- Convenor:
-
Hakim Elnazarov
(The Institute of Ismaili Studies)
Send message to Convenor
- Chair:
-
Firuza Abduyusupova
(National University of Uzbekistan, University of Chirchik)
- Discussants:
-
Gulnoza Yuldasheva
(TIACE)
Oybek Makhmudov (Chirchik State Pedagogical University)
Nargiza Kenjaeva (University of Chirchik)
- Format:
- Panel (closed)
- Mode:
- Online part of the conference
- Theme:
- History
- Sessions:
- Friday 14 November, -
Time zone: America/New_York
Abstract
Knowledge and Power: The Formation of Knowledge about the Pamirs as the Basis of the Colonial Appropriation of the Region by the Russian Empire (the last quarter of the 19th – early 20th centuries)
Oybek Makhmudov – University of Chirchik, Uzbekistan, e-mail: oybek81@yandex.ru
Nargiza Kenjaeva – University of Chirchik, Uzbekistan. E-mail: kenjaeva82@inbox.ru
Firuza Abduyusupova – National University of Uzbekistan, University of Chirchik, Uzbekistan, e-mail: abduyusupovaferuza43@gmail.com
Hakim Elnazarov – The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, UK AElnazarov@iis.ac.uk
Abstract
The Pamir Mountains represented strategically important rregion where the interests of the Russian and British empires, as well as China and Afghanistan, intersected. As a result, the region became a borderland of rivalry between great powers and scientific research, a place where empire and knowledge intersected, transforming both regional landscapes and the global understanding of the Central Asian mountain region. The scientific research and exploration of the region went hand in hand with military expeditions which tried to strengthen the position of Russian Empire in the region. This panel, using Michel Foucault's concept of “knowledge is power,” explores the dynamic interaction between Russian imperial ambitions, scientific efforts to study the nature of the Pamirs and its glaciers (whose impact on the climate and water resources of Central Asia was becoming increasingly evident and widely recognized at the time) and the realities of life for researchers and the local population in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Drawing on diaries, expedition reports, and unpublished documents, the panel explores how scientific knowledge about the Pamirs was created, contested, and used within broader imperial and ideological frameworks.
The papers in the panel will be presented in Russian and English.
Accepted papers
Session 1 Friday 14 November, 2025, -Abstract
The paper explores the sources and processes of generating knowledge in social, cultural and political domains about the Pamirs and its inhabitants by the Russian and British military officers and scholars. On the one hand, a rich body of knowledge was generated by the British and Russian officers and their agents, which was driven by the colonial interests of the powers. On the other hand, a corpus of knowledge was produced by imperial scholars – individuals who were not directly involved in power structures, but were concerned with understanding the cultures, languages and traditions of the mountain communities. Though the information and knowledge gained and disseminated by the two groups of explorers often fed into each other, the underlying principles and objectives of their exploration were different. The paper will engage in the comparative analysis of these two sources of knowledge and those of their counterparts to illuminate various aspects of knowledge production on the mountain region during the colonial period.
Abstract
The paper examines the early stage of scientific study of the Pamirs by Russian researchers. The problems and difficulties encountered by the 1883 expedition are highlighted, and the dual role of Russian scientists as imperial agents and recorders of the region's unique physical and cultural landscapes is explored. The article provides a critical assessment of how the expedition members' perceptions of the Pamirs reflected and reinforced imperial ideology, paving the way for the future expansion of the Russian Empire into the region and the colonial exploitation of its natural resources, while simultaneously encountering the complexities of cultural interaction and adaptation.
В докладе рассматривается ранний этап научного изучения Памира русскими исследователями. Показаны проблемы и трудности, с которыми столкнулась экспедиция 1883 г., а также исследуется двойная роль российских ученых как имперских агентов и фиксаторов уникальных физических и культурных ландшафтов региона. В статье дается критическая оценка того, как представления участников экспедиции о Памире отражали и укрепляли имперскую идеологию, подготавливали будущую экспансию Российской империи в регион и колониального освоения его природных богатств, одновременно сталкиваясь со сложностями культурного взаимодействия и адаптации.
Abstract
The paper explores the motivations that drove B. Grombchevsky to conduct his expeditions in the almost unexplored and inaccessible regions of the Pamir and Eastern Hindu Kush, which caused a significant political crisis in the Anglo-Russian relations and ultimately served as a trigger for the acceleration of the British Empire's expansion into the principalities of the Eastern Hindu Kush. The article examines the scientific significance of the expeditions and the relationship between masculinity, adventure, and scientific pursuits, and provides a critical assessment of how the gender concepts of the Russian Empire were embodied in scientific masculinity. The study focuses on a discursive analysis of expedition diaries and archival materials.
В докладе исследуется побуждения и мотивы двигавшие Б. Громбчевским в проведении своих экспедиций в почти неисследованные и труднодоступные для путешественников регионы Памира и Восточного Гиндукуша, вызвавшие значительный политический кризис в англо-русских отношениях и в итоге послуживший триггером для ускорения экспансии Британской империи в княжествах Восточного Гиндукуша. В статье рассматривается научное значение экспедиций и взаимосвязь между мужественностью, приключениями и научными занятиями, а также дается критическая оценка того, как гендерные концепции Российской империи воплощались в научной маскулинности. Исследование сосредоточено на дискурсивном анализе экспедиционных дневников и архивных материалов.
Abstract
The paper explores the findings and the challenges of expeditions organized by military researchers to study glaciers, and in particular the Fedchenko Glacier. The article examines the peculiarities of views on the region, nature, glaciers, and the local population. The expeditions of N. Kosinenko and N. Korzhenevsky are considered key in the scientific study of the Pamir Mountains and its glaciers, which are an important element of the climate and water balance of Central Asia. Based on an analysis of reports, expedition diaries, publications, and archival materials, the article shows how the collection of geographical and ethnographic data was intertwined with imperial ambitions, turning the region into both an object of admiration and a place of political and cultural issues.
В докладе показаны как проходили и с какими трудностями сталкивались экспедиции организованные исследователи-военными для изучения ледников, и в особенности ледника Федченко. Рассматриваются особенности взглядов на регион, природу и ледники, а также местное население. Экспедиции Н. Косиненко и Н. Корженевского рассматриваются как ключевые в научном изучении Памира и его ледников, составляющих важный элемент климатического и водного баланса Центральной Азии. В статье на основе анализа отчетов, экспедиционных дневников, публикаций и архивных материалов показано, как сбор географических и этнографических данных переплетался с имперскими амбициями, превращая регион одновременно в объект восхищения и место политических и культурных проблем.