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82-399: The Russian traveller Afanasy Nikitin /Athanasius Nikitin, who visited India (1468-1474) found Dabhol as a large town and extensive seaport. The horses from Mysore, Arabia , Khorasan and Nighostan were brought here for trade. This was the place which had links with all major ports from India to Ethiopia . In the 15th and 16th centuries, Dabul was an opulent Muslim trade centre, first under

164-612: A circumcised convert would have been persecuted or even put to death in Rus', so if Nikitin had indeed become a Muslim, he would have avoided returning to his country, while in fact he died on his way back in the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania not far from the Muscovite border. However, Lurye characterizes Nikitin's religious expressions as "the peculiar syncretism of a man who acknowledged any monotheistic faith as 'true', if practiced with

246-624: A Portuguese expeditionary force ( Battle of Dabul ) under Francisco de Almeida in December, 1508, in a prelude to the famous Battle of Diu . Although the city's fort was not taken, it was only the first of several times, in the course of the next few decades, that the Portuguese tried to destroy Dabul. By the time of the last recorded attack, in 1571, the Governor of Dabhul was Khwaja Ali Shirazi. The battle led to killing 150 men at Dabhol. The break-up of

328-786: A black obelisk was erected in Nikitin's honor at Revdanda , 120 km south of Mumbai , the probable location where he first set foot in India. In 2006, the Indian organization Adventures & Explorers, with the support of the Embassy of India in Moscow and the Tver Regional Administration sponsored a Nikitin Expedition, in which 14 travelers set out from Tver to retrace Nikitin's journey through Russia,

410-686: A cave in Georgia. Discoveries in the Hotu cave and the adjacent Kamarband cave , near the town of Behshahr , Mazandaran south of the Caspian in Iran, suggest human habitation of the area as early as 11,000 years ago. Ancient Greeks focused on the civilization on the south shore – they call it the (H)yr(c/k)anian Sea ( Ancient Greek : Υρκανία θάλαττα , with sources noting the latter word was evolving then to today's Thelessa : late Ancient Greek : θάλασσα ). Hafiz-i Abru ,

492-493: A factor of 10. The Caspian Sea is the largest inland body of water in the world by area and accounts for 40–44% of the total lake waters of the world, and covers an area larger than Germany . The coastlines of the Caspian are shared by Azerbaijan , Iran , Kazakhstan , Russia , and Turkmenistan . The Caspian is divided into three distinct physical regions: the Northern, Middle, and Southern Caspian. The Northern–Middle boundary

574-658: A fourteenth century Timurid Empire geographer, recorded that the destruction of the Oxus river dam and irrigation works diverted the river flow towards the Caspian Sea, which caused the Aral sea to nearly disappear. Later, in the Tang dynasty (618–907), the sea was the western limit of the Chinese Empire. The area is rich in fossil fuels . Oil wells were being dug in the region as early as

656-547: A longing to return to his homeland: "May God protect the Russian land! There is no land in the world like it. But why can the princes in the Russian land not live with each other as brothers? May the Russian land be well ordered, because justice there is quite rare". On his way back, Nikitin visited Muscat , the Arabian sultanate of Somalia, and Trabzon . In November 1474, he sailed from Trebizond to Caffa (now Feodosia), where there

738-826: A pure heart". Scholars became aware of Nikitin's Voyage relatively early and prominent historians mentioned it in their works, such as Nikolay Karamzin (1766–1826) in his History of the Russian State (1817). The text of Nikitin's Voyage in the Sofia Second Chronicle was published in its entirety for the first time in 1821. A German translation of Nikitin's notes was also published in 1835 as "Reise nach Indien unternommen von einem Russischen Kaufmann im 15 Jahrhundert" in Dorpater Jahrbücher für Literatur . The Russian diplomat in London, Mikhail Vielgorsky , translated

820-488: A result of the petrochemical industry; this has significantly decreased the number of species of marine birds in the area. Existing and planned oil and gas pipelines under the sea further increase the potential threat to the environment. The high concentration of mud volcanoes under the Caspian Sea were thought to be the cause of a fire that broke out 75 kilometers from Baku on July 5, 2021. The State oil company of Azerbaijan SOCAR said preliminary information indicated it

