Remains of the House in Nikolsk Settlement, Where Grand Duke Nikolai Konstantinovich Lived during the Excavation of the Canal. Golodnaia Steppe

1905
Among the primary initiators of Russian development projects in Turkestan was Grand Duke Nicholas Konstantinovich (1850–1918), grandson of Tsar Nicholas I, who in 1881 moved to Tashkent. There he sponsored a number of ventures, including a vast irrigation scheme to make Golodnaia Steppe (“Hungry Steppe,” present-day Uzbekistan) a productive area for raising cotton and wheat. A related goal was to provide arable land to attract Russian settlers, but conditions in the region were harsh. This photograph shows the ruins of the adobe house that Nicholas inhabited during the excavation of the main canal for the steppe project. The house was located in the new settlement of Nikolsk, named in honor of Saint Nicholas. 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 he made two trips to an area of Central Asia then known as Turkestan (present-day Uzbekistan and neighboring states), where he photographed Russian development of the area.

Add to Lightbox Download

Filename: 5842.jpg
Copyright: acku Afghanistan
Image Size: 1800x1664 / 885.9KB; 1905 Kazakhstan Dzhezkazgan Oblast Nikolskiy Settlements Nikolsk Ruins Adobe Houses Photo WDL 010500
Contained in galleries: KAZAKHSTAN

1905<br />
Among the primary initiators of Russian development projects in Turkestan was Grand Duke Nicholas Konstantinovich (1850–1918), grandson of Tsar Nicholas I, who in 1881 moved to Tashkent. There he sponsored a number of ventures, including a vast irrigation scheme to make Golodnaia Steppe (“Hungry Steppe,” present-day Uzbekistan) a productive area for raising cotton and wheat. A related goal was to provide arable land to attract Russian settlers, but conditions in the region were harsh. This photograph shows the ruins of the adobe house that Nicholas inhabited during the excavation of the main canal for the steppe project. The house was located in the new settlement of Nikolsk, named in honor of Saint Nicholas. 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 he made two trips to an area of Central Asia then known as Turkestan (present-day Uzbekistan and neighboring states), where he photographed Russian development of the area.