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So,
let us begin the story of the Astrakhan Region from ancient times, when
Sarmat and Polovets tribes roamed the land. For even in those distant
times the region was already a crossroads on the main trade routes
between Europe and Asia. In the 13th century, the capital of the Golden
Horde was here - the city of Sarai Batu, which drew famed for its
palaces and mosques. Then, on the right bank of the Volga, Haji Tarkhan
grew up-the center of the Astrakhan khanate, which broke away from the
Golden Horde and was the historical forerunner of Astrakhan.
From ancient times:
• From ancient times, the Slavs wandered along the Volga
and round the Caspian too. Russian merchants actively explored this
region and expanded trade relations with the East, which was always of
special economic and political significance for Russia.
In
the mind-16th century, the Astrakhan khanate was conquered by Russian
troops. The age of Tsar of Ivan IV is not the brightest in Russian
history. His contemporaries had every reason to call him the Terrible.
For all the contradictoriness of his reputation: ever, it is
undoubtedly to his ment that in 1556, he strenghtened the Russian state
by annexing the Lower Volga region and the capital of the Astrakhan
khanate, Haji Tarkhan. A powerful and fore-sighted rule, he was fully
aware of the importance for Russia of these wealthy lands and the
geopolitical, military, trade and economic advantages they brought with
them. Ther is one thing, however, that Ivan the Terrible did not know;
the fact that, four hundred years after the annexation of the Astrakhan
Region to Russia, it would acquire another indisputable advantage - the
presence of large oli reserves on the shel of the North Caspian.
A new page in the history:
• Since then Astrakhan region has been part of the Russian
State. The city retained its role as a mighty trading center, being
Russian's gate to the East. By the 17th century, a persian consulate
was to be found in Astrakhan. A Kremlin was built here that is now the
city's chief architectural monument. Astrakhan had becom the region's
administrative center. At that time, Peter the Great a port, shipyard,
and a navy base built here.
A
new page in the history of the Region began with the production of oil
on the Caspian. In 1881, a mechanical factory was built in Astrakhan
with tanks for swing petroleum products and an office was set up for
the Nobel Brothers Oil Production Parnership. For transporting oil from
Baku into the central regions of Russia, the Astrakhan nine-foot
roadstead was used, ship-repair yards, warehouses, a mechanical plant
and a wharf were built. At the same time, broad-scale work was under
way to create a mighty tanker fleet and production facilities for
repairing and servicing the ships. Many of the enterprises built at
that time became the forerunners of current Astrakhan industrial
giants. |