902-432: A third of the salinity of average seawater . It is bounded by Kazakhstan to the northeast, Russia to the northwest, Azerbaijan to the southwest, Iran to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southeast. The name of the Caspian sea is derived from the ancient Iranic Caspi people. The sea stretches 1,200 km (750 mi) from north to south, with an average width of 320 km (200 mi). Its gross coverage

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984-513: A version for the Hakluyt Society , which was published in 1855. Many historians have used Nikitin's notes as a dependable source for the history of India in the 15th-century. The dates of Nikitin's travels have been debated by scholars; it was generally accepted until the 1980s that Nikitin spent the years 1466–1472 in India, when Leonid S. Semyonov challenged these dates and published a book dedicated to Nikitin's travels in 1980. His chronology

1066-474: Is 386,400 km (149,200 sq mi) and the surface is about 27 m (89 ft) below sea level . Its main freshwater inflow , Europe's longest river, the Volga , enters at the shallow north end. Two deep basins form its central and southern zones. These lead to horizontal differences in temperature, salinity, and ecology. The seabed in the south reaches 1,023 m (3,356 ft) below sea level, which

1148-479: Is a wholly freshwater species. The zebra mussel is native to the Caspian and Black Sea basins, but has become an invasive species elsewhere, when introduced. The area has given its name to several species, including the Caspian gull and the Caspian tern . The Caspian seal ( Pusa caspica ) is the only aquatic mammal endemic to the Caspian Sea, being one of very few seal species that live in inland waters, but it

1230-405: Is different from those inhabiting freshwaters due to the hydrological environment of the sea. A century ago the Caspian was home to more than one million seals . Today, fewer than 10% remain. Archeological studies of Gobustan Rock Art have identified what may be oceanic species including cetaceans from baleen whales to dolphins , and auks most likely Brunnich's Guillemot , although

1312-414: Is home to a wide range of species and is famous for its caviar and oil industries. Pollution from the oil industry and dams on rivers that drain into it have harmed its ecology. It is predicted that during the 21st century, the depth of the sea will decrease by 9–18 m (30–60 ft) due to global warming and the process of desertification , leading to an ecocide . The sea's name stems from Caspi ,

1394-601: Is the Mangyshlak Threshold, which runs through Chechen Island and Cape Tiub-Karagan. The Middle–Southern boundary is the Apsheron Threshold , a sill of tectonic origin between the Eurasian continent and an oceanic remnant, that runs through Zhiloi Island and Cape Kuuli. The Garabogazköl Bay is the saline eastern inlet of the Caspian, which is part of Turkmenistan and at times has been a lake in its own right due to

1476-475: Is the deepest, with oceanic depths of over 1,000 m (3,300 ft), greatly exceeding the depth of other regional seas, such as the Persian Gulf . The Middle and Southern Caspian account for 33% and 66% of the total water volume, respectively. The northern portion of the Caspian Sea typically freezes in the winter, and in the coldest winters ice forms in the south as well. Over 130 rivers provide inflow to

1558-459: Is the third-lowest natural non-oceanic depression on Earth after Baikal and Tanganyika lakes. Written accounts from the ancient inhabitants of its coast perceived the Caspian Sea as an ocean, probably because of its salinity and large size. With a surface area of 371,000 square kilometres (143,000 sq mi), the Caspian Sea is nearly five times as big as Lake Superior (82,000 square kilometres (32,000 sq mi)). The Caspian Sea

1640-666: The Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences estimated that the level of the sea was dropping by more than six centimetres per year due to increased evaporation due to rising temperatures caused by climate change . The Volga River , the longest river in Europe, drains 20% of the European land area and is the source of 80% of the Caspian's inflow. Heavy development in its lower reaches has caused numerous unregulated releases of chemical and biological pollutants. The UN Environment Programme warns that

1722-552: The Bahmani , later under the Badar sultans of Bijapur. As the port with most convenient access to the Bahmani sultanate's capital at Bidar , Dabul's fortunes ascended quickly with that dynasty. At its height, it was arguably the most important port between Chaul and Goa . It was exactly the prominence of Dabul as a Muslim trade centre and port that led it to be bombarded, sacked and razed by

