The Development of Siberia and Far East
While searching for ancient Anglo-Saxon place names in Continental Europe, it was found that a large their part is located in Eastern Europe and one cluster of them falls on the territory of the former Rostov-Suzdal principality and in the immediate vicinity (see the Google map below). This and other facts gave grounds to assume that in the middle of the 1st millennium AD Anglo-Saxons laid the foundations of Russian statehood. However, there was no mention in the annals about the presence in the principality of the people which differed greatly in language from the rest of the population. Of course, the Anglo-Saxons were not in many numbers, they were only the ruling elite of the tribal alliance known in history under the name of Muroma. However, it is difficult to imagine that they disappeared without a trace among the local Finno-Ugrians and later arriving Slavs. Without making specific assumptions, but only continuing the search for Anglo-Saxon toponymy, I noticed that some European place names have doublets in Siberia and the Far East. After expanding the search area beyond the Urals, it turned out that this is not an accident, but a certain regularity. Discovered new Anglo-Saxon place names stretched as a narrow strip from the Urals to Lake Baikal. The reasons that caused the Anglo-Saxons to leave their habitats can only be assumed, since the beginning of their movement beyond the Urals and further to the east is unknown.
The area of the Upper Volga, inhabited by Anglo-Saxons, was, in the words of S.M. Solovyov, the "state core" of Russia, but for the creation of the state, it was prepared in the best way economically, but not politically. After the entry of Rostov-Suzdal land into the state of Kyiv Rus', the local tribal elite could not resist the onslaught of the Kyiv authorities. Thanks to the experience of state-building, acquired in close contact with Byzantium, the dynastic rule established in Kyiv understood the importance of economic predominance for political domination. Applying diplomacy and military force, the Kyiv proteges sought to use the capital accumulated in Rostov’s and Suzdal’s nobility during the heyday of trade with the countries of the Arab Caliphate. As will be seen below, the affinity for trade was a hallmark of the Anglo-Saxons.
As a stronghold in the newfound land, the aliens from Kyiv laid the city of Vladimir on the Klyazma River, transforming it into a fortress from time to time. The policy of Andrei Bogolyubsky, who consolidated in the city after Kyiv Prince Yuri Dolgoruky and needed funds for the construction of other cities, caused great dissatisfaction with the local boyars, and in particular, them from the Anglo-Saxon clan of the Kuchkovichs. Their struggle with the prince ended with his assassination in 1174. One can assume that after such an outcome, the Anlo-Saxeonswere deemed to migrate beyond the Urals for the better, fearing the revenge of the numerous relatives of the prince. However, in the middle of the 12th century they should have already been beyond Lake Baikal, since Chengiskhan (c. 1155 or 1162 – 1227) was Anglo-Saxon in origin (see Anglo-Saxons in Genghis Khan's Fate). Consequently, part of the Anglo-Saxons crossed the Urals 150 years earlier than the conflict with Andrei Bogolyubsky.
Anglo-Saxon place names in Eastern Europe
Direction of searching was denoted by place names in Eastern Europe already recognized as Anglo-Saxon ones, such as Markovo (seven cases), Markova (two cases), Firsovo (three cases), Akhtyrka, Firstovo, Fofonovo, Churilovo (see The Complete List of Anglo-Saxon Place Names in Continental Europe). This strip of place names stretches along the border of the forest and steppe and, evidently, marks a convenient route for moving eastward. Of the others, one can most confidently speak of the following in the direction from west to east:
Verkhby and Nizhny Тагил on th Tagil River in Sverdlovsk Region – OE. tægel "tail".
Firsovo, villages in Rezhevski urban district of Sverdlovsk Region and in Pervomaysk district of Altai Krai – OE. fyrs "furze, gorse, bramble" (Genísta).
Chetkarino, a Village in Pyshma town district of Sverdlovsk Region – OE. ciete "cabin, closet", carr "rock".
Miass, a sity in Chelabinsk Region – OE meos "swamp".
Churilovo, a village in Krasnoarmeisk district of Chelabinsk Region – OE. ceorl "a man, peasant, husband", Eng. churl.
