Emirate of Bukhara

Emirate of Bukhara Persian: امارت بخارا
← 1785–1920 →
Flag
The Emirate of Bukhara (green), c. 1850.
Capital	Bukhara
Language(s)	Persian
Religion	Sunni Islam, Shia islam, Sufism (Naqshbandi), Judaism
Government	Monarchy
Emir
- 1785–1800	Mir Masum Shah Murad
- 1911–1920	Alim
History
- Manghit control	1747
- Established	1785
- Conquered by Russia	1868
- Russian protectorate	1873
- Disestablished	October 1920

The Emirate of Bukhara (Persian: امارت بخارا) was a Central Asian state that existed from 1785 to 1920. It occupied the land between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, known formerly as Transoxiana. Its core territory was the land along the lower Zarafshan River, and its urban centres were the ancient cities of Samarkand and the emirate's capital, Bukhara. It was contemporaneous with the Khanate of Khiva to the west, in Khwarezm, and the Khanate of Kokand to the east, in Fergana. It is now within the boundaries of Uzbekistan.

History

Mohammed Alim Khan (1880–1944), the last Emir of Bukhara. Picture taken by Prokudin-Gorski in Mazar-e-Sharif 1911.

The Emirate of Bukhara (top), with Kabool (centre) and Balochistan (bottom and right).

The borders of the Russian imperial territories of Khiva, Bukhara and Kokand in the time period of 1902-1903.

The Emirate of Bukhara was officially created in 1785, upon the assumption of rulership by the Manghit emir, Shah Murad. Over the course of the 18th century, the emirs had slowly gained effective control of the Khanate of Bukhara, from their position as ataliq. 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.

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 suffered to leave Bokhara, greatly to the surprise of the populace, who were not accustomed to such clemency.".

In 1868 the emirate lost a war with Imperial Russia, which had colonial aspirations in the region. Russia annexed much of the emirate's territory, including the important city of Samarkand. In 1873 the remainder became a Russian protectorate, and was soon surrounded by the Governorate-General of Turkestan.

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. 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 and Turkmenistan.

Family

The emir's daughter Shukria Raad Alimi worked as a broadcaster in Radio Afghanistan. Shukria Raad left Afghanistan with her family three months after Soviet troops invaded the country in December 1979. With her husband, also a journalist, and two children she fled to Pakistan, and then through Germany to the United States. In 1982 she did join the VOA, and has worked as a broadcaster for VOA's Dari Service, editor, program host and producer ever since.

Culture

Located along important trading routes, Bukhara enjoyed a rich cultural mixture, including Uzbeks, Persian (Tajiks), and Jewish influences. The city of Bukhara has a rich history of Persian (Tajik) 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.

Emirs of Bukhara (1785–1920)

• Shah Murad (1785 - 13 December 1799)
• Haydar (13 December 1799 - January 1826)
• Husayn Khan (January - March 1826)
• 'Umar Khan (March - 22 March 1826)
• Nasr Allah Bahadur Khan (22 March 1826 - 21 September 1860)
• Muzaffar ad-Din Bahadur Khan (23 September 1860 - 12 November 1885)
• 'Abd al-Ahad Khan (12 November 1885 - 9 December 1910)
• Mohammed Alim Khan (10 December 1910 - 30 August 1920)