Empress Alexandra Russian Muslim Boarding School for Girls

Empress Alexandra Russian Muslim Boarding School for Girls
Empress Alexandra Russian Muslim Boarding School for Girls
	A picture of Empress Alexandra Russian Muslim Boarding school for Girls
General information
Location	Baku, Azerbaijan, Istiglaliyyat Street
Coordinates	40°23′43″N 49°52′55″E / 40.3952°N 49.882°E
Construction started	1901
Completed	1918
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Specialists of “Bakinskiy rabochiy” (Baku worker) machinery plant

The Empress Alexandra Russian Muslim School for Girls (

Muslim girls in the Russian Empire. It was built in 1901 sponsored by the Azeri oil baron and philanthropist Zeynalabdin Taghiyev

.

History

Despite what might seem to have been a project worthy of much praise, Zeynalabdin Taghiyev had great difficulty in gaining permission to open the school. He met with vigorous resistance; both from the Imperial

Alexandra Fyodorovna

imploring her help. In appreciation, Taghiyev offered to name the school after her, and the permission was thus granted. Local resistance was fierce; families that agreed to have their daughters attend the school were being intimidated, and one of the progressive Islamic clerics who signed up both of his daughters got murdered by the conservatives.

The architectural style of the boarding school was designed by

Teheran

to meet with the world's most prominent Muslim clergy and have them sign a document in which they confirmed that Islam did not forbid Muslim girls to study secular disciplines. Upon the return of Taghiyev's envoy, the oil baron organized another meeting with Baku's imams presenting them with signatures of the eight world-renowned Islamic scholars whose teachings they were abiding by.

The school hence officially opened on September 7, 1901, and welcomed 58 females students, of whom 35 came from working-class families. The congratulatory telegramme sent to the students by the Empress put an end to all the opposition on both official and public level. Taghiyev also received congratulatory messages from scholars of Saint Petersburg, Kazan, Crimea, and Central Asia.

The students were taught

Azeri languages, as well as religion, needlework

, housekeeping skills and other disciplines. They lived in an in-school residence hall and visited their families once a week. In 1909, the school renewed its uniform policy according to which the girls were required to wear European-style uniforms worn by all female students in Russia. In 1913, the school was reorganized into a post-secondary teachers seminary for women.

The pioneer project provoked Muslim communities in other parts of the Russian Empire to establish similar institutions. By 1915, in Baku alone there were five schools for Muslim girls.[1]

Notable staff

Hanifa Malikova, wife of Hasan bey Zardabi, became the first principal of the school
Maryam Sulkiewicz
Sakina Akhundzadeh, playwright, was amongst the first set of teaching staff.^[2] She started a drama group here.
Asmiyasoltan Hafiz Mammad Amin qizi^[3]

Modern usage

The school functioned until the fall of the Empire in 1918. In the 1920s it was reorganized into a teachers college, after 1930 it served as headquarters for various government institutions until finally it became the Institute of Manuscripts of the

Ottoman Turkish, and Chagatai

which provide rare insight into what scholars from the Middle Ages thought about medicine, astronomy, mathematics, poetry, philosophy, law, history and geography.

Building of the school in pre-revolutionary Baku
Building of the Institute of Manuscripts of the
National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan
, 2010

Gallery

Pupils and teachers. 1902
Embroidery lessons.
Alimardan Topchubashov
with pupils

Embroidery lessons. 1911
Lessons at school, in 1911. "The first Tatar school" is written on the blackboard. (Azerbaijanis were called Tatars in the beginning of the 20th century.)
Hanifa Malikova - principal of the school among pupils