European PSK Club • Updated: 27.03.2026
The ANPA - Afanasy Nikitin PSK Award is dedicated to the route of Afanasy Nikitin, author of A Journey Beyond the Three Seas. The award territory list is based on the places connected with his life and travels, grouped into modern regions, states, provinces, districts and comparable administrative units.
For award purposes, the historical route is presented as 35 valid territories. The award is issued for confirmed PSK QSOs with stations from any 20 different ANPA territories from this list.
ANPA Award
20 different territories out of 35 available
Each territory counts once. The ANPA reference code shown in the table is the territory identifier for award checking.
- The award is available to all licensed radio amateurs, club stations and SWLs according to EPC award practice.
- Only PSK contacts are valid.
- The applicant must confirm QSOs with stations from 20 different territories from the ANPA list below.
- Each territory counts only once, regardless of the number of QSOs made from that territory.
- Applications should be submitted with an ADIF log. The ANPA territory code may be added in the COMMENT field, for example: #ANPA RU-01.
| Prefix family | Modern territory | ANPA code | Modern type | Historic places included | Relation to Afanasy Nikitin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R3I | Tver Oblast, Russia | RU-01 | Oblast | Kalyazin | Upper Volga departure sector. Kalyazin was one of Nikitin’s first documented river stops after leaving the Tver area. |
| R3M | Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia | RU-02 | Oblast | Uglich | Volga transit stage on the way downstream from Tver toward the mid-Volga trade corridor. |
| R3N | Kostroma Oblast, Russia | RU-03 | Oblast | Kostroma | Major Volga merchant city passed during the early river section of the journey. |
| R3U | Ivanovo Oblast, Russia | RU-04 | Oblast | Plyos | Volga staging point between Kostroma and Nizhny Novgorod. |
| R3T | Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia | RU-05 | Oblast | Nizhny Novgorod | Important waiting and rendezvous point where Nikitin joined the Shirvanshah embassy before sailing farther down the Volga. |
| R4P | Republic of Tatarstan, Russia | RU-06 | Republic | Kazan | Key middle-Volga passage point on the embassy route southward. |
| R6U | Astrakhan Oblast, Russia | RU-07 | Oblast | Orda; Uslan; Sarai; Berekezan; Haztarakhan / Astrakhan | Award grouping for the lower Volga and Volga-delta section. These names belong to the approach to Astrakhan, where Nikitin was attacked and lost goods; several of the medieval stops are identified only approximately and are grouped here conservatively for award use. |
| R6W | Republic of Dagestan, Russia | RU-08 | Republic | Tarki; Derbent | Caspian gateway on the Caucasian side. Derbent was visited twice, and Tarki belongs to the Dagestani segment of the route. |
| 4J / 4K | Shamakhi District, Azerbaijan | AZ-01 | District | Shamakhi / Shemakheya | After leaving Dagestan, Nikitin continued into Shirvan and reached Shamakhi, an important commercial center. |
| 4J / 4K | Baku, Azerbaijan | AZ-02 | Capital City | Baku / Baka | Caspian port and onward departure point from Shirvan toward Iran. |
| EP / EQ | Mazandaran Province, Iran | IR-01 | Province | Chebokar / Chapak Rud; Sari; Amol | Northern Iran stage where Nikitin stayed for a long period after crossing from the Caspian side. |
| EP / EQ | Tehran Province, Iran | IR-02 | Province | Damavand; Rey | Central Iranian inland route south of the Alborz; Rey is one of the clearly named Persian urban stages. |
| EP / EQ | Isfahan Province, Iran | IR-03 | Province | Kashan; Nain; Isfahan | Large central-Iran block on the caravan route. Kashan was visited twice; Nain and Isfahan belong to the same broader provincial corridor today. |
| EP / EQ | Yazd Province, Iran | IR-04 | Province | Yazd; Abarkuh / Eberkuh | Desert-route province on the way between central Iran and the south. Yazd was visited twice. |
| EP / EQ | Kerman Province, Iran | IR-05 | Province | Sirjan | South-central Iranian caravan stage on the approach toward the Persian Gulf side. |
