About the Project
This website is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the famous Central Asian Expedition (CAE) undertaken by Nicholas Roerich from 1924 to 1928. It is a non-profit volunteer project initiated by an international group of enthusiasts who have been studying the route and the circumstances of the expedition for many years.
Objectives of the Project
The Project aims to build the most precise and historically accurate route of the expedition on the basis of the available expedition diaries (N.K. Roerich, G.N. Roerich, Z.G. Fosdik, K.N. Ryabinin, P.K. Portnyagin, N.V. Kordashevskiy), and takes into account existing historical evidence in books, magazines, newspapers, and letters. It also uses numerous maps (historical, modern, digital), and modern technology (3D-visualisation of landscape, and new web-programming technology), while also considering practical experience of the route gained by members of the work group.
The Project also aims to create new opportunities for modern explorers who are interested in studying the route of the expedition and doing field work.
We hope that exploration of the expedition route will attract the attention of both professional researchers and the general public to the Roerich expedition itself as well as to this particular region in general, and will facilitate exploration of these countries and the cultural heritage of the people inhabiting this region. We believe that it would contribute both to the rapprochement of these nations and to cultural and informational exchange.
Sources used for the project
Expedition diaries:
- Nicholas Roerich “Altai-Himalaya” // Vieda, 1992
- George Roerich “Po tropam Sredinnoy Azii” (eng. Trails to Inmost Asia), Agni, 1994
- Z.G. Fosdik “Vospominaniya o Rerikhah” (eng. Memories of the Roerichs) Eksmo, 2014
- K.N. Ryabinin “Razvenchanniy Tibet” (eng. Debunked Tibet), Amrita-Ural, 1996
- P.K. Portnyagin “Sovremenniy Tibet. Missiya Nikolaya Rerikha” (eng. Modern Tibet. Nicholas Roerich’s Mission) Ariavarta, 1998 (№2)
- N. Decroa “Tibetskiye stranstviya polkovnika Kordashevskogo” (eng. Tibetan journey of colonel Kordashevsky), Ayurveda Press, 2000
Maps:
- Topomapper
- Google Maps
- Yandex Maps
- Bing Maps
- Карты Mapbox
- Mapcarta
- Retromap
- PastVu
Useful and interesting links:
- Lyudmila Shaposhnikova on the Central Asian Expedition on the ICR website
- Lyudmila Shaposhnikova “Velikoye puteshestvie. Po marshrutu mastera” (eng. The Great Journey. Along the Master’s Route), vol. 1. Website of the Roerichs’ Library
- Lyudmila Shaposhnikova “Velikoye puteshestvie. Po marshrutu mastera” (eng. The Great Journey. Along the Master’s Route), vol. 2. Website of the Roerichs’ Library
- Serdtse Azii (eng. The Heart of Asia) website dedicated to CAE
- CAE timeline on the ICR website
- Archival photos of CAE on the website of Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York
- John V. Belezza website «Antiquities of Zhang-Zhung» (encyclopedia of Tibetan antiquities)
YouTube:
- Lecture by Lyudmila Shaposhnikova “Zemnoy marshrut Kosmicheskoy evolyutsiyi” (eng. Terrestrial Route of Cosmic Evolution), 2008
- Lecture by Lyudmila Shaposhnikova “Evolyutsionnaya rol’ Central’no-Aziatskoy Ekspeditsiyi Rerikha” (eng. Evolutionary Role of Nicholas Roerich’s Central Asian Expedition), 2008
- “Pritiyajeniye Shambaly” (eng. Magnet of Shambala), a movie with the participation of Lyudmila Shaposhnikova, 1999.
- Film by Tatyana Borsch “Nicholas Roerich. Altai-Himalaya” 2017
- Lecture by Eduard Kramp “Po marshrutu Centralno-Aziatskoy ekspeditsiyi Rerikhov” (eng. Along the Route of Central Asian Expedition of the Roerichs)
- Lecture by Olga Lavrenova “Centralno-Aziatskaya ekspeditsiya Nikolaya Rerikha” (eng. Nicholas Roerich’s Central Asian Expedition)
- Lecture by Olga Lavrenova “CAE N.K. Rerikha: filosofiya i semantika puteshestviya” (eng. Nicholas Roerich CAE. Philosophy and Semantics of the Journey)
CAE Maps:
- From the first English edition of Nicholas Roerich’s book, “Altai-Himalaya”
- From the book “Trails to Inmost Asia” by George Roerich published by ICR
- From the first edition of the book “Trails to Inmost Asia” by George Roerich published by ICR
- Map, made by the ICR for the CAE exhibition hall in the non-governmental Museum named after Nicholas Roerich
- SibRO Map
- SibRO Map (Altai stage)
- Map from “Serdtse Azii” (eng. The Heart of Asia) website
- Map of the Altai stage of the expedition (National Museum of the Altai Republic named after A.V. Anokhin, Gorno-Altaysk)
- Map of the Mongolian stage of the expedition (Ulaanbaatar – Shih-pao ch’eng) supposedly made by George Roerich (Roerich's Shambhala Museum in Ulaanbaatar)
Library of issues related to the CAE route:
- Nicholas Roerich. Altai-Himalaya. First edition in English (1929)
- George Roerich. Trails to Inmost Asia. First edition in English (1931)
- Radda Bai “From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan” 1883
- George Roerich. Skazaniye o tsare Kaesare Lingskom (eng. The Tale of Gesar of Ling) 1942
- V.V. Sapozhnikov “Pouti po Russkomu Altayu” (eng. Routes along the Russian Altai) 1912
- Wilhelm Filchner. A scientist in Tartary. From the Hoang-ho to the Indus (1939)
- A.H. Francke. Antiquities of Indian Tibet (1914)
- Sven Hedin. Trans-Himalaya. Discoveries and adventures in Tibet. Vol. 1 (1909)
- Sven Hedin. Trans-Himalaya. Discoveries and adventures in Tibet. Vol. 2 (1910)
- Map of Tibet, showing Sven Hedin's routes (1910)
- Aurel Stein. Sand-buried ruins of Khotan (1904)
- Aurel Stein. Ancient Khotan (1907)
- Aurel Stein. On Ancient Central Asian Tracks (1933)
Important commentaries
The dates based on the analysis of the text, comparison with other diaries, analysis of the length of the route traveled in kilometers and specific aspects of the topography, were appended to the text of the book written by George Roerich “Trails to Inmost Asia” (the main source for this map). The result of this work is a collective opinion of the work group and does not claim to be absolutely accurate.
Some difficult sections of the route are hard to pinpoint with absolute accuracy. These include:
- from Krasny Yar to Altayskoye and further to Barancha
- Khangai Mountains to Boro-nor Lake
- and from Altan-usu to Ludja Dung
In addition, the following sections of the route have been reconstructed approximately:
- the Indian part (Bombay - Calcutta, Sri Lanka - Calcutta)
- the Sikkim part (expedition along the Rangit river valley, Darjeeling - Tashiding - Yuksom)
- the Kashmir part (expedition along the Jhelum river valley, Srinagar - Martand - Harvan - Lake Wular)
- and the Ladak part (route along the Indus river valley, Le - Hemis – Tangtse)
These sections of the route are marked accordingly on the map (see Guidelines on the Use of the Map).
Acknowledgements
With heartfelt thanks to everyone whose work, care, and dedication brought this project to life and kept it growing.
Contacts
Contact us via email [email protected].