KAZAKH HAJJ IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE

Some pilgrims relied on information from their acquaintances, while others hired guides who helped them purchase ferry tickets and find accommodation. From Odessa, pilgrims would typically continue their journey to Istanbul.

Istanbul was an important destination for many pilgrims, as it was here, in the city of the ‘caliph of all Muslims’ and the ‘Servant of the Two Holy Places’ (referring to the two holiest sites in Islam, the Grand Mosque Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina), that they could rest after a long, exhausting journey.

The city itself, with its numerous sacred sites, was an important place to visit. At the turn of the century, several new routes were established to reach the capital of the Ottoman Empire, with the route from Moscow playing a crucial role. Pilgrims could reach Istanbul in just six days by traveling from Moscow via Warsaw and Vienna. This route was especially convenient for those who preferred not to travel by sea and, of course, for those who could afford it, as the ticket cost nearly 100 rubles, which was a lot of money at that time.

Another route to Mecca was via Sevastopol, where a steamboat departed for Istanbul once a week. The travel time ranged from thirty hours to two days, depending on weather conditions. The ships were relatively small, and the journey was not the safest.

Pilgrims setting off to complete the hajj recorded their experiences in many different forms, including letters, diaries, and travel journals, which are often referred to as hajjnames or seyahatname (meaning ‘records of the journey’ in several Turkic and Iranian languages). By the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, pilgrims were actively publishing their travel notes in multiple languages, including Arabic, Persian, and various Turkic languages. Some travelers would delegate the writing to more experienced individuals, who then conveyed their impressions of the pilgrimage. Kazakh pilgrims, too, left behind their own records of the hajj.

However, even with the advent of railways, the hajj remained a dangerous undertaking. Beyond natural disasters, technical difficulties, and various inconveniences, pilgrims were also at risk of falling victim to fraudsters. Travelers' spiritual intentions, ethnic and religious identities, or even their advanced age did not deter thieves and robbers.

To inform pilgrims about unforeseen dangers and help protect them from unpleasant situations, Gali Riza, an author from Kazan, published a guidebook titled A Guide for Hajjis, or a Story about How They Are Deceived in 1909. He wrote that upon ‘seeing the depressing state of fellow countrymen embarking on the pilgrimage’, he could no longer remain silent and decided to create the guidebook to save them from deception, writing:

The guidebook provided exchange rates, ticket prices for trains and steamboats, as well as prices for visas, taxes, and local hotel rooms on all sections of the route. It also included advertisements—the author, for instance, highly praised a shop named Omar for its low prices and high-quality goods.

Interestingly, records of the journeys to Islamic holy places were not only maintained by ordinary Muslims in the Russian Empire but also by high-ranking military intelligence officers, such as Stabs-Kapitan Abdulaziz Davletshin, who documented his observations in Report of Stabs-Kapitan Davletshin on an Assignment to Hejaz, published in 1899. In it, he describes the luggage carried by the Muslims of the Russian Empire, including items like samovars, dried bread, pastilles, and dried berries. He notes that those with the most provisions were the Kazakhs, who also brought qurt, fatty sausages, and salted horse meat.

The relatives and loved ones of pilgrims often didn’t just help with provisions and money—they also had to guarantee the pilgrim’s return at their own expense in case of unforeseen circumstances. The following is an example of an official note of this nature, which was signed by an aul elder of the fourth rank, Abroi KadyrbekoviThis note can be found in Islam in Kazakhstan: Pilgrimages (Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries) by G.R. Mukhtarova, Islam.:

For Kazakh pilgrims, hajjnames written in Kazakh served as similar, valuable sources of information. They were composed by pilgrims to help travelers navigate the expenses and prices of their journey from the Kazakh steppe to Mecca. An unknown author of one such hajjname published in 1893 refers to himself simply as a ‘pauper’, a term commonly used in religious literature to emphasize the author's humility and modesty.

Throughout his account, he consistently writes in the plural, suggesting that he was not traveling alone, though he provides no information about his fellow travelers. He begins his story in Tashkent and, after a long journey, concludes it in Almaty. Each time he uses any form of transport, he records the price.

According to his records, he traveled by horse-drawn cart, which belonged to a Sart, to Samarqand for five somsiA som is a unit of currency that refers to gold or silver coins and bullion. It is also the official name of the tsar’s ruble banknote in Turkic languages.. The journey from there to Bukhara took one and a half days and cost him 3.4 soms, after which they traveled to Baku for 1.5 soms. In four nights, they reached Batumi, where, according to him, the QizilbashiThe word Qizilbash means ‘red-headed’ and was used to refer to Shia Muslims. were checking tickets.

From Batumi, they continued their journey to Istanbul, passing through various towns and cities. The trip took three days and cost 9 soms and 15 tiyns, excluding food and kudai, which was the money given to the poor. The author notes with some pride that during their week in Istanbul, they learned that the sultan and caliph of all Muslims, Abdul Hamid II, typically visited the Hagia Sophia for Friday prayers. The unknown writer ends the account of his admiration for the city with a heartfelt wish for all Muslims to visit Istanbul.

