Sadovoye Kalmykia

The country around the Amta-Zelmen stream lies in the Kalmyk steppe west of the Volga. Long before Sadovoye was founded, the Lesser Derbet ulus used the surrounding grasslands as part of its extensive pastoral territory. After the division of the Derbet ulus in 1788, its Lesser branch occupied lands extending far from north to south. Tracks across this country linked the Volga settlements with the northern Caucasus, passing through a landscape of streams, shallow depressions and dry pasture.