Maksim Perfilyev ( (b. 1580 – d. 1638) was a

Cossack The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Rus ...

explorer of

Eastern Siberia Eastern Siberia is a part of Siberia that incorporates the territory located between the Yenisei River in the west and the Pacific Ocean divides in the east. Its area is equal to 7.2 million sq. km.Galina Samoylova (Г. С. Самойлова)В� ...

and the first Russian to reach Transbaikalia. He was renowned for his diplomatic skills in negotiations with Tunguses,

Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...

and Chinese. In 1618–19 Perfilyev was co-founder of Yeniseysky ostrog, the first Russian fort at the central part of the great

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

n river

Yenisey The Yenisey or Yenisei ( ; , ) is the list of rivers by length, fifth-longest river system in the world, and the largest to drain into the Arctic Ocean. Rising in Mungaragiyn-gol in Mongolia, it follows a northerly course through Lake Baikal a ...

, a major starting point for further expeditions eastward. Siberiariverroutemap

From 1618–27 he made several journeys on the Angara and Ilim rivers, and built several new ostrogs. In 1631 he founded

Bratsk Bratsk (, ; ) is a Types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Angara, Angara River near the vast Bratsk Reservoir. It had population of . Etymology The name of the city, which is from the same ro ...

y ostrog (modern Bratsk). In 1639–40 he sailed up the Vitim River as far as the Tsipa thereby becoming the first Russian to enter Transbaikalia, then known as Dauria. Perfilyev gave his name to the village of Maksimovschina, where on the banks of the Irkut River were his hunting lands. Maksimikha Bay on

Lake Baikal Lake Baikal is a rift lake and the deepest lake in the world. It is situated in southern Siberia, Russia between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, Irkutsk Oblasts of Russia, Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...

(part of the larger Barguzin Bay) and Cape Maksimin in that bay, as well as the nearby Maksimikha village are also named after him. He was the first settler in Maksimikha, where he lived with his wife from

Buryat people The Buryats are a Mongolic peoples, Mongolic ethnic group native to southeastern Siberia who speak the Buryat language. They are one of the two largest indigenous groups in Siberia, the other being the Yakuts. The majority of the Buryats today l ...

. His son Ivan Maksimovich Perfilyev was also a famous voevoda and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

in Siberia.

References

External links

The Perfilyevs family

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perfilyev, Maksim 17th-century Russian explorers Diplomats for the Tsardom of Russia Explorers of Siberia Russian Cossacks 17th-century Russian people 1580 births 1638 deaths