Who Discovered the Bering Strait? Naturally, a Russian navigator of Danish origin Vitus Bering. But, as is the case with many great discoveries, history tends to forget the pioneers. Cossack ataman Semyon Dezhnev walked along the entire length of the then unnamed strait 80 years before Bering's journey, with only a handful of loyal people and small wooden ships. But he managed to become famous not only for this.
ATAMAN AND DIPLOMAT
Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnev was born in 1605. After becoming ataman, he was engaged in one of the most unpopular professions in the world - tax collection. Or rather, tribute, the so-called "yasak", from the indigenous peoples of Siberia. Formally, numerous Siberian tribes were part of the Russian kingdom, but in practice many of them did not recognize the tsar's authority over themselves and refused to replenish the state treasury. Therefore, to collect tribute, mainly consisting of sable, fox, marten, beaver and other furs, heavily armed detachments, usually Cossacks, were sent. Those who refused to pay were “pacified” by force - if possible, with little blood, but it happened in different ways. They also took hostages, "amanats", which forced even the most rebellious to surrender furs.
Such a practice, of course, widely promoted banditry and arbitrariness, but oddly enough, even among the dashing Cossacks there were many honest people who did not put profit before duty. Semyon Dezhnev was just such. He collected tribute fairly, as they wrote about him - "he himself ate deciduous bark, and did not crowd or rob the people there." Like Yermak once, he preferred to skillfully use diplomacy instead of saber rattling. In 1640, for example, Dezhnev was able to reconcile two long-warring Yakut tribes on the Tatt and Amga rivers, and then set off to collect tribute from the warlike prince of the Kangalas tribe, Sakheya. It should be noted here that before Dezhnev's visit, Sakhei not only refused to pay tribute, but also managed to kill two Cossack chieftains, successfully defending himself in impenetrable forests from the best warriors of the Yakut voivode Pyotr Golovin. And so,Semyon Dezhnev went on a truly suicidal mission to Sakhei, who was grinning all over the world, on a truly suicidal mission … About which he briefly reported, they say, he took from Prince Sakhei, his children and relatives one hundred and forty sables. Without killing or dying himself. How? Convinced? Scared? This is known only to Semyon himself and the proud Sakhei, but they preferred to keep it a secret.
STUFFER BERING
The discovery of the Bering Strait was not, and could not be perceived by Dezhnev and his people as an act of real greatness. In general, they did not even know that it was a strait, and not just the eastern coast of their native lands. Initially, in 1647, and then in 1648, the Cossacks organized a large march to the east, to the legendary Anadyr (Pochyga) river. There they expected to find a lot of "unkempt people", i.e. tribes with not yet collected tribute, silver and precious walrus bone. The organization was handled by Fedot Popov, a clerk of one of the prominent Moscow merchants, he also appointed Dezhnev in charge of collecting yasak. Moreover, after an unsuccessful start in 1647, Popov had a competitor - the Cossack Gerasim Ankudinov, who wanted to explore the tasty lands himself. After mutual accusations, Dezhnev was able to find a common language with Ankudinov and the two detachments united.
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The expedition went on special ships of Siberian explorers - kochas, perfectly adapted for sailing in ice. Kochi were built of wood, without the use of metal, and were reinforced with additional thick cladding that protected the sides from abrasion by ice. Ninety people on seven koch went on a hike at the beginning of summer, but luck did not favor them. Two ships crashed, three went missing, the remaining two were scattered by a violent storm. On one was the head of the expedition Popov and the Cossack Ankudinov, on the other - Dezhnev. Dezhnev survived with a detachment, in which only twelve people remained, Popov and his people died in a battle with the Karyaks. Nevertheless, over the past two years, the Dezhnev Cossacks passed by sea past the Bolshoy Kamenny Nose - a rock mass up to 800 meters high, the extreme eastern point of the Chukchi Peninsula, survived a monstrous hungry winter,built new ships, took yasak from the locals with battle and were able to transfer it overland to the treasury.
The supposed fabulous wealth of the Anadyr River turned out to be significantly exaggerated. Its waters, according to Dezhnev's description, were filled with red fish, but there was almost no valuable forest along the banks, tundra and stone predominated. Local tribes had almost no sables and were not eager to share the tribute. Nevertheless, in 1654, the treasure was still discovered - huge deposits of walrus bones in an old rookery. For Dezhnev, such a find was much more pleasant than the entire previous campaign and the most important geographical discoveries. That did not prevent him from carefully drawing up "drawings", i.e. maps the area of Anadyr and its environs and write reports that now have colossal historical significance.
YAKUTSK LOVE
Connected with Semyon Dezhnev and one legend - oddly enough, thoroughly romantic. The fact is that the first wife of the Cossack, Abakayada Syuchu, was from the Yakuts. She gave birth to his son Lyubim, who became the “first Sakhalar”, a descendant of the Yakut and Russian ethnic groups. Dezhnev, Abakayade and Lyubim in Yakutsk in 2005 unveiled a monument, where they are all depicted as a happy loving family. Around the same time, heated disputes flared up around the personality of Abakayada and her relationship with Dezhnev. Critics argued that the girl was not at all the legal wife of the Cossack and the pioneer, but was simply taken by force and thrown for many years, and only his son Dezhnev then took into care.
The truth in this story is difficult to find, since documents in those days in Siberia were kept, to put it mildly, a little. But some still existed - namely, a petition written personally by Dezhnev, in which he asked the tsar to take the Yakut woman as his legal wife. But then the Cossack's campaign to the east dragged on, and the girl died without waiting for her husband. Researchers who studied the legends of Siberia tried to determine her personality. One of the stories led to the Borogon Yakut Onokoy, a rich man who had nine sons and an only daughter. In 1641, in that area, priests baptized the wives of serving people, including Abakayada, the wife of Dezhnev. Before the campaign, Semyon Ivanovich left his wife with Onokoy, her father, hoping to return in a couple of years … and disappearing for almost two decades. Such is the Siberian odyssey, sad, but still not devoid of romance.
Although the strait between Asia and America was named after Bering, it cannot be said that history has left Dezhnev unknown. Bolshoi Kamenny Nose, later named Cape Vostochny, was renamed Cape Dezhnev in 1898. In his honor are named: an island in the Laptev Sea, a bay in the Barents Sea, a glacier, a village and a dozen streets in Russian cities. The feat of the Cossack, who managed to pass through unknown land, ocean, ice and hostile tribes, is honored no less than three and a half centuries ago. Dezhnev was driven by great courage, great wisdom and love for his native land - qualities that are irreplaceable at all times.
Sergey Evtushenko