„, A S I A T I C RUS SI A.
4 4
Prosms. curfions were made as far-as the river Ob, and feme Mongul chiefs'were,
broagbt ' But •eeftniityr^Jp^fed’.
graphv* before the real conquefl- 0f Siberia commenced^ the reign of Ivan Va^
filivitcfa II, who afcended the Ruffian throne m ;M34. Trogonaff, a
Ruffian merchant of Archangel, having opened a traffic for Siberian
furs, the tzar was induced to attempt the conqoeft of the Country which
fupplied them ; and in *558 had added to his titles that of lord ofBibir
iYennac,; * Ooffitc: -ddef, being forced by the Ruffian con--
quefts in the fouth fortake refuge near the river Kama with ‘ 6000 of
hisfollowers,-he afterwards direfled his arms againft 'Kuteftum the
Mongol khanef Sibir, whom he .defeated andexpelled; but perceiving
that his power was precarious, in ry82 he claimed and obtained the
protection of Ruffia. < Yermac foon after periffied, and the Ruffians retreated
: but towards the heginniag of the fcvedteentb century they ;
had firm eftabliffiments, and oite'Oypidaai.:VM
of Sibir in 1621, rcfidingrat Tobolfk, where he drew:up a naMtdtifof
the conqueft. Towards the middle: of the feveateenth century the
Ruffians had extended as far eaft as. the river Amurjbtft Kamchatka
•was hot finally reduced till the year 1711. Becring and other naviga-^;
gators afterwards proceeded to difcover the other eWeme parts* of Afta.
In his.firft voyage of 1728 Beering coafted the eaftcrn ffiore of Siberia
as high as latitude 67? 18', but his important difcoveries. were. made
during his voyage of 1741. The Aleutian ifles were -vifited in 1745
and in the reign of the late emprefs other important difcoveries followed,
which were completed by thofe of Cook.
In the fouth the Mongul kingdom of Caza-n having been fubdued in
1552, and that of Aftracan in 1554, and the Ruffian monarchy extended
to the Cafpian fea, a confiderable acceffion was added to the
piogreffive geography by the chart of that fea drawn by command' of
Peter the great. It hence appeared that all geographers,, ancient and
modern, had miftaken the very form of the Cafpian, which extends
greatly from north to fouth inftead of fpreading from eaft to weft as
formerly delineated. In the reign of the late emprefs many important
additions were made to the progreffive geography by Pallas and other
* QoxeV Ruff. Dif. p. 177»
fcientific
fcientifit 'tr&S'teife-s, Sftid a RuffiM-Wös Was' 'publiffied, Which’1 may be regarded1
as'bfeatrly feótófplefe.'
' The Ruffian pöWèf in AfiaUS' rcee’ftt éVigi'A,' ifet it kffortj^fev^
hinbfical ‘‘èpèdiS 1 feXCept which hawt^eesr ali-éidy fnen^o'ffêd iii
gèügmpAY^ The hlftè^^fcapfcüak^nM'^ffie'Kingdom
of'Aftraca*iï^ 'b€forgland’,,hfi'er tnefmhfqüêft5ofThé obtcurè'
and uniriïêrèftiiig. ?n0r ckiV that of Gazan 'óf’K'azana more’ northern”
arid1‘barfearöus ftate, claim fupéfiör at-tëfiïföB. TKWëïtji ‘pf K^zan'was
büïlt in 12^7, and becameThèTfi'piM’óf aTfitialI iri'depëfi^ën$M6ffgfiI pfim-
cipality, partly in Europe tftrf p&ttly irf Afk, A. t). 1441. The Rüffiatls'
afteff That they'poffelFed Altracarf~ Beför^Théafi vhfibn öfThh^Iönguls
in the thirteenth céötury; but While k^en' this is^öMbtnïl, bthéF ‘pkrtk,
öf the • hiftbry of Afiëttrc Rtiffia eattnot bé ffippdfed'teM&é Verykdfeahy-
The ïë^difitions on the frontiers öf Türkey and Perfra a're’fêcént and
Well known béVetots.;
• • As rhe Ruffian’empire ïn Afik BördtefsTor a .great extent üpbiï'Cfli-
néfoT'aferyj1b#‘ratltóf4he Mori^ijs-.aald Mandffiurs, who acknowledge
the -próteétio» andfuptettraöyfof China, it may be proper hèfofocdm-4
memorate -a few events vffiich haVe .airifen from this proximity.' It has
already been bbfefved tHaf-abóüt the midÖfeh’èf'the; feventeeïith century
the Ruffians had advanced toThe river Amur ; here,they fübdüet} fofcfre-
Tungufian .tribes, and built foffte fmall fortreffes. The'lGhinefe monarch
Gamhi having formed a fimilar defign-, the two 'grèat powers?*
unavoidably clafhed; open hoftilities eomménced-ia’bout 16®jsS|and the
i-Chinefe deftroyed the Ruffian, forts» In Auguft ^689* the treaty;®£ Ner-
ffiinlk, fo called from the töWn' in Daourla, was ftg'netl hy the Ruffian
and Chinefe plenipotentiaries^, and the limits ipecified kerk a. Ah am'of
mêüntains! far to the north, pf, the Amur, and thèfource of the fmall river
Goxbitza, thence to where that riyer, join'stthe, Amur, and Iaftly-alpng
• Capfchak once fpread through die whole Mongul conqueffis in Mufcovy, including the Cri-
mea, Aftracan, Cazan and ICipzak on the N. of the Cafpian.
■ f The curious genealogical hiftory of the Tatars by Abulgiifi.-Chan- gives little inform,
ation concerning the northern dynafties. The inanufcript was-brought from Siberia by Baron
Strahlenherg, one o f the Swédifti prifonera, and the French trariflation, t publifhe.d • 1726, is faid to . *
be by one D e Verannes, but perhaps by M. Bentink. The long: and inftrattiye notes by M. Ben- ,
tink were colIeSed apart, and form the defcription of Tatary in the Reeueil des Voyages du Nord,
tome x, and the Hiftoire Generale des Voyages, tome yii. '
8* : • : . ■ ' - the
Hiftorical '
Epochs.