The Mugan Steppe: Agriculture, Oil, and the Russian Empire

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The Mugan Steppe: Agriculture, Oil, and the Russian Empire

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In this episode of The Story of Azerbaijan, Lucas and Luna explore the Mugan Steppe, a vast plain in southeastern Azerbaijan that became a battleground for agriculture, oil, and imperial ambition in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Lucas explains how the Russian Empire saw the Mugan as a potential breadbasket, bringing in Russian and Ukrainian settlers alongside local Azeri nomads. He highlights the role of the Mugan-Salyan Irrigation Canal, opened in 1914, which transformed the arid landscape into cotton fields. But the steppe also saw violent clashes during the 1905-1907 Russian Revolution, when Azeri and Armenian communities clashed, and later became a stronghold for the Bolsheviks. Lucas discusses figures like Vasiliy Kiriakov, a Russian agronomist, and the short-lived Mugan Soviet Republic of 1919. The episode also touches on the region's oil potential, with early drilling near Salyan and Neftçala. Luna offers sharp reactions to the scale of forced migration and the irony of the steppe being both a place of wealth and conflict. The conversation weaves together environmental history, ethnic politics, and the legacy of the Russian Empire in the Caucasus. #MuganSteppe #Azerbaijan #RussianEmpire #Caucasus #Agriculture #Cotton #Irrigation #Salyan #Neftçala #MuganSovietRepublic #VasiliyKiriakov #1905Revolution #Bolsheviks #TsaristRussia #Settlers #Oil #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

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