Nikolay Mikhailovich Przhevalsky

Nikolay Mikhailovich Przhevalsky (1839-1888), Russian explorer who contributed vastly to European knowledge of eastern Central Asia. From 1867 until his death, he journeyed in Mongolia, Turkistan, and Tibet. At the time, his expeditions were secretive, as they were undertaken as part of the Russian struggle with Britain for control of Central Asia—the so-called Great Game. Przhevalsky was noted more for his collections of plants and animals than for his surveys. He discovered the wild camel and the only surviving species of wild horse, called Przewalski's wild horse (Equus caballus przewalskii). Przhevalsky published lively, descriptive, and detailed accounts of his travels.

He made four important journeys. On the first, undertaken from 1870 to 1872, he set out from the Lake Baikal area. Przhevalsky traveled through Mongolia and across the Gobi Desert to reach Zhangjiakou, located at a gate in the Great Wall of China. He returned through Mongolia and reached the lake Qinghai Hu. The onset of winter prevented him from attaining his goal of reaching the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, about 1100 km (about 700 mi) away. The second journey, in 1876, began in westernmost Xinjiang Province (now Xinjiang Ugyur Autonomous Region), China. Przhevalsky traveled southeast across the Tian Shan mountains and the Takla Makan Desert, again attempting to approach Lhasa. On the way he saw and surveyed the lake Lop Nur and the Altun Shan range, which prevented further progress. His third journey, in 1879, brought him to a point 270 km (170 mi) from Lhasa. His camp was attacked by Tibetan guards acting on the rumor, spread by the Chinese, that he was intent on capturing Tibet’s ruler, the Dalai Lama. On the return Przhevalsky went south of Qinghai Hu and again across the Gobi. On his fourth trip, Przhevalsky set out from Urga (now Ulaanbaatar), Mongolia, in 1883, crossed Western Turkistan, and visited Ysyk-köl in the Tian Shan, one of the largest mountain lakes in the world.