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Yerofey Pavlovich Khabarov-Svyatitsky (; 1603 – after 1671), was a Russian entrepreneur and adventurer, best known for his exploring the Amur river region and his attempts to colonize the area for Russia. For background, see Russian–Manchu border conflicts.
The major Russian city of Khabarovsk, and the small town and railway station Yerofey Pavlovich (located on the Trans-Siberian railroad in Amur Oblast) bear his name. The 1963-built icebreaker Ledokol-5 was renamed Yerofey Khabarov in 1966.
A native of the Veliky Ustyug area in the northern European Russia, Khabarov was a manager for the Stroganovs at the saltworks in Solvychegodsk. In 1625, Khabarov sailed from Tobolsk to Mangazeya. , He left the town with his expedition three years later and reached the Kheta River (eastern part of Taymyr Peninsula). In 1630, Khabarov took part in a voyage from Mangazeya to Tobolsk. In 1632–1641, he reached the Lena River and founded a farming town with saltworks along the Lena at the mouths of the Kuta River and Kirenga River Rivers. Now his descendants live in Stavropol.
Khabarov crossed the mountains in the fall of 1650 and this time was met with armed resistance. He built winter quarters at Albazin at the northernmost point of the Amur. After receiving reinforcements in June 1651 he set off down the Amur. By September, they reached the mouth of the Sungari. By 29 September, they reached Achansk near present-day Khabarovsk and decided to winter there. On 8 October, they were attacked by about 1,000 local people, who, being defeated, appealed to their Manchu overlords. On March 24, 1652, 2,000 Manchus and Koreans armed with artillery arrived from Ninguta and attacked Achansk. Khabarov somehow managed to defeat them. (The Manchu general, Haise, was later executed for his incompetence) Not knowing how many more Chinese were in the area, on 22 April he withdrew up the Amur. At one point, he encountered another force of 6,000 Chinese but was able to slip around them under cover of fog and darkness.Lincoln, page 70 Further upstream he met a force of 117 cossacks who had been sent as reinforcements. He learned from a captive that a new Manchu army was being gathered on the Sungari. On August 1 he reached the mouth of the Zeya. Here 136 of his men mutinied leaving only 212 loyal. (Since Khabarov mentions the mutiny immediately after mentioning where to build winter quarters, it may have been connected with whether it was wise to remain on the Zeya and await a possible Manchu attack.) From the Zeya, he sent a report to the Yakutsk Voivode matter-of-factly describing the burning of villages,Dymytryshyn, document 81 slaughter of natives and the torture of prisoners.
From this point the English sources become unclear. They apparently wintered at the Zeya. In the fall of 1653, 150 reinforcements under Dimitry Zinoviev appeared. As a nobleman, Zinoviev demanded full command. When Khabarov refused, he was arrested. Unable to gain the support of Khabarov's men and having no adequate way to deal with the Manchus, Zinoviev and part of the force withdrew from the Amur. Onufriy Stepanov was left in charge of those who remained.
Khabarov was deprived of his rank and property and was sent on a fifteen-month journey to Moscow to be tried. After a year's delay he was acquitted. He was given a minor noble rank ( Syn boyarsky of Ilimsk) on the condition that he return to Siberia. He reappears again in the records in 1658 when the Siberian Office ordered that he be placed in irons if he refused to guide a new expedition to the Amur. After that he disappears from the records.
Khabarov charted the Amur river in his "Draft of the Amur river" ().
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