Black Sea–Caspian Steppe Black Sea–Caspian Steppe The Black Sea-Caspian Steppe is an informal name for that part of the Eurasian Steppe that extends south between the Black and Caspian Seas. It is usually treated as part of the Pontic-Caspian steppe which includes the area north of the Black and Caspian Seas, but there is some reason to treat it as a distinct place. Its natural boundaries are the Sea of Azov and Black Sea on the west, the Caucasus Mountains on the south and the Caspian Sea on the east. Its northern boundary may be taken as the triangle formed by the lower
Black Sea–Caspian Steppe Azov broke off and formed the Lesser Nogai Horde, a name that gradually went out of use. Around 1630 the Kalmyks migrated west from Dzungaria and occupied the land around the north end of the Caspian Sea, driving the Nogais south and west. In 1771 a significant part of them returned to Dzungaria and the Nogais returned east and north. A few Russians were on the lower Terek by about 1520 and Cossacks were somewhere on the Don by 1550. In 1556 Russia took Astrakhan and interacted with Kabardia for a few years before losing interest in the area south