Emirate of Bukhara | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1785–1920 | |||||||||
 Bukhara National Flag as published in 1929 by deposed Emir in exileSayyid Alim Khan.[1] | |||||||||
| Status |
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| Capital and largest city | Bukhara | ||||||||
| Common languages |
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| Religion | Sunni Islam (official),Sufism (Naqshbandi) | ||||||||
| Government | Absolute monarchy | ||||||||
| Emir | |||||||||
• 1785–1799 | Mir Masum Shah Murad | ||||||||
• 1911–1920 | Mir Muhammad Alim Khan | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Manghit control | 1747 | ||||||||
• Shah Murad became Emir | 1785 | ||||||||
• Conquered byRussia | 1868 | ||||||||
• Russianprotectorate | 1873 | ||||||||
| 2 September 1920 | |||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1875[5] | c. 2,478,000 | ||||||||
• 1911[6] | c. 3,000,000–3,500,000 | ||||||||
| Currency | Fulus, tilla, andtenga[7] | ||||||||
| |||||||||
TheEmirate of Bukhara[a] was anUzbekabsolute monarchy inCentral Asia[9][10] that existed from 1785 to 1920 in what is now parts ofTajikistan,Uzbekistan,Turkmenistan andKazakhstan. It occupied the land between theAmu Darya andSyr Darya rivers, known formerly asTransoxiana. Its core territory was the fertile land along the lowerZarafshon river, and its urban centres were the ancient cities ofSamarqand and the emirate's capital,Bukhara. It was contemporaneous with theKhanate of Khiva to the west, inKhwarazm, and theKhanate of Kokand to the east, inFergana. In 1920, it ceased to exist with the establishment of theBukharan People's Soviet Republic. TheTurco-Mongol tribe of Uzbeks known as "Mangits" were the rulers.[11]
The Emirate of Bukhara was officially created in 1785, upon the assumption of rulership by theManghit emir,Shah Murad. Shahmurad, formalized the family's dynastic rule (Manghit dynasty), and the khanate became the Emirate of Bukhara.[12]
As one of the few states in Central Asia after the Mongol Empire not ruled by descendants of Genghis Khan (besides theTimurids), it staked its legitimacy on Islamic principles rather than Genghisid blood, as the ruler took the Islamic title of Emir instead of Khan. In the 18th–19th centuries,Khwarazm (Khiva Khanate) was ruled by the Uzbek dynasty ofKungrats.[13]
Over the course of the 18th century, the emirs had slowly gained effective control of theKhanate of Bukhara, from their position asataliq; and by the 1740s, when the khanate was conquered byNadir Shah ofPersia, it was clear that the emirs held the real power. In 1747, after Nadir Shah's death, the ataliq Muhammad Rahim Bi murdered Abulfayz Khan and his son, ending theJanid dynasty. From then on the emirs allowed puppet khans to rule until, following the death of Abu l-Ghazi Khan, Shah Murad assumed the throne openly.[14]
Fitzroy Maclean recounts inEastern Approaches howCharles Stoddart andArthur Conolly were executed byNasrullah Khan in the context ofThe Great Game, and howJoseph Wolff, known as the Eccentric Missionary, escaped their fate when he came looking for them in 1845. He was wearing his full canonical costume, which caused the Emir to burst out laughing, and "Dr Wolff was eventually forced to leave Bokhara, greatly to the surprise of the populace, who were not accustomed to such clemency."[15]
In 1868, the emirate lost awar withImperial Russia, which had aspirations ofconquest in the region. Russia annexed much of the emirate's territory, including the important city ofSamarkand.[16] In 1873, the remainder became a Russianprotectorate,[17] and was soon surrounded by theGovernorate-General ofTurkestan. The Russians forced the abolition of theBukhara slave trade in 1873, though slavery itself was not formally abolished until 1885.[18]
Reformists within the Emirate had found the conservative emir,Mohammed Alim Khan, unwilling to loosen his grip on power, and had turned to the RussianBolshevik revolutionaries for military assistance. TheRed Army launched an unsuccessful assault in March 1920, and then a successful one in September of the same year.[19] The Emirate of Bukhara was conquered by theBolsheviks and replaced with theBukharan People's Soviet Republic. Today, the territory of the defunct emirate lies mostly inUzbekistan, with parts inTajikistan,Turkmenistan andKazakhstan. In the first half of the 19th century it had some influence in northern Afghanistan, as the emirs of theChahar Wilayat (Maimana,Sheberghan,Andkhui,Sar-i Pol) nominally accepted Bukharan suzerainty.[20]
During the reign ofAmir Nasrullah, when the territory of the emirate was most expanded, Bukhara consisted of 30 regions (begliks). These were Karshi, Guzar, Chirakchi, Kitab, Shahrisabz, Yakkabog, Baysun, Denov, Sherabad, Hisar, Korategin, Darvoz, Baljuvan, Shugnon, Rushan, Kulob, Kurgantepa, Qobadiyon, Kalif, Karki, Burdalik, Kalakli, Narazm, Charjoi, Karmana, Ziyovuddin, Nurota, Khatirchi, Urgut and Samarkand regions. In addition to them, Jizzakh,Oratepa,Tashkent,Turkestan and other neighboring regions were also temporarily included in the emirate during this period.[21]
By 1916 they were:
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Bukhara initially resisted Russian expansion into Central Asia, but would become a Russian protectorate.
