S U M M A R Y 
The  documentary  collectionyvutsronlkihedaUPJIFEB
  Peter  I  Envoy  to  the  East 
(Florio 
Beneveny's 
Journey 
in  Persia 
and  Bokhara 
in  1718­1725) 
pub­
lished  in  the sériés "Asia and Africa in the Sources and Mate-
rials of Modem Times" contains letters, reports and journals of 
the Russian envoy Florio Beneveny. 
The materials published in the collection are an important 
source on the history the biggest khanates of Central Asia in the 
past, Bokhara and Khiva, partially Persia, also on the history 
of Russia in the first third of 18thywvutsrponmljihgfedcbaZYXVUTSRPNM
  с.  Part  of  those  documents  are 
published  for  the  first  time. 
Travels  from  Russia  to  the  East  were  difficult  and  dangerous 
(on  account  of  a  big  distance  between  them,  hard  natural  con­
ditions  in  this  part  of  the  world  and  the  traditional  harsh  treat­
ment  of  foreigners  by  the  people  inhabiting  the région) and were 
therefore few. This is why each travel was an event in itself at-
tracting keen interest. Scanty materials about such travels — 
notes, diaries of travellers, letters, reports, réminiscences preserv-
ed to these days are unique. 
The contents of the reports, letters, journals published in the 
collection and of the Instruction, placed in the Supplement, give 
the reader an idea of the contacts between Russia and the Cen-
tral Asia Khanates, Bokhara and Khiva, about the rôle and the 
significance of trade between them, about the attempts of Russian 
government to maintain and widen these connections in the 18th 
Century. Florio Beneveny's journey to the East represents a de-
finite stage in Russia's policy in Central Asia, testifying a desire 
to activate it. 
Florio Beneveny's reports and journals show clearly the po-
sition of the countries. The documents cover différent aspects of 
life in Central Asia and also in Persia. A vivid picture of acute 
politicai struggle in these countries is given by the author, the 
politicai and economical connections of the countries of this ré-
gion are described, many interesting facts are given. 
The book is supplied with an introductory article and com-
ments, amplifying the documents with the necessary information 
about the epoch and events in Russia and in the East in the con-
sidered period. Thus the introductory article contains the infor-
mation and data about Florio Beneveny which were recently 
found in the archives and are published for the first time. 
There are geographica! and name indexes. 
The scientific community and readers at large, having interest 
in the past of our country and East, have an opportunity to get 
acquainted with very interesting, unique archive documents in 
this book.