TheSiberian Bukharans (self-designation:Poğarlı) are an ethnographic and sociocultural group in Siberia. They constituted a significant part of theTobol-Irtysh (Tyumen-Tura,Tobol andTara subgroups) andTom groups ofSiberian Tatars.[1]
The legend has it that their ancestors came from theKhanate of Bukhara, but genetic studies indicate that they came from the westernCaucasus.[2] They were merchants and started to settle in the area in the 17th century[3] after the start of theRussian conquest of Siberia in the 1580s. However, some settled in the area as early as the 15th and 16th centuries.[4]
Their name as an ethnic group —Bukharan appeared in documents until the early 1930s. Now that name refers to people from the city ofBukhara.
Russians formerly used the term "Bukharan" to refer to any caravan merchant from Central Asia, since the Russians did not always have a clear understanding of the geography and peoples further south.
Since Muslim Siberian Bukharans had legal advantages and privileges under Russia,Baraba Tatars pretended to be them.[5]
Due to the Bukharans frequently intermarrying with the Siberian Tatars, many eventually assimilated with the Tatars and adopted the Tatar language. Most are now listed with the Tatars in recent censuses.[4] However, some are still aware of their Bukharan origins. The Siberian Bukharans are Sunni Muslims.[3]
The Siberian Bukharans maintained their own identity and were quite numerous. They numbered 23,700 in 1926. Their main bases of settlement wereTobolsk,Tara andTyumen.
In theTobolsk Governorate there were several Bukharan towns in differentuyezds. In Tarsk uyezd of theTobolsk Governorate Bukharan Town (Russian:Бухарская волость), where the population was primarily Bukharans, existed until the early 20th century.
InTyumen there is araion that is officially namedBukharan Settlement (Russian: Бухарская слобода). There are some settlements in theOmsk Oblast which were founded by Bukharans.
The Bukharans, who call themselves the Bukharlyks (Pukharlyks) and have also been known as Sarts, are a small group of several thousand people in the former Soviet Union. Russians refer to them as the Bukhartsy. They are primarily located in Tobol'sk, Tara, Tyumen, and Astrakhan today. Their ancestors were Uzbek merchants from Bukhara who established trading colonies in south central Russia and Siberia in the seventeenth century. They are Sunni Muslims in religion.
