Travel Sketches: “A Tourist’s Notes” by Sh.M. Ibragimov as a Source on the History and Geography of the Turkestan Region

Abstract

The article presents the characteristic of the unfinished and unpublished work Travel Sketches: A Tourists Notes by Sh.M. Ibragimov (18411891), housed at the Archives of the Orientalists of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Ф. 33. Оп. 1. Ед. хр. 225). The authors attempt to show the value of A Tourists Notes as a source on the history, historical geography and ethnography of the Turkestan Region. The text of the Notes also contains information about some aspects of Russian politics in Central Asia and its perception by the local population. It was prepared by a very competent, well-educated and very observant author, a member of the Russian imperial administration in Turkestan. At the same time, due to his ethnic background and religious affiliation, the author was close to the local population. The article describes Sh.M. Ibragimov as a statesman and Orientalist, analyzes his role in the history of Russian Turkestan and Russias relations with the Islamic world in general, as well as his contribution to the Russian Oriental studies.