56-765: Nikolay Mikhaylovich Przhevalsky (or Prjevalsky ; 12 April [ O.S. 31 March] 1839 – 1 November [ O.S. 20 October] 1888) was a Russian spy and a renowned explorer of Central and East Asia . Although he never reached his ultimate goal, the city of Lhasa in Tibet , he still travelled through regions then unknown to Westerners, such as northern Tibet (modern Tibet Autonomous Region ), Amdo (now Qinghai ) and Dzungaria (now northern Xinjiang ). He contributed substantially to European knowledge of Central Asian geography. Przhevalsky described several species previously unknown to European science, such as Przewalski's horse , Przewalski's gazelle , and
112-589: A Russian explorer who collected a specimen and brought it back to St. Petersburg in 1875. Przewalski's gazelles are relatively small, slender antelopes with large eyes and short, pointed ears. The nasal bones are relatively large, suggesting an adaptation to the thin air of the Tibetan plateau. They have a head and body length of 109 to 160 cm (43 to 63 in), a shoulder height of 50 to 70 cm (20 to 28 in), and weigh between 17 and 32 kg (37 and 71 lb). Males are generally larger and heavier than
168-623: A calendar change, respectively. Usually, they refer to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 1582 and 1923. In England , Wales , Ireland and Britain's American colonies , there were two calendar changes, both in 1752. The first adjusted the start of a new year from 25 March ( Lady Day , the Feast of the Annunciation ) to 1 January,
224-574: A carbine in one hand, a whip in the other." Przhevalsky, as well as other contemporary explorers including Sven Hedin , Francis Younghusband , and Aurel Stein , were active players in the British–Russian struggle for influence in Central Asia, the so-called Great Game . Here you can penetrate anywhere, only not with the Gospels under your arm, but with money in your pocket, a carbine in one hand and
280-535: A change which Scotland had made in 1600. The second discarded the Julian calendar in favour of the Gregorian calendar, skipping 11 days in the month of September to do so. To accommodate the two calendar changes, writers used dual dating to identify a given day by giving its date according to both styles of dating. For countries such as Russia where no start-of-year adjustment took place, O.S. and N.S. simply indicate
336-454: A letter dated "12/22 Dec. 1635". In his biography of John Dee , The Queen's Conjurer , Benjamin Woolley surmises that because Dee fought unsuccessfully for England to embrace the 1583/84 date set for the change, "England remained outside the Gregorian system for a further 170 years, communications during that period customarily carrying two dates". In contrast, Thomas Jefferson , who lived while
392-427: A related species allow for larger herds, which may help protect both species from predators. The gazelle usually travels in small groups, with rarely more than a dozen individuals, although much larger herds were reported in the 19th century, when the overall population was higher. Males are often solitary or travel in small groups of two or three individuals for much of the year, but gather together in small herds with
448-878: A start-of-year adjustment works well with little confusion for events before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar. For example, the Battle of Agincourt is well known to have been fought on 25 October 1415, which is Saint Crispin's Day . However, for the period between the first introduction of the Gregorian calendar on 15 October 1582 and its introduction in Britain on 14 September 1752, there can be considerable confusion between events in Continental Western Europe and in British domains. Events in Continental Western Europe are usually reported in English-language histories by using
504-522: A whip in the other. Europeans must use these to come and bear away in the name of civilisation all these dregs of the human race. A thousand of our soldiers would be enough to subdue all Asia from Lake Baykal to the Himalayas....Here the exploits of Cortez can still be repeated. Przhevalsky's prejudice extended to non-Chinese Asians as well, describing the Tajik Yaqub Beg in a letter as follows, "Yakub Beg
560-424: A year after his premature death, Mikhail Pevtsov succeeded Przhevalsky at the head of his expedition into the remote parts of Central Asia. Przhevalsky's work also inspired the career of Pyotr Kozlov . There is another place named after Przhevalsky: he had lived in a small village called Sloboda, Smolensk Oblast , Russia from 1881 to 1887 (except the period of his travels) and he apparently loved it. The village
616-526: Is 9 February 1649, the date by which his contemporaries in some parts of continental Europe would have recorded his execution. The O.S./N.S. designation is particularly relevant for dates which fall between the start of the "historical year" (1 January) and the legal start date, where different. This was 25 March in England, Wales, Ireland and the colonies until 1752, and until 1600 in Scotland. In Britain, 1 January
