of the Nile.

Antarctica exploration

The exploration of the icy southern continent, Antarctica, marked a new stage in human history. The British Robert Scott and the Norwegian Roald Amundsen distinguished themselves in conquering the South Pole. Scott was an explorer and officer in the British Royal Navy, he led 2 expeditions to Antarctica, and on January 17, 1912, he and five members of his crew reached the south pole, however, the Norwegian Amundsen was several weeks ahead of him. Robert Scott's entire expedition died by freezing to death in the icy desert of Antarctica. Amundsen, in turn, having visited the South Pole on December 14, 1911, was able to return to his homeland alive.

First woman traveler

The thirst for travel and new discoveries was characteristic not only of men, but also of women. Thus, the first female traveler about whom there is reliable evidence was the Galician (northwestern part of Spain) Ejeria in the 4th century AD. Her travels were associated with holy lands and pilgrimages. Thus, it is known that within 3 years she visited Constantinople, Jerusalem, Sinai, Mesopotamia and Egypt. It is unknown whether Ejeria returned to her homeland.

Great Russian travelers who expanded the borders of Russia

Russia is the largest country in the world by area. Much of this fame owes to Russian travelers and explorers. The great travelers in the table below are given.

Russian travelers - explorers of the planet

Among them, Ivan Kruzenshtern should be noted, who was the first Russian to travel around the globe. We also mention Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay, who was a famous navigator and explorer of Oceania and southeast asia. Let us also note Nikolai Przhevalsky, who was one of the most famous explorers of Central Asia in the world.

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