Sloping Portion of Emperor Nicholas I Canal near Government House. Golodnaia Steppe

1905
In the late 19th century Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich (1850–1918), grandson of Tsar Nicholas I, initiated a development project in Russian Turkestan to create an area for raising cotton, wheat, and livestock in the Golodnaia Steppe (“Hungry Steppe”) by diverting water from the Syr-Darya River. This view, taken from a nearby house used for government administration, reveals the massive earthworks involved in creating the irrigation works. The system included the mainline canal (1907–13) and the Tsar Nicholas I Canal, which served the grand duke’s estate. Visible in the distance is the high sloping embankment of the latter canal. The thicket of reeds in the still-empty canal shows that plant growth in this arid region depended on irrigation. 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 traditional culture as well as the development brought about by Russian settlement and investment.

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Filename: 5838.jpg
Copyright: acku Afghanistan
Image Size: 1800x1616 / 618.7KB; 1905 Kazakhstan Qaraghandy Oblast Betpak-Dala Canals Slope Grasses Plant Photo WDL 010496
Contained in galleries: KAZAKHSTAN

1905<br />
In the late 19th century Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich (1850–1918), grandson of Tsar Nicholas I, initiated a development project in Russian Turkestan to create an area for raising cotton, wheat, and livestock in the Golodnaia Steppe (“Hungry Steppe”) by diverting water from the Syr-Darya River. This view, taken from a nearby house used for government administration, reveals the massive earthworks involved in creating the irrigation works. The system included the mainline canal (1907–13) and the Tsar Nicholas I Canal, which served the grand duke’s estate. Visible in the distance is the high sloping embankment of the latter canal. The thicket of reeds in the still-empty canal shows that plant growth in this arid region depended on irrigation. 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 traditional culture as well as the development brought about by Russian settlement and investment.