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#1732848450120672-401: Is dedicated all of my life. As soon as I write everything necessary, I will return to the desert...where I will be much happier than in the gilded salons that can be acquired by marriage". There is an urban legend that Joseph Stalin was an illegitimate son of Nikolay Przhevalsky. The legend is based on the facial similarity of both men, Stalin's official birthdate controversy (claims that he
728-407: Is followed by a brief copulation . Gestation lasts around six months, so that the young are born around May or June. The mother gives birth to a single offspring, usually in thickets or areas of tall grass, where they can be concealed from potential predators. The young are able to follow their mother within a few minutes of birth, although they may remain concealed for a few days before rejoining
784-486: Is intermediate in size between the other two species, and can most easily be distinguished from them by the shape of its horns. Until the early 20th century, Przewalski's gazelle was widespread across the high plateaus of northwestern China and Inner Mongolia . However, it is now found only in a single small area around Qinghai Lake , having been extirpated across the great majority of its former range. It inhabits flat open valleys and steppeland between mountains, and
840-499: Is the same shit as all feckless Asiatics. The Kashgarian empire isn't worth a kopek." Przhevalsky also claimed Yaqub was "Nothing more than a political impostor," and also disdained the Muslim subjects of Yaqub Beg in Kashgar , claiming that they "constantly cursed their government and expressed their desire to become Russian subjects. [...] The savage Asiatic clearly understands Russian power is
896-781: The Juyan Lake Basin . In the following years he made four journeys to Central Asia : During his expedition, the Dungan Revolt (1862–77) was raging in China. The journey provided the General Staff with important intelligence on a Muslim uprising in the kingdom of Yaqub Beg in western China , and his lecture to the Russian Imperial Geographical Society was received with "thunderous applause" from an overflow audience. The Russian newspaper Golos Prikazchika called
952-592: The Russian Empire and the very beginning of Soviet Russia . For example, in the article "The October (November) Revolution", the Encyclopædia Britannica uses the format of "25 October (7 November, New Style)" to describe the date of the start of the revolution. The Latin equivalents, which are used in many languages, are, on the one hand, stili veteris (genitive) or stilo vetere (ablative), abbreviated st.v. , and meaning "(of/in) old style" ; and, on
1008-484: The Tula Governorate . Nikolay's mother, Elena Alekseevna Karetnikova, married poruchick Mikhail Kuzmitch Przhevalsky whose Cossack ancestors inherited the noble szlachta state from Stephen Báthory , and his grandfather converted from Catholicism to Orthodoxy . According to the latest research by Liudmila K. Przhevalskaia, their earliest known ancestor Onisim (Anisim) Pereval (Perevalka, Perevalskii) belonged to
1064-619: The wild Bactrian camel , all of which are now endangered . He was also a mentor of the explorer Pyotr Kozlov . Przhevalsky was born in the Kimborovo family estate (in the Smolensky Uyezd of the Smolensk Governorate of the Russian Empire ) which belonged to his grandfather from his mother's side, a Russian nobleman Aleksei Stepanovich Karetnikov, and his wife Ksenia Davydovna Karetnikova who came from local merchants, both natives of
1120-532: The " Oriental "— particularly Chinese civilization. Przhevalsky explicitly portrayed Chinese people as cowardly, dirty and lazy in his metaphor, "the blend of a mean Moscow pilferer and a kike ", in all respects inferior to Western culture . He purportedly argued that imperial China's hold on its northern territories, in particular Xinjiang and Mongolia , was tenuous and uncertain, and Przhevalsky openly called for Russia's annexation of bits and pieces of China's territory. Przhevalsky said one should explore Asia "with
1176-473: The 19th century, a practice that the author Karen Bellenir considered to reveal a deep emotional resistance to calendar reform. Przewalski%27s gazelle Przewalski's gazelle ( Procapra przewalskii ) is a member of the family Bovidae , and in the wild, is found only in China . Once widespread, its range has declined to six populations near Qinghai Lake . The gazelle was named after Nikolai Przhevalsky ,
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#17328484501201232-532: The 4th century , had drifted from reality . The Gregorian calendar reform also dealt with the accumulated difference between these figures, between the years 325 and 1582, by skipping 10 days to set the ecclesiastical date of the equinox to be 21 March, the median date of its occurrence at the time of the First Council of Nicea in 325. Countries that adopted the Gregorian calendar after 1699 needed to skip an additional day for each subsequent new century that
