The Issue Of The Central Asian Northern Pilgrimage Route In The Russian-Bukhara Diplomatic Relations In The XVIII Century (On The Example Of The Activities Of Ambassador Ernazar Maqsud Oglu)

Abstract

In the Middle Ages, Central Asian pilgrims traveled to Mecca in three directions: the North direction ‒ through the Russian Empire, the central direction‒ through the territory of Persia, and the south direction ‒ along roads through India and the Arabian Sea. Therefore, the question of the directions of the Hajj was reflected in the diplomatic correspondence of the Central Asian khanates with Persia, India, the Russian and Ottoman empires тоо. Depending on the political, economic and ideological interests of these states, sometimes pilgrims were given permits to be sent to Mecca through their territories, and sometimes not. The degree of intensity of pilgrimage movements, in most cases, depended on the activities of interstate ambassadors. On the issue of eliminating various prohibitions and obstacles in the movements of pilgrimage roads, the Central Asian ambassadors were active and historical documents reveal these data to us. In this period the Central Asian ambassadors, who were sent to the reception of the governors those neighbor states on other issues, in most cases negotiated precisely on the direction of the Hajj of the Central Asian pilgrims also. One of such far-sighted ambassadors was a rich merchant from Bukhara, who lived in the XVIII c. Ernazar Maksud ogli officially sent several times by the Central Asian rulers to the Russian Empire. In this article analyzes the question of how the problems of the Hajj road were solved at the international diplomatic level by the example of the activities this ambassador. The history of negotiations between Ernazar and the Russian emperors on matters of the northern direction of the Hajj road and their results illuminated on base documents on this issue, which stored in the fund of the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire (AFPRE). The scientific conclusions of this article serve for an extensive study of the issues of diplomatic and economic relations between the Central Asian khanates and the Russian Empire in the XVIII century, revealing the history of the embassy relations of the khanates and the history of the pilgrimage of the Hajj of the Central Asian people and the features of the directions of roads from Central Asia to Mecca.