Markovo, villages in Uvel district of Chelabinsk Region, Ketovski district of Kurgan Region and Zavodoukovski district of Tyumen Region – mearc "border, end, district", "sign", mearca "determined space".
Shadrinsk, a town in Kurgan Region – OE. sceard "mutilated, chipped" with metathesis of consonants.
Bolshaya Riga, a village in Shumikhinsk district of Kurgan Region – OE. ryge "rye".
Vagina, a village in rural settlement Yurminskoye in Tyumen Region – OE. wagian "to move, shake".
Rezanova, a village in Vikulovski distrivt of Tyumen Region – OE. 1. rāsian "explore, investigate", 2. racian "rule, lead".
Firstovo, a village in Bolsheukovski district of Omsk Region – OE. fyrst "первый".
Ingaly, a village in Bolsherechenski district of Omsk Region – OE. Ing "name of god", āl "fire".
Atrachi, a village on the shore of the lake of the same name in the Tyukalinsky district of the Omsk region. – OE. ātor, ætrig "poison", cio "jackdaw".
Anglo-Saxon place names in Asia
It was were considerably more difficult for Anglo-Saxon pioneers than for Russian Cossacks who set out to conquer Siberia, therefore their advance in the direction of Lake Baikal could take several centuries. Even at the turn of the 17-18 centuries, "the whole journey from Moscow to the Amur lasted three seasons, or two winters and one summer, or two summers and one winter… and all this because of the lack of roads" (WITSEN NIKOLAES. 1705). During the long migration, the Anglo-Saxon population had to increase significantly. In each newly created town, migrants left a small garrison, which eventually will be dissolved later among the incoming Slavic population. The descendants of these people, now called the Chaldones, preserved the legends about their settlement in Siberia even before the appearance of Yermak Timofeyevich and his followers. The origin of their name remains unclear, but it does not have a satisfactory etymology. In this case, it is possible to offer for the interpretation of OE.đearl "strong" and don "do" with this phonological development: th → tš → č. Chaldons switched to Russian a long time ago, but they could retain some Anglicisms in their speech.
The autochthonous population of Siberia included a large number of peoples, among which the Anglo-Saxons were very few, but could not go unnoticed due to their originality. Archpriest Avvakum (1620-1682), studying the composition of the population of Siberia in exile, left the following picture:
In the same Siberian kingdom, people who speak different languages live. The first are Tartars, also Vogulichi, Ostyaks, Samoyeds, Lopans, Tunguses, Kirghiz, Kalmyks, Yakuts, Munduks, Gvilyags, Garagilis, Imbats, Zenshaks, Symtsy, Arintsy, Motortsy, Togintsy, Siyantsy, Chalandasy, Kamasirtsy, and there are many multilingual people in that vast Siberian kingdom… (quoted from ALEKSEYEV M.P. 1932, L).
Among the listed peoples, the mentioned Chalandasy can be associated with the Chaladons, but there is also other information about the composition of the population of Siberia, in particular, in the works of Western European authors. The earliest work is a retelling of the messages of the Moscow envoy to the Pope, Dmitry Gerasimov, made by Paolo Giovio and published in 1525. Much more information about Siberia can be found in the "Notes on Muscovy" of the diplomat of the Holy Roman Empire Sigismund von Herberstein (1486-1566), who was ambassador to Moscow twice. This first information is stingy and overflowing with fiction and fantasies of informants, but analysis can reveal a rational grain in them. First of all, you should pay attention to the names of the people, deciphered using the Old English language. They may be the pair of Grustinovites and Serponovites, repeatedly mentioned by Herberstein. For the name of the first, OE grist "grinding", "grain for grinding" is suitable. The Serponovites can be associated with the Setrapons mentioned by Paolo Giovio (ibid, 96), and then their name can be understood as "robbers" (OE. set "site, habitat" and riepan "to rob". Despite the fact that these people have a wild character and a ferocious appearance, they are engaged in trade and buy pearls and precious stones from former merchants arriving from the southern countries (ibid, 104). This characteristic distinguishes them from the majority of the population of Siberia.
