The total length of the journey exceeded 51,000 kilometres, including 15,000 km of railway and 22,000 km of sea routes. During his visit to the Empire of Japan, Nicholas was the target of a failed assassination attempt.
Background
After the Grand Embassy of Peter the Great, a long trip for educational purposes became an important part of training for the state activity of the members of the Russian Imperial house. In 1890 Emperor Alexander III of Russia decided to establish the Trans-Siberian Railway and his heir Tsesarevich Nicholas took part in the opening ceremony.
Voyage
Cruiser "Memory of Azov"
On 23 October, after a church service in Gatchina, the Tsesarevich went by train via Vienna to Trieste where he boarded the cruiserPamiat Azova (Memory of Azov). This route was selected because of probable diplomatic difficulties with the Ottoman Empire, which wanted to keep the straits of Bosporus and Dardanelles closed.
From Suez they went to Aden and on 11 December arrived in Bombay. Here Nicholas started a long trans-Indian trip, which ended in Colombo, Ceylon. In India Nicholas visited many important places, including the Taj Mahal and the Harimandir Sahib (Golden Temple) and bought numerous exotic works of art, later transferred to several Russian museums.
Leaving Ceylon on 31 January, the expedition continued to Singapore, the island of Java in Dutch East Indies and Bangkok. In Siam the future Emperor spent a week as a guest of King Rama V. Nicholas received an Order and precious gifts. On 13 March, he reached Hankow in China, where he visited tea plantations and factories.
Triumphal Arch erected in Blagoveshchensk in 1891, in honour of the visiting Tsarevich
On 7 May Nicholas left Kobe, and four days later arrived in Vladivostok, where he accomplished the official part of his mission. This leg of the journey was on the steam yacht St George of the Royal Yacht Squadron in the company of its owner, Ernest Wythes,[2] of Copped Hall. He then returned across the entire length of Russia back to Saint Petersburg. He travelled overland and by river boat via Khabarovka, Blagoveshchensk, Nerchinsk, Chita, Irkutsk, Tomsk, Surgut, Tobolsk, Tara, Omsk, and Orenburg, and then returned by train to St. Petersburg. A number of Siberian cities erected triumphal arches to celebrate the visit of the future emperor.[3][4]
Timeline
4 November [O.S. 23 October] 1890: departure from Gatchina;
7 November [O.S. 26 October] 1890: departure from Trieste;
22 November [O.S. 10 November] 1890–10 December [O.S. 27 November] 1890: visiting of Egypt;
23 December [O.S. 11 December] 1890: arrival to Bombay;
23 December [O.S. 11 December] 1890–12 January [O.S. 31 December] 1891: voyage in India
Prince Esper Ukhtomsky also took part in the journey, and collected important ethnographic notes about the places he visited. Later he published an illustrated three-volume story of this voyage. More than 200 photos were taken by Vladimir Mendeleyev, a son of Dmitry Mendeleyev, who was a member of the Memory of Azov crew.
(in Russian) E. E. Ukhtomsky Eastern journey of His Imperial Majesty Tsarevich in 1890–1891, 1893–1897. (translated into English, French, and German shortly afterwards, English translation title is Hesper Ookhtomsky (Ukhtomskii). Travels in the East of Nicholas II, emperor of Russia when cesarewitch, 1890-1891 / Written by order of His Imperial Majesty; and tr. from the Russian by R. Goodlet; edited by Sir George Birdwood. Westminster: Constable 1900.
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