The Agrzhan (russian: Агрыжанские татары) were a group of primarily Hindu and Muslim merchants from

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

who operated in

Astrakhan 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 ...

. In 1857, they numbered 107. Since then they have assimilated into the Astrakhan Tatar population. Most of the Agrzhan were Hindus. They were closely connected with the Bukharan merchants in Astrakhan, and part of the trade network connecting Astrakhan with Bukhara and Iran before and after the Russian conquest of the city. They retained special privileges, as well as the so-called Gilani Tatars, the Iranian trading community in the city, and with the cities Bukharan Tatars, until 1836.Allen J. Frank, ''Bukhara and the Muslims of Russia: Sufism, Education and the Paradox of Muslim Prestige'' (Brill), p. 50-52

Sources

*Wixman, Ronald. ''The Peoples of the USSR: An Ethnographic Handbook''. (Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, Inc, 1984) p. 6 Ethnic groups in Russia Hinduism in Russia Islam in Russia Astrakhan Russian people of Indian descent {{India-ethno-stub