Solemn opening of jubilee events of the Institute of Archaeology named after A.Kh. Khalikov of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences

On April 1, the opening ceremony of the events dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the Institute of Archaeology TAS and the 95th anniversary of Alfred Khasanovich Khalikov took place.
Congratulations were delivered by guests from different countries and regions of Russian Federation:
N.A. Makarov – Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academic-Secretary of the Division of Historical and Philological Sciences RAS, Director of the Institute of Archaeology RAS,
R.G. Gagkuyev – Executive Director of the “History of the Fatherland” Foundation,
N.N. Kradin – Director of the Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnology Far Eastern Branch RAS (Vladivostok),
A.V. Sirenov – Director of the Saint-Petersburg Institute of History RAS,
I.F. Popova – Director of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts RAS,
A.V. Polyakov – Director of the Institute for the History of Material Culture RAS,
A.Ye. Zagrebin – Acting Director of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology RAS,
V.V. Maiko – Director of the Institute of Archaeology of the Crimea RAS,
Guan Xiaowu – Acting Director of the Institute for History of Natural Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Eregzen Gelegdorj – Director of the Institute of Archaeology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences,
F.A. Maksudov – Director of the National Center of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan,
M.M. Saidov – Director of the Samarkand Institute of Archaeology named after Ya. Ghulomov,
L.D. Chadamba – Head of the Archaeological Research Center of the Tuvan Institute of Humanities and Applied Social and Economic Research under the Government of Tuva.
Director of the State Hermitage Museum M.B. Piotrovsky sent a video greeting, congratulations were read out on behalf of the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan.
President of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences R.N. Minnikhanov gave a brief excursion into the history of the development of archaeology in Tatarstan, a member of the Committee of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan on Education, Culture, Science and National Issues M.Kh. Salakhov told about the foundation of the Institute of Archaeology TAS, which took place during his tenure as President of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences.
M.Sh. Shaimiev, the first President of the Republic of Tatarstan and now State Counsellor of the Republiс of Tatarstan, played a very important role in the opening of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan and especially in the development of archaeology in Tatarstan. His greeting and congratulations began the awarding of various awards to the staff of the Institute and collegues-archaeologists. The staff of the Institute of Archaeology named after A.Kh. Khalikov TAS was awarded the Letter of Gratitude of Farid Khairullovich Mukhametshin, Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan. Yevgeny Petrovich Kazakov, chief research fellow at the Department of Medieval Archaeology of the Institute, was awarded the State Award of the Republic of Tatarstan – medal of the Order of Merits for the Republic of Tatarstan.
The participants of the jubilee events will discuss the results of the 10-year activity of the Institute of Archaeology named after A.Kh. Khalikov TAS and prospects for further development of archaeological science in the Ural-Volga region at the International scientific conference “IX Khalikov’s Readings” and scientific seminar “Urban Culture of Turkic-Tatar Population of Eurasia” from April 1-3 at the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences.
The conference will be held in 4 sections, where archaeologists will present reports on researchers of the Ural-Volga region and their scientific heritage, ancient and medieval archaeology of the Ural-Volga region and adjacent territories, discuss the issues of conservation, study and museumification of archaeological heritage sites.
The results of joint expeditions of the Institute and colleagues from the Saratov region will be available at the exhibition “Cities do not disappear. History of Ukek in the findings”. The opening took place on April 1 in the Museum of the History of Statehood of the Tatar People and the Republic of Tatarstan. The exposition was prepared by the Historical Park “My Russia” together with the Institute of Archaeology TAS and the Museum-Reserve “Kazan Kremlin” and presents more than 300 items of archaeology.
More than 300 leading archaeologists, historians, ethnologists and representatives of other scientific fields representing scientific schools of the Republic of Tatarstan, regions of Russia and foreign states (Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Azerbaijan, China, Kazakhstan) came to participate in the events.
The history of the Institute dates back to 1878, when the Society of Archaeology, History and Ethnography at Kazan University began its work. Later the archeological group became a part of the Institute of Language, Literature and History of the Kazan branch of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, thus joining the system of scientific institutes. During their work, archaeologists of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan, working as part of different institutes, achieved recognition of the academic community of Russia, and the idea of founding their own institute was supported by the recognized leading figures of archaeology in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Alfred Khasanovich Khalikov, whose name the Institute bears today, deserves much of the credit for these successes. He managed not only to train a new generation of professional archaeologists, but also to raise the Tatarstan archaeology to a high scientific level. Alfred Khasanovich’s indefatigability, keen mind of a strategist and attention to surrounding and details allowed to establish close friendly relations and strong scientific ties with the leading archaeologists of the world for many generations to come. The opening ceremony was completed with congratulations and wishes of Alfred Khasanovich’s son Iskander Alfredovich Khalikov, a professor at the Kazan Law Institute (branch) of the University of Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation.