Zeravshan District. City of Samarkand and the Types of People Seen in Its Streets. Grilling Meat on a Spit

This photograph is from the ethnographical part of Turkestan Album, a comprehensive visual survey of Central Asia undertaken after imperial Russia assumed control of the region in the 1860s. Commissioned by General Konstantin Petrovich von Kaufman (1818–82), the first governor-general of Russian Turkestan, the album is in four parts spanning six volumes: “Archaeological Part” (two volumes); “Ethnographic Part” (two volumes); “Trades Part” (one volume); and “Historical Part” (one volume). The principal compiler was Russian Orientalist Aleksandr L. Kun, who was assisted by Nikolai V. Bogaevskii. The album contains some 1,200 photographs, along with architectural plans, watercolor drawings, and maps. The “Ethnographic Part” includes 491 individual photographs on 163 plates. The photographs show individuals representing the different peoples of the region (Plates 1–33); daily life and rituals (Plates 34–91); and views of villages and cities, street vendors, and commercial activities (Plates 92–163).
Sponsor: Kaufman, Konstantin Petrovich von, 1818-1882
Compiler: Kun, Aleksandr L., 1840-1888
Note: Illustration in Turkestan Album, Ethnographic Part, 1872, part 2, volume 2, plate 147, no. 456
Place: Central and South Asia; Uzbekistan; Samarqand Viloyati; Samarkand
Institution: Library of Congress
Physical description: 1 photographic print : albumen