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Astrachan
Astrakhan ( rus, Астрахань, p=ˈastrəxənʲ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in Southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the Caspian Depression, 60 miles (100 km) from the Caspian Sea, with a population of 475,629 residents at the 2021 Census. At an elevation of below sea level, it is the lowest city in Russia. Astrakhan was formerly the capital of the Khanate of Astrakhan (a remnant of the Golden Horde), and was located on the higher right bank of the Volga, 7 miles (11 km) from the present-day city. Situated on caravan and water routes, it developed from a village into a large trading centre, before being conquered by Timur in 1395 and captured by Ivan the Terrible in 1556. In 1558 it was moved to its present site. The oldest economic and cultural center of the Lower Volga, [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volga Delta
The Volga Delta is the largest river delta in Europe, and occurs where Europe's largest river system, the Volga River, drains into the Caspian Sea in Russia's Astrakhan Oblast, north-east of the republic of Kalmykia. The delta is located in the Caspian Depression—the far eastern part of the delta lies in Kazakhstan. The delta drains into the Caspian approximately downstream from the city of Astrakhan. The Volga Delta has grown significantly in the 20th century because of changes in the level of the Caspian Sea. In 1880, the delta had an area of . Today the Volga Delta covers an area of and is approximately across. It has a classical "delta pattern". The delta lies in the arid climate zone, characterized by very little rainfall. The region receives less than one inch of rainfall in January and in July in normal years. Strong winds often sweep across the delta and form linear dunes. Along the front of the delta, one will find muddy sand shoals, mudflats, and coquina banks. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lower Volga
The Volga Region (russian: Поволжье, ''Povolzhye'', literally: "along the Volga") is a historical region in Russia that encompasses the drainage basin of the Volga River, the longest river in Europe, in central and southern European Russia. The Volga Region is culturally separated into three sections: * Upper Volga Region - from the Volga River's source in Tver Oblast to the mouth of the Oka River in Nizhny Novgorod * Middle Volga Region - from the mouth of the Oka River to the mouth of the Kama River south of Kazan * Lower Volga Region - from the mouth of the Kama River to the Volga Delta in the Caspian Sea, in Astrakhan Oblast The geographic boundaries of the region are vague, and the term "Volga Region" is used to refer primarily to the Middle and Lower sections, which are included in the Volga Federal District and Volga economic region. Geography The Volga Region is almost entirely within the East European Plain, with a notable distinction contrastin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astrakhan Kremlin
Astrakhan Kremlin (russian: Астраханский кремль, Astrakhanskiy kreml) is a fortress in Astrakhan, Russia. It is located on a hill on an island in the Volga Delta, between the Volga, the Kutum, and the Tsarev. About For centuries, the Astrakhan Kremlin was inapproachable stronghold in the south-eastern border of Russia. A series of historical events are related to the fortress: the Crimean Turkish hiking on the lower Volga in the 16th century, the " Troubles " in Russia and the peasant uprising led by Stepan Razin in the 17th century, the transformation of the tsar Peter the Great Period, revolt of archers in 1705-1706, development of the Caspian navy in the 18th century, the reinforcement of the country's borders and entry into a part of Russian territories of the Caucasus and Central Asia. In 1552, Tsar Ivan IV conquered the Kazan Khanate. Four years later, Russian troops took Astrakhan. When the Middle and Lower Volga Region was joined, Moscow department acq ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ivan The Terrible
Ivan IV Vasilyevich (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич; 25 August 1530 – ), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584. Ivan was the son of Vasili III, the Rurikid ruler of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. He was appointed grand prince after his father's death, when he was three years old. A group of reformers known as the "Chosen Council" united around the young Ivan, declaring him tsar (emperor) of all Rus' in 1547 at the age of 16 and establishing the Tsardom of Russia with Moscow as the predominant state. Ivan's reign was characterised by Russia's transformation from a medieval state to an empire under the tsar but at an immense cost to its people and its broader, long-term economy. During his youth, he conquered the khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan. After he had consolidated his power, Ivan rid himself of the advisers from the "Chosen Council" and trigge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ibn Battuta
Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berber Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, largely in the Muslim world. He travelled more than any other explorer in pre-modern history, totalling around , surpassing Zheng He with about and Marco Polo with . Over a period of thirty years, Ibn Battuta visited most of southern Eurasia, including Central Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, China, and the Iberian Peninsula. Near the end of his life, he dictated an account of his journeys, titled '' A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling'', but commonly known as ''The Rihla''. Name Ibn Battuta is a patronymic literally meaning "son of the duckling". His most common full name is given as Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battuta. In his travelogue, '' the Rihla'', he gives his full name as Shams al-Din Abu’Abdal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tokhtamysh–Timur War
