50 C h a p t e r Tw o
This multisite hajj itinerary is represented in art made by Muslim Tatars in
late imperial Russia. Native religious paintings called shamail, popularized in
the nineteenth century through mass-produced postcards and prints, depict
images of the Meccan pilgrimage that are noteworthy for what they reveal about
the growing centrality of Mecca and the hajj to Islam in modern Russia, as well
as Muslims’ hajj itineraries. One popular print depicts four holy sites within a
single frame—Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, and Damascus—with small lettering
in Tatar identifying major tombs, shrines, and sites in and around each city.
The kind of print that might have hung on the wall of a Tatar home in late
Figure 2.1. This shamail print captures the multisite itinerary that many hajj pilgrims from
Russia adhered to in the early twentieth century. It depicts four cities and their Muslim holy
sites, all located at the time in Ottoman lands. Clockwise, from top left: Medina, Mecca,
Damascus, and Jerusalem. Notes in Old Tatar indicate tombs, shrines, and landmarks.
Kazan, early 1900s. (Tatarskii shamail: slovo i obraz [Moscow: Mardzhani, 2009])