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Emirate of Bukhara
امارت بخارا (Persian)
*Imārat-i Buxārā* (Persian)
بخارا امیرلیگی (Chagatay)
*Bukhārā Amirligi* (Chagatay)
Emirate of Bukhara امارت بخارا (Persian); Imārat-i Buxārā (Persian); بخارا امیرلیگی (Chagatay); Bukhārā Amirligi (Chagatay)
1785–1920
	Flag
	The Emirate of Bukhara c. 1820
Status	Independent emirate (1785-1873); Quasi-independent Russian protectorate (1873–1920);
Capital and largest city	Bukhara
Common languages	Persian (main literary and administrative language); Chagatai Turkic;
Religion	Sunni Islam, Shia Islam, Sufism (Naqshbandi), Zoroastrianism, Judaism
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 by Russia	1868
• Russian protectorate	1873
• Fall of Bukhara	2 September 1920
Population
• 1875	c. 2,478,000
• 1911	c. 3,000,000–3,500,000
Currency	Fulus, tilla, and tenga
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Khanate of Bukhara
Bukharan People's Soviet Republic

The Emirate of Bukhara (Persian: امارت بخارا, romanized: Imārat-i Buxārā,^[6] Chagatay: بخارا امیرلیگی, romanized: Bukhārā Amirligi) was a Muslim-Uzbek polity in Central Asia^[7] that existed from 1785 to 1920 in what is now Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. It occupied the land between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, known formerly as Transoxiana. Its core territory was the fertile land along the lower Zarafshon river, and its urban centres were the ancient cities of Samarqand and the emirate's capital, Bukhara. It was contemporaneous with the Khanate of Khiva to the west, in Khwarazm, and the Khanate of Kokand to the east, in Fergana. In 1920, it ceased to exist with the establishment of the Bukharan People's Soviet Republic.

History

The Emirate of Bukhara was officially created in 1785, upon the assumption of rulership by the Manghit emir, Shah Murad. Shahmurad, formalized the family's dynastic rule (Manghit dynasty), and the khanate became the Emirate of Bukhara.^[8]

As one of the few states in Central Asia after the Mongol Empire not ruled by descendants of Genghis Khan (besides the Timurids), 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 of Kungrats.^[9]

Over the course of the 18th century, the emirs had slowly gained effective control of the Khanate of Bukhara, from their position as ataliq; and by the 1740s, when the khanate was conquered by Nadir Shah of Persia, 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 the Janid 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.^[10]

Fitzroy Maclean recounts in Eastern Approaches how Charles Stoddart and Arthur Conolly were executed by Nasrullah Khan in the context of The Great Game, and how Joseph 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."^[11]

In 1868, the emirate lost a war with Imperial Russia, which had aspirations of conquest in the region. Russia annexed much of the emirate's territory, including the important city of Samarkand.^[12] In 1873, the remainder became a Russian protectorate,^[13] and was soon surrounded by the Governorate-General of Turkestan. The Russians forced the abolition of the Bukhara slave trade in 1873, though slavery itself was not formally abolished until 1885.^[14]

Reformists within the Emirate had found the conservative emir, Mohammed Alim Khan, unwilling to loosen his grip on power, and had turned to the Russian Bolshevik revolutionaries for military assistance. The Red Army launched an unsuccessful assault in March 1920, and then a successful one in September of the same year.^[15] The Emirate of Bukhara was conquered by the Bolsheviks and replaced with the Bukharan People's Soviet Republic. Today, the territory of the defunct emirate lies mostly in Uzbekistan, with parts in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. In the first half of the 19th century it had some influence in northern Afghanistan, as the emirs of the Chahar Wilayat (Maimana, Sheberghan, Andkhui, Sar-i Pol) nominally accepted Bukharan suzerainty.^[16]

Culture

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, including Persian, Uzbek, and Jewish 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 Abdalazim Sami, Mirza Salimbek.^[17]

The city of Bukhara has a rich history of Persian architecture and literature, traditions that were continued into the Emirate Period. Prominent artists of the period include the poet Kiromi Bukhoroi, the calligrapher Mirza Abd al-Aziz Bukhari and the scholar Rahmat-Allah Bukhari. Throughout this period, the madrasahs of the region were renowned.