The Tokhtamysh–Timur war was fought from 1386 to 1395 between Tokhtamysh, khan of the Golden Horde, and the warlord and conqueror Timur, founder of the Timurid Empire, in the areas of the Caucasus mountains, Turkistan and Eastern Europe. The battle between the two Mongol rulers played a key role in the decline of the Mongol power over early Rus' principalities. Background In the late 1370s and early 1380s, Timur helped Tokhtamysh assume supreme power in the White Horde against Tokhtamysh's uncle Urus Khan. After this Tokhtamysh united the White and Blue Hordes, reuniting the Golden Horde, and launched a massive military punitive campaign against the Russian principalities between 1381 and 1382, restoring Turco-Mongol ( Tatar) power in Russia after the defeat in the Battle of Kulikovo. The Golden Horde, after a period of anarchy between the early 1360s and late 1370s, briefly reestablished itself as a dominant regional power, defeating Lithuania around 1383. But Tokhtamysh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Khazars
The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukraine, Crimea, and Kazakhstan. They created what for its duration was the most powerful polity to emerge from the break-up of the Western Turkic Khaganate. Astride a major artery of commerce between Eastern Europe and Southwestern Asia, Khazaria became one of the foremost trading empires of the early medieval world, commanding the western marches of the Silk Road and playing a key commercial role as a crossroad between China, the Middle East and Kievan Rus'. For some three centuries (c. 650–965) the Khazars dominated the vast area extending from the Volga-Don steppes to the eastern Crimea and the northern Caucasus. Khazaria long served as a buffer state between the Byzant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sturgeon
Sturgeon is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the Late Cretaceous, and are descended from other, earlier Acipenseriformes, acipenseriform fish, which date back to the Early Jurassic period, some 174 to 201 million years ago. They are one of two living families of the Acipenseriformes alongside paddlefish (Polyodontidae). The family is grouped into four genera: ''Acipenser'' (which is paraphyletic, containing many distantly related sturgeon species), ''Huso'', ''Scaphirhynchus,'' and ''Pseudoscaphirhynchus''. Two species (''Adriatic sturgeon, A. naccarii'' and ''Dabry's sturgeon, A. dabryanus'') may be extinct in the wild, and one (''Syr Darya sturgeon, P. fedtschenkoi'') may be entirely extinct. Sturgeons are native to subtropical, temperate and sub-Arctic rivers, lakes and coastlines of Eurasia and North America. Sturgeons are long-lived, late-maturing fishes with distinctive characteristics ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karakul Hat
A Karakul hat (Dari/Urdu/Pashto/ Uzbek/Kashmiri: ), sometimes spelled as Qaraqul hat, also called Uzbek hat and Jinnah Cap is a hat made from the fur of the Qaraqul breed of sheep. Karakul directly translates to black fur in the Uzbek language and the hat originally comes from Bukhara. The fur from which it is made is referred to as ''Astrakhan'', ''broadtail'', ''qaraqulcha'', or ''Persian lamb''. The hat is peaked, and folds flat when taken off of the wearer's head. The cap is typically worn by men in Central and South Asia. It was worn by Amanullah Khan, the former king of Afghanistan, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan. The karakul, which had distinguished all educated urban men since the beginning of the 20th century, has fallen out of fashion in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Soviet Politburo hat In the Soviet Union, the karakul hat became very popular among Politburo members. It became common that Soviet leaders appeared in public, wearing this type of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karakul Sheep
Karakul or Qaraqul (named after Qorakoʻl, a city in Bukhara Region in Uzbekistan) is a breed of domestic sheep which originated in Central Asia. Some archaeological evidence points to Karakul sheep being raised there continuously since 1400 BC. Hailing from the desert regions of Central Asia, Karakul sheep are renowned for their ability to forage and thrive under extremely harsh living conditions. They can survive severe drought conditions because of a special quality they have, storing fat in their tails. Karakul are also raised in large numbers in Namibia, having first been brought there by German colonists in the early 20th century. They are currently listed as endangered. Use by humans Karakul sheep are a multi-purpose breed, kept for milking, meat, pelts, and wool. As a fat-tailed breed, they have a distinctive meat. Many adult Karakul are double-coated; in this case, spinners separate the coarse guard hair from the undercoat. Karakul is a relatively coarse fiber us ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hajj
The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey, and of supporting their family during their absence from home. In Islamic terminology, Hajj is a pilgrimage made to the Kaaba, the "House of God", in the sacred city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, alongside Shahadah (oath to God), Salat (prayer), Zakat (almsgiving) and Sawm (fasting of Ramadan). The Hajj is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, and their submission to God (Allah). The word Hajj means "to attend a journey", which connotes both the outward act of a journey and the inward act of intentions. The rites of pilgrimage are performed over five to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hajji
Hajji ( ar, الحجّي; sometimes spelled Hadji, Haji, Alhaji, Al-Hadj, Al-Haj or El-Hajj) is an honorific title which is given to a Muslim who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca. It is also often used to refer to an elder, since it can take years to accumulate the wealth to fund the travel (and did particularly before the advent of mass air travel), and in many Muslim societies to a respected man as an honorific title. The title is placed before a person's name; for example, Saif Gani becomes ''Hajji Saif Gani''. Hadži is also used in Orthodox Christianity for people who go on pilgrimage to the grave of Christ in Jerusalem. It can then be added to the pilgrim's first name, e.g., Hadži-Prodan, Hadži-Đera, Hadži-Ruvim, Hadži-Melentije Stevanović Hajji is derived from the Arabic ', which is the active participle of the verb ' ("to make the pilgrimage"). The alternative form ' is derived from the name of the Hajj with the adjectival suffix -''ī'', and th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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