Esther M. Zimmer Lederberg
Russian Galleys on the Caspian: 1722
The music is Morisco music, found on Iberian Garden, Vol. 1 by
Altramar. The piece is Muwashshah: Mā li-l-muwallah, 1113-1198.
This music takes place at the beautiful gardens along the Guadalquiver, near Cordoba.
This is during the "convivencia" under Alfonso X (El Sabio - The Wise), the time
before Granda fell: when Christians, Moslems and Jews lived at peace with each
other. Muwashshah are songs in poetic form, with instrumental interludes in the
form of Ibn Bājja (Avempace): 1470-1520. This is Morisco art.
The Russian regular fleet appeared in the Caspian in 1722: the Caspian military flotilla exists!
The Russian Caspian Military Flotilla protects merchant ships and the coast from pirate attacks
by Persian and Central Asians. The main base of the flotilla became Astrakhan. Initially, the
flotilla consisted of 200 river boats and 45 other vessels. These ships were hastily built on
the eve of the Persian campaign. On July 18, 1722, Peter the Great entered the Caspian Sea with
274 ships with a landing force of 22 thousand people. The Caspian Military Flotilla was commanded
by Admiral General Apraksin. The emperor himself commanded the lead detachment of ships. The
flotilla headed towards the Astrakhan Gulf, where the land force landed, combined with 9 thousand
cavalry (which came by land). On August 23, Peter's army occupied Derbent. The ships brought to
the city provisions and artillery.
On November 4, 1722, by decree of Peter I, the Caspian Flotilla was founded,
and a military port was established in Astrakhan as a flotilla base. By decree of Peter, the ships
sailed to Baku. Supplies and manpower were delivered there. After a 3 days bombardment from ships
and from land, the city surrendered. A Treaty between Russia and Persia was signed. According to
this treaty, Russia received the cities of Derbent and Baku, adjacent territories, as well as
the provinces of Gilyan, Mazandaran and Astrabad. Under the Rasht Treaty (1732) and the Ganja Treaty
(1735), Russia returned all the Caspian regions of Persia.
After the death of Peter the Great, most of the conquests in the Caspian were lost. During the reign
of Anna Ioannovna, by agreement of 1735, these lands were transferred to Persia. But such rich places
were very important for Russia. By a decree of Catherine II in 1781, a detachment of ships was
transferred to Astrakhan, the management lead by Prince Potemkin.
Galleys were used by Russians on the Caspian, not only in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, and the
Baltic (Northern Mediterranean)!
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