Nikolay Fyodorovich Petrovsky (; 1837–1908) was the

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

consul-general A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

Kashgar Kashgar () or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is a city in the Tarim Basin region of southern Xinjiang, China. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, located near the country's border with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. For over 2,000 years, Kashgar ...

from 1882 until 1902. Petrovsky's main adversary during his time in Central Asia was George Macartney, his British counterpart. The competition between their two countries for influence in

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

is known as the

Great Game The Great Game was a rivalry between the 19th-century British Empire, British and Russian Empire, Russian empires over influence in Central Asia, primarily in Emirate of Afghanistan, Afghanistan, Qajar Iran, Persia, and Tibet. The two colonia ...

. Between 1899 and June 1902 the two did not speak to each other, although both were on friendly terms with visiting travellers such as

Sven Hedin Sven Anders Hedin, KNO1kl RVO,Wennerholm, Eric (1978) ''Sven Hedin – En biografi'', Bonniers, Stockholm (19 February 1865 – 26 November 1952) was a Swedish geographer, topographer, explorer, photographer, travel writer and illustrator ...

. Petrovsky was very interested in collecting materials on the

history of Xinjiang Xinjiang consists of two main regions, geographically separated by the Tianshan Mountains, which are historically and ethnically distinct: Dzungaria to the north, and the Tarim Basin (currently mainly inhabited by the Uyghur people, Uyghurs) t ...

. The Soviet scholar A.F. Usmanov suggested that he may have been instrumental in encouraging the veteran of

Yaqub Beg Muhammad Yakub Beg (30 May 1877), later known as Yakub Padishah, was the Kokandi ruler of Yettishar (Kashgaria), a state he established in Xinjiang from 1865 to 1877. He was recognized as Emir of Yettishar by the Ottoman Empire and held the ...

's regime, Mulla

Musa Sayrami Mulla Musa Sayrami (; ; 1836–1917) was a historian from Xinjiang, known for his account of the events in that region in the 19th century, in particular the Dungan Rebellion of 1864–1877. While the ethnonym Uyghurs, with its modern meaning, ...

, to write his ''Tārīkh-i amniyya'' ("History of Peace"), which to this day remains one of the best sources on the events in the region in the 19th century. МОЛЛА МУСА САЙРАМИ: ТА'РИХ-И АМНИЙА
(Mulla Musa Sayrami's ''Tarikh-i amniyya'': Preface)], in: "Материалы по истории казахских ханств XV-XVIII веков (Извлечения из персидских и тюркских сочинений)" (''Materials for the History of Kazakh Khanates of the 15th-18th Centuries''), Almaty, Alma Ata, Nauka Publishers, 1969. By the end of the 19th century, Petrovsky's personal collection included some texts in the then-unknown

Tocharian languages The Tocharian (sometimes ''Tokharian'') languages ( ; ), also known as the ''Arśi-Kuči'', Agnean-Kuchean or Kuchean-Agnean languages, are an extinct branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken by inhabitants o ...

, among other obscure dialects. The bulk of his collection was donated by Petrovsky to the

Asiatic Museum The Asiatic Museum (Азиатский музей) in Saint Petersburg was one of the first museums of Asian art in Europe. Its existence spanned 112 years from 1818 to 1930 when it was incorporated into the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of th ...

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

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References

Hopkirk, Peter Peter Stuart Hopkirk (15 December 1930 – 22 August 2014) was a British journalist, author and historian who wrote six books about the British Empire, Russia and Central Asia. Biography Peter Hopkirk was born in Nottingham, the son of Frank St ...

(1980). ''Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search for the Lost Cities and Treasures of Chinese Central Asia''. Amherst: The

University of Massachusetts Press The University of Massachusetts Press is a university press that is part of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The press was founded in 1963, publishing scholarly books and non-fiction. The press imprint is overseen by an interdisciplinar ...

. . *Meyer, Karl E. and Shareen Blair Brysac. ''Tournament of Shadows: the Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia'' (Basic Books: 2006)
Red Vs. Blue: Going Global
Politicians from the Russian Empire Russian expatriates in China Expatriates from the Russian Empire Explorers of Central Asia Russian book and manuscript collectors 1837 births 1908 deaths History of Xinjiang 19th-century diplomats of the Russian Empire {{Russia-politician-stub

See also

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References