Tasman, Abel Yanszon

Abel Janszon Tasman was born in 1603 in the village of Lütegast near Groningen (now the municipality of Grotegast in the province of Groningen ) in the Netherlands. The exact date of his birth is unknown. The first documentary mention of him dates back to 1631 , when he, already widowed by then, married again. As follows from the preserved church record, his wife was illiterate and came from a poor family, which indirectly confirms the validity of the researchers' assumptions of his biography about his low social status at that time ^[9] .

Presumably at the same time, Abel Tasman enters the Dutch East India Company as a simple sailor , but already in the records of 1634 he appears in the role of skipper of one of the company's ships . The main occupation of the company's seamen at that time was servicing the transportation of spices and spices, which were an expensive and valuable product for the European market.

In 1638, Tasman, commanding a ship, sailed to India.

In 1639, Tasman leads one of two ships (along with M. Kwast), equipped by the East India Company to explore shipping areas in the Japan region and trade opportunities with the local population. In general, this expedition was unsuccessful, and after six months spent at sea, Tasman's ship, having lost almost 40 of the 90 crew members, returned to the Dutch fort Zealand on the island of Formosa (Taiwan). On this voyage he discovered the island of Bonin .

In 1640, Tasman again led one of the 11 Dutch ships sailing toward the shores of Japan. This time he spent about three months in the Japanese port of Hirado .

In 1642, Tasman was appointed commander of a detachment of two ships of the East India Company, sent to research the southern and eastern waters of the Pacific Ocean . According to the hypotheses of geographers and seafarers of that era, it was these waters that should have washed the shores of the mythical Unknown Southern Land , about which several generations spoke of the possible wealth. During this voyage, on November 24, 1642 , Tasman discovered a large island ( Tasmania ) off the coast of Australia and named it in honor of the governor of the Netherlands East Indies Van Dimen land ^[10] . Following several tens of miles along the coast of the island, Tasman turned east and on December 13 saw the outlines of yet another unfamiliar land. It was South Island, belonging to New Zealand . While staying at this island, Europeans first met with the Maori , the indigenous inhabitants of New Zealand. The meeting ended tragically: the Maori attacked the landed Dutch, killed several sailors and fled. Annoyed by this incident, Tasman called this place the Bay of Assassins (now Golden Bay ).

Continuing along the west coast of the island, North Tasman reached its tip and turned to the northeast. On January 21, 1643, the expedition reached the Tonga Archipelago, discovering several previously unknown islands here. Replenishing supplies of water and food in Tonga, on February 6, Tasman's ships approached the islands of the Fiji archipelago. Further, leaving the island of Fiji south, Tasman walked along the northern coast of New Guinea and on June 15, after almost ten months of traveling, arrived in Batavia ^[11] .

In 1643, Tasman led a detachment of three ships of the East India Company, passing along the western shores of New Guinea and the northern coast of Australia ^[11] . As a result, much of the coast of northern Australia was first mapped.

From the point of view of the leadership of the East India Company, navigating ship detachments under the command of Tasman in 1642–1644 ended in complete failure - new trade areas were not discovered and new sea passages were not found for navigation . Up to traveling through almost 100 years of the British navigator James Cook , the Europeans did not begin the development of New Zealand, and visits to Australia were of a singular nature and were most often caused by shipwrecks.

After the expedition returned to Batavia, Tasman was given the rank of commander and a salary was raised, and he was appointed a member of the Legal Council of Batavia. In 1647 he was sent as a representative to the King of Siam , and in 1648 he led a detachment of eight ships that opposed the ships of the Spanish fleet

Around 1651, Abel Tasman resigned and went on to trade in Batavia.

Abel Yanszon Tasman died on October 10, 1659 in Batavia.

In memory of Abel Janszon Tasman named:

• The island of Tasmania discovered by him off the coast of Australia
• Sea in the South Pacific between the shores of Australia and New Zealand
• South Pacific Basin between the shores of Australia and New Zealand
• Mainland ledge in northwest Australia
• 1.3 km long bridge in the city of Hobart - the administrative center of Tasmania
• Expressway (Tasman Highway (or A3)) on Tasmania
• National Park in New Zealand
• Mountain peak in new zealand
• Lake in New Zealand
• Bay in new zealand
• Administrative region in New Zealand
• Asteroid 6594 Tasman

• Nevsky V.V. Discovery of Tasman. - M .: Geografgiz , 1961. - ( Wonderful geographers and travelers ).
• Vnukov N. Great travelers. Biographical Dictionary. - SPb. : Alphabet , 2000 .-- 10,000 copies. - ISBN 5-267-00048-5 .
• Jules Verne . The history of great travels. In 3 book / Per. with fr. lit. ed. text, entry Art. E. Brandis , note. V. Nevsky. - M .: Terra , 1993. - ISBN 5-85255-236-4 ; 5-85255-237-2.
• Svet Ya. M. History of discovery and research of Australia and Oceania. - M .: Thought , 1966 .-- 400 p. - ( Discovery of the Earth ). - 12,000 copies.

• Australia. Abel Tasman (neopr.) . Around the world . Date of treatment March 14, 2015.
• Abel Tasman - facts of life