On history of Russian-Chinese relations. Trans-Baikal expedition of 1849-1852

The article focuses on the role the Trans-Baikal expedition headed by lieutenant-colonel N.A. Agte played in the research of the Far East. The contribution of this expedition has been largely silenced in the Russian historiography. The secret expedition was organized in 1849-1852 with the purpose of finding out the direction of the Stanovoi Mountain Ridge and of the flow of the Amur to facilitate the delimitation with the Quing Empire that had already been under way for 160 years. The delimitation became an imperative because of the aggressive moves of the European powers against China. It became clear that the Quing Empire was unable to defend its borders. In case the British demanded the freedom of navigation on Chinese rivers, the Amur could come under their control. Governor-general of East Siberia N.N. Muravyov insisted on establishing the border along the Amur. It was necessary for its reliable protection from the actions of Britain and for the arrangement of rapid supplies to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and the ports of the Okhotsk Sea in case of a war with Britain. Foreign Minister Count K.V. Nesselrode insisted on retaining the border along the Stanovoi Mountain Ridge according to the Treaty of Nerchinsk of 1689 so that complications in the relations with China could be avoided. Therefore N.N. Muravyov urged for the explorations between the Stanovoi Mountain Ridge and the Amur while K.V. Nesselrode demanded that the Stanovoi Mountain Ridge should not be crossed and the secrecy be kept, with the expedition members passing themselves off as hunters. The controversy delayed the beginning of work near the Amur, and the explorations were practically launched in 1851. The expedition members went more than 20 thousand kilometers across the almost unpopulated and trackless area and discovered and mapped more than 3 million square kilometers of a hitherto unknown territory. They carried out geological, geognostic, topographic research and astronomic measurements. The major geopolitical result of the expedition was the discovery that the southern slope of the Stanovoi Mountain Ridge joined the western slope of the Bureinsk Mountain Ridge that went southwards, which gave Russia the right to claim for the territory from the Bureinsk Ridge to the Pacific Ocean without violating the Treaty of Nerchinsk. It was also discovered that the local population except for the Manegrs (the horse-riding Evenks) did not regard itself as subjects of the Quing Empire. The results of the expedition as well as G.I. Nevelskoi's activities gave the grounds for Russia to annex the territories to the left bank of the Amur in the 1850s. The article also summarizes the efforts of a number of scholars to find out the names of the expedition members. The leaders and participants of the expedition have been specified: military topographers N.A. Agte, V.E. Karlikov, S.V. Krutikov, astronomer L.E. Schwartz, mountain engineers N.G. Meglitskiy and M.I. Kovanko, mine surveyor A.A. Argunov, foreman miners A.F. Zverev, K.Kh. Pestrikov, I. Dudin, workmen S.M. Zhilin, V.A. Belovanskiy, P.E. Kudelin, K.Z. Kozlov, S. Nefediev, D. Panfilov, Ya. Kosykh, medical officer Ya. E. Sapunov from the Nerchinsk mines, the Trans-Baikal Cossacks, guides from the local population.

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