The Emir of Bukhara Seyid Abdullahad-Khan in Saint Petersburg (1898)

Abstract

The article presents documentary materials from the Russian State Military Historical Archive (Moscow) related to the history of the organization of the visit of the Emir of Bukhara Seyid Abdullahad Khan to Saint Petersburg in 1898. They contain unique information about the details of the preparation and conduct of this visit, about the program of the emir’s stay in Petersburg, about the financial costs of receiving the Bukhara delegation as well. Of great interest are the data on the gifts that were presented to the emir and his retinue during the visit, since some of them could be preserved in museum collections. Archival materials also make it possible to compare the organization and, above all, the financing of the 1898 visit with the previous visits of Emir Abdullahad Khan — 1893 and 1896, demonstrating a gradual reduction in the costs of their conduct. This indirectly testified to the strengthening of Russia’s position in Central Asia, which resulted in a weakening of attention to the personal contacts of the rulers, who in the time of Alexander III played a significant role in regulating relations between the Russian Empire and the Emirate of Bukhara.