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1804-613: The Black Sea , a remnant of the ancient Paratethys Sea . Its seafloor is, therefore, a standard oceanic basalt and not a continental granite body. It is estimated to be about 30 million years old, and became landlocked in the Late Miocene , about 5.5 million years ago, due to tectonic uplift and a fall in sea level . The Caspian Sea was a comparatively small endorheic lake during the Pliocene , but its surface area increased fivefold around

1886-639: The Black Sea . In the late Pontian stage , a mountain arch rose across the south basin and divided it into the Khachmaz and Lankaran Lakes (or early Balaxani ). The period of restriction to the south basin was reversed during the Akchagylian – the lake became more than three times its size today and took again the first of a series of contacts with the Black Sea and Aral Sea . A recession of Lake Akchagyl completed stage one. The earliest hominid remains found around

1968-465: The Ural River discharge into the Caspian Sea, but it has no natural outflow other than by evaporation . Thus the Caspian ecosystem is a closed basin , with its own sea level history that is independent of the eustatic level of the world's oceans. The sea level of the Caspian has fallen and risen, often rapidly, many times over the centuries. Some Russian historians, such as Lev Gumilev , claim that

2050-575: The Volga , stopping at the Makaryev Monastery , then passing through Uglich , Kostroma , and Plyos to get to Nizhny Novgorod . Following the caravan of the returning ambassador to Moscow from Shirvan, Hasan Beg, Nikitin and his fellow merchants traveled further south. Near Astrakhan, his party was attacked and robbed first by Nogais (whom he calls Tatars ), then again by Kaitags on the Caspian coast. Niktin's belongings were stolen, and some of his fellow Russian merchants were taken prisoner by

2132-593: The Wayback Machine - a Konkani historian. Afanasy Nikitin Afanasy Nikitin ( Russian : Афанасий Никитин ; died 1475) was a Russian merchant from Tver and one of the first Europeans (after Niccolò de' Conti ) to travel to and document his visit to India . He described his trip in a narrative known as A Journey Beyond the Three Seas ( Khozheniye za tri morya ). Afanasy Nikitin, son of Nikita,

2214-634: The ancient people who lived to the southwest of the sea in Transcaucasia . Strabo (died circa AD 24) wrote that "to the country of the Albanians ( Caucasian Albania , not to be confused with the country of Albania ) belongs also the territory called Caspiane, which was named after the Caspian tribe, as was also the sea; but the tribe has now disappeared". Moreover, the Caspian Gates , part of Iran 's Tehran province , may evince such people migrated to

2296-538: The tidal areas of the Volga delta and riparian forests of the Samur River delta. The shoreline is also a unique refuge for plants adapted to the loose sands of the Central Asian Deserts . The principal limiting factors to successful establishment of plant species are hydrological imbalances within the surrounding deltas, water pollution , and various land reclamation activities. The water level change within

2378-401: The twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russia's extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it the second leading producer of oil and natural gas globally. Caspian littoral states join efforts to develop infrastructure, tourism and trade in the region. The first Caspian Economic Forum

2460-411: The 10th century to reach oil "for use in everyday life, both for medicinal purposes and for heating and lighting in homes". By the 16th century, Europeans were aware of the rich oil and gas deposits locally. English traders Thomas Bannister and Jeffrey Duckett described the area around Baku as "a strange thing to behold, for there issueth out of the ground a marvelous quantity of oil, which serveth all

2542-485: The Bahmani state into several smaller Deccan sultanates had accelerated Dabul's decline. As new capitals for these statelets were erected, Dabul's geographic position was no longer as fortuitous as it had been before, and alternative, more convenient ports were cultivated. In the course of the 16th century, a lot of commerce was redirected away from Dabul and towards the rising new port of Rajapur further south. The Dabhol port boasts of centuries old history. [1] Dabhol