1288-579: The Boyne was commemorated with smaller parades on 1 July. However, both events were combined in the late 18th century, and continue to be celebrated as " The Twelfth ". Because of the differences, British writers and their correspondents often employed two dates, a practice called dual dating , more or less automatically. Letters concerning diplomacy and international trade thus sometimes bore both Julian and Gregorian dates to prevent confusion. For example, Sir William Boswell wrote to Sir John Coke from The Hague
1344-455: The British Isles and colonies converted to the Gregorian calendar, instructed that his tombstone bear his date of birth by using the Julian calendar (notated O.S. for Old Style) and his date of death by using the Gregorian calendar. At Jefferson's birth, the difference was eleven days between the Julian and Gregorian calendars and so his birthday of 2 April in the Julian calendar is 13 April in
1400-410: The British colonies, changed the start of the year from 25 March to 1 January, with effect from "the day after 31 December 1751". (Scotland had already made this aspect of the changes, on 1 January 1600.) The second (in effect ) adopted the Gregorian calendar in place of the Julian calendar. Thus "New Style" can refer to the start-of-year adjustment , to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar , or to
1456-562: The Buddhist and Muslim peoples in these areas of China against the Chinese regime, start a war with China, and, with a small number of Russian troops, wrest control of Turkestan from China. Przhevalsky is known to have had a personal relationship with Tasya Nuromskaya, whom he met in Smolensk . According to one legend, during their last meeting Nuromskaya cut off her braid and gave it to him, saying that
1512-600: The Communist party career, especially in its highest echelon , was troublesome for the noble blood people, who claimed a hoi polloi origin. There were unsubstantiated claims that certain 1881 paycheck ledger contained brief notes on money transfer from Przhevalsky to Stalin's mother; however, Przhevalsky's visits to Georgia are not recorded, and G. Egnatashvili, a family friend of the Jughashvilis, did not recollect anything which could possibly substantiate those claims. During
1568-612: The Gregorian calendar. For example, the Battle of Blenheim is always given as 13 August 1704. However, confusion occurs when an event involves both. For example, William III of England arrived at Brixham in England on 5 November (Julian calendar), after he had set sail from the Netherlands on 11 November (Gregorian calendar) 1688. The Battle of the Boyne in Ireland took place a few months later on 1 July 1690 (Julian calendar). That maps to 11 July (Gregorian calendar), conveniently close to
1624-466: The Gregorian calendar. Similarly, George Washington is now officially reported as having been born on 22 February 1732, rather than on 11 February 1731/32 (Julian calendar). The philosopher Jeremy Bentham , born on 4 February 1747/8 (Julian calendar), in later life celebrated his birthday on 15 February. There is some evidence that the calendar change was not easily accepted. Many British people continued to celebrate their holidays "Old Style" well into
1680-430: The Julian and Gregorian dating systems respectively. The need to correct the calendar arose from the realisation that the correct figure for the number of days in a year is not 365.25 (365 days 6 hours) as assumed by the Julian calendar but slightly less (c. 365.242 days). The Julian calendar therefore has too many leap years . The consequence was that the basis for the calculation of the date of Easter , as decided in
1736-564: The Julian calendar had added since then. When the British Empire did so in 1752, the gap had grown to eleven days; when Russia did so (as its civil calendar ) in 1918, thirteen days needed to be skipped. In the Kingdom of Great Britain and its possessions, the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750 introduced two concurrent changes to the calendar. The first, which applied to England, Wales, Ireland and
Nikolay Przhevalsky - Misplaced Pages Continue
1792-510: The Julian date of the subsequent (and more decisive) Battle of Aughrim on 12 July 1691 (Julian). The latter battle was commemorated annually throughout the 18th century on 12 July, following the usual historical convention of commemorating events of that period within Great Britain and Ireland by mapping the Julian date directly onto the modern Gregorian calendar date (as happens, for example, with Guy Fawkes Night on 5 November). The Battle of
1848-617: The Russian–Chinese frontier. This was his first important expedition. It lasted two years, after which Przhevalsky published a diary of his expedition under the title, Travels in the Ussuri Region, 1867–69 . His most well-known follower and student was Pyotr Kozlov , who discovered the ruins of the Tangut city Khara-Khoto in the Ejin Banner of Alxa League in western Inner Mongolia near