The German scholar in the Russian service, Gerhard Müller (1705–1783), in his work on the history of Siberia, mentioned the Pelym Principality, which existed until the end of the 16th century at the site of the accumulation of Anglo-Saxon place names around the city Tyumen. If already in Europe as a result of self-development not a single state arose (SHUVALOV O|P.V. 2012: 278), then this could not have happened even more so in Western Siberia, which was inhabited by backward in the socio-economic development of the Ob-Ugric tribes. Obviously, this state was founded by the Anglo-Saxons, and this assumption is confirmed by the names of some of its princes, which can be deciphered using the Old English language:
Ablegirim – OE. abal "power, strength", grimm "terrible, cruel".
Tagay – OE. teage "fetters, shackles".
Tawtiy – OE. deađ "death".
The toponym Pelym is quite common in the Ural area, where in the Sverdlovsk Region there is a village and the historical city of Pelym, in the Perm Region – another village, the Pelym River flows into Tavda, the left tributary of the Tobol river (Ob basin) and several others. This name can be associated with OE. fell "fur" and ymb "around". This interpretation is confirmed by the name of the village Puksinka on the banks of the Pelym – cf. OE fox "fox". The basis of the economy of the principality should have been furs as a trade item, reflected in the name of the village Nіkhvor from OE. neahhe "sufficient, plentiful" waru "article of merchandise".
Russian conquest of Siberia in the 17th century passed surprisingly very quickly. After the campaign of Yermak in 1581-1585, it took only about ten years before the township of Tomsk was laid almost two thousand kilometers from the Urals. Soon Tomsk became a Russian strategic and military center in Siberia. Overcoming such a huge off-road distance would be completely impossible without the use of waterways, but the rivers of Siberia flow in the meridian direction, and they did not contribute to the foundation of Siberia from west to east. Judging by the toponymy, the Anglo-Saxons moved by land, which presented great difficulties in overcoming long distances. To facilitate the advancement of the routes of communication, they were forced to arrange small settlements to provide short-term rest for travelers and horses at night and in bad weather, to eliminate technical problems, etc. Such settlements eventually received the name yam and it is not at all of Turkic origin, as is commonly thought, but developed from OE. hām "house, dwelling", "home". At such stations, there were small attendants and they formed a well-functioning system, managed in an organized manner. This practice spread throughout Siberia, being borrowed by many peoples. The organization of movement that justified itself laid the foundation for the colonization of Siberia and the Far East long before the arrival of the Russians. Of course, where possible and necessary, waterways were used. For example, this could be the case on the Ob, where the area along the banks was favorable for living, and countless deposits of natural resources lurked in the bowels of the Salair Ridge. The Anglo-Saxons founded several settlements here, which still exist, retaining their original names, sometimes in a somewhat Slavicized form. Among them are the following:
Verkh-Irmen, a village in the Ordynsky district of the Novosibirsk region – OE. iermen "great, strong".
Shadrino, villages in Kalmanski and Tselinny districts of Altai Krai and Iskitim district of Novosibirsk Region – OE. sceard "mutilated, chipped" with metathesis of consonants.
Toguchin, a town in Novosibirsk Region – OE toga "leader", cynn "family, people".
Salair, a town in the urban district of the town of Guryevsk in Kemerovo Region – OE. sala "sale, selling", iere, ōra "ore". In the town there is a mining and processing plant extracting and producing gold, silver, zinc, lead.
Shanda, a village of Guriev district of Kemerovo Region – OE scand 1. "shame", 2."crook, deceiver".
At right: Picture of an owl . Drawing from the site Babyblog.
Barnaul, the administrative center of the Altai Krai – OE. byrne "breastplate", ūle "owl". Plumage of an owl resembles chain mail (see the picture on the right). Obviously, the city made armor like "owl".
Only a part of the Anglo-Saxons stayed on the upper reaches of the Ob River, the main bulk of them moved on, basing new settlements along the way:
Tuim, a village in the Shirinsky district of Khakassia – OE. twinn "double, twin".
Bolshaya Irba, an urban settlement in the Kuraginsky district of the Krasnoyarski Krai – OE. ierfa, Ger. Erbe "heritage".
Gagul', a village in Ermakovski district of the Krajanoyarski Krai – OE. gāgul "throat, maw".
Bryanka, a township in Severo-Yeniseysky gistrict of Krasnoyarsk Krai – OE. berian "bald, uncovered" and –gē "district, area".
