Virtual excursions to the past and modern Atyrau
The Gurev city was found in 1640. A merchant from Yaroslavl, Guriy Nazarev together with his sons built a wooden stockaded town (fortification) at the mouth of the river Zhaiyk (Yaik) on its right bank, close to the fishing place Uishik (“uchuk” is the trap net for fishing) by paying a render to the Nogai Khanate in Sarai- Dzhuk.
In 1810-15 the fortification was abolished
From 1885 it became a main town of the district where the Uralsk Cossack troops were found.
On the 4th of October, 1991 the Gurev Council of the elected representative of the people made a decision on changing the name of the region centre for Atyrau. In 1866 a book “Gurev- Town” written by Foss V.E. was published. He wrote in his book: “…Gurev spreads over 1.5 feet in length and half a foot in width…mudbricks are made of mud and sand mixture and sometimes adding some animal dung; houses made of mudbricks are small in size and have a flat roof… there is one church of common faith in Gurev – The Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. There is one wooden mosque and there are 8 state buildings as an apartment and office of the Chief of the town, guardhouse, fire-tower, 3 baker's shops, hospital and drug store, people's school and its library. In the literal sense there is no social life and amusements in Gurev at all…the Gurev people are working and studying all year round…”.
On the 4th of April 1717 on the instructions of Peter I a Russian expedition arrived at the town. It was heading to Khiva under the leadership of geographer, researcher and traveller Aleksandr Bekovich Cherkasskiy (Davlet- Kizden Murza).
In August 1769 a famous naturalist, traveller and academic Pyotr Simon Pallas who was in charge of the expedition of the Russian Academy of Sciences visited the town. He wrote: “…in spring time when fish was coming for spawning there was so much fish near trap net that it was nearly broken from its force. ... There is no other quality built house in town apart from the commandment's house. It is only a gunpowder shop which is built from a stone…. Two feet away from Gurev to the west side of it there is a small size gypsum hill… there used to be a seal hunting at the island Peshnoi close to the Gogolskaya cape”.
In March 1832 there was an expedition sent from Gurev to research the eastern side of the Caspian Sea which was under a supervision of a famous traveller G.S. Karelin. The expedition departured on four flat- bottomed boats with two shafts and travelled along the coast of Mangystau. The results of this work had not only a significant economic, military and political importance but a massive scientific value as well. G.S. Karelin used to come to this region before.
In 1833 V.I. Dal visited Gurev – the author of “Thesaurus”. He knew the Kazakh language very well and was a witness of the way of life, morals and customs of the Kazakh people. He took notes of the Kazakh proverbs and translated them. V.I. Dal was known to Kazakhs for his justice and objective understanding of the strained situation in steppe, as the researchers of his biography say. The scientist studied the causes of rebellion commanded by Isatai Taimanov and wrote a novel about a devoted love of the Kazakh man Bikei for the girl from his own tribe. The writer loved the Kazakh steppe. “I spent summer in steppe and rode a horse for 1500 feet…, it felt so good there that I would never leave the place”,- he wrote. In summer 1836 an expedition under the commandment of Karelin left Gurev to research the eastern and South- Eastern coasts of the Caspian. He made maps of the bays, river mouths, islands and the Inderskoe lake.
In 1845 I.I. Zheleznov started to publish his own essays and tales called “The Pictures of Fish Hunting”, “Vasiliy Strunyashev” and other works about hard conditions of the life of fishermen of Ural and Caspian. The writer was born in Gurev and in 1841 he finished the military school in Uralsk and returned to his native town where he was studying fishing industry, collected ethnographic and historic materials. On the 14th of October, 1850 Taras Shevchenko, the Ukrainian poet, visited Gurev who was sent into exile to Mangystau in Novopetrovskoe fortification line (Fort- Shevchenko). A Great Kazakh writer M.O. Auezov wrote: “Shevchenko was seeing a hard fortune of the Kazakh people, their life, ethnic culture. He drew a lot and made artistic pictures of steppe and its habitats”.
In 1852 G.S. Karelin got settled in Gurev and for 20 years he had been involved in making zoological collections. A huge amount of the material collected by him was lost as a result of a huge fire that took place in summer 1872 in Gurev. He was so deeply disappointed with a loss of so much work that he fell ill and died on the 17th of December, 1872 and was buried in Gurev.
On the 1st of May, 1852 a famous writer and a journalist N.F.Savichev came to town and three days after he departed for the Novopetrovskoe fortification line on a steamboat to meet with T.G. Shevchenko.
From April, 1860 till October, 1862 N.A.Severtsov visited Gurev – a founder of zoogeography, a botanic, ethnographer and traveller. He made a map of retreat of the Caspian Sea at the mouth of the river Ural in 1772, 1834, 1862. While researching the areas of Emba delta he reached to the very mouth of the river Emba and discovered oil here. His works “The Life of Red Salmon of the Ural Waters”, “The Animals of the Ural Region” were highly appreciated by the Russian scientists.
R.L. Zolotnitskaya in her book “N.A.Severtsov” wrote that “he bought an extremely rich collection of N.A. Karelin for the Academy of Sciences consisting of 3,500 specimen of animals and birds”. In 1988 the expedition of colonel G.E. Grumm-Grzhimailo consisting of two guard officers brothers Leman, baron Donelmayer and professor Lebedev made its way through Gurev. They noticed oil seepage at Emba and saw for the first time how Kazakhs were treating cattle from favus disease using oil. In 1891 colonel G.E. Grumm-Grzhimailo and his fellow travellers have requested from the Tsar to give them an exclusive right for oil production at the Emba region. The Tsar handed over the steppe and deposits for eternal use “as a reward for a good service”. There was a society established called “Brothers Leman” with the capital of 750 thousand roubles. A.S. Ivanov was appointed a manager. From 1893 till 1898 prospective manual drilling was conducted in the Dossor, Makat, Iskine, Karaton and Kara-Chungul regions.