1904-797: The Stalin era, any talk concerning his ancestry and childhood was a public taboo ; the ferocity, with which the legend was debunked after the Stalin's death with the entire monographs written in order to disprove the myth up until the 2010s, also was considered by some as a further proof of veracity of the Przhevalsky's alleged one-night-stand theory. A humorously developed version of this legend appears in The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin (Book Three) by Vladimir Voinovich . Old Style and New Style dates Old Style ( O.S. ) and New Style ( N.S. ) indicate dating systems before and after
1960-497: The beginning of his fifth journey, at Karakol on the shore of Issyk Kul in present-day Kyrgyzstan . He contracted typhoid from the Chu River , which was acknowledged as being infected with the disease. The Tsar immediately changed the name of the town to Przhevalsk . There are monuments to him, and a museum about his life and work there and another monument in St. Petersburg. Less than
2016-412: The braid would travel with him until their marriage. She died of a sunstroke while Przhevalsky was on an expedition. Another woman in Przhevalsky's life was a mysterious young lady whose portrait, along with a fragment of poetry, was found in Przhevalsky's album. In the poem, she asks him to stay with her and not to go to Tibet, to which he responded in his diary: "I will never betray the ideal, to which
2072-486: The combination of the two. It was through their use in the Calendar Act that the notations "Old Style" and "New Style" came into common usage. When recording British history, it is usual to quote the date as originally recorded at the time of the event, but with the year number adjusted to start on 1 January. The latter adjustment may be needed because the start of the civil calendar year had not always been 1 January and
2128-533: The end of the following December, 1661/62 , a form of dual dating to indicate that in the following twelve weeks or so, the year was 1661 Old Style but 1662 New Style. Some more modern sources, often more academic ones (e.g. the History of Parliament ) also use the 1661/62 style for the period between 1 January and 24 March for years before the introduction of the New Style calendar in England. The Gregorian calendar
2184-519: The eyes and curve inwards at the tips; in younger males, the tips may actually touch, but they diverge as the animal ages. In the adult, the horns reach 18 to 26 cm (7.1 to 10.2 in) in length. The females are hornless. Przewalski's gazelle is similar in appearance to both the Tibetan gazelle and the Mongolian gazelle , to both of which it is closely related, and occurs in similar geographic areas. It
2240-441: The family Solanaceae . His name is eponymic with more than 80 plant species as well. Przhevalsky is honoured in the scientific names of five species of lizards: Alsophylax przewalskii , Eremias przewalskii , Phrynocephalus przewalskii , Scincella przewalskii , and Teratoscincus przewalskii . According to David Schimmelpenninck Van Der Oye's assessment, Przhevalsky's books on Central Asia feature his disdain for
2296-444: The females during the winter rut . Przewalski's gazelles are generally quiet, but have been reported to make short bleating sounds. Przewalski's gazelles rut from late December to early January. Males scent mark small territories and clash with rivals, fighting with their horns. Females have also been observed fighting for access to males. Courtship consists of the male moving towards the female while standing on his hind legs, and
Nikolay Przhevalsky - Misplaced Pages Continue
2352-510: The females. The tail is short, measuring only 7 to 10 cm (2.8 to 3.9 in), and is often entirely hidden by fur. The animal is yellowish brown with a white underside and a white heart-shaped patch on its rump, partially bisected by a light brown vertical line. Males are darker in colour than females, and the coat of both sexes is more noticeably greyish in winter. The fur lacks an undercoat, consisting only of dense guard hairs. Male Przewalski's gazelles have ridged horns , which rise between
2408-682: The guarantee for prosperity." These statements were made in a report in which Przhevalsky recommended that Russian troops occupy the Kashgarian emirate, but the Russian government took no action, and China recaptured Kashgar. Przhevalsky's dreams of taking land from China did not materialize. Przhevalsky not only disdained Chinese ethnic groups, he also viewed the eight million non-Chinese peoples of Tibet, Turkestan, and Mongolia as uncivilized, evolutionarily backwards people who needed to be freed from Chinese rule. Przhevalsky proposed Russia provoke rebellions of
2464-405: The herd. Females become fertile during their second year, around 18 months of age. The lifespan of Przewalski's gazelles is unknown, although based on that of related species, it is probably around eight years. Przewalski's gazelle is perhaps one of the most endangered species of large mammal on Earth. The many threats against the species include competition with domestic livestock and fencing of
2520-668: The horse-owning middle class of Vitebsk . Przhevalsky studied in the military academy in St. Petersburg . In 1864, he became a geography teacher at the military school in Warsaw . In 1867, he successfully petitioned the Russian Geographical Society to be dispatched to Irkutsk , in central Siberia . His intention was to explore the basin of the Ussuri River , a major tributary of the Amur on