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2624-433: The Black Sea basin or widespread Palearctic species such as crucian carp , Prussian carp , common carp , common bream , common bleak , asp , white bream , sunbleak , common dace , common roach , common rudd , European chub , sichel , tench , European weatherfish , wels catfish , northern pike , burbot , European perch and zander . Almost 30 non-indigenous, introduced fish species have been reported from

2706-560: The Caspi(an) descriptor; in Kazakh it is called Каспий теңізі , Kaspiy teñizi , Kyrgyz : Каспий деңизи , romanized :  Kaspiy deñizi , Uzbek : Kaspiy dengizi . Others refer to it as the Khazar sea : Turkmen : Hazar deňzi ; Azerbaijani : Xəzər dənizi , Turkish : Hazar Denizi . In all these the first word refers to the historical Khazar Khaganate , a large empire based to

2788-509: The Caspian "suffers from an enormous burden of pollution from oil extraction and refining, offshore oil fields, radioactive wastes from nuclear power plants and huge volumes of untreated sewage and industrial waste introduced mainly by the Volga River". The magnitude of fossil fuel extraction and transport activity in the Caspian also poses a risk to the environment. The island of Vulf off Baku , for example, has suffered ecological damage as

2870-541: The Caspian Sea are from Dmanisi dating back to around 1.8 Ma and yielded a number of skeletal remains of Homo erectus or Homo ergaster . More later evidence for human occupation of the region came from a number of caves in Georgia and Azerbaijan such as Kudaro and Azykh Caves . There is evidence for Lower Palaeolithic human occupation south of the Caspian from western Alburz. These are Ganj Par and Darband Cave sites. Neanderthal remains also have been discovered at

2952-708: The Caspian Sea is an indirect reason for which plants may not get established. These affect aquatic plants of the Volga Delta, such as Aldrovanda vesiculosa and the native Nelumbo caspica . About 11 plant species are found in the Samur River delta, including the unique liana forests that date back to the Tertiary period . Since 2019 UNESCO has admitted the lush Hyrcanian forests of Mazandaran , Iran as World Heritage Site under category (ix). The Caspian turtle ( Mauremys caspica ), although found in neighboring areas,

3034-483: The Caspian Sea, but only a few have become established. Six sturgeon species, the Russian , bastard , Persian , sterlet , starry and beluga , are native to the Caspian Sea. The last of these is arguably the largest freshwater fish in the world . The sturgeon yield roe (eggs) that are processed into caviar . Overfishing has depleted a number of the historic fisheries. In recent years, overfishing has threatened

3116-431: The Caspian region economies are highly dependent on this type of mineral wealth. The world energy markets were influenced by Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, as they became strategically crucial in this sphere, thus attracting the largest share of foreign direct investment (FDI). All of the countries are rich in solar energy and harnessing potential, with the highest rainfall much less than the mountains of central Europe in

3198-676: The Caspian, the Volga River being the largest. A second affluent, the Ural River , flows in from the north, and the Kura River from the west. In the past, the Amu Darya (Oxus) of Central Asia in the east often changed course to empty into the Caspian through a now-desiccated riverbed called the Uzboy River , as did the Syr Darya farther north. The Caspian has several small islands, primarily located in

3280-623: The Christian faith". Very near the end of his account, he wrote of his wish to return home and to the Christian faith: "I, Afanasy, a damned servant of Almighty God, Maker of heaven and earth, pondered over the Christian faith, the Baptism of Christ , the fasts established by the Holy Fathers, and the apostolic commandments, and I longed to go [back] to Rus!". Yakov Lurye , an editor of Nikitin's Journey , sees his conversion as doubtful, pointing out that

3362-597: The Hindu sanctuary of Parvattum , which he called "the Jerusalem of the Hindus". He mentions that he engaged in horse-dealing, although his mercantile activities may have been more extensive than directly stated in his account. He spent almost three years in India, before deciding to return to Russia after concluding that further travel would not make him any great profit and that he could not afford to remain in India. Nikitin also showed

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3444-686: The Kaitags. Nikitin went to the Shirvanshah's (the ruler of Shirvan) camp in Shamakhi to plead for help. His captured companions were rescued by the Shirvanshah, who, however, refused to give him and his companions means to return home. At that point, Nikitin writes, his party dispersed: "Whoever had something left in Rus' returned to Rus'; whoever had debts in Rus' went wherever they could". Hoping to recoup his losses, Nikitin continued on to Derbent , which

