Forging a Russian Hajj Route 111issues along the railways. The circular announced special seasonal hajj trans-
port, with supplemental rolling stock to accommodate the anticipated crowds.
Hajj pilgrims traveling in large groups by way of the Black Sea would be trans-
ported in special cars outfitted with green “Hejaz” signs to make them easy to
spot. Inside, the cars would be outfitted with schedules and information about
which stations provided hot water, all of this in Russian, Turkic, and Persian.
Every year before hajj season, Russia’s rail lines would be responsible for con-
firming with the Ministry of Transport their need for additional rolling stock,
their preparedness, and their adherence to government regulations.
The results of these measures were immediate and dramatic. In 1904 ROPiT
announced regular, seasonal service for hajj pilgrims aboard “Hejaz Steam-
ships,” providing direct service between the Black Sea ports of Sevastopol and
Batumi to the Red Sea port of Jeddah. ROPiT also built a khadzhilar-sarai in
Sevastopol—a full-service lodging house for hajj pilgrims on the pier, complete
with a prayer room (masjid), shop, kitchen, and sleeping quarters, and served
by a special railway line.^75 It advertised this service widely in Muslim newspa-
pers across the empire, and in brightly colored posters hung in railroad stations
across the empire’s Muslim regions and Black Sea ports.
A poster advertising ROPiT’s new service gives a sense of what it offered.
Printed in four languages (Russian, Turkish, Persian, and Sart, the Turkic lin-
gua franca in Turkestan), this large poster on bright green tissue paper would
Figure 3.6. ROPiT advertisement in Turkestan’s main newspaper, offering “Hejaz steam-
ship” service for hajj pilgrims, by way of Sevastopol. 1910. (Turkistan wilayatining gazeti)