Despite what might seem to have been a project worthy of much praise, Zeynalabdin Taghiyev had great difficulty in gaining permission to open the school. He met with vigorous resistance; both from the Imperial Russian authorities and the conservative Muslim clergy. Taghiyev had reportedly asked Emperor Alexander III for permission to establish such institution but his offer was rejected. After Alexander III's death in 1896 the oil baron sent a very expensive gift to the newly crowned Emperor Nicholas II's wife Alexandra Fyodorovna imploring her help. In appreciation, Taghiyev offered to name the school after her, and the permission was thus granted. Local resistance was fierce; families that agreed to have their daughters attend the school were being intimidated, and one of the progressive Islamic clerics who signed up both of his daughters got murdered by the conservatives.