3526-552: The Kozhikode Corporation paid tribute to Afanasy Nikitin, commemorating the 550th anniversary of his visit to Kozhikode. Moreover, Customs Road in the city was renamed after Nikitin, also establishing a ‘twin city’ status with Tver, the birth place of Nikitin. The Russian rock band Aquarium composed a song titled "Afanasy Nikitin Boogie". The power metal band Epidemia composed a song titled " Khozhdeniye za tri morya (Walking

3608-690: The Middle East, and Central Asia to India. The expedition lasted from 12 November 2006 to 16 January 2007. The Indian newspaper The Hindu filed several reports on the expedition's progress. After reaching India, two members of the expedition set out in March 2007 from Mumbai in SUVs to retrace Nikitin's travels around India itself. The Afanasy Nikitin Seamount in the Indian Ocean is named in his honor. On 17 April 2022,

3690-570: The Mother of God and the saints ("the Holy Fathers"), he could not remember when Christian holidays were and so he could not celebrate Easter and other movable feast days or keep the Christian fasts ( Lent , the St. Peters' Fast , the fast during Advent , etc.). Thus, he kept the fasts of the Muslims and broke fast when they did so. He also wrote that at Bindar in the third year of his journey he "shed many tears for

3772-622: The North Caspian, the majority of the islands are small and uninhabited, like the Tyuleniy Archipelago , an Important Bird Area (IBA). The climate of the Caspian Sea is variable, with the cold desert climate (BWk), cold semi-arid climate (BSk), and humid continental climate (Dsa, Dfa) being present in the northern portions of the Caspian Sea, while the Mediterranean climate (Csa) and humid subtropical climate (Cfa) are present in

3854-523: The Protection of the Caspian Sea against Pollution from Land-based Sources in order to ensure better protection for the biodiversity of the Caspian Sea. The rising level of the Caspian Sea between 1995 and 1996 reduced the number of habitats for rare species of aquatic vegetation. This has been attributed to a general lack of seeding material in newly formed coastal lagoons and water bodies. Many rare and endemic plant species of Russia are associated with

3936-627: The amount of North Atlantic depressions that reach the interior, and they in turn are affected by cycles of the North Atlantic oscillation . Thus levels in the Caspian Sea relate to atmospheric conditions in the North Atlantic, thousands of kilometres to the northwest. The last short-term sea-level cycle started with a sea-level fall of 3 m (10 ft) from 1929 to 1977, followed by a rise of 3 m (10 ft) from 1977 until 1995. Since then smaller oscillations have taken place. A study by

4018-399: The boyars are rich and live in luxury". The abundance and trustworthiness of Nikitin's factual material provide a valuable source of information about India at that time, and his remarks on the trade of Hormuz, Cambay , Calicut , Dabhol , Ceylon , Pegu and China; on royal progresses and other functions, both ecclesiastical and civil, at the Bahmani capital Bidar , and on the wonders of

4100-457: The climate to the southwest and south are generally warm with uneven elevation due to a mix of highlands and mountain ranges ; the drastic changes in climate alongside the Caspian have led to a great deal of biodiversity in the region. The Caspian Sea has numerous islands near the coasts, but none in the deeper parts of the sea. Ogurja Ada is the largest island. The island is 37 km (23 mi) long, with gazelles roaming freely on it. In

4182-471: The country to burn in their houses. This oil is black and is called nefte . There is also by the town of Baku, another kind of oil which is white and very precious [i.e., petroleum ]." Today, oil and gas platforms abound along the edges of the sea. During the rule of Peter I the Great , Fedor I. Soimonov was a pioneering explorer of the sea. He was a hydrographer who charted and greatly expanded knowledge of

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4264-480: The current Caspian Sea and either the Arctic Ocean or North Sea , or the Black Sea . This is supported by the existences of current endemic, oceanic species such as lagoon cockles which was genetically identified to originate in the Caspian and Black Seas regions. The sea's basin (including associated waters such as rivers) has 160 native species and subspecies of fish in more than 60 genera . About 62% of

