One of the most valuable and unique sources of information about the geography, geology, ethnography, and anthropology of the Bukhara Emirate in the 19th century is the photographs and other documentary materials left by Leon Barshchevsky.
Barshchevsky, of Polish descent, was born in 1849 in Warsaw, which was then part of the Russian Empire. After the untimely death of his parents, he was adopted by a family in Ukraine, and later sent to study at the Vladimir Military School in Kyiv. After graduating from military educational institutions, he served in the army of the Tsarist Empire throughout his career and reached the rank of colonel. In 1876, at his own request, he was transferred to a topographic battalion stationed in Samarkand, where he remained until 1897.
Barshchevsky led more than twenty expeditions from Samarkand to the former Emirate of Bukhara, the Khanates of Turkestan and Badakhshan, and the territories of Darvaz. He traveled to the foothills of the Pamir Mountains and the city of Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan. Barshchevsky studied transport routes in China and Afghanistan in field conditions and created a detailed map of the territory.
In his research, Barshchevsky focused all his attention on the local population: their beliefs, customs, and way of life. She earned the respect and trust of local communities with her politeness and kindness. He wrote down information about legends and myths, beliefs and superstitions. He often turned out to be the first European to reach remote mountainous regions.
Photographed local officials
Barshchevsky never left his camera during his expeditions and frequently adjusted its lens to people's faces and bright costumes. In this way, he captured rulers and local officials in expensive costumes that emphasized their social status.
These photographs show the full social scope of the multinational communities he encountered. The paintings provide information about clothing worn by various social groups of that time, ranging from very simple clothes to luxurious robes made of expensive piece fabric and silk velvet, decorated with embroidery, gold thread, or colored Bukhara embroidery. Barshchevsky photographed high-ranking officials in their national headdresses - multi-layered turbans made of various fabrics. In his photographs, one can find quite popular striped fabric - bekasam, as well as men's clothing made of silk and cotton based on plants and zoomorphic motifs, such as sheep's horns, round flowers, almonds, pomegranates.
Leon Barshchevsky captured in his photographs the everyday life and architecture of the regions he visited, landscapes, and unique images of many individuals, including women.
From photography to glaciers, ethnography and archaeology
It is not for nothing that Barshchevsky is called the pioneer of Polish reporting photography. In his paintings, cities like Samarkand and Yakkabog are depicted alongside architectural examples such as madrasas, mosques, and bazaars. He immortalized the picturesque mountain villages with their houses on the slopes of the hills, as well as the Hissar fortress.
During his expeditions, Barshchevsky discovered numerous deposits of metal ores and precious stones (including gold, diamonds, jade, and lapis lazuli), and conducted innovative research on glaciers in the Zarafshan and Hissar ranges. This earned him recognition as a renowned glaciologist and the first Polish explorer to study Asian glaciers.
Barshchevsky also conducted ethnographic and archaeological research, collecting specimens of plants and animals, insects, and minerals. He was one of the first researchers to conduct archaeological research in Afrasiab, the heart of ancient Samarkand.
Leon Barshchevsky lived in Samarkand for 20 years. Here he married Irena Nezhveskaya and raised five children with his wife.
In 1995, an exhibition titled "Leon Barshchevsky - A Forgotten Researcher of Central Asia" was organized at the Museum of Asia and the Pacific in Warsaw.
His notes on the people, flora, and fauna of the country, formerly known as the Bukhara Emirate and Turkestan, are an excellent resource for specialists studying the history of Central Asia today.