Tanais Gallery
At the Fortress Walls. "Let them Enter!"
1871.
Oil on canvas.
95 x 160,5.
The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.
In April 1868, the Emir of Bukhara, who settled in Samarkand, declared Jihad or holy war against Russia. In May 1868, the Russians took Samarkand, but later, when the main forces left the city for further military actions against the Emir, the garrison of Samarkand was besieged in its fortress by the army of the Khan of Shakhisabsk, as well as the native people of Samarkand, who were hostile to the Russians. The garrison was outnumbered eighty to one, but refused to surrender. The picture shows an episode from the defense of Samarkand fortress.
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