Spassky-Avtonomov arrived in Baku with his children on July 27, 1847, shortly after the discovery of oil in the region.[1] He became the head of Baku Quarantine Customs Service. During this time the instrumental studies of the Caspian Sea level, started in 1830, were ongoing. Spassky-Avtonomov began writing about Baku in 1847, leaving numerous accounts of the city and its inhabitants in detail.