Vitus Bering: Asia aur America ke darmiyan abnaye

Atemad E-Magazine 20 October 2026 · 8 minute ka mutalia

Atharwin sadi ke aaghaz tak Europe ke naqsha naweez ek sawal ka jawab nahin de paye the: kya Asia ka mashriqi kinara kahin ja kar America se milta hai, ya donon ke beech samundar hai? Is sawal ka jawab dhoondne ke liye Russia ne ek Danmarki jahaz ran ko duniya ke sard tareen sahilon ki taraf bheja. Us ka naam Vitus Bering (Vitus Bering) tha, aur aaj Asia aur shumali America ko juda karne wali abnaye usi ke naam se pukari jati hai.

Denmark se Russi bahriya tak

Encyclopaedia Britannica ke mutabiq Bering 1681 mein Denmark ke qasbe Horsens (Horsens) mein paida hue. Amriki muarrikh F. A. Golder (F. A. Golder) ke mutabiq unhon ne kam umri mein samundar ka rukh kiya, 1703 mein East Indies ka safar kiya aur 1704 mein Russi bahriya mein shamil ho gaye, jahan woh darjaba darja taraqqi karte rahe.

Golder ki shaya kardah Russi sarkari dastaweezat ke mutabiq Czar Peter the Great (Peter the Great) ne January 1725 ke shuru mein, apni aakhri bimari ke dinon mein, is muhim ki hidayat khud likhin aur 28 January ko wafat pa gaye. Bering likhte hain ke 5 February 1725 ko yeh hidayat unhein malika Catherine ke hathon di gayin. Pehli hidayat yeh thi ke Kamchatka (Kamchatka) ya us ke aas paas ek ya do arshe wali kashtiyan banai jayen.

Pehla safar: jahaz “St. Gabriel”

St. Petersburg se Siberia ke aar paar Kamchatka tak pahunchne mein teen baras lag gaye. Bering ki apni report ke mutabiq jahaz ki lakri zyada tar pehle se tayyar thi; kaam 4 April 1728 ko shuru hua aur 10 July ko jahaz mukammal ho gaya. Us ka naam “St. Gabriel” (St. Gabriel) rakha gaya. Woh likhte hain ke taarkol sath na tha to larch (larch) ke darakht se banaya gaya, namak samandari pani ubal kar nikala gaya aur gosht ki jagah namkeen machhli rakhi gayi. Jahaz par chalis aadmiyon ke liye ek saal ka rashan tha.

Bering ki report mein rawangi ki tareekh 14 July hai jabke Britannica 13 July likhta hai. Jahaz dariya-e-Kamchatka ke dahane se nikal kar sahil ke sath shumal ki taraf chala. 8 August ko, 64 darje 30 daqiqe arz-e-balad par, sahil se aath maqami Chukchi (Chukchi) aadmi chamde ki kashti mein aaye. In mein se ek seal ke phoole hue masanon ke sahare tairta hua jahaz tak pahuncha aur bataya ke aage sahil maghrib ki taraf mur jata hai aur qareeb hi ek jazira hai. Bering ne is jazire ka naam us din ki munasibat se “St. Lawrence” rakha.

67 darje 18 daqiqe par wapsi

Bering apni report mein likhte hain ke 15 August tak woh 67 darje 18 daqiqe shumal tak pahunch gaye aur wapas mur gaye, kyunke sahil is se aage shumal ki taraf nahin jata tha aur unhein laga ke shahi hidayat poori ho chuki hain; wahan sardiyan guzarna bhi danish mandi na hoti kyunke lakri maujood na thi. Britannica ke mutabiq jahaz abnaye se guzar kar bahr-e-munjamid shumali mein dakhil hua, magar kharab Mausam ki wajah se America ka sahil nazar na aaya; is ke bawajood Bering is nateeje par pahunche ke Siberia aur America aapas mein mile hue nahin.

2 September ko jahaz dariya-e-Kamchatka ke dahane par laut aaya aur sardiyan wahin guzarin. Is sawal par ke is abnaye se sab se pehle kaun guzra, Britannica yeh bhi likhta hai ke 1648 mein ek Russi, Semyon Dezhnyov (Semyon Dezhnyov), is abnaye se guzra tha, magar us ki report 1736 tak kisi ki nazar mein na aayi.

Doosra safar: “St. Peter” aur “St. Paul”

Britannica ke mutabiq Bering ka doosra mansooba phail kar “azeem shumali muhim” (Great Northern Expedition, 1733–1743) ban gaya, jis ne Siberia ke Arctic sahil ke bade hisse ka naqsha banaya. Us ka aakhri aur sab se mashhoor hissa 1741 ka bahri safar tha. 4 June 1741 ko Bering jahaz “St. Peter” (St. Peter) par Kamchatka se rawana hue, aur Aleksey Chirikov (Aleksey Chirikov) doosre jahaz “St. Paul” (St. Paul) ke captain the. Is safar ke German mahir-e-fitrat Georg Wilhelm Steller (Georg Wilhelm Steller) ke roznamche ke mutabiq donon jahazon par chhihattar chhihattar aadmi the. Baad mein ek toofan ne donon jahazon ko alag kar diya.