The Emir of Bukhara and the notables of the city watch how the heads of Russian soldiers are impaled on poles. Samarkand
Chor Minor Madrasah, Bukhara (built in 1807)
A bureaucrat in Bukhara, c. 1910
Large Medallion Suzani (textile) from Bukhara, c. mid-18th century

Administrative and territorial structure

Administratively, the Emirate was divided into several beyliks or bekliks:

Baljuvon (now Khatlon Region, Tajikistan)
Hisar (now Tajikistan)
Burdalik (now Lebap Region, Turkmenistan)
Guzar (now Qashqadaryo Region, Uzbekistan)
Charjuy (now Lebap Region, Turkmenistan)
Darvaz (c 1878, now Darvoz district, Tajikistan)
Dehnav (now Surxondaryo Region, Uzbekistan)
Kabakli (now Lebap Region, Turkmenistan)
Karakul (now Bukhara Region, Uzbekistan)
Karategin (now Rasht district, Tajikistan)
Karshi (now Qashqadaryo Region, Uzbekistan)
Kattakurgan (now Samarkand region, Uzbekistan)
Kulyab (now Khatlon Region, Tajikistan)
Karshi (now Qashqadaryo Region, Uzbekistan)
Kerki (now Lebap Region, Turkmenistan)
Nurata (now Navoiy Region, Uzbekistan)
Panjikent (now Sughd province, Tajikistan)
Rushan (now Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous region, Tajikistan)
Samarkand (now Samarqand Region, Uzbekistan — part of Russia since 1868
Shahrisabz (c 1870, now Kashkadarya Region, Uzbekistan)
Urgut (now Samarqand Region, Uzbekistan)
Falgar (now Sughd province, Tajikistan)

A map of the Emirate of Bukhara's beyliks
Fires in Bukhara during the Red Army's attack, 1 September 1920

Amirs/Emirs of Bukhara (1785–1920)

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 by Bukharan People's Soviet Republic.

Pink Rows denote progenitor chiefs serving as Tutors (Ataliqs) & Viziers to the Khans of Bukhara.
Green Rows denote chiefs who took over reign of government from the Janids and placed puppet Khans.
A photo of Mohammed Alim Khan, final emir 1911–1920, is shown at Emir.

References

^ DeWeese 2019, p. 137.
^ Grenoble, Lenore (2003). Language Policy of the Soviet Union. Kluwer Academic Publishers. p. 143. ISBN 1-4020-1298-5.
^ |Meyendorf E.K. Travel from Orenburg to Bukhara. Foreword N. A. Halfin. Moscow, The main edition of the eastern literature of the publishing house "Science", 1975. (in Russian:Мейендорф Е. К. Путешествие из Оренбурга в Бухару. Предисл. Н. А. Халфина. М., Главная редакция восточной литературы издательства "Наука", 1975.)
^ Olufsen, Ole (1911). The emir of Bokhara and his country; journeys and studies in Bokhara. Gyldendal: Nordisk forlag. p. 282.
^ ANS Magazine. "The Coinage of the Mangit Dynasty of Bukhara" Archived 15 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine by Peter Donovan. Retrieved: 16 July 2017.
^ "نگاهی به امارت بخارا در صد سالگی انقلاب اکتبر". BBC News. 5 November 2017.
^ Golden, Peter B. (2011). Central Asia in World History. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p. 115.
^ Soucek, Svat. A History of Inner Asia (2000), p. 180.
^ Bregel, Y. The new Uzbek states: Bukhara, Khiva and Khoqand: C. 1750–1886. In N. Di Cosmo, A. Frank, & P. Golden (Eds.), The Cambridge History of Inner Asia: The Chinggisid Age (pp. 392-411). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2009
^ Soucek (2000), pp. 179–180
^ Eastern Approaches ch 6 "Bokhara the Noble"
^ Soucek (2000), p. 198
^ Russo-Bukharan War 1868, Armed Conflict Events Database, OnWar.com
^ Becker, S. (2004). Russia's Protectorates in Central Asia: Bukhara and Khiva, 1865-1924. Storbritannien: Taylor & Francis., p. 67-68
^ Soucek (2000), pp. 221–222
^ Lee, Jonathan L. (1 January 1996). The "Ancient Supremacy": Bukhara, Afghanistan and the Battle for Balkh, 1731-1901. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-10399-3.
^ Anke fon Kyugel'gen, Legitimizatsiya sredneaziatskoy dinastii mangitov v proizvedeniyakh ikh istorikov (XVIII-XIX vv.). Almaty: Dayk press, 2004

Bibliography

DeWeese, Devin (2019). "Persian and Turkic from Kazan to Tobolsk: Literary Frontiers in Muslim Inner Asia". In Green, Nile (ed.). The Persianate World: The Frontiers of a Eurasian Lingua Franca. University of California Press. pp. 131–158. ISBN 978-0520972100.
Soucek, Svat (2000). A History of Inner Asia. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521657044.