Dmitry Ivanovich Pavlutsky (; died 21 March 1747) was a Russian polar explorer and leader of military expeditions in Chukotka, best known for his campaigns against the indigenous

Chukchi people The Chukchi, or Chukchee (, ''ḷygʺoravètḷʹèt, o'ravètḷʹèt''), are a Siberian ethnic group native to the Chukchi Peninsula, the shores of the Chukchi Sea and the Bering Sea region of the Arctic Ocean all within modern Russia. They s ...

. As early as 1641, Russian explorers came into contact with the Chukchi. The Russians showed little interest in the region until the late 17th century, when the potential wealth gained from reaching North America became known. However, expeditions to the Bering Strait were often attacked by the indigenous peoples inhabiting the region. In 1725, Tsar

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

ordered a Russian military expedition to conquer the Chukchi, but the expedition failed and its commander, Major Afanasy Shestakov (Афанасий Шестаков), was killed in March 1730 near the Paren River. Another expedition was ordered in 1731, this time led by Major Pavlutsky, who became feared by the Chukchi for his brutal punitive expeditions, using destructive tactics such wholesale slaughter, the burning of villages, driving off reindeer, and capturing women and children. The Chuvans, Koryaks, and Yukagirs eventually pledged loyalty to the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

and asked for protection against the Chukchi. On 12 March 1747, a party of 500 Chukchi warriors raided the Russian stockade of Anadyrsk. Pavlutsky's regiment of 131 men, consisting of 96 Cossacks and 35 Koryak allies, set off in pursuit, catching up with the Chuchki near the settlement of Markovo. Pavlutsky ordered an attack despite lacking reinforcements, and his outnumbered regiment was defeated in a battle reminiscent of the

Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota people, Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Si ...

. Pavlutsky, wearing iron

chain mail Mail (sometimes spelled maille and, since the 18th century, colloquially referred to as chain mail, chainmail or chain-mail) is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. It was in common milita ...

armor, was able to escape the field unhurt but was surrounded on a small nearby hill (now called Major's Hill) and killed. His head was reportedly cut off and kept by the Chukchi for years afterward. Pavlutsky's body is buried in Yakutsk. By 1750 it had become clear the Chukchi would be difficult to conquer.

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

changed tactics, making formal peace with them in 1778. The Chukchi entered into peaceful trade with the Russians, and from 1788 onward there was an annual trade fair on the lower Kolyma. Although the Russian Empire declared the whole of Siberia subdued by the late 18th century, the Chukchi refused to accept Russian overlordship until after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

in 1917.

References

Military leaders of the Russian Empire 18th-century explorers from the Russian Empire 1747 deaths 18th-century military personnel from the Russian Empire Imperial Russian Army personnel Russian military personnel killed in action Year of birth unknown {{Russia-mil-bio-stub

See also

References