Testing Field of the Ministry of Agriculture and State Property. Golodnaia Steppe

1905
One of the main initiators of development in Russian Turkestan was Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich (1850–1918), grandson of Tsar Nicholas I. Exiled from Saint Petersburg in 1874 because of a family scandal, Nicholas settled in Tashkent in 1881, where he sponsored philanthropic and entrepreneurial projects. Foremost among them was a model agricultural estate that involved a vast irrigation scheme in Golodnaia Steppe (“Hungry Steppe”). The long-term goal of the project was to provide arable land to Russian settlers and make Golodnaia Steppe a productive area for raising cotton and wheat. Seen here is a field planted with fruit trees. In the background is a large two-story house for the management of the experimental station. 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), which appealed to him as a showcase for the transformation brought about by Russian settlement.

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Filename: 5092.jpg
Copyright: acku Afghanistan
Image Size: 1800x1685 / 597.2KB; 1905 Kazakhstan Qaraghandy Oblast Betpak-Dala Fields Government Facilities Meadows Trees Photo WDL 010399
Contained in galleries: KAZAKHSTAN

1905<br />
One of the main initiators of development in Russian Turkestan was Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich (1850–1918), grandson of Tsar Nicholas I. Exiled from Saint Petersburg in 1874 because of a family scandal, Nicholas settled in Tashkent in 1881, where he sponsored philanthropic and entrepreneurial projects. Foremost among them was a model agricultural estate that involved a vast irrigation scheme in Golodnaia Steppe (“Hungry Steppe”). The long-term goal of the project was to provide arable land to Russian settlers and make Golodnaia Steppe a productive area for raising cotton and wheat. Seen here is a field planted with fruit trees. In the background is a large two-story house for the management of the experimental station. 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), which appealed to him as a showcase for the transformation brought about by Russian settlement.