Znamensk, Astrakhan Oblast Znamensk, Astrakhan Oblast Znamensk () is a closed town in Astrakhan Oblast, Russia. Population: It was founded in 1948 as Kapustin Yar-1 to serve a missile test range known as Kapustin Yar. Town status was granted in 1962. The closed town was renamed Znamensk in 1992. The military testing range is officially known as 4GCMP (4th State Central Interspecific Test-site). Kapustin Yar is also the name of a nearby village. Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is incorporated as the closed administrative-territorial formation of Znamensk—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal
Astrakhan Khanate Astrakhan Khanate The Khanate of Astrakhan ("Xacitarxan Khanate") was a Tatar Turkic state that arose during the break-up of the Golden Horde. The Khanate existed in the 15th and 16th centuries in the area adjacent to the mouth of the Volga river, around the modern city of Astrakhan. Its khans claimed patrilineal descent from (Tūqāy Tīmūr), the thirteenth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan. Mahmud bin Küchük established the Khanate in the 1460s. The capital was the city of Xacítarxan, also known as Astrakhan in Russian chronicles. Its territory included the Lower Volga valley and the Volga Delta,