The first secular school for girls in the Muslim East opened in Baku, Azerbaijan. The school was funded by the Azerbaijani millionaire Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev. At the time, it was not easy to open such a school for girls in a Muslim country. The local clergy disapproved of the idea of educating girls and incited the public, claiming that this action was a betrayal of religion. However, despite all these difficulties, the school opened on 7 October 1901. Getting there, however, was a battle that took Taghiyev over a decade to win.

Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev, who wanted to open a secular school for Muslim girls in Baku, asked Emperor Alexander III for permission, but his request was denied. In 1894, when Nicholas II ascended the Russian throne, Taghiyev once again tried to obtain permission. In 1895, Zeynalabdin Taghiyev attended the coronation of Nicholas II and presented expensive and valuable gifts to Nicholas II and his wife, Alexandra Feodorovna. On this occasion, he reiterated his request, proposing to name the school after the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Two years later, he received official approval. With permission granted, Taghiyev, believing the difficult part of the work had been solved, immediately set to work, but several more difficulties lay ahead.

Permission had been granted, and now it was time to select a suitable site for the school building and begin construction. Despite Taghiyev’s efforts, the Russian imperial administration artificially delayed the solution to the problem. As a result, a considerable amount of time was spent determining the location of the school building. It was decided to build the school next to the site where the Ismailiyya Palace would later stand. In fact, it had originally been planned to build a mosque on the school grounds, but due to various obstacles, this project could not be realised.

Outraged by the proposal to educate girls in a secular school, the clerics incited the public against the idea. Conservative clerics threatened families who wanted to enrol their daughters in the school. According to some sources, one progressive Islamic cleric who enrolled his two daughters was killed by a conservative. The old-fashioned, conservative elements of the time also sought to kill Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev himself, regarding it as a grave sin for Azerbaijani girls to study at a secular school.

Local Muslim authorities continued to oppose the establishment of a secular all-girls school and referred to the teachings of Muslim scholars worldwide. In response, Taghiyev sent representatives to the main places of Islamic worship – Mecca, Medina, Karbala, Mashhad, Cairo, Istanbul and Tehran – to meet with the world’s most prominent Muslim clergy and have them sign a document confirming that Islam did not forbid Muslim girls from studying secular disciplines, just like boys. Mullah Mirza Muhammad returned to the country with the signatures of eight world-renowned Islamic scholars. Taghiyev arranged a meeting with the Baku imams at the mosque, where he presented the signatures and addressed the crowd:

People, it is important that our girls receive a modern education. Their eyes will be opened, and they will cope better with hardship. Molla Ali, son of Haji Khalil, listen! The day before yesterday, your 20-year-old daughter was ill and nearly died. You brought a male doctor; he examined your daughter, gave her medicine, and she was saved from death. Now tell me – if there had been a Muslim female doctor instead of a male one, would that not have been more fitting according to Sharia? We are in dire need of female doctors, female teachers. I decided to open that school after the kingdom called us savages…

These congratulatory telegrams were among the many letters Taghiyev received from St Petersburg, Kazan, Crimea and Central Asia. With the opening of the Empress Alexandra Russian-Muslim Girls’ School – popularly known as Taghiyev’s Girls’ School – the foundation of secular female education in Azerbaijan was firmly laid.

The school provided four years of education. Girls entered the institution at seven years of age and resided on campus. Students wore European-style uniforms featuring white collars and head coverings. Classes were conducted in Russian; however, alongside the Azerbaijani language, pupils were taught mathematics, geography, music, and drama. Furthermore, students received instruction in needlework, domestic science, and religious studies. Over the years, the institution’s reputation grew rapidly. Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev donated a substantial sum to secure status as a Girls’ Seminary for the institution, extending its curriculum to a six-year programme.