CENTRAL ASIAN MERCHANTS IN RUSSIAN-ASIAN FOREIGN TRADE VIA ASTRAKHAN IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY

Abstract

The eastern coast of the Caspian Sea and the Central Asian territories beyond it have long been linked to Russia by trade relations. Astrakhan has always been an important point of this trade. The ties of the Lower Volga region with the states and territories of Central Asia arose in the Middle Ages.

From the moment of the annexation of the Astrakhan Khanate to the Russian state and until the middle of the 18th century, Russia's trade with the Central Asian states and territories was entirely concentrated in Astrakhan. After the founding of Orenburg and the establishment of the Orenburg border line, the position of Astrakhan foreign trade in this direction was somewhat shaken, but in the first half of the 19th century it remained an important component.