Verkhneimbatsk

Verkhneimbatsk stands on the right bank of the Yenisei near the mouth of the Upper Imbak, opposite the Eloguy. The Russian Inbatskoye winter station was established here in 1607, at a meeting of routes leading from the Ob basin to the Yenisei and its northern tributaries. It served as a base for collecting fur tribute from the indigenous peoples of the northern forest.

The Eloguy portage helped connect the station with waterways farther west. During the seventeenth century Inbatskoye grew in importance for the fur trade and also became a centre from which Orthodox clergy travelled among local communities of the Yenisei country. The settlement’s name preserves the distinction between the Upper Imbak and other similarly named places farther down the Yenisei.