Lagan is a city (since 1963) in the Republic of Kalmykia in the Russian Federation. The administrative center of the Lagansky district. Forms Laganskoye city municipality. It is the second most populous city in Kalmykia.
The name of the city comes from the name of the island on which it was built and is connected, apparently, with the nature of the sea embankment soil, mainly sandy, muddy, lagoon. Sea waves constantly wash along the coast, especially in backwaters, sand dunes, behind which water lingers during the recession, forming oxbows, swampy, shallow lagoons. Such places in Kalmyk are called "la", which means muddy swamp, silt. The island has now become part of the mainland.
The
settlement on the island of Lagan emerged as a settlement of
peasants-migrants from central Russia, its foundation dates back to
1870-1873. Collegiate assessor Gippius, who visited Lagan in 1889,
wrote: “The village of Lagansky is the westernmost village of the
Astrakhan district, located in the open sea, on the island of the
same name, which is part of the Kalmyk steppe. There are no other
Russian settlements in Lagan, except for the two industries (sea
gangs) that exist here. The rest of the island's population is a
small number of nomadic Kalmyks. The village of Lagansky is of
relatively recent origin. His education dates back to the 70s ... ".
Nevertheless, Lagan is mentioned in the List of inhabited places
of the Astrakhan province in 1861, compiled according to information
for 1859. According to the List, in 1859, 10 male and 5 female souls
lived in Lagan. The settlement belonged to the Astrakhan district of
the Astrakhan province.
In 1873, the Orthodox church of
Nicholas the Ugodnik, the patron saint of sailors, was consecrated
in Lagan. In 1885, the Lagansky fishery was founded by the fishery
Erenbetov. In 1902 the post office was opened, in 1905 - the
telegraph office. By 1914, Lagan became the center of the Lagan
volost, there were 375 households in the village, 1030 men and 934
women lived.
In the period of the Civil War in 1918-1919, the
headquarters of the Caucasian-Caspian Front of the Red forces was
stationed here. Then, in the summer of 1919, the Reds, abandoning
their weapons and equipment, fled from the city under the blows of
the advancing white units: the detachment of General Daniil
Pavlovich Dratsenko and units of the Caspian Flotilla of the
Volunteer Army under the command of Captain 1st Rank Konstantin
Karlovich Schubert, advancing with the aim of blockading and taking
Astrakhan. The Whites held the city until the fall of 1919.
In 1927, Lagan, together with the villages of the Lagansky District
(Rakushi, Aktryk, Mangut, Alabuga, etc.), was included in the Kalmyk
Autonomous Region formed in 1920. In 1929 a fishing collective farm
"Kaspiyets" was organized in the village. In 1936, the Caspian Fish
Processing Plant was launched. Since December 4, 1938, Lagan is a
working village.
After the deportation of the Kalmyk people
and the liquidation of the autonomous republic in 1944, the working
village of Lagan was renamed Caspian. This name was preserved during
the restoration of Kalmyk autonomy in 1957. In 1962, the fish
canning plant was transformed into a meat canning plant and began to
produce meat products. At the same time, a ship repair mechanical
station, a district industrial plant, a consumer services plant, an
oil and gas exploration expedition, an editorial office and a
printing house, the Krasny Moryak and Kaspiyets collective farms, a
road repair and construction site, PMK-412, PMK-6, a garment factory
continue to operate. ...
In 1963, the Caspian workers'
settlement was given the status of a city. In the same year, the
Caspian Machine-Building Plant began its work. In 1991 the
historical name Lagan was returned to the city.