Volyn Levee on the Emperor Nicholas I Canal. Volyn Bridge in the Distance. Golodnaia Steppe

1905
Among the primary initiators of development in Russian Turkestan was Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich (1850–1918), grandson of Tsar Nicholas I, who moved to Tashkent in 1881. There he sponsored a vast irrigation scheme to make Golodnaia Steppe (“Hungry Steppe”) a productive area for cotton and wheat. A related goal was to provide arable land to attract settlers. This photograph shows the Volyn embankment, with water regulator, on the irrigation canal named in honor of Tsar Nicholas I. In the background is a wooden bridge near the Volyn settlement. The name Volyn is associated historically with a region in northwestern Ukraine on the border with Poland. Settlers from that region likely chose the name for this area. The image is by Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863–1944), who used a special color photography process to create a visual record of the Russian Empire in the early 20th century. Some of Prokudin-Gorskii’s photographs date from about 1905, but the bulk of his work is from between 1909 and 1915, when, with the support of Tsar Nicholas II and the Ministry of Transportation, he undertook extended trips through many different parts of the empire. In 1911 his travels took him to Turkestan (present-day Uzbekistan and neighboring states), where he photographed Islamic architectural monuments as well as Russian development projects.

Add to Lightbox Download

Filename: 431.jpg
Copyright: acku Afghanistan
Image Size: 1800x1634 / 689.1KB; 1905 Kazakhstan Qaraghandy Oblast Betpak-Dala Levees Canals Bridges River Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii Photo WDL 010008
Contained in galleries: KAZAKHSTAN

1905<br />
Among the primary initiators of development in Russian Turkestan was Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich (1850–1918), grandson of Tsar Nicholas I, who moved to Tashkent in 1881. There he sponsored a vast irrigation scheme to make Golodnaia Steppe (“Hungry Steppe”) a productive area for cotton and wheat. A related goal was to provide arable land to attract settlers. This photograph shows the Volyn embankment, with water regulator, on the irrigation canal named in honor of Tsar Nicholas I. In the background is a wooden bridge near the Volyn settlement. The name Volyn is associated historically with a region in northwestern Ukraine on the border with Poland. Settlers from that region likely chose the name for this area. The image is by Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863–1944), who used a special color photography process to create a visual record of the Russian Empire in the early 20th century. Some of Prokudin-Gorskii’s photographs date from about 1905, but the bulk of his work is from between 1909 and 1915, when, with the support of Tsar Nicholas II and the Ministry of Transportation, he undertook extended trips through many different parts of the empire. In 1911 his travels took him to Turkestan (present-day Uzbekistan and neighboring states), where he photographed Islamic architectural monuments as well as Russian development projects.