This article has been prepared based on the data from schedules of the First General Population Census of the Russian Empire in 1897. The publication presents materials on 185 Islamic spiritual leaders who served as imams and muezzins. Analysis of the provided data revealed that the majority of those clergymen were not native to the area (66.8 %), with Bukharans accounting for 25.9 %, and a significant minority being state peasants (7.3 %). The mean age of an imams was 45 years of age, whereas that of muezzins averaged at 49. An overwhelming majority of Islamic leaders were born in the Tobolsk Governorate. The findings demonstrate that some faith leaders practiced polygyny. All imams and nearly all muezzins were educated people, literate in Arabic and Tatar, however only a small percentage of imams were proficient in the Russian language. Religious activities constituted the primary occupation for half of imams and a third of muezzins. Among these, for a quarter of imams and muezzins, this activity was the sole source of income.

Keywords: nominaive sources, Muslims, akhund, mullah, imam, muezzin, the Bukharans, non-Russians, polygamy.

 

Funding. The research was carried out on the basis of the state assignment, project No. FWRZ-2021-0006.

 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Accepted: 02.10.2025

Article is published: 15.12.2025