Gayaz Iskhaki about Chistopol prison

In 1907, in issue 203 of the Kazan Mokhbire (Kazan Herald) newspaper, an unfinished essay entitled “Prison” by an anonymous author was published. The given publication has become an object of academic research for the first time. The objective of the study was to establish the authorship by comparing the essay with other works of that time on the topic of prison. A consistent analysis of the diary short novel “Zindan”, written by Gayaz Iskhaki in early 1907 during his imprisonment in the city of Chistopol, his autobiography and the essay “Prison” confirms the undeniable connection between the written works. Based on a combination of such methods as historical and cultural, biographical method, and commented reading, the author traces the evolution of Gayaz Iskhaki’s views on penitentiary institutions. The authorship of the essay “Prison” is established by referring to the autobiography of G. Iskhaki, his diary short novel “Zindan” and by taking into account the thematic and time frames of the written works, the features of the historical era of the early twentieth century. The article draws attention to the peculiarities of prisoners’ life (including political prisoners) in the Chistopol prison, which differed strikingly in different eras. During the years of the first Russian revolution of 1905–1907, during the imprisonment of Gayaz Iskhaki, prisoners easily communicated with each other, visited neighboring cells, ordered food, and the guards participated in tea parties with them. The prison in Iskhaki’s descriptions was somewhat reminiscent of a student dormitory. Iskhaki’s cellmates were well-known Chistopol residents of that time – the future State Duma deputy, merchant and public figure Garif Badamshin, as well as Mullah Najib Amirkhanov, popular among the townspeople, the uncle of Fatykh Amirkhan – the Tatar literature classic.