Sanitation and Imperial Order: Muslim Cemeteries in Turkestan
Санитария и имперский порядок: мусульманские кладбища в Туркестанском крае
Akimbek Z.A. Dinasheva L.S.
1 December 2025Cherkas Global University Press
Bylye Gody
2025#20Issue 41950 - 1957 pp.
This article examines the role of sanitary discourse in the imperial policy of Russia in Turkestan, focusing on the case of the closure of Muslim cemeteries. Public health and cleanliness became important instruments for legitimizing imperial governance, providing justification for interference in the everyday life of the local population. The closure of Muslim cemeteries, the relocation of burial grounds beyond city limits, and the establishment of burial regulations emerged as integral elements of newly imposed norms. It is demonstrated that sanitary measures extended far beyond the sphere of public health and hygiene. These measures served as a legitimate pretext for the state to establish control over the human body. Even after death, the human body was treated as an object of state regulation and oversight. At the same time, the regulation of cemeteries was part of a broader transformation of urban space. Traditional quarters were perceived as posing a threat to the newly developed European districts. A closer examination reveals that urban areas were distinctly segregated. The introduction of new sanitary regulations elicited an ambivalent response from the local population. On the one hand, residents resisted these measures, which in some cases escalated into open conflicts. On the other hand, the language of sanitary discourse was appropriated by local communities as a tool for defending their interests. Thus, the regulation of cemeteries reflects broader social and political processes unfolding in Turkestan.
cemetery , cholera , cleanliness , hygiene , medicine , power , Russian Empire , sanitation , Sharia , Turkestan , urban space
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Al Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
International University of Tourism and Hospitality, Turkestan, Kazakhstan
Al Farabi Kazakh National University
International University of Tourism and Hospitality
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