Russian Hajj: Empire and the Pilgrimage to Mecca

by Eileen Kane

Overview

In the late nineteenth century, as a consequence of imperial conquest and a mobility revolution, Russia became a crossroads of the hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. The first book in any language on the hajj under tsarist and Soviet rule, Russian Hajj tells the story of how tsarist officials struggled to control and co-opt Russia's mass hajj traffic, seeing it as not only a liability but also an opportunity. To support the hajj as a matter of state surveillance and control was controversial, given the preeminent position of the Orthodox Church. But nor could the hajj be ignored, or banned, due to Russia's policy of toleration of Islam. As a cross-border, migratory phenomenon, the hajj stoked officials' fears of infectious disease, Islamic revolt, and interethnic conflict, but Eileen Kane innovatively argues that it also generated new thinking within the government about the utility of the empire's Muslims and their global networks.

Open Access edition funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801454233
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	11/02/2015
Pages:	258
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Eileen Kane is Associate Professor of History at Connecticut College.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Russia as a Crossroads of the Global Hajj1. Imperialism through Islamic Networks2. Mapping the Hajj, Integrating Muslims3. Forging a Russian Hajj Route4. The Hajj and Religious Politics after 19055. The Hajj and Socialist RevolutionConclusion: Russian Hajj in the Twenty-First Century

What People are Saying About This

AramcoWorld - Tom Verde

"[F]ascinating details of the organizational efforts behind Russia's sponsorship of the hajj (the establishment of medical facilities along the way and outfitting ships with special rooms for ablutions as well as halal food, for example) are examined in this concise and informative volume on an often-overlooked chapter in Russian history."

Nicholas B. Breyfogle

Russian Hajj is an innovative, deeply researched, and fascinating book. Marvelously rich in themes and details, it asks us to reconceptualize the history and historiography of the Hajj and Muslim pilgrimage, the governing structures and ideologies of Imperial Russia as a multiconfessional state, the transformative intersections of Russian domestic and foreign policies, and the patterns of human, global migration. In exciting and original ways, Kane highlights the porousness of political boundaries and the centrality of transnational movement and cultural exchange to the making of the modern world.

Robert Crews

Russian Hajj uncovers a fascinating world of highly mobile Muslim pilgrims traversing Eurasia and the Middle East with the aid of a Russian state keen to exploit Muslim networks to project imperial power. Elegantly written and grounded in a close reading of a vast trove of archival sources scattered across several countries, it offers an eye-opening account of Russia as a global empire and Muslim power. Eileen Kane makes a compelling case for rethinking Russian history as global history and for reimagining the empire and its management of human mobility.

Editorial Reviews

Eileen Kane’s account of the Russian Hajj taps into a fascinating story that Daniel Brower had once called 'a blind spot in studies of Russian colonial rule' (Daniel Brower, 'Russian Roads to Mecca,' Slavic Review 55(3) (1996): 568)... Kane does an excellent job providing evidence to support her account of the Russian Hajj as one of 'toleration' and 'sponsorship' in line with the past two decades’ 'imperial turn' in historiography.

Canadian-American Slavic Studies

"This is an impressively researched book, and many of the arguments are compelling. One picture that comes through most clearly is that of an empire which, although capable of conquering vast areas, was far from all-powerful when confronted with border-crossing mobile subjects. This makes an important contribution to debates around the reaches and limits of imperial rule in practice."

H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online - J.P. Slight

"Eileen Kane’s account of the Russian Hajj taps into a fascinating story that Daniel Brower had once called 'a blind spot in studies of Russian colonial rule' (Daniel Brower, 'Russian Roads to Mecca,' Slavic Review 55(3) (1996): 568)... Kane does an excellent job providing evidence to support her account of the Russian Hajj as one of 'toleration' and 'sponsorship' in line with the past two decades’ 'imperial turn' in historiography."

Canadian-American Slavic Studies - Mustafa Tuna

"Russian Hajj is an innovative, deeply researched, and fascinating book. Marvelously rich in themes and details, it asks us to reconceptualize the history and historiography of the Hajj and Muslim pilgrimage, the governing structures and ideologies of Imperial Russia as a multiconfessional state, the transformative intersections of Russian domestic and foreign policies, and the patterns of human, global migration. In exciting and original ways, Kane highlights the porousness of political boundaries and the centrality of transnational movement and cultural exchange to the making of the modern world."

Nicholas B. Breyfogle

"Russian Hajj uncovers a fascinating world of highly mobile Muslim pilgrims traversing Eurasia and the Middle East with the aid of a Russian state keen to exploit Muslim networks to project imperial power. Elegantly written and grounded in a close reading of a vast trove of archival sources scattered across several countries, it offers an eye-opening account of Russia as a global empire and Muslim power. Eileen Kane makes a compelling case for rethinking Russian history as global history and for reimagining the empire and its management of human mobility."

Robert Crews

"[F]ascinating details of the organizational efforts behind Russia's sponsorship of the hajj (the establishment of medical facilities along the way and outfitting ships with special rooms for ablutions as well as halal food, for example) are examined in this concise and informative volume on an often-overlooked chapter in Russian history."

AramcoWorld - Tom Verde

[F]ascinating details of the organizational efforts behind Russia's sponsorship of the hajj are examined in this concise and informative volume on an often-overlooked chapter in Russian history.

AramcoWorld

This is an impressively researched book, and many of the arguments are compelling. [Russian Hajj] makes an important contribution to debates around the reaches and limits of imperial rule in practice.

H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online

[F]ascinating details of the organizational efforts behind Russia's sponsorship of the hajj are examined in this concise and informative volume on an often-overlooked chapter in Russian history.

-- "AramcoWorld"

Eileen Kane's account of the Russian Hajj taps into a fascinating story that Daniel Brower had once called 'a blind spot in studies of Russian colonial rule' (Daniel Brower, 'Russian Roads to Mecca, ' Slavic Review 55(3) (1996): 568)... Kane does an excellent job providing evidence to support her account of the Russian Hajj as one of 'toleration' and 'sponsorship' in line with the past two decades' 'imperial turn' in historiography.

-- "Canadian-American Slavic Studies"

This is an impressively researched book, and many of the arguments are compelling. [Russian Hajj] makes an important contribution to debates around the reaches and limits of imperial rule in practice.

-- "H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online"

From the Publisher