In 1810-15 the fortification was abolished
From 1885 it became a main town of the district where the Uralsk Cossack troops were found.
On the 4th of October, 1991 the Gurev Council of the elected representative of the people made a decision on changing the name of the region centre for Atyrau. In 1866 a book “Gurev- Town” written by Foss V.E. was published. He wrote in his book: “…Gurev spreads over 1.5 feet in length and half a foot in width…mudbricks are made of mud and sand mixture and sometimes adding some animal dung; houses made of mudbricks are small in size and have a flat roof… there is one church of common faith in Gurev – The Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. There is one wooden mosque and there are 8 state buildings as an apartment and office of the Chief of the town, guardhouse, fire-tower, 3 baker's shops, hospital and drug store, people's school and its library. In the literal sense there is no social life and amusements in Gurev at all…the Gurev people are working and studying all year round…”.
On the 4th of April 1717 on the instructions of Peter I a Russian expedition arrived at the town. It was heading to Khiva under the leadership of geographer, researcher and traveller Aleksandr Bekovich Cherkasskiy (Davlet- Kizden Murza).
In August 1769 a famous naturalist, traveller and academic Pyotr Simon Pallas who was in charge of the expedition of the Russian Academy of Sciences visited the town. He wrote: “…in spring time when fish was coming for spawning there was so much fish near trap net that it was nearly broken from its force. ... There is no other quality built house in town apart from the commandment's house. It is only a gunpowder shop which is built from a stone…. Two feet away from Gurev to the west side of it there is a small size gypsum hill… there used to be a seal hunting at the island Peshnoi close to the Gogolskaya cape”.
In March 1832 there was an expedition sent from Gurev to research the eastern side of the Caspian Sea which was under a supervision of a famous traveller G.S. Karelin. The expedition departured on four flat- bottomed boats with two shafts and travelled along the coast of Mangystau. The results of this work had not only a significant economic, military and political importance but a massive scientific value as well. G.S. Karelin used to come to this region before.
In 1833 V.I. Dal visited Gurev – the author of “Thesaurus”. He knew the Kazakh language very well and was a witness of the way of life, morals and customs of the Kazakh people. He took notes of the Kazakh proverbs and translated them. V.I. Dal was known to Kazakhs for his justice and objective understanding of the strained situation in steppe, as the researchers of his biography say. The scientist studied the causes of rebellion commanded by Isatai Taimanov and wrote a novel about a devoted love of the Kazakh man Bikei for the girl from his own tribe. The writer loved the Kazakh steppe. “I spent summer in steppe and rode a horse for 1500 feet…, it felt so good there that I would never leave the place”,- he wrote. In summer 1836 an expedition under the commandment of Karelin left Gurev to research the eastern and South- Eastern coasts of the Caspian. He made maps of the bays, river mouths, islands and the Inderskoe lake.
In 1845 I.I. Zheleznov started to publish his own essays and tales called “The Pictures of Fish Hunting”, “Vasiliy Strunyashev” and other works about hard conditions of the life of fishermen of Ural and Caspian. The writer was born in Gurev and in 1841 he finished the military school in Uralsk and returned to his native town where he was studying fishing industry, collected ethnographic and historic materials. On the 14th of October, 1850 Taras Shevchenko, the Ukrainian poet, visited Gurev who was sent into exile to Mangystau in Novopetrovskoe fortification line (Fort- Shevchenko). A Great Kazakh writer M.O. Auezov wrote: “Shevchenko was seeing a hard fortune of the Kazakh people, their life, ethnic culture. He drew a lot and made artistic pictures of steppe and its habitats”.
In 1852 G.S. Karelin got settled in Gurev and for 20 years he had been involved in making zoological collections. A huge amount of the material collected by him was lost as a result of a huge fire that took place in summer 1872 in Gurev. He was so deeply disappointed with a loss of so much work that he fell ill and died on the 17th of December, 1872 and was buried in Gurev.
On the 1st of May, 1852 a famous writer and a journalist N.F.Savichev came to town and three days after he departed for the Novopetrovskoe fortification line on a steamboat to meet with T.G. Shevchenko.
From April, 1860 till October, 1862 N.A.Severtsov visited Gurev – a founder of zoogeography, a botanic, ethnographer and traveller. He made a map of retreat of the Caspian Sea at the mouth of the river Ural in 1772, 1834, 1862. While researching the areas of Emba delta he reached to the very mouth of the river Emba and discovered oil here. His works “The Life of Red Salmon of the Ural Waters”, “The Animals of the Ural Region” were highly appreciated by the Russian scientists.
R.L. Zolotnitskaya in her book “N.A.Severtsov” wrote that “he bought an extremely rich collection of N.A. Karelin for the Academy of Sciences consisting of 3,500 specimen of animals and birds”. In 1988 the expedition of colonel G.E. Grumm-Grzhimailo consisting of two guard officers brothers Leman, baron Donelmayer and professor Lebedev made its way through Gurev. They noticed oil seepage at Emba and saw for the first time how Kazakhs were treating cattle from favus disease using oil. In 1891 colonel G.E. Grumm-Grzhimailo and his fellow travellers have requested from the Tsar to give them an exclusive right for oil production at the Emba region. The Tsar handed over the steppe and deposits for eternal use “as a reward for a good service”. There was a society established called “Brothers Leman” with the capital of 750 thousand roubles. A.S. Ivanov was appointed a manager. From 1893 till 1898 prospective manual drilling was conducted in the Dossor, Makat, Iskine, Karaton and Kara-Chungul regions.