4346-413: The fertile plains of Southern Russia in Eastern Europe , and north of the mountainous Iranian Plateau . It covers a surface area of 371,000 km (143,000 sq mi) (excluding the highly saline lagoon of Garabogazköl to its east), an area approximately equal to that of Japan , with a volume of 78,200 km (19,000 cu mi). It has a salinity of approximately 1.2% (12 g/L), about

4428-415: The fish stocks, since it targets reproductive females. Reptiles native to the region include the spur-thighed tortoise ( Testudo graeca buxtoni ) and Horsfield's tortoise . The main geologic history locally had two stages. The first is the Miocene , determined by tectonic events that correlate with the closing of the Tethys Sea . The second is the Pleistocene noted for its glaciation cycles and

4510-424: The full run of the present Volga. During the first stage, the Tethys Sea had evolved into the Sarmatian Lake, that was created from the modern Black Sea and south Caspian, when the collision of the Arabian peninsula with West Asia pushed up the Kopet Dag and Caucasus Mountains , lasting south and west limits to the basin. This orogenic movement was continuous, while the Caspian was regularly disconnected from

4592-832: The great fair at Parvattum—as well as his comparisons of things Russian and Indian—deserve special notice. After studying Nikitin's account, and especially his references to Islam (much of India was ruled by Muslim sultans, and many Muslim merchants lived along the coast), particularly the prayers he transliterates from Arabic and Turkic into Cyrillic letters, Gail Lenhoff and Janet Martin speculated that Nikitin might have converted to Islam in India. His loss of contact with Christianity and his life among Muslims (and apparent lapse from Christianity and conversion to Islam) bothered him, as he mentioned several times in his account. Indeed, he began his account calling it his "sinful voyage beyond three seas." He went on to explain that he continued to date events by Christian religious holidays and invoked

4674-421: The isthmus that cuts it off from the Caspian. Differences between the three regions are dramatic. The Northern Caspian only includes the Caspian shelf, and is very shallow; it accounts for less than 1% of the total water volume with an average depth of only 5–6 m (16–20 ft). The sea noticeably drops off towards the Middle Caspian, where the average depth is 190 m (620 ft). The Southern Caspian

4756-453: The mountains of the west, which are also rich in hydroelectricity sources. Iran has high fossil fuel energy potential. It has reserves of 137.5 billion barrels of crude oil , the fourth largest in the world, producing around four million barrels a day. Iran has an estimated 988.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas , around 16 percent of world reserves, thus key to current paradigms in global energy security. Russia's economy ranks as

4838-579: The new Maratha kingdom. After being captured by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj It was passed on to Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj who gave it to Khando Ballal Chitnis as a reward for saving his life while drowning in a river in Goa . The Dabhol Vatan even today, is rightfully claimed by the descendants of the Satara Chitnis Family, Although some of the descendants of the Shirke family argue that they should own it. Read about Dabhol in 'ऐतिहासिक दाभोळ: वर्तमान व भविष्य (Historic Dabhol: Present and Future)' book by Anna Shirgaonkar Archived 11 August 2022 at

4920-410: The north of the Caspian Sea between the 7th and 10th centuries. In Iran, the lake is referred to as the Mazandaran Sea ( Persian : دریای مازندران ), after the historic Mazandaran Province at its southern shores. Old Russian sources use the Khvalyn or Khvalis Sea ( Хвалынское море / Хвалисское море ) after the name of Khwarezmia . Among Greeks and Persians in classical antiquity it

5002-426: The north with a collective land area of roughly 2,000 km (770 sq mi). Adjacent to the North Caspian is the Caspian Depression , a low-lying region 27 m (89 ft) below sea level . The Central Asian steppes stretch across the northeast coast, while the Caucasus mountains hug the western shore. The biomes to both the north and east are characterized by cold, continental deserts. Conversely,

