Ivan Petlin

17th-century Russian explorer · Historical Figures

Ivan Petlin, also known by the diminutive form Ivashko or Evashko Petlin, was the first Russian to have reached China on an official mission (1618-1619). He was a Siberian Cossack.

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A typical day, 30 days to 18 August 2026

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Around the time of Petlin's travel, Europeans were aware that the country of Kitaisk, with the capital in Combalich, was adjacent to southern Siberia, and maybe even accessible via the Ob River, but did not necessarily identify it either with Marco Polo's Cataia (capital, Cambalu) or with China (capital, Paquin). (Map by Jodocus Hondius, 1610)

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His expedition may have been the second European expedition to reach China from the west by an overland route since the fall of the Yuan Dynasty.

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