Abstract:

Comparison of siyāhat-nāmas (travelogues) and hajj-nāmas (accounts of the hajj) produced in Central Asia during the 19th century offer a window into the changing relationship of the region with the wider world, and more specifically the Russian Empire. Although Central Asian travel narratives during this period initially present continuity in their descriptions of the people and regions they encounter, contrasts do appear as their authors come into increasing contact with the effects of European influence and imperialism, both abroad and closer to home. This conference paper will examine a series of Central Asian travel accounts produced by scholars, merchants and pilgrims to discern how these individuals understood their own region’s connection to the surrounding world. The primary sources examined in this paper will include the following travelogues and pilgrimage accounts spanning the 19th and early 20th centuries, each representing different moments in the relationship of Central Asia with the Russian Empire. These include Muhammad Hakim Khan’s narrative of his exile and subsequent travels in the Muntakhab at-tavarikh completed in 1843, the Gharib al-khabar fi ‘ajāyib al-sifār, a pilgrimage account written in 1887 by Ibn Mulla Ashur Hajji Qari Rahmatulla al-Bukhari and the Tuhfa ahl-i Bukhara composed by Mirza Siradjuddin ibn Hajji Mirza Abdurrauf in 1912. The travel narrative of Muhammad Hakim Khan included in the Muntakhab at-tavarikh describes his journey through Russia, where he had the chance to meet Tsar Alexander I. In addition to traveling through Russia, Muhammad Hakim Khan also sojourned through the Ottoman Empire and Egypt on his Hajj to Mecca. Upon his return to Central Asia he traversed Persia, meeting with the ruler Fath-Ali Shah Qajar. Hajji Qari Rahmatulla’s pilgrimage account, the Gharib al-khabar fi ‘ajāyib al-sifār, takes place shortly after the subjugation of Transcaspia by the Russian Empire in the 1880s. His account of his travel through the land of the Turkmen provides valuable information on how he perceived the empire’s increasing presence in of Central Asia. Lastly, the merchant Mirza Siradjuddin’s travel narrative, the Tuhfa ahl-i Bukhara, through the Russian and Ottoman empires, and ultimately western Europe provides an example of increasing interest in European society. Comparing each of these accounts will reveal how Central Asian perceptions of events and developments outside of their own region progressed throughout the 19th century.