Saksin
Saksin (also Sakschin or Saksin-Bolgar ) was a medieval city at the mouth of the Volga . Century experienced its heyday. The city was located within the present-day borders of Astrakhan Oblast , in Russia . At the time of the Mongol invasions , the city was also known as Sarai Batu and was the capital of the Golden Horde for a long time . In addition to the mention of Arab and Persian geographers such as al-Gharnati or Qazwini , the city is mentioned in the report of the monk Benedictus Polonus about the journey (1246) of Giovanni da Pian del Carpine through the camp of the Mongolian prince Batu Khan on the banks of the Volga sometimes referred to as "the land of the Saksin".
Apparently Benedictus Polonus misunderstood the name and linked the city with the Saxons towards the end of the early Middle Ages. He erroneously wrote that the residents were Christian and related to the former Goths . In reality they were presumably Turkish speaking Muslims.
Saksin can also indicate an Arabic form of Sarighsin (Turkish for yellow city ).
Excavations
From 2003, Dmitry Vasilyev from the Astrakhan State University carried out a series of excavations near the village of Samosdelka in the Volga Delta . He assigns the artifacts discovered in the process to the cultures of the Khazars , Oghusen and Bulgarians . These finds led him to the result that he had discovered parts of the lost city of Saksin. However, there is still a lack of clarity in this regard.