Authors : Dmitry Ye. Martynov and Yulia A. Martynova
Abstract: The study covers three expeditions in Xinjiang organized by the Emperor Russian Geographical Society in 1889-1892. The two of them were under the aegis of the War Office and had reconnoitering and political character as their plan was taken out by N.M. Przhevalsky. The expeditions of M.V. Pevtsov and G.Ye. Grum-Grgimaylo pursued the aims of study of geographical approaches to Qingzang Gaoyuan from the Northwest. At that both Pevtsov and Grum-Grgimaylo refused the martial rhetoric of Przhevalsky. On account of fighting actions near the Afghan border and the Kushka Battle in 1885, both expeditions had to correct their routes. For the first time, the systematic observations of the lives of oasis farmers-Uigurs. N.F. Katanov ethnic Khakass made his way to the territory from Altai and the Minusinsk depression to Xinjiang for the language and folklore of the Turkic peoples and did it alone. As a result, the field notes of Pevtsov and Grum-Grgimaylo were published rather promptly but the diaries of Katanov, that fix the results of his observations in Xinjiang, have remained in manuscript so far.
Dmitry Ye. Martynov and Yulia A. Martynova, 2015. Scientific Expedition of Geographical Society and “The Big Game” (On the Example of N.F. Katanov, G.Ye. Grum-Grgimaylo and M.V. Pevtsov). The Social Sciences, 10: 1306-1313.