Ivan Petlin
Encyclopedia
Siberian Cossacks
Siberian Cossacks were Cossacks who settled in the Siberian region of Russia from the end of the 16th century, following the Yermak Timofeyevich's conquest of Siberia. In early Siberia practically the whole Russian population, especially the serving-men were called Cossacks, but only in the loose...
, was the first Russian to have reached China on an official mission (1618-1619). His expedition may have been the second European expedition to reach China from the west by an overland route (after that of Bento de Góis) since the fall of the Yuan Dynasty
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
. For background, see Russia-China relations.
Although sent by the Czar he was not officially an ambassador. The mission was outfitted by the Tobolsk
Tobolsk
Tobolsk is a town in Tyumen Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tobol and Irtysh Rivers. It is a historic capital of Siberia. Population: -History:...
and Tomsk
Tomsk
Tomsk is a city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Tom River. One of the oldest towns in Siberia, Tomsk celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2004...
voyevodas. Petlin was originally appointed as translator and scribe under Maksim Trupcheninov, but at the last minute Trupcheninov was unable to go so Petlin became leader. His traveling companion was named Andrei Mundov (Mundoff).
Accompanied by two returning envoys from the Altyn Khan, Petlin and Mundov left Tomsk
Tomsk
Tomsk is a city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Tom River. One of the oldest towns in Siberia, Tomsk celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2004...
on 9 May 1618 and went south up the Ob River
Ob River
The Ob River , also Obi, is a major river in western Siberia, Russia and is the world's seventh longest river. It is the westernmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean .The Gulf of Ob is the world's longest estuary.-Names:The Ob is known to the Khanty people as the...
, crossed the Abakan Range
Abakan Range
Abakan Range is a metamorphic rock mountain range in the Southwestern Siberia, Russia: length: , elevation: up to . It is mostly covered by taiga, up to , followed by mountainous tundra....
, went south to Tuva
Tuva
The Tyva Republic , or Tuva , is a federal subject of Russia . It lies in the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia. The republic borders with the Altai Republic, the Republic of Khakassia, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, and the Republic of Buryatia in Russia and with Mongolia to the...
and around Lake Ubsa
Uvs Nuur
Uvs Lake is a highly saline lake in an endorheic basin - Uvs Nuur Basin in Mongolia with a small part in Russia. It is the largest lake in Mongolia by surface area, covering 3,350 km² at 759 m above sea level....
to the court of the Altyn Khan. (This route was rarely used in later times.) From there he traveled east across Mongolia to the Great Wall and reached Peking in late August. He was not allowed to see the Wanli Emperor
Wanli Emperor
The Wanli Emperor was emperor of China between 1572 and 1620. His era name means "Ten thousand calendars". Born Zhu Yijun, he was the Longqing Emperor's third son...
because he did not bring proper tribute. He returned some time before November 1619. He brought with him a letter in Chinese inviting the Russians to open trade, but no one in Russia was able to read it until 1675.
Petlin's report is quite vague. He mentions: the upper Ob; rivers flowing into Lake Ubsa; the local rulers across Mongolia; a Princess Malchikatun who rules the towns of Mongolia and issues permits to cross the Great Wall; the Black Mongols west of the wall and the Yellow Mongols east of it; an 'Iron Tsar' near Bukhara
Bukhara
Bukhara , from the Soghdian βuxārak , is the capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 263,400 . The region around Bukhara has been inhabited for at least five millennia, and the city has existed for half that time...
who sends diamonds to China (probably, a reference to the Kashgarian jade
Jade
Jade is an ornamental stone.The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals:...
tribute trade); the Great Wall (which he thinks runs from the Pacific to Bukhara
Bukhara
Bukhara , from the Soghdian βuxārak , is the capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 263,400 . The region around Bukhara has been inhabited for at least five millennia, and the city has existed for half that time...
); several Chinese cities on the way to Peking; Peking; and an 'Ob River' which he seems to think flows from western Mongolia to the Yellow Sea. He mentions lamas, temples with gilded statues, city walls and gates, paved streets and officials who go about with yellow sunshades over their heads. Throughout he emphasizes the remarkable fact that cities are built of stone.
An account of Petlin's expedition was translated into English and published in Samuel Purchas
Samuel Purchas
Samuel Purchas , was an English travel writer, a near-contemporary of Richard Hakluyt.Purchas was born at Thaxted, Essex, and graduated at St John's College, Cambridge, in 1600; later he became a B.D., and with this degree was admitted at Oxford in 1615. In 1604 he was presented by James I to the...
' "Pilgrims" (vol. XIV) (1625); it was apparently well-known in the 17th century England: e.g., John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
is thought to have drawn on it in his description of Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
.