Politics of the Russian Empire towards Islam in Turkestan (1867– 1917): A Review of Sources

Abstract

The article reviews the historical sources from the collection of the National Archive of the Republic of Uzbekistan related to the Supreme Chamber for Islamic Affairs of the Turkestan Governor-General’s Chancellery in the period 1867–1917. It studies the official documentation of the office of the Turkestan Governor-General, documents of the imperial departments, and documents from the personal collections of officers from the regional administration covering the Islamic policy of the Russian Empire in the region. For this region, Islam was not only a religion but also a way of life for the local population in general. The correspondence of the regional boards and regional administrations of the Turkestan Governor-General shows that the government policy implemented toward Islam by the Russian Empire required the training of specialists – Islamic scholars. The provincial administration desperately needed to establish a leading educational center for Islamic studies, which should include every stage, from elementary school maktab to higher level madrasahs, to increase the efficiency of the confessional policy in Turkestan. The Turkestan administration in 1884, 1898–1901, and 1908 made some steps to create a Spiritual Administration of Muslims within the Governor-General's administrative apparatus. Another critical issue that the Turkestan Governor-General’s administration faced was waqf property and related to this topic legislation. The article concludes that the improvement in the region's economic situation achieved by the tsarist authorities opened some opportunities for positive changes in the government policy towards Islam.