The article analyzes official documents prepared by central Russian agencies responsible for Muslim policy, such as the Department of Spiritual Affairs for Foreign Religions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to organize pilgrimages to Mecca for Muslims from different parts of the Russian Empire, including the Turkestan region. It was noted that there were many shortcomings in the organization of pilgrimages from Central Asia as a new and unfamiliar part of the empire. Materials on pilgrims from Central Asia, stored in the archives of the office of the Turkestan Governor-General, are used to illuminate the conditions of the pilgrimage and determine the pilgrims' routes. It is emphasized that the archives contain a wealth of material concerning Central Asia, starting in the 1860s and 1870s and up until the October Revolution, and the problem of the simultaneous existence of religious tolerance and restrictions of the key factors behind the empire's ambiguous attitude toward Muslim religious practices, especially pilgrimage, are identified. The main point of the study is that the stated topic is analyzed using materials prepared by officials of the colonial administration, revealing their position in relation to Muslim pilgrimage.
Russian Empire, central Russian government agencies, the Office of the Turkestan Governor-General, Russian Muslims, pilgrimage to Mecca, organization of pilgrimage, religious tolerance, restrictions
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