2026. no 3. Elmira Abibullaeva
“In Bakhchisarai”. Red Oil Exploration and Production Company
(to the 175th anniversary of the birth of Ismail Gasprinsky)
Elmira Abibullaeva
Bakhchisarai Historical, Cultural and Archaeological Museum-Reserve
Bakhchisarai, Russian Federation;
Marjani Institute of History of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences
Kazan, Russian Federation;
Fevzi Yakubov Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University
Simferopol, Russian Federation
Abstract. Ismail Gasprinsky is known to be a multifaceted figure, whose works remain relevant and continue to generate interest in the scientific community today. A figure ahead of his time, a visionary, a thinker, a teacher, and an educator – all these are facets of a single man dedicated to serving the people. While reading the pages of his newspaper, “Terdzhiman”, we noticed a column titled “Bagchesarayda” (“In Bakhchisarai”), where the editor-publisher usually wrote about Bakhchisarai news. From the article published in this column, we learned that Ismail Gasprinsky wanted to extract oil in Bakhchisarai. This seemingly unexpected discovery reveals another side of his insatiable energy and passion for the development of his native land. The article also lifts the curtain on his social circle. It turns out that the educator was acquainted with the prominent soil scien-tist N.N. Klepinin, the influential oil industrialist and one of the richest people in the Russian Empire, Aga Shamsi Asadullaev, the provincial metallurgical engineer Zhorin, and the Baku oil industrialist Ashirbekov.
Thus, the article, while at first glance newsworthy, opens the door to a world of connections where education, science, and business intertwined, creating a unique con-text for the work of one of the most brilliant thinkers of his time. It also reveals a com-pletely different side of Ismail Gasprinsky, showing him not only as an outstanding edu-cator and politician, but also as a person actively involved in economic processes, ca-pable of strategic thinking and real, pragmatic action.
Below is the transliterated text of the article from the “Terdzhiman” newspaper.
Keywords: Ismail Gasprinsky; Bakhchisarai; newspaper “Terdzhiman”; red oil; article; transliteration
For citation: Abibullaeva E.E. “In Bakhchisarai”. Red Oil Exploration and Production Company (to the 175th anniversary of the birth of Ismail Gasprinsky). Krymskoe istoricheskoe obozrenie=Crimean Historical Review. 2026, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 124–130. https://doi.org/10.22378/kio.2026.3.124-130 (In Crimean Tatar)
REFERENCES
1. Gasprinsky I. In Bakhchisarai. Terdzhiman=Translator. 1914. № 55. 9 Jan. (In Crimean Tatar)
INFORMATION ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND TRANSLATOR
Elmira E. Abibullaeva – Cand. Sci. (History), Director of the Ismail Gasprinsky Memorial Complex, Crimean Republican Institution “Bakhchisarai Historical, Cultural and Archaeological Museum-Reserve” (133, Rechnaya Str., Bakhchisarai 298405, Russian Federation); Senior Researcher of the Crimean Scientific Center, Marjani Institute of History of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences (7, Baturin Str., Kazan 420111, Russian Federation); Researcher of the Research Institute of the Crimean Tatar philology, history and culture of ethnic groups of the Crimea, Fevzi Yakubov Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University (8, Uchebnyy lane, Simferopol 295015, Russian Federation); ORCID: 0009-0005-1952-6517. E-mail: shems-annur@mail.ru
Received 15.12.2025
Accepted 02.04.2026