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the majority of the Emirate's exports consisted primarily of cotton, wool, silk and related products, wool and oils. Bukhara was also considered the center of the Central Asian astrakhan trade, obtained from the skin ofkarakul sheep. These skins were brought from around the breeding regions in neighbouring Karakul, Chorjou, Karki, Karshi,Khorezm andAfghanistan.[22]
Trade for the most part largely interacted with western nations, predominantly the Russian Empire, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany (and its predecessor states) and in later years, the United States of America.
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In the era of the Manghyt emirs in Bukhara, a large construction of madrasahs, mosques and palaces was carried out. Located along important trading routes, Bukhara enjoyed a rich cultural mixture, includingPersian,Uzbek,Arab, andJewish influences.
A local school of historians developed in the Bukhara emirate. The most famous historians were Mirza Shams Bukhari, Muhammad Yakub ibn Daniyalbiy, Muhammad Mir Olim Bukhari,Ahmad Donish,Mirza Azim Sami, Mirza Salimbek.[23]
The city of Bukhara has a rich history of Persianarchitecture andliterature, traditions that were continued into the Emirate Period. Prominent artists of the period include the poetKiromi Bukhoroi, thecalligrapherMirza Abd al-Aziz Bukhari and the scholarRahmat-Allah Bukhari. Throughout this period, themadrasahs of the region were renowned.
Turkic-speakers, whatever their dialect, were referred to as Turks,[24] while Persian-speakers were referred to asTajiks.[25] The term "Sart" was commonly applied to sedentary Turks and Tajiks.[26]
The idea of tying a region to a certain ethnic or language group was unfamiliar to the Muslims of Central Asia. At that time, while terms such as Uzbek,Tajik, andKyrgyz were recognized, they did not adequately describe the overlapping and shifting identities of the population. For these people, allegiances based on tribal, clan, local, or family ties were more significant than those based solely on ethnicity, since they had long intermixed.[27] Due to years of interaction between Turks and Tajiks, the urban population of Central Asian cities developed a unique mixed identity, making it difficult to determine which linguistic community an urban inhabitant belonged to, since bilingualism was widespread. This is demonstrated in thebayaz, private journals wrapped in leather from the 16th to 19th centuries, where verses in both languages often appeared together. Unlike grandiose manuscripts made for the elite, these notebooks reflect popular readership. The most well-known poet at this time seems to have been the Persian poetJami, who was followed by two other poets who also wrote in the same language,Hafez andAmir Khusrow. However, the Turkic poetsAli-Shir Nava'i andFuzuli are also commonly cited.[28] In 1924, when theSoviet Union established national and ethnic boundaries in Central Asia, many of the locals of the present-day countries of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan were unsure if they were Tajiks or Uzbeks.[29]
Since the 8th and 9th centuries, the common culture of the locals was Persian and Muslim.[27] Persian was the language of civilisationpar excellence and the principal language of culture, serving as the official and court language of Emirate of Bukhara.[3]
| Titular Name | Personal Name | Reign |
|---|---|---|
| Ataliq اتالیق | Khudayar Bey خدایار بیگ | ? |
| Ataliq اتالیق | Muhammad Hakim محمد حکیم | ?–1747 |
| Ataliq اتالیق | Muhammad Rahim محمد رحیم | 1747–1753 |
| Amir امیر | Muhammad Rahim محمد رحیم | 1753–1756 |
| Khan خان | Muhammad Rahim محمد رحیم | 1756–1758 |
| Ataliq اتالیق | Daniyal Biy دانیال بیگ | 1758–1785 |
| Amir Masum امیر معصوم | Shahmurad شاہ مراد بن دانیال بیگ | 1785–1799 |
| Amir امیر | Haydar bin Shahmurad حیدر تورہ بن شاہ مراد | 1799–1826 |
| Amir امیر | Mir Hussein bin Haydar حسین بن حیدر تورہ | 1826–1827 |
| Amir امیر | Umar bin Haydar عمر بن حیدر تورہ | 1827 |
| Amir امیر | Nasr-Allah bin Haydar Tora نصراللہ بن حیدر تورہ | 1827–1860 |
| Amir امیر | Muzaffar bin Nasrullah مظفر الدین بن نصراللہ | 1860–1885 |
| Amir امیر | Abdul-Ahad bin Muzaffar al-Din عبد الأحد بن مظفر الدین | 1885–1911 |
| Amir امیر | Muhammad Alim Khan bin Abdul-Ahad محمد عالم خان بن عبد الأحد | 1911–1920 |
| Overthrow of Emirate of Bukhara byBukharan People's Soviet Republic. | ||
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Drapeau National Boukhare (Bukhara National Flag)
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