In the Travelogue of French Traveller Hommaire-Astrakhan in the 19th Century

Abstract

Throughout the history as a result of its geo-strategic position, the Caspian Sea has been the region where many nations wanted to establish domination. In our own time known as one of the most important energy centers like the Middle East, the Caspian Sea was also known as the region which is rich in the petroleum resources even before the periods of Before Christmas. The lands of khanat of Astrakhan had the borders with Kuban and Don in the west and with the Nogay Orda in the east. The lands of the khanet lies till the Terek river in the south and in the north lies till the lands between Volga and Don. However, the life of the khanat was very short; as a result of the permanent throne struggles it lost power and it was annexed by the "Terrible Ivan" in 1556. The Ottoman Empire was displeased with the expansionist policies followed by Russia and upon the help demanded by khanats in the the Central Asia took a step but it could not achive a positive result. Hence, through the conquests of Crimea, Casan and Astrakhan Russia not only aimed to expand its domain in the region but also aimed to follow a strategy to strenghten its power in the places that were captured by applying its own political and administrative system. Consequently, Astrakhan being economically one of the most important ports of the Caspian region as a result of its specific position also drew the attention of many local or foreign travellers and researchers who visited and it took its place in their books. One of the travellers who visited the region is the French traveller called Xavier Hommaire De Hell. The aim of this study is to make some conributions to enlighten the political, adminsitrative and the socio-cultural structure of Astrakhan and the history of the region in the 19th century using his travelogue titled as "Travels in the Steppes of the Caspian Sea, The Crimea, The Caucasus".