It was formally part of Persia but "de facto" autonomous under Turkoman tribal control until Russian forces defeated the Teke army at the Battle of Geok Tepe in January 1881. Persia ceded Askhabad to the Russian Empire under the terms of the Akhal Treaty. The city was officially founded January 18, 1881, as a fortified garrison and was named after the Turkmen village on that site. Russian military engineers platted the garrison settlement "on the western edge of the "aul" (village) of Askhabad on the Gaudan (Howdan) road leading to Persia. The fortress stood on a hill 12 meters high, on which was constructed a citadel-redoubt, and below , the residential area, surrounded by walls and a moat." Russia developed the area due to its proximity to the border of British-influenced Persia. The Trans-Caspian railway reached Askhabad in 1886. The population grew from 2,500 in 1881 to 19,428 (of whom one third were Persian) by 1897.