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5084-475: The north, the Caspian Sea water is almost fresh in its northern portions, getting more brackish toward the south. It is most saline on the Iranian shore, where the catchment basin contributes little flow. Currently, the mean salinity of the Caspian is one third that of Earth's oceans. The Garabogazköl lagoon , which dried up when water flow from the main body of the Caspian was blocked in the 1980s but has since been restored, routinely exceeds oceanic salinity by

5166-423: The riches of India from Muslim merchants, he decided to travel there. In the spring of 1471, Nikitin sailed for India from Hormuz and, after making several stops, arrived in the port of Chaul six weeks later. It was probably after his arrival in India that he began writing his travel notes. Nikitin observed the markets, lifestyles and courts of the Bahmani Sultanate and the Vijayanagara Empire . He visited

5248-411: The rising of the Caspian in the 10th century caused the coastal towns of Khazaria to flood, resulting in the Khazars losing approximately two-thirds of their territory due to flooding. Over the centuries, Caspian Sea levels have changed in synchrony with the estimated discharge of the Volga, which in turn depends on rainfall levels in its vast catchment basin. Precipitation is related to variations in

5330-412: The rock art on Kichikdash Mountain which is assumed to depict either a beaked whale or a dolphin , it may represent the famous beluga sturgeon instead due to its size (430 cm in length). These petroglyphs may suggest potential presences of oceanic faunas in the Caspian Sea presumably until the Quaternary or even the last glacial period or antiquity due to historic marine inflow between

5412-432: The sea. He drew a set of four maps and wrote Pilot of the Caspian Sea , the first lengthy report and modern maps. These were published in 1720 by the Russian Academy of Sciences . Countries in the Caspian region, particularly Azerbaijan , Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan , have high-value natural-resource-based economies, where the oil and gas compose more than 10 percent of their GDP and 40 percent of their exports. All

5494-471: The south. The Iranian city of Qazvin shares the root of its name with this common name for the sea. The traditional and medieval Arabic name for the sea was Baḥr ('sea') Khazar , but in recent centuries the common and standard name in Arabic language has become بحر قزوين Baḥr Qazvin , the Arabized form of Caspian. In modern Russian language, it is known as Russian : Каспи́йское мо́ре , Kaspiyskoye more . Some Turkic ethnic groups refer to it with

5576-405: The southern portions of the Caspian Sea. The Caspian has characteristics common to both seas and lakes. It is often listed as the world's largest lake, although it is not freshwater : the 1.2% salinity classes it with brackish water bodies. It contains about 3.5 times as much water, by volume, as all five of North America's Great Lakes combined. The Volga River (about 80% of the inflow) and

5658-850: The species and subspecies are endemic , as are 4–6 genera (depending on taxonomic treatment). The lake proper has 115 natives, including 73 endemics (63.5%). Among the more than 50 genera in the lake proper, 3–4 are endemic: Anatirostrum , Caspiomyzon , Chasar (often included in Ponticola ) and Hyrcanogobius . By far the most numerous families in the lake proper are gobies (35 species and subspecies), cyprinids (32) and clupeids (22). Two particularly rich genera are Alosa with 18 endemic species/subspecies and Benthophilus with 16 endemic species. Other examples of endemics are four species of Clupeonella , Gobio volgensis , two Rutilus , three Sabanejewia , Stenodus leucichthys , two Salmo , two Mesogobius and three Neogobius . Most non-endemic natives are either shared with

5740-421: The sturgeon population to the point that environmentalists advocate banning sturgeon fishing completely until the population recovers. The high price of sturgeon caviar – more than 1,500 Azerbaijani manats (US$ 880 as of April 2019 ) per kilo – allows fishermen to afford bribes to ensure the authorities look the other way, making regulations in many locations ineffective. Caviar harvesting further endangers

5822-428: The three seas) about Nikitin's writings. A brand of Tver beer, "Afanasy", is named after Afanasy Nikitin. Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water , described as the world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea . An endorheic basin , it lies between Europe and Asia : east of the Caucasus , west of the broad steppe of Central Asia , south of

5904-466: The time of the Pliocene-Pleistocene transition. During warm and dry climatic periods, the landlocked sea almost dried up, depositing evaporitic sediments like halite that were covered by wind-blown deposits and were sealed off as an evaporite sink when cool, wet climates refilled the basin. (Comparable evaporite beds underlie the Mediterranean .) Due to the current inflow of fresh water in

