The Hajj and Religious Politics after 1905 127outdoor courtyard.^30 Saidazimbaev would later describe his investment in this
facility as charity on his part, to help the many hajj pilgrims coming to Tash-
kent who needed shelter and food while they waited for trains.^31 But as an
entrepreneur, Saidazimbaev surely had economic interests top of mind. This is
suggested by the design of the building as an all-purpose facility, which aimed
to provide for all of pilgrims’ needs; in other words, to sell them everything
they needed, under one roof.
Like other major world pilgrimages, indeed, other forms of cyclic, mass
human mobility, the hajj had always generated economic activity along the
major routes to Mecca, as industries emerged to cater to pilgrims’ many needs
during their travels.^32 For many centuries, important cities along these routes
(Damascus, for one) had economies based almost entirely on the seasonal hajj
traffic.^33 With the rise of railroad and steamship travel worldwide over the sec-
ond half of the nineteenth century, hajj routes shifted, which generated eco-
nomic activity and business opportunities in new places, such as Tashkent and
other cities in the Russian Empire, including Kharkov and Odessa.
Saidazimbaev’s plan showed great resourcefulness and vision on his part: he
understood that the Tashkent-Orenburg-Odessa rail line had opened up a new,
major hajj route through Russia. He sought to monopolize the large profits to
be made along this new route by building an infrastructure along it. As a Mus-
lim, he was no doubt familiar with the historical tradition of Muslim imperial
rulers sponsoring caravans to Mecca along fixed, fortified routes, for economic,
political, and strategic purposes. His plan was a version of this: it called for the
construction of an empire-wide infrastructure providing security and superior
services to centralize the traffic along a single channel. But it was one thing for
him to gain support for his plan in Tashkent, where Russian officials knew and
trusted him. It was something else entirely to gain the trust of Russian officials
in the central government, and in other parts of the empire. His genius in sell-
ing his plan lay in his ability to promise all things to all people, in one person
and plan.
In early 1908, Saidazimbaev sought support for his plan in St. Petersburg.
Acutely aware of the multiple interests surrounding the hajj traffic in Russia,
and the unseemliness of seeking to profit so blatantly from a major Muslim
ritual, Saidazimbaev carefully played to these various interests. He started with
Muslim representatives from the State Duma. In February he met with a small
group of past and present deputies at the St. Petersburg home of Shakhaydar