# Vasily Perovsky
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{{Short description|Russian general and statesman (1794–1857)}}
[[Image:BrullovKP PtVPerovskogoGTG.jpg|thumb|right|General-adjutant Count V. A. Perovsky. Painting by [Karl Briulov](/source/Karl_Briulov) (1837)]]
Count '''Vasily Alekseevich Perovsky''' ({{langx|ru|Васи́лий Алексе́евич Перо́вский}}; 1794–1857) was Russian general and statesman.
==Biography==
The illegitimate son of Count [Alexey Razumovsky](/source/Alexey_Razumovsky_(born_1748)), who became Russia's [Minister of National Education](/source/Ministry_of_National_Education_(Russian_Empire)), Perovsky studied at [Moscow University](/source/Moscow_University), then joined the retinue of Emperor [Alexander I](/source/Alexander_I_of_Russia) in 1811. As he retreated toward [Moscow](/source/Moscow) after the 1812 [Battle of Borodino](/source/Battle_of_Borodino), [the French](/source/French_invasion_of_Russia) took him prisoner and he remained in captivity until the [fall of Paris](/source/Battle_of_Paris_(1814)) in 1814.
[[File:Michell-Russian-steam-barges-Kungrad.jpg|thumb|left| Perovsky's [Aral Flotilla](/source/Aral_Flotilla) in the 1850s. One of the steamers was named after Perovsky himself.[{{citation |last1=Michell |first1=John |title=The Russians in Central Asia: their occupation of the Kirghiz steppe and the line of the Syr-Daria : their political relations with Khiva, Bokhara, and Kokan : also descriptions of Chinese Turkestan and Dzungaria; by Capt. Valikhanof, M. Veniukof and [others]. Translated by John Michell, Robert Michell |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924023159621 |pages=329 |year=1865 |publisher=E. Stanford |last2=Valikhanov |first2=Chokan Chingisovich |last3=Venyukov |first3=Mikhail Ivanovich}}]]]Perovsky was involved in the [Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829)](/source/Russo-Turkish_War_(1828%E2%80%931829)) and ended up being seriously wounded then.
In 1833, Perovsky was appointed the military governor of [Orenburg](/source/Orenburg_Governorate) on the Russian Empire's southeastern frontier. In 1839 he led an invasion on the [Khanate of Khiva](/source/Khanate_of_Khiva) – in part to free Russian slaves captured from the Russian frontiers on the [Caspian Sea](/source/Caspian_Sea) and sold by [Turkmen](/source/Turkmens) raiders; but also as an attempt to extend Russia's borders in the direction of [Central Asia](/source/Central_Asia) while the [British Empire](/source/British_Empire) was entangled in the [First Anglo-Afghan War](/source/First_Anglo-Afghan_War) of 1839–1842. Perovsky's expeditionary force consisted of 5,200 infantry and 10,000 camels. Due to poor planning and bad luck, they set off [southwards in November 1839](/source/Khivan_campaign_of_1839) into one of the worst winters in living memory, and had to turn back in February 1840. The expeditionary force returned to [Orenburg](/source/Orenburg), Russia in May, having suffered over 1,000 casualties, mostly from cold and disease.[[File:Vasily Perovsky.png|thumb|A portrait of Count Vasily Alekseevich Perovsky in the 1850s. His left forefinger, replaced with gold fillet, was lost in the [Battle of Borodino](/source/Battle_of_Borodino).]]
In 1842 Perovsky left the Orenburg governor's position, but he returned to that office in 1851–1857. This time, his campaigning in central Asia (today's central [Kazakhstan](/source/Kazakhstan)) against the Khanates of Khiva and [Kokand](/source/Khanate_of_Kokand) proved much more successful. After his troops successfully took the Kokand fortress of [Ak-Mechet](/source/Qyzylorda) in 1853, the fort was renamed Fort-Perovsky after him. His military successes forced the Khanate of Khiva to make concessions in its 1854 treaty with the Russian Empire.[
{{cite news
| work = The London Review
| title = The Southern Frontier of the Russian Empire
| year = 1859
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5YA4AQAAMAAJ
| volume = 11
| location = London
| publisher = Alexander Heylin
| publication-date = 1859
| page = 242
| access-date = 30 March 2021
| quote = This treaty, which reduced Khiva to vassalage, was signed on the 20th of March, 1854, just as the allied powers were going to take the field to save Turkey.
}}
]
For his achievements, Perovsky was made a [count](/source/count) in 1855.[{{cite Efron|Перовский, Василий Алексеевич}}.]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Sources==
* {{Efron|Перовский, Василий Алексеевич}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perovsky, Vasily Alekseevich}}
Category:1794 births
Category:1857 deaths
Category:People from Pochepsky District
Category:People from Mglinsky Uyezd
Category:Perovsky family
Category:Counts of the Russian Empire
Category:Members of the State Council (Russian Empire)
Category:Founding members of the Russian Geographical Society
Category:Generals of the cavalry (Russian Empire)
Category:Russian military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars
Category:Decembrists
Category:Russian people of the Great Game
Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Andrew
Category:Recipients of the Order of Saint Alexander Nevsky
Category:Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Russia)
Category:Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Fourth Degree
Category:Recipients of the Gold Sword for Bravery
Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 1st class
Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd class
Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd class
Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class
Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class
Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 2nd class
Category:Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg)
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Vasily Perovsky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Perovsky) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Perovsky?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.