Konstantin von Kauffman was an outstanding Russian military leader. The year before this picture was taken, he was appointed Governor General of Turkistan and Commander of the Turkestan Military District. Over the years of his service, primarily due to his efforts, the Kokand Khanate was annexed by the Russian Empire, and a Russian protectorate was established over the Khiva Khanate and the Bukhara Emirate. However, modern historians, ethnographers and cultural scientists are grateful to him not because of his military success, but because of the Turkestan Album, a multi-volume collection that includes more than 1,200 unique photographs of Central Asia.
