Islamic Heritage in Russian Turkestan as Seen by the Imperial Muslim Offi cial (Based on the “Tourist’s Notes” by Sh. Ibragimov)

Abstract

The article analyzes the unfi nished and unpublished work “Travel Sketches. ‘Tourist’s Notes’” by Shakhimardan M. Ibragimov kept at the Archives of the Orientalists of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, RAS (St. Petersburg, Russia). The text refl ects the results of Ibragimov’s trip to the Russian Turkestan during the performance of his offi cial duties and his observations on the daily life of the local population. Being a Turk and a Muslim, Ibragimov paid much attention to the objects of Muslim historical heritage in Turkestan, the state of Islamic institutions (mosques, madrasahs, rabats) and the status of representatives of the clergy (khojas, faqihs), etc. At the same time, he sometimes critically examined the information he received about the local antiquities and even questioned the Muslim origin of some historical monuments and folk customs. According to the authors, this position of Ibragimov can be explained by the fact that he was not only a Muslim, but also an offi cial in the service of the Russian Empire. Perhaps he also took into account the preferences of potential readers of his “Notes”. At the same time, there is no reason to believe that Ibragimov was skeptical about Islam — on the contrary, his interest in historical monuments and religious sites, as well as a number of circumstances of his life and career indicate the opposite. The analyzed “Notes” are of considerable interest as a source on the history, ethnography and religious life of Turkestan. They also refl ect the level of development of Russian Oriental studies in Turkestan in the second half of the 19th century, combining elements of a travelogue and a research.