Andrey Nikolaevich Krasnov (1862-1915) was a Russian botanist, geographer and traveler. Krasnov became the first doctor of geography in Russia to receive this degree on the basis of a public defense. Member of numerous expeditions, he traveled several times to the countries of South Asia.
In 1892, Krasnov embarked on a research expedition around the coast of Asia, visiting Java and Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka). In 1895, Krasnov traveled through India and Ceylon again, with an aim to study tea culture on the spot in order to insure the cultivation of this plant on the plantations in the Batumi region (located on the territory of modern Georgia). For a decade and a half, he steadily carried on his research, working on the introduction of subtropical crops in Russia. In his expeditions, he actively interacted with the population of the countries he visited, receiving help and insights.
Andrey Krasnov was one of the scholars who brought Russian geography out of the state of an academic discipline, adding it to the most relevant and productive areas of scientific activity. Apart from studying the nature and agricultural practices of India and Sri Lanka, he strived to explore and register the way of life of their population, comparing it to that in Russia. His records represent an important historical source on the cultural anthropology of Sri Lanka and India in the end of the 19th century, that yet has not been properly studied and awaits to be introduced to the international academic community.
The current research is financially supported by the Russian Science Foundation Project No. 23-29-00962 "Polymorphism of Russian scientific expeditions on the Eve of the First World War: interdisciplinary character (typology) of anthropological expeditions to South Asia and South America".
