Abd al-Aziz Khan (Bukhara)

Abd al-Aziz Khan (Chagatai and Persian: عبدالعزیز خان; 1614–1683) was the fifth Khan of Bukhara from the Uzbek Ashtarkhanid dynasty, who ruled between 1645 and 1681.^[1]

Biography

He was the son of the fourth Khan Nadr Muhammad Khan. In 1645, the Begs and feudal lords, dissatisfied with Nadr Muhammed's policy, proclaimed Abd al-Aziz Khan as the Khan of Bukhara.

Nadr Mohammad asked for help from the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, who took advantage of this opportunity and marched his army to Balkh. In 1647, Abd al-Aziz attacked the Mughal troops in Balkh, and after heavy fighting, eliminated the foreign invaders and appointed his brother Subhan Quli Khan as the governor of Balkh.

Soon the two brothers started fighting each other for the throne. The Khan of Khiva, Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur and his son Anusha Khan took advantage of such conditions and attacked Bukhara, but in 1657, Abd al-Aziz Khan defeated the Khan of Khiva.

During the reign of Abd al-Aziz Khan, the diplomatic and commercial relations of the Khanate of Bukhara with Russia, Iran and India flourished. In 1669, he sent an embassy headed by Mullah Farrukh to Russia to Tsar Alexis of Russia.^[2] In response, in 1670, a Russian embassy headed by the Pazukhin brothers was sent to Bukhara.

Policy in the field of culture

During the reign of Abd al-Aziz Khan, a Madrasa named after him was built in Bukhara as was the Tilya Kori Madrasa in Samarkand. He was described as a "brave, generous, science-loving Khan". He collected a library of copies of beautiful manuscripts.^[3]

Abdication and death

The long war with Khiva stained the reputation of Abd al-Aziz Khan and he was forced to hand over the throne to his brother Subhan Quli Khan in 1680. Abdul Aziz Khan died in 1683 while performing the Hajj in Mecca.

References

^ Anke von Kügelgen, Legitimation of the Central Asian dynasty of the Mangits in the works of their historians (XVIII-XIX centuries). Almaty: Dyke-press, 2004, p.68-69.
^ Reception in Russia and posting of Central Asian ambassadors in the 17th and 18th centuries. Compiled by N. Veselovsky. St. Petersburg, 1884, p. 17.
^ Asian Bulletin, published by G. Spassky. January, St. Petersburg, 1825, p. 11.

Sources

Howorth, Henry Hoyle. History of the Mongols, from the 9th to the 19th Century. Part II division II. The so-called tartars of Russia and Central Asia. London: Longmans, Green and Co, 1880.

[1] Anke von Kügelgen, Legitimation of the Central Asian dynasty of the Mangits in the works of their historians (XVIII-XIX centuries). Almaty: Dyke-press, 2004, p.68-69.

[2] Reception in Russia and posting of Central Asian ambassadors in the 17th and 18th centuries. Compiled by N. Veselovsky. St. Petersburg, 1884, p. 17.

[3] Asian Bulletin, published by G. Spassky. January, St. Petersburg, 1825, p. 11.

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