Later, he appears to have taken four days to get from Alexandria to YanbuiYanbu is a city in western modern-day Saudi Arabia. via Suez. There, they rented camels and headed to Medina, a journey that took them twelve days. He mentions that after having arrived in Yanbu, the closest port to Medina, pilgrims reached Medina on camelback in three days, and then it took them ten days to reach Mecca. Those pilgrims who went to Jeddah, which was the city closest to Mecca, reached Mecca in two days. These stretches of the road were dangerous as Bedouins often attacked caravans and robbed travelers. Some pilgrims tried to join the ‘sultan’s caravan’, which was sent by the Ottoman sultan every year with gifts for the Sharif of MeccaiThe Sharif of Mecca was the title of the traditional steward of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. He was appointed by the Ottoman sultan and charged with ensuring the safety of pilgrims performing the hajj.. The caravan was guarded by Ottoman soldiers, and Bedouins did not dare attack it.

In Medina, the author stayed in a tekke, or a Sufi monastery of dervishes, of one Myrkyi from the Middle Jüz, where he spent twenty-one days. At the end of the nineteenth century, tekkes provided lodgings for pilgrims arriving from Central Asia and other parts of the Russian Empire, and pilgrims often stayed not just a day or two but months and sometimes even years.

Under the supervision of dalils (hajj guides), they visited various places, the most important of which was the burial place of the Prophet inside the al-Masjid al-Nabawī mosque in Medina. It took them twelve days to reach Mecca on camelback and cost them 11 soms. At the beginning of Dhu al-HijjahiDhu al-Hijjah is the twelfth month of the Islamic calendar, marked by pilgrims undertaking the hajj and by Eid al-Adha, the feast of sacrifice., they stopped at a Kazakh tekke in Mecca belonging to one Kanatbai, also from the Middle Jüz.

The author also mentions a tekke belonging to Kunanbai, the father of Abai. Having performed all the necessary rituals in the Baytullahi‘Baytullah’ is an Arabic phrase meaning ‘the House of Allah’. It is the unofficial name of the Kaaba, the cube-shaped building inside the Masjid al-Haram Mosque in Mecca., on the eighth day, the travelers set off for Mount Arafat. The author mentions that in that year, there was a plague outbreak in the region, and many hajjis died as a result. After three days in Mecca, having completed all of the hajj rituals, they returned to Jeddah, where they found out about a twenty-one-day quarantine.

It is worth mentioning that pilgrimages increased the risk of the spread of infectious diseases, such as cholera and plague, which the authorities of many countries feared would spread into Europe. This is why the British government, as well as the governments of other countries, decided to set up a quarantine area for pilgrims from India and Java on Kamaran Island in the Red Sea.

From 1881 to 1893, due to the increased risk of cholera in HejaziHejaz is a historical region on the west coast of Saudi Arabia, which at that time was controlled by the Ottoman Empire, the Ottomans had to increase quarantine measures and revisit the existing system. Sultan Abdul Hamid II did not want any foreign interventions and neither did he welcome the idea of handing medical control of Hejaz over to the Europeans. He paid special attention to improving conditions and preventing infectious diseases in the region, but it was not enough.

In 1893, there was a cholera epidemic that demonstrated how helpless the Ottoman government really was. The press was filled with articles highlighting the lack of basic sanitation in Mecca, and Hejaz became the second biggest epicenter for disease after India.

During the years of the epidemic, the International Sanitary Council barred pilgrims from the Russian Empire from passing through or stopping on the Ottoman coastline, which triggered different reactions among Muslims. ‘We do not understand the motive that leads the International Council, in this case, not permitting disembarkation or stopping in Turkish ports after the required five to seven days of quarantine,’ wrote the Crimean newspaper Tezhurman.

Thus, many pilgrims from the group of the unknown hajjname author opted to travel by sea to Mumbai, and this trip cost them 4 tillaiA tilla was a small and thin gold coin used in various khanates, the value of which varied on the rate of exchange. or 40 rubles. To make things more difficult, it took twelve days to reach Mumbai. The hajji writes that after arriving on British soil, it took another four days to reach Peshawar, where they spent a week. There, they decided to buy horses and travel home on horseback.

The author recalls that the ruler of the city at that time was Abdur Rahman Khan, and that the city was Muslim. Despite being there alone, they all felt safe among other Muslims. After thirty days, they reached the town of Balha, then the town of Sarabyz, where they crossed the Amu Darya River, finally reaching Kazakh soil. ‘Part of the Amu Darya belongs to the Russians, and the other part to Muslims,’ the author wrote. On their journey to Samarqand, the author noticed that the new road had been built by the Russians. They spent five days in Samarqand, and ten days later, they arrived in Tashkent. After spending thirteen days there, they finally sent a telegram home. Having rented a horse-drawn cart from the Dungans, they reached Almaty after twenty-five days. All in all, their trip to Mecca and back took them fourteen months.

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