| EP / EQ | Fars Province, Iran | IR-06 | Province | Tarom (grouped provisionally); Lar; Shiraz | South Iranian inland sector. Lar and Shiraz are secure Fars identifications; Tarom is grouped here for award purposes as part of the southbound Fars/Lar corridor. |
| EP / EQ | Hormozgan Province, Iran | IR-07 | Province | Bender; Hormuz / Gurmiz | Persian Gulf embarkation sector. The Bender–Hormuz stage was fundamental to Nikitin’s sea crossing toward Oman and India. |
| EP / EQ | Qom Province, Iran | IR-08 | Province | Qom / Kum | Return-route stop in north-central Iran after coming back from India. |
| EP / EQ | Markazi Province, Iran | IR-09 | Province | Saveh / Sava | Return-route inland stage between Qom and northwestern Iran. |
| EP / EQ | Zanjan Province, Iran | IR-10 | Province | Soltaniyeh / Soltanio | Northwestern Iranian stop on the homeward route. |
| EP / EQ | East Azerbaijan Province, Iran | IR-11 | Province | Tabriz / Tebriz | Major northwest-Iran commercial hub on Nikitin’s return toward Anatolia. |
| A4 | Muscat Governorate, Oman | OM-01 | Governorate | Muscat / Moshkat | Arabian-side port call on the sea route between Hormuz and India; Muscat was reached twice. |
| VU | Gujarat, India | IN-01 | State | Khambhat / Cambay / Konbat; Dega (provisional west-coast identification) | Northwestern India entry into the commercial world of Gujarat. Cambay is secure; the Dega stop remains uncertain and is grouped here conservatively as a probable west-coast stage before or around the Cambay sector. |
| VU | Maharashtra, India | IN-02 | State | Chaul / Chuvil; Pal; Umr / Umri; Junnar / Chuner; Dabhol / Dabyl | Konkan-to-Deccan approach. Chaul and Dabhol are major western-coast ports; Junnar is the upland market town reached inland from the coast. Variant spellings in some lists are normalized into this Maharashtra block. |
| VU | Karnataka, India | IN-03 | State | Bidar / Beder; Gulbarga / Kolberg; Raichur / Raichuru; Aland / Aladin | This was Nikitin’s principal long-stay Deccan zone under the Bahmani Sultanate. Bidar was one of his main bases; Gulbarga, Raichur and Aland are all tied to his inland movements and trade observations. |
| VU | Telangana, India | IN-04 | State | Koilkonda; Kulonger / Kallur | Eastern Deccan extension from the Bidar–Golconda sphere. Koilkonda and the usually accepted Kallur identification are grouped in today’s Telangana. |
| VU | Andhra Pradesh, India | IN-05 | State | Pervot / Parvat / Srisailam | Pilgrimage stage traditionally identified with Parvat, usually taken as Srisailam, which Nikitin compared in importance to major sacred centers. |
| TA7 | Erzincan Province, Türkiye | TR-01 | Province | Erzincan | Eastern Anatolian transit point on the overland return from Iran toward the Black Sea. |
| TA7 | Trabzon Province, Türkiye | TR-02 | Province | Trabzon; Platana / Akçaabat | Black Sea departure corridor. Trabzon was the major port, and Platana belongs to the same coastal province today. |
| TA7 | Ordu Province, Türkiye | TR-03 | Province | Vona / Perşembe | Additional Black Sea coastal stage west of Trabzon on the homeward sea route. |
| R6S / UU | Sevastopol, Crimea | CR-01 | Federal City / Disputed Territory | Balaklava | Crimean landfall sector after the Black Sea crossing. Listed geographically because Balaklava is explicitly named in the route tradition. |
| R6K / UU | Republic of Crimea | CR-02 | Republic / Disputed Territory | Gurzuf; Kaffa / Feodosia | South-coast and eastern-Crimea continuation after Balaklava. Kaffa was one of the great Genoese ports of the Black Sea. |
| UR - UZ | Kyiv City, Ukraine | UA-01 | City | Kyiv | Dnieper-route stage on the final overland return through the lands of today’s Ukraine. |
| EU7 / EW7 | Mogilev Region, Belarus | BY-01 | Region | Mogilev | Northern return-route stage in the lands of today’s Belarus. |
| EU6 / EW6 | Vitebsk Region, Belarus | BY-02 | Region | Orsha | Final documented Belarusian stage before the route continued westward toward Smolensk, where Nikitin died before reaching Tver. |
