Emirate of Bukhara

See also: Timeline of the Uzbeks

Emirate of Bukhara امارت بخارا Buxoro amirligi
1785–1920
Flag
The Emirate of Bukhara (green), c. 1850.
Status	Semi-Independent state (under Russian protection 1873–1917)
Capital	Bukhara
Common languages	Persian (official) Uzbek
Religion	Sunni Islam, Shia Islam, Sufism (Naqshbandi), Zoroastrianism, Judaism
Government	Absolute 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
Population
• 1875	~2,478,000
• 1908	1,200,000
Currency	fulus, tilla, and tenga.
Preceded by Succeeded by Khanate of Bukhara Bukharan Soviet Republic Bukharan People's Soviet Republic Bukharan Soviet Republic

The Emirate of Bukhara (Persian: امارت بخارا; Uzbek: Buxoro amirligi) was an Uzbek-Tajik state that existed from 1785 to 1920 in what is now modern-day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. 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.

History

See also: Bukharan Revolution

A bureaucrat in Bukhara, ca.1910

Fires in Bukhara during the Red Army's attack, 1 September 1920

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.

Large Medallion Suzani (textile) from Bukhara, mid-18