February 14, 2025, marks a round date – 200 years since the birth of the Tatar educator Qayum Nasiri. In the biography of the outstanding scientist, researchers distinguish several periods, one of which was Nasiri's experience working in the first Russian-Tatar school in Kazan. Today, when the authorities of individual post-Soviet republics are depriving the Russian language of its state status, ignoring the rights and freedoms of their own citizens. His pedagogical activity takes on special significance, emphasizing the unique progressiveness of the Tatar scientist.
In 1870, the Russian Empire approved the “Rules on measures for the education of foreigners inhabiting Russia” on the mandatory study of the state language. As Qayum Nasiri himself noted, he was inspired by one proposal in these “Rules”: about teaching in the native language of students at first. In early 1871, Nasiri, who had already taught the Tatar language at the Kazan Seminary, began teaching numerous students Russian as a tutor. In the same year, the Russian Turkologist Vasily Radlov was appointed inspector of Muslim schools in the Kazan educational district.
Regarding the fateful meeting with Radlov, the educator wrote that, fortunately, this man was sent by Allah. Nasiri agreed to Radlov's offer to become the director and teacher of the first Russian-Tatar school in the province, where he was given the opportunity to teach children first Tatar and then, based on it, Russian. Muslims were wary of the new initiative: residents of Tatar settlements refused to rent out premises for classes. Thus, Nasiri probably became the first Tatar and Muslim to settle in Mokraya Sloboda, a disadvantaged area of Kazan, in the 19th century.
The school opened on the second floor of the building, above a functioning tavern. “Downstairs, day and night, they bawl out songs, fight <…> Every word around is foul language,” Nasiri recalled this period of his life in his essay “Opening of the First Russian-Tatar School for Muslim Children in Kazan”. The special mission of educating his native people gave Nasiri the strength to endure adversity, but the school lasted only two months and emptied out due to absenteeism: each of the students was flogged in their native madrasah for attending Russian-Tatar classes.
Upon learning of this, Inspector Radlov ordered the school to be established in another part of the city, and this was not the only move. Nasiri opened a school, renting premises in a two-story wooden mansion of a Tatar merchant. The teacher was not embarrassed by the small salary; Nasiri even bought the student from a poor family new galoshes - due to the lack of shoes, he stopped going to class, and after him, the rest of the boys. When this shakird disappeared again, having taken up selling lemons, Nasiri had to compensate him for the lost profits in order to bring back the entire group of students.
Meanwhile, Radlov continued to look for ways to implement the state school policy. It is important to understand that in conditions when most of the Kazan Tatars secretly and sometimes openly resisted the innovation, Nasiri and Radlov were on the same side of the barricades. This is a key fact for assessing their relationship. The one-sided idea of the enmity between them, which became the motive for Nasiri leaving the Russian-Tatar school, does not correspond to reality, since back in 1922, literary scholar Gali Rahim indicated the true reason for the teacher's departure.
Of course, there were disagreements between Nasiri and Radlov regarding the organization of the educational process; sometimes both, without knowing it, became hostages of the scholastic mentality of students and their parents: Doctor of Historical Sciences Ildus Zagidullin cites such situations in his study “Qayum Nasiri – a teacher of the Russian-Tatar school in Kazan”, which formed the basis of the material. The reason for Nasiri's departure from school was an accident: a rotten floor collapsed in the old educational building, the teacher fell into a deep hole and almost died, choking on water. The victim was not found immediately.
After some time, Nasiri was pulled out of the pit in an unconscious state and given first aid. After that, he came to his senses but suffered a nervous shock: for almost half a year, Nasiri was very ill and often delirious, losing touch with reality. He did not return to teaching, having experienced deep nervous stress and a mental crisis. The next, so-called “free” period in Nasiri's life began when he wrote and published works that constitute the golden fund of Tatar social thought in the second half of the 19th century.
In 1876, thanks to Radlov's efforts, the grand opening of the Tatar Teachers' School took place in Kazan, to which Nasiri donated maps of the parts of the world with inscriptions in the Tatar language. The scientist made them himself on silent maps of the St. Petersburg edition. “People will get used to it, and unpleasant words will disappear. There is always a trailblazer in every case who gets only reproaches and misunderstandings. For example, the misadventures of Columbus, Gutenberg, and others are well known. The importance of their discoveries has been appreciated in our days,” wrote Nasiri, striking in his deep awareness of his educational activities.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: KFU