5986-458: Was a familiar market to him, and then to Baku . He then crossed the Caspian Sea into Persia , where he followed a known trade route and made prolonged stops in market towns. He passed through Chapakur ( Chapak Rud , where he remained for six months), Sari , Amol , Kashan , and Yazd before reaching Hormuz in the Persian Gulf . All in all, he remained in Persia for two years. Having heard about

6068-572: Was a large Russian settlement. It is most likely in Caffa that he composed Khozheniye za tri morya on the basis of his travel notes and memories. On his way to Tver, Nikitin died not far from Smolensk in the spring of 1475. Other Russian merchants took his notes to Vasily Mamyrev, secretary to Ivan III , the grand prince of Moscow. The author of the Lvov Chronicle writes that he received Nikitin's notes in 1475 and incorporated them into his work but

6150-696: Was a merchant in Tver . Prior to his voyage to Persia and India, Afanasy Nikitin was probably engaged in long-distance trade and had previously traveled to the Ottoman Empire , the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , Moldavia , Wallachia , Georgia , Crimea , and other countries. In 1466 or 1468, Nikitin left his hometown of Tver on a commercial trip, planning to trade in the lands around the Caspian Sea and go as far as Shirvan (in modern-day Azerbaijan ). He travelled down

6232-453: Was a mud volcano which spewed both mud and flammable gas. It is calculated that during the 21st century, the water level of the Caspian Sea will decrease by 9–18 m (30–60 ft) due to the acceleration of evaporation due to global warming and the process of desertification , causing an ecocide . On October 23, 2021, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed the Protocol for

6314-545: Was a statue of Nikitin in Russia when in fact there was not (Nehru had asked if the Russians had honored the first Russian to visit India). So as not to be proven a liar, Khrushchev phoned back to Russia demanding that a statue of Nikitin be built immediately, before Nehru's state visit to Russia. The statue was featured on a Russian postage stamp in 2005 commemorating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of Tver Oblast . Nikitin

6396-623: Was accepted in the Literaturnye Pamiatniki series by the Russian Academy of Sciences . According to Semyonov's reconstruction, Nikitin left Russia in 1468 and spent the years 1471–1474 in India. In 1955, the local authorities of Tver erected a bronze monument to Afanasy Nikitin on the bank of the Volga River. The sculptor was Sergei Orlov . There is a folk legend that this statue was raised because Nikita Khrushchev , upon visiting India, told Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru that there

6478-415: Was also featured on a coin commemorating the 525th anniversary of his journey. In 1958, the Russian state-owned Mosfilm Studio and Indian director Khwaja Ahmad Abbas ' "Naya Sansar International" production house co-produced a film entitled The Journey Beyond Three Seas with Oleg Strizhenov cast as Nikitin. The 1962-built icebreaker Ledokol-2 was renamed Afanasy Nikitin in 1966. In 2000,

6560-634: Was of great importance in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. It used to be the principal port of South Konkan region, carrying on trade with ports in the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. During the 13th to 15th centuries this port was ruled by the Bahamani dynasty and was known as Mustafabad. Later on it was Hamjabad and then it was Dabhol. Dabul was conquered by Shivaji around 1660 and annexed to

6642-661: Was the Hyrcanian ocean. Renaissance European maps labelled it as the Abbacuch Sea (Oronce Fine's 1531 world map), Mar de Bachu (Ortellius' 1570 map), or Mar de Sala (the Mercator 1569 world map ). It was also sometimes called the Kumyk Sea and Tarki Sea (derived from the name of the Kumyks and their historical capital Tarki ). The Caspian Sea is at its South Caspian Basin , like

6724-424: Was unable to learn anything more about the traveler. During his trip, Nikitin studied the population of India, its social system , government , military (he witnessed war-games featuring war elephants ), its economy, religion , lifestyles, and natural resources. He describes the appearances of Indians, their clothing and food, interrelations, and so on. Nikitin's notes mention: "the countrymen are very poor, but

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