2576-415: The journey "one of the most daring of our time". The results of these expanded journeys opened a new era for the study of Central Asian geography as well as studies of the fauna and flora of this immense region that were relatively unknown to his Western contemporaries. Among other things, he described Przewalski's horse and Przewalski's gazelle , which were both named after him. He also described what
2632-456: The natural habitat. These problems have become exacerbated as the area is increasingly developed as agricultural land. While now protected by Chinese law, and illegal hunting no longer is considered an important factor, a large percentage of the habitat of this species has already been lost due to human activities. Consequently, it is considered to be an endangered species by the IUCN . Formerly, it
2688-452: The other, stili novi or stilo novo , abbreviated st.n. and meaning "(of/in) new style". The Latin abbreviations may be capitalised differently by different users, e.g., St.n. or St.N. for stili novi . There are equivalents for these terms in other languages as well, such as the German a.St. (" alter Stil " for O.S.). Usually, the mapping of New Style dates onto Old Style dates with
2744-440: The sand dunes and semi-desert zones around lakes. Two sub-species have been described, although one is now believed to be extinct : The preferred diet of Pzewalski's gazelles consists of sedges and grasses , supplemented by herbs and shrubs such as Astragalus . They are often found foraging together with Tibetan gazelles, but do not compete for resources because the latter animal prefers legumes . Such associations with
2800-474: Was altered at different times in different countries. From 1155 to 1752, the civil or legal year in England began on 25 March ( Lady Day ); so for example, the execution of Charles I was recorded at the time in Parliament as happening on 30 January 164 8 (Old Style). In newer English-language texts, this date is usually shown as "30 January 164 9 " (New Style). The corresponding date in the Gregorian calendar
2856-519: Was born on 6 December 1878 instead of 21 December 1879), and that the late Stalin era saw a resurrection of interest to the personality of Przhevalsky. Numerous books and monographs were published in the Soviet Union and satellite Communist countries , which was a rare occurrence in regard to the Tsarist-era scientists, and Soviet encyclopedias portrayed Przhevalsky in sharp similarity to Stalin, which
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#17328484501202912-587: Was celebrated as the New Year festival from as early as the 13th century, despite the recorded (civil) year not incrementing until 25 March, but the "year starting 25th March was called the Civil or Legal Year, although the phrase Old Style was more commonly used". To reduce misunderstandings about the date, it was normal even in semi-official documents such as parish registers to place a statutory new-year heading after 24 March (for example "1661") and another heading from
2968-545: Was implemented in Russia on 14 February 1918 by dropping the Julian dates of 1–13 February 1918 , pursuant to a Sovnarkom decree signed 24 January 1918 (Julian) by Vladimir Lenin . The decree required that the Julian date was to be written in parentheses after the Gregorian date, until 1 July 1918. It is common in English-language publications to use the familiar Old Style or New Style terms to discuss events and personalities in other countries, especially with reference to
3024-423: Was renamed after him in 1964 and is now called Przhevalskoye . There is a memorial complex there that includes the old and new houses of Nikolay Przhevalsky, his bust, pond, garden, birch alleys, and khatka (a lodge, watch-house). This is the only museum of the famous traveler in Russia. Przhevalsky is commemorated by Maxim. in the naming of Przewalskia , a genus of flowering plants from Asia, belonging to
3080-446: Was rumored that in such a discrete manner Stalin was paying a homage to his alleged biological father. M. Khachaturova, a Tbilisi resident, who happened to know an unnamed old lady, the original bearer of the secret, was considered to be a whistleblower of the myth about Stalin's mother's alleged promiscuity. Przhevalsky's diary, if it ever existed, was rumored to disappear from archives during the early days of Stalin's ascent to power as
3136-773: Was then considered to be a wild population of Bactrian camel . In the 21st century, the Wild Bactrian camel was shown to be a separate species from the domestic Bactrian camel. Przhevalsky's writings include five major books written in Russian and two English translations: Mongolia, the Tangut Country, and the Solitudes of Northern Tibet [1] (1875) and From Kulja , Across the Tian Shan to Lob-Nor (1879). The Royal Geographical Society awarded him their Founder's Medal in 1879 for his work. Przhevalsky died of typhus not long before
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