The First Central Asian Episode in US Foreign Relations: Eugene Schuyler, Turkestan, and America’s Tacit Acknowledgment of Russia as a Eurasian Power
Journal: Rocznik Orientalistyczny/Yearbook of Oriental Studies
Year: 2023

Eugene Schuyler was the first American to travel to Central Asia. Recognized as a scholar diplomat, he had written extensively on Russia and served as the US consul to Reval and the secretary of the American legation in St. Petersburg. During his diplomatic service in Russia, Schuyler was granted absence of leave to visit Central Asia and witnessed the Russian conquest of the region. He was also accompanied by the Russian army to visit the Ili region in Xinjiang amid the Dungan Revolt (1862–1877