Mapping the Hajj, Integrating Muslims 61that hajj pilgrims were an economic drain on Russia’s consulates (his
archives were filled with “copious correspondence” about Muslims from Dage-
stan who owed money to Russia’s consulates abroad after making the hajj).^43
And yet Loris-Melikov refused to increase the passport fee because the local
population would surely interpret it as “religious repression.” He also noted
that the proposed measure violated the passport law of 1857, which stipulated
that both Orthodox pilgrims to Jerusalem and Muslim pilgrims to Mecca were
to receive reduced-fee passports for just fifty kopecks (the cost of the paper
form).^44
Loris-Melikov’s resistance to these orders reveals the extent to which he had
embraced open access to Mecca as a way to appease Muslims, demonstrate Rus-
sia’s promised toleration of Islam, and integrate Muslims into the empire. Other
officials in the Caucasus shared his view. Some pushed for free passports to
Mecca as a way for Russia to “communicate toleration” to the many “submis-
sive” Muslims in the North Caucasus, and to hopefully prevent them from join-
ing the side of the resistance.^45 At the very least, these records show that officials
did not feel they could limit the hajj without upsetting Muslim populations.
As the hajj traffic from Russia continued to grow, despite attempts to restrict
it, the Russian ambassador in Constantinople, N. P. Ignatʹev, became over-
whelmed by the needs and demands of pilgrims. His complaints would lead to
one final attempt to restrict the hajj. Ignatʹev, a conservative well known for his
anti-Semitism and enthusiasm for Pan-Slavism, served as Russia’s ambassador
to Constantinople between 1864 and 1877. Historians writing about his tenure
as ambassador have focused mainly on his meddling in the Balkans, which
contributed to the outbreak of the Russo-Ottoman War of 1877–78. But
Ignatʹev was also a key figure in the development of Russian policy toward the
hajj.^46
For years Ignatʹev had been complaining to the Foreign Ministry about prob-
lems surrounding the hajj traffic, but in 1871 he declared a crisis. That year
Ignatʹev wrote to the ministry about the “extreme situation of Russia’s Muslims
in Constantinople,” and urged it to take steps to “limit as much as possible” the
number of Muslims making the hajj. Mindful of the need to proceed cautiously
and avoid any appearance of violating Russia’s policy of toleration of Islam,
Ignatʹev did not call for an outright ban on the hajj. Instead, he proposed subtle
economic pressure to discourage Muslims from embarking on the pilgrimage.
Specifically, he suggested that the government increase the passport fee to
Mecca to five rubles, and require that all Muslims leave a one-hundred-ruble
deposit with Russian authorities before leaving the empire.^47