Expeditions
Learn about Chokan Valikanov's journey as an explorer and his historical contributions.
Expedition Overviews
The brief yet brilliant career of Chokan Valikhanov spanned only one half of one decade but the lasting contributions of his ethnographies and explorations, continue to strengthen in cultural significance to this day. In 1855, two years after graduating from the Omsk military academy, Chokan began his travels by accompanying the Governor-General of Western Siberia, G. Kh. Gasfort, to the newly established fortress of Vornoe in modern-day Almaty. The following year, Valikhanov set out to explore the innermost areas of a vast continent, sparking his reputation as a “flashing meteor” of Central Asian scholarship and achievement.
First Expedition, 1855-1856
In 1856, after a group of Kyrgyz nomads was officially incorporated into the Tsar’s empire, a diplomatic and geographical expedition embarked to the region of Lake Issyk-kul, deep in the Kyrgyz frontier. It was at this time that Valikhanov made the premier ethnographic documentation of Manas, a monumental oral epic of the Kyrgyz that Chokan named the “Iliad of the Steppe” and that is today formally recognized by UNESCO as part of the world’s Intangible Cultural Heritage. A recording of the same episode from the Manas which Valikhanov documented in the summer of 1856, called Kökötöidün Ashy (Kökötöi’s Memorial Feast), is now available on Volume 1 of the Music of Central Asia series published by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.
While returning to Omsk in 1857, Chokan was sent to the city of Kulja on the Ili River in Chinese Turkestan. Dispatched to improve Sino-Russian economic relations, Chokan spent three months in direct contact with the Manchu government. Likewise, this time provided ample opportunity to observe first-hand the language and traditions of the Uyghurs: a local community of Muslim Turks that for centuries had settled in the six oases (in Uyghur, Altyshar) resting on the outskirts of the Taklamakan Desert in Northwestern China.
Second Expedition, 1858-1859
Following the completion of his expedition to Issyk-kul and Kulja and his return to Omsk, Valkihanov was ordered to report directly to St. Petersburg. He arrived there in 1857 and submitted formal reports to the Tsarist government. Realizing the potential of an officer with innate insight into the geography, customs and languages of the region, the famous explorer P. P. Semonov recommended Valikhanov receive full membership to the Imperial Russian Geographical Society. At the same time, the Governor-General of Western Siberia, G. Kh. Gasfort, suggested to the Ministry of War and Foreign Affairs that Valikhanov immediately lead another expedition to the remote and fabled Silk Road oasis of Kashgar in Chinese Central Asia, where the Uyghurs had recently begun a series of violent revolts against their Manchu yoke.
On June 28, 1858, Valikhanov began the expedition that would lead him to instant fame throughout Europe and into the pages of history. Serving as a decoy to the geo-political intentions of the mission, Valikhanov embarked with a caravan of 43 men, 101 camels and 65 horses. Following his successful passage through the Chinese border without suspicion, the caravan arrived in Kashgar in early October of 1858. Over the course of a half-year, Valikhanov took meticulous notes regarding major towns, including maps, the goods in the bazaars, the languages spoken and the customs practiced.
Forced to leave under increased rumors of espionage, Valikhanov and his caravan left Kashgar and arrived unharmed at Fort Vornoe (present-day Almaty) on April 12, 1859. In 1861, Valikhanov formally published “Sketches of Dzhungaria” and “The Condition of Altyshar, or The Six Eastern Cities of the Chinese Province of Nan-lu (Little Bukhara)” in 1858-1859. These were translated into English by the time of this great explorer’s untimely death less than four years later.