Setkul Ablin
Encyclopedia
Setkul Ablin was a trader who thrice journeyed from Russia to China as a Russian agent. He was called a 'Bukhara
n' but the Russians used this term loosely for any trader from Central Asia.
About 1653 he was chosen by Fyodor Baykov
, the Russian ambassador to China, to go ahead of him and announce his coming. Ablin left with a caravan of trade goods, principally furs. When he arrived in Peking in late 1655 the Chinese thought he was the real ambassador. He traded most of his goods, left Peking in the spring of 1656 and passed Baykov on the steppe without meeting him.
Since he had succeeded where Baykov had failed, in 1658 he was again sent to China along with Ivan Perfilev. He returned in 1662 after having most of his goods stolen by the Oirats
.
In 1668-72 he went again. He spent a month in Peking and was presented to the Kangxi Emperor
. The Chinese complained to him about the behavior of the Russians on the Amur (they had not previously understood that these Russians from the far west were the same people as those who were raiding along their northern border). On his return to Russia, he had made 18,000 rubles on an initial investment of 4,500.
Bukhara
Bukhara , from the Soghdian βuxārak , is the capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 263,400 . The region around Bukhara has been inhabited for at least five millennia, and the city has existed for half that time...
n' but the Russians used this term loosely for any trader from Central Asia.
About 1653 he was chosen by Fyodor Baykov
Fyodor Baykov
Fyodor Isakovich Baykov was the first Russian envoy to China . For background see Russo-Chinese Relations...
, the Russian ambassador to China, to go ahead of him and announce his coming. Ablin left with a caravan of trade goods, principally furs. When he arrived in Peking in late 1655 the Chinese thought he was the real ambassador. He traded most of his goods, left Peking in the spring of 1656 and passed Baykov on the steppe without meeting him.
Since he had succeeded where Baykov had failed, in 1658 he was again sent to China along with Ivan Perfilev. He returned in 1662 after having most of his goods stolen by the Oirats
Oirats
Oirats are the westernmost group of the Mongols who unified several tribes origin whose ancestral home is in the Altai region of western Mongolia. Although the Oirats originated in the eastern parts of Central Asia, the most prominent group today is located in the Republic of Kalmykia, a federal...
.
In 1668-72 he went again. He spent a month in Peking and was presented to the Kangxi Emperor
Kangxi Emperor
The Kangxi Emperor ; Manchu: elhe taifin hūwangdi ; Mongolian: Энх-Амгалан хаан, 4 May 1654 –20 December 1722) was the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty, the first to be born on Chinese soil south of the Pass and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, from 1661 to 1722.Kangxi's...
. The Chinese complained to him about the behavior of the Russians on the Amur (they had not previously understood that these Russians from the far west were the same people as those who were raiding along their northern border). On his return to Russia, he had made 18,000 rubles on an initial investment of 4,500.