Mapping the Hajj, Integrating Muslims 69traveled after Constantinople. Here Russia could supervise its pilgrims, gather
more information on their patterns of travel and behavior, and establish an out-
post for the embassy by which to monitor the traffic, track down missing pil-
grims, and resolve estate cases for pilgrims who died while traveling.^66
Following Nelidov’s suggestion, in November 1890 Russia petitioned the
Ottoman government for permission to open a new consulate in Jeddah to
serve its “numerous Muslims” who passed through Jeddah to “fulfill the holy
pilgrimage” to Mecca.^67 Noting that “other states kept consuls” in Jeddah, and
there was “no reason” to deny Russia’s request, the Ottoman sultan granted it.
Russia opened its Jeddah consulate in February 1891, appointing as consul one
of its Muslim subjects, a fifty-year-old Tatar named Shakhimardan Miriasovich
Ibragimov (known to Russian colleagues as Ivan Ivanonich). In Jeddah Ibragi-
mov joined an already large group of European consuls: the British, French,
Swedes, Austrians, Greeks, Dutch, and Spanish all had consulates there, which
demonstrates the growth of European involvement in the hajj in the colonial
era, as well as the emergence of Ottoman Arabia as an arena of international
trade.^68 The Ottoman government was aware of the threat of this growing Euro-
pean involvement in the hajj and in Arabia. In 1882, for example, it had renewed
a ban on the acquisition of land and property in the Hejaz by “foreign” Indian,
Algerian, or Russian Muslims. It did this after local officials warned that if the
government did not move to prevent the accumulation of property “by devious
means in the hands of foreign Muslims” the situation would get to the point
where “much of the Holy Lands have been acquired by the subjects of foreign
powers” and that the powers would then use this situation, “as is their wont,” to
“make the most preposterous of claims.”^69
Russia’s Foreign Ministry chose Ibragimov to serve as Jeddah consul for his
extensive government experience, knowledge of Islamic culture and traditions,
linguistic skills, and status as a trusted Muslim intermediary. A Tatar origi-
nally from Orenburg, he arrived in Jeddah from Tashkent, where he had spent
two decades serving the Russian government as part of a circle of Muslim
informant-administrators. From 1870 to 1880, Ibragimov and his twin brother
worked as translators in the governor-general’s office, and as editors of the Rus-
sian administration’s official Turkic-language newspaper, Turkistan wilayatin-
ing gazeti.^70 In these years, Ibragimov wrote and published several important
ethnographic accounts that tsarist officials relied on in developing an Islamic
policy for the Kazakhs. He also performed diplomatic duties for the Russian
governor-general, traveling to Khiva, Bukhara, Persia, and India to conduct
talks with officials.^71