Vangash, a township in Severo-Yeniseysky gistrict of Krasnoyarsk Krai – OE. wang "level, flat", asce "dust, ash".
Taking into account the last two toponyms, it can be assumed that the Anglo-Saxons did not go further eastward through the forest massifs, but descended on the Yenisei to the mouth of the Angara River, and then went upstream to Lake Baikal. Along the Angara Anglo-Saxons founded such settlements:
Badarma, a township in Ust'-Ilim district of Irkutsk Region – OE. bād "tribute", earm "poor, miserable".
Sedanovo, a township in Ust'-Ilim district of Irkutsk Region – OE. seddan "saturate".
Kaduy, a village in Nizhneudinsk district of Irkutsk Region codd "bag, sack", wæġ "wey, weight, load".
Daur, a village in Nizhneudinsk district of Irkutsk Region – deor "wild animal".
Zima, a town in Irkutsk Region – OE. sīma "tape, chain, stripe".
Mandagay, site in the Cheremkhovo district of the Irkutsk region – OE. mann "man", deag "convenient, suitable".
Orlik, a village, the administrative center of Okinsky district of Buryatia – OE. orlege "fight, war".
In the settlements founded by the Anglo-Saxons, first of all, men with families were supposed to remain, and young people, not burdened by families, were to move on to the further campaign. On a campaign, they could marry the daughters of the native population. This assumption is confirmed by the similarity of Yak. d'axtar "woman" and OE dohtor "daughter". The daughters demanded by the Anglo-Saxons in their own language were understood by the Yakuts as women in general. That this word supplanted the original Yakut word can be explained by the fact that the marriage of the Anglo-Saxons to the Yakut was a mass phenomenon. Trade relations were to be established between the aliens and the locals, as evidenced by the correspondence Yak. soulta "price" and Eng. sold, Yak. čepčeki "cheap" and OE. ceap "trade, price", Yak. tölöö "to pay" – OE. talian "to count". It can be assumed that other borrowings from Old English have also survived in the Yakut language.
The natural resources of Dauria provided good opportunities for the development of this region for the Anglo-Saxons arrived in the Trans-Baikal land. Here they founded many of their settlements, the inhabitants of which were united under the rule of the tribal elite. With this tribe we associate the Merkits, who played a great role in the fate of Genghis Khan (see the section Anglo-Saxons in Genghis Khan's Fate). Dauria became part of the Mongolian empire, but it evidently represented a fairly independent economic and military unit and remained so until the arrival of Russian pioneers in Siberia. In favor of this assumption says that a detachment of Cossacks under the command of Petr Beketov had been sent for reconnaissance not to Dauria from the town of Yeniseysk (built in 1616), but to the Lena River. They had an order to found a foothold on its banks. Moving downstream, the detachment reached the mouth of the Aldan River and Beketov laid Yakut hillfort in these places in 1632. To conquer the densely populated Dauria, Moscow could not yet provide sufficient forces. Among the possible settlements founded by the Anglo-Saxons in Dauria, the most convincing transcription of the names are as follows:
Jida, a village in the Dzhidinsky district of Buryatia – OE. giedd "singing, poem".
Fofonovo, a village in the Kabansky district of Buryatia – OE. fā "colorful, motley, potted, dyed", fana "cloth".
Selenga, a village on the bank of the river of the same name in Tarbagatay district of Buryatia – OE syle(n) "morass", -gē "district".
At left: The delta of the Selenga River
Ust'-Bryan', a village in Zaigraevsky district of Buryatia – OE. bryne "fire".
Kizhinga, a village, the administrative center of the Kizhinginsky district of Buryatia – OE. *cieging "calling" from ciegan "to call".
Dauria, the historical and geographical region within the modern Republic of Buryatia, the Trans-Baikal Krai and the Amur Region – OE. deor, Eng. deer.
Khilok, a town in the Trans-Baikal Krai – OE. *hillock from hill "hill", Eng. hillock.
Duldurga, a village in the Trans-Baikal Krai – OE. đylđ "suffer", wœrig "tiredness".
Chita, a city, the administrative center of the Trans-Baikal Krai – OE. ciete "cabin, closet".
Daursky Nature Reserve. Mongolian gazelles. Photo of E. Kokukhin.
The Daur people were engaged in farming, cattle breeding, they melted silver ore, traded with the Tungus and the Chinese. The Daurians bartered bread with the Tungus for sable furs and sold them to the Chinese, receiving silk fabrics and other goods in return (SHRENK L. 1883. 163). Knowing about the wealth of Dauria and wishing appropriate it for profit of Russia, the voyevoda (governor) of Yakutsk Petr Golovin sent a well-armed detachment under the command of Vasily Poyarkov to reconnaissance in this country in 1643. Arriving in Dauria, the scouts saw before them such a picture:
In the valley of Zeya River there were villages of the Daurians, fields and arable land. The houses were mostly strong, spacious, with windows covered with translucent oiled paper. Local residents wore silk and cotton fabrics of Chinese origin, received in exchange for furs. The Daurians were engaged in agriculture, had arable land and many livestock. They paid tribute to the Manchus (BALANDIN RUDOLF KONSTANTINOVICH). The site "100 great expeditions"
The Daurians met the uninvited guests hostilely and refused to pay the yasak (tribute) to the Russian Tsar. Perhaps the memory preserved legends of the conflict of interests between the Andlo-Saxons and the Rus in Rostov and Suzdal. Poyarkov's detachment was forced to leave Dauria. Descending down the Amur River, the unsuccessful scouts reached the Sea of Okhotsk and, moving along its shore, approached the mouth of the Ulya River, and along it went to the Lena basin. In Yakutsk they returned three years after the beginning of the expedition.
Travelers' stories about the richness of the grain-rich Dauria prompted Russians to send a new, more numerous and better-armed expedition under command of Yerofei Khabarov for conquest it. In 1649-1652 years he, acting "with fire and sword", ravaged Dauria and eventually forced the locals to leave their places and seek new happiness under the auspices of the Manchus. Khabarov, in spite of the rich gifts to the tsar, was, by his own order, beat by a whip for his "exploits", but nevertheless left in the service. The devastation of Dauria by the Cossacks has been described by many historians. In particular, L. Schrenk, having his opinion on these events, refers to J.G. Georgi and Ritter in these words:
Georgi repeatedly says that the Daurians, the ancient inhabitants of the region named after it, were engaged in mining here, until, as a result of the conquest of this region by the Russians, they voluntarily left it and moved to the Chinese empire, after which the mining and melting art in Dauria was obliterated. Ritter obviously had the same opinion: he calls the Daurians "a peaceful, cultural people knowledgeable in the mining art". At the first irruption of wild Cossack teams of Khabarov and his successors they retreated from their ore mountains almost without resistance, leaving behind a nearly desert, where, in the aftermath, the Russian mining industry caused secondary colonization in some places (SHRENK L. 1883. 167-168).
The first Russian "researchers" of the Far East, like Poyarkov and Khabarov, didn't leave more or less detailed information about the local population. True, here and there some references to "bearded daurs" have been preserved, what can speak in favor of their European appearance, since most of the local people of the Mongoloid type had no dense beards.
The study of the toponymy of the Amur Region allows us to state that some part of the Anglo-Saxons moved from Dauria downstream along the Amur River. They also named this river, if we take into account OE eam "uncle from the mother's side" and ūre "our". This definition of the Amur has survived to our time in the expression "Amur-father", which exists in the Far East. On the way they founded the following settlements:
Chaldonka, a township in Mogochinsky District of Zabaykalsky Krai and a mountain of Jewish Autonomous Oblast – OE ceald "cold".
Magdagachi, a township in Amur Region – OE. mæg "kinsman", deag "convenient, suitable", āc "oak".
Tynda, a town in the Amur Region. tind "top, point", tinde "tensioned".
Tygda, a village in the Magdagachi district of the Amur Region – OE. tigde "receiver, partner".
Shadrino, a village in Mikhylovski district of Amur Region – see above.
Gassi, a village and a lake in Nanaysk district of Kabarovsk Krai – OE. hæs "woodland", sæ "sea".
Lidoga, a village in Nanaysk district of Kabarovsk Krai – OE. lida "skipper, seafarer", oga "fear, scare".
Ukhta, a village in Ulchinski district of Kabarovsk Krai – OE. uht(a) "twilight, dusk".
Jaore, village on the west coast of the Amur estuary, near the confluence of the Jaore River in the estuary, on the cape with the same name, Nikolaevsky district, Khabarovsky krai – OE. ġear "defense", ġeare, ġearwe "good, sufficient, effective".
Nizhneye Pronge, a villge on the Сape Pronge – OE. preon "awl, needle", the origin of which, like other related Germanic words, is considered unknown (KLUGE FRIEDRICH, SEEBOLD ELMAR, 1989: 542), could be supplemented by OE. –gē "district, area". The Cape Pronge juts out in the sea like needle (see the map on the right). In some places it can be read that the name has a match p'ro "small smelt" in the language of locals called Nivkh. But the motivation of such name for the cape and phonetic correspondence are questionable.
At right: The Cape Pronge.
On the other hand, in English and French there is a word of obscure origin prong "tooth, salience", therefore, most likely the name of the cape is based on this word. This name could have been given by English or French navigators or missionaries. However, the explorer of the Tatar Strait La Perouse reached only the De Castri Bay, located 175 km south of the Cape Pronge. On the map of the sailing of La Perouse (see below), neither the Cape Pronge nor the Cape Jaore is marked, which implies that these names were given not by him. Investigating in 1797 the Tatar Strait William Broughton confirmed the erroneous opinion of La Perouse that Sakhalin is a peninsula.
At left: A part of The chart of Lapérouse's discoveries in the Sea of Japan and Sea of Okhotsk Photo from Wikipedia.
Except La Perouse and Broughton nobody sailed here before Nevelskoy, who in 1849 discovered the strait named after him. Krusenstern, trying to enter the Tatar Strait from the north, did not reach the mouth of the Amur River. As for the missionaries in Primorye and Sakhalin, in particular, their so-called Manchu expedition in 1709-1710 is known.
Obviously, according to their data, a map was compiled and included in the atlas of the French cartographer d'Anville (D'ANVILLE JEAN, 1737, 80). On this map, there are many names of rivers and settlements, but Pronge and Jaora are absent, although several others have survived in almost the same form: Tabouha (Tebakh), Pohobi (Pogibi), Pilantou (Piltun), Laha (Lach), etc.
At right: The mouth of the Amur River. Fragment of d'Anville's map.
On the d'Anville's map, the alleged places of the Capes Pronge and Jaore are marked in red. Their names given at that time are completely different. Thus, the names Pronge and Jaore arose later, but their Nivkh origin is doubtful. Probably, the Anglo-Saxons came to Primorye after the missionaries and named several geographical objects by their kanguage. During his voyage Nevelskoy firstly heard the names of Pronge and Jaore from the locals. It is highly doubtful that the Nivkh could spell them, but Nevelskoy does not say exactly from whom he heard these names. It is a enigmatical.
On Sakhalin there are also several place names can be deciphered using the Old English language:.
Trambaus, a village in Aleksandrovsk-Sakhalin district – OE. đrymm "amount", beaw (pl. beaws) "gadfly".
Tangi, a village in Aleksandrovsk-Sakhalin district – OE. tang(e) "tongs, pliers".
Mangiday, a village in urban Aleksandrovsk-Sakhalin district – OE. mangian "trade", dæġ "day".
Nogliki, a township – OE. nō "no, not", glīg "plesure, joy".
Tungor, a villag in Okha urban district – OE. đung "aconitum" (a plant), ōra "bank, edge".
Thus, we have some evidences that the Anglo-Saxons reached the Sea of Okhotsk along the Amur River. The total number of Anglo-Saxon place names in Primorye and Sakhalin is quite large, and therefore the Anglo-Saxons should have been a significant part of the local population here. Being the people of a higher culture than the Nivkh, the Anglo-Saxons could not dissolve among them without a trace. Nevelskoy and his people had to meet them. Why did not you have any information about this meeting? The solution lies in the fact that Russia could not let spread of information about some Europeans settled the Far East before the Russians. The discovery of Nevelskoy provided Russia with the opportunity of a convenient access to the Pacific Ocean along the Amur River. The significance of such access was recognized by the tsarist government since the time of Catherine II, therefore, as soon as such an opportunity arose, Russia immediately activated diplomatic efforts with the intention of obtaining China's consent to join the Amur land. These efforts had success in the conclusions of the Aygun (1858) and Peking (1860) treaties in favor of Russia. But even earlier, the Crimean War (1853-1856) began, during which Englishmen and Frenchmen attempted to gain a foothold on the northwestern shores of the Pacific Ocean. The Anglo-French squadron approached Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, but could not seize it. Nevertheless, fearing a new attack, the Russian command decided to evacuate the garrison at the mouth of the Amur River.
It can be assumed that recognition by Russia the presence among the aboriginal people of the Primorye a tribe, speaking an unknown dialect of English, could give reason for United Kingdom claim to master this country under the pretext of protecting its compatriots. In such circumstances, the tsarist government considered it best to hide all information about this mysterious tribe from the world community. In his memoirs Nevelskoy kept silent about contacts with the local population to the south of the mouth of the Amur River, and the circumstances of the voyage along the capes of Pronge and Jaore to the strait named after him described very scanty (NEVELSKOY GENNADIY IVANOVICH, 1878). All the documentation received from Nevelskoy could be classified as secret, but it would be impossible to hide the existence of an entire Anglo-Saxon tribe. However, the expeditions of L.Ya. Shternberg and V.K. Arsenyev in the Ussuri region and Sakhalin in the beginning of the 20th century were found no trace of the Anglo-Saxons, and this casts doubt on their presence in the Far East in general.
Nevertheless, there is the possibility of explaining the complete disappearance of the Anglo-Saxons in the Far East as follows. They could easily mingle with the Ainus, who had well-defined Caucasoid traits and inhabited in a small number Primorye and Sakhalin. Before complet assimilation, the Anglo-Saxons were supposed to have contact with some of the Ainu tribes, which could be reflected in borrowings in Ainu from Old English. There is no single Ainu language, the Ainus speak different dialects, which may be more than ten, and most of them are not studied at all. The bulk of Ainu now resides in Japan, and apparently there were collected data on their dialects. As for the Russian Ainus, there is no definite information about the study of their language. The researcher of the culture and language of the Ainu V.D. Kosarev compiled a small dictionary of Ainu language without indicating the source, in which he gives matches of the Ainu words with Indo-European and, in particular, with English:
Ainu tu "two" – Eng. two;
Ainu se/sex "nest" – Eng. set;
Ainu itak "word" – only Eng. talk'
Ainu poni "bone" – only Eng. bone;
Ainu pe/be "subject" – Eng. be;
Ainu ru "path, way", "track" – Eng. route;
If we takr for comparing the Old English language, then the number of correspondences will increase significantly:
Ainu re/tre "three" – OE. đrie "three";
Ainu re "name" – OE. ræd "advice", "plan", "order", "meaning";
Ainu pet "river" – OE. pytt "pit", "puddle", "source";
Ainu uturu "between" – OE. ūtor – "on the other side";
Ainu tane "elongated" – OE. tān "branch, stick", teon "to pull";
Ainu retar "white" – OE. read "red";
Ainu cip "ship" – OE. scip "ship".
Ainu kotan "settlement" – OE. cot "cabin";
Ainu met "among" – OE. miđđ "middle";
Ainu ara/ari "real, genuine" – OE. ār "honor, dignity";
Ainu siri "earth", "mountain" – OE. sear "сухой";
Ainu usiu "slave", "servant" – OE. űsse "our".
What kind of dialect was studied by Kosarev, is not important, for us important is that some of the matches can not be random. And their presence in a rather large number can be explained only by the contacts between the Ainus and the Anglo-Saxons.
Ainu group.1904 г.
In the above picture of the group of Ainus of unknown origin, it is clear that some of them have a clearly European appearance without any Mongoloid features that are observed in many Ainu as a result of long coexistence with the peoples of the Mongoloid race.
At present, several hundred Ainu live in Russia and some of them know native language. A careful study of their language can help restore the final fate of the Anglo-Saxons. But for this it is necessary to believe that they were present in the Far East.
See the development of the topic Anglo-Saxons in Genghis Khan's Fate.
