Russian-Persian Maritime Trade via Astrakhan in the 19th — Early 20th Century: Conditions of Cargo Transportation and Development of Port Customs Infrastructure

The study is devoted to the problem of cargo transportation along the Volga River estuaries, which were distinguished by their shallow waters, as well as the issues of compliance of the port infrastructure of Astrakhan with the gradually increasing volume of trade turnover between Russia and Persia during the second half of the 19th — early 20th century. The gradual reduction of Persian dominance in the Caspian Sea is shown due to the increase in the number of Russian steamships and their cargo capacity. At the same time, the port infrastructure of Astrakhan had significantly deteriorated by the mid-1890s and was unsuitable for the placement and storage of incoming cargo on its territory. The chronic shortage of funds at the disposal of the customs administration did not allow it to carry out all the necessary work in the required volume. Only at the end of 1913, the government provided serious funding for the modernization of the territory of the Astrakhan port customs. However, wartime circumstances did not allow the planned work to be fully implemented. The same applied to the issue of improving shipping conditions at the mouths of the Volga River. The author comes to the conclusion that despite the efforts made by the Russian authorities aimed at improving the port infrastructure of Astrakhan and shipping conditions, their condition did not correspond to the load, which was increasing from decade to decade in connection with the development of trade relations between Russia and Persia in the period under review.