For the first time, a letter by Aleksei Stepanovich Bashkirov (1885-1963), a specialist in ancient and medieval history and architecture, an archaeologist, written to the chairman of the Academic Center of TASSR People's Commissariat for Education S.S. Atnagulov from Bilyar on June 21, 1929, is published. The letter is an important source describing the process of organization and conducting archaeological research at the Bilyar settlement in 1928-1929. Here for the first time A.S. Bashkirov writes about his Turkic origin and difficulties in dealing with officials from science. The source helps to understand the spirit of the era in which the scientist lived and worked, as well as his views, which in a few years would serve as the basis for repression during the Stalinist terror.