Steller likhta hai ke 16 July ko, saaf Mausam mein, pehli baar zameen wazeh taur par nazar aayi; yeh Alaska ke buland pahar the jin mein Mount St. Elias (Mount St. Elias) bhi shamil tha. 20 July ko jahaz ek jazire ke paas langar andaz hua jise aaj Kayak Island (Kayak Island) kaha jata hai. Steller pani bharne walon ke sath sahil par utra. Woh likhta hai ke ek darakht ke neeche use lakri ka ek khokhla tukra mila jis mein chand ghante pehle maqami logon ne dahakte pattharon se gosht pakaya tha, aur paas hi haddiyan aur sookhi machhli padi thi. Waqt ki kami par us ka tabsira mashhoor hai: “Das baras is azeem muhim ki tayyari mein lage, aur das ghante asal kaam ko diye gaye.”

Bering jazire par sardiyan

Wapsi ka safar taweel aur tabah kun sabit hua. Amle mein scurvy (scurvy) phail gayi. Steller ke mutabiq Shumagin nami mallah pehla aadmi tha jo mara, aur jis jazire par use dafn kiya gaya woh usi ke naam se Shumagin jazira kehlaya. Britannica likhta hai ke Bering khud bhi scurvy ki wajah se moassar command na kar sake. Steller ke mutabiq 6 November ko bache khuche kamzor amle ne ek namaloom jazire par utarne ka faisla kiya, aur jahaz wahin tabah ho gaya.

Bering usi jazire par foot hue. Steller aur Bering donon purana Russi calendar istemal karte the; us ke mutabiq tareekh 8 December 1741 thi, jo maujooda calendar mein 19 December banti hai, aur Britannica yehi tareekh likhta hai. Steller Bering ko narm mizaj, khamosh tabiyat aur sab ka pasandeeda qarar deta hai, aur likhta hai ke Bering khud aksar afsos karte the ke un ki taqat ab itni kathin muhim ke qabil nahin rahi. Steller ke baqaul is jazire par un ke tees sathi mare. Yeh jazira baad mein Bering hi ke naam se Bering jazira kehlaya.

Bach jane walon ne sardiyan garhon mein bani panah gahon mein guzarin. Steller ne yahan ek bade samandari janwar “sea cow” (sea cow) ko dekha aur us ki tafseeli paimaish ki; Golder ke baqaul woh wahid scientist tha jis ne yeh janwar zinda dekha. Mutarjim Leonhard Stejneger (Leonhard Stejneger) ke hashiye ke mutabiq yeh janwar daryaft ke sattais baras baad, 1768 tak, khatam ho chuka tha.

Nai kashti aur wapsi

Mausam-e-bahar mein mallahon ne tabah shuda jahaz ki lakri se ek chhoti kashti banai. Steller likhta hai ke 13 August 1742 ko sab log us par sawar hue; chaar aadmi cabin mein the aur baqi baytalees pani ke pipon aur saman ke beech nichle hisse mein thunse hue the. Agli subah langar uthaya gaya. Nau din mukhalif hawaon seladne aur aakhri chaubis ghante musalsal chappu chalane ke baad 27 August ki shaam woh Kamchatka ki bandargah mein dakhil hue, jahan unhein muddat se murda samjha ja chuka tha.

Agli qist: James Cook: Bahr-ul-Kahil ke teen safar.

Makhaz

F. A. Golder, Bering's Voyages: An Account of the Efforts of the Russians to Determine the Relation of Asia and America, vol. I: The Log Books and Official Reports of the First and Second Expeditions, 1725–1730 and 1733–1742, American Geographical Society Research Series no. 1, New York, 1922 (pp. 6–20: Peter's instructions, Bering's report on the first expedition; Bering biographical note). https://archive.org/details/beringsvoyagesac01gold
Georg Wilhelm Steller, Journal of the Sea Voyage from Kamchatka to America and Return on the Second Expedition, 1741–1742, translated by Leonhard Stejneger, in F. A. Golder, Bering's Voyages, vol. II, American Geographical Society Research Series no. 2, New York, 1925 (crew lists; 16–20 July 1741; Kayak Island; Shumagin; Bering Island; Bering's death; departure and arrival 1742; Golder's introduction; Stejneger's note 338 on the sea cow). Full text: https://www.fadedpage.com/books/20230507/html.php
"Vitus Bering", Encyclopaedia Britannica (birth, 1724 commission, 1728 voyage, Dezhnyov 1648, Great Northern Expedition 1733–43, 4 June 1741, death 19 December 1741). https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vitus-Bering
For the modern scholarly edition of Steller's journal: O. W. Frost (ed.), Georg Wilhelm Steller, Journal of a Voyage with Bering, 1741–1742, translated by Margritt A. Engel and O. W. Frost, Stanford University Press, 1988 (listed for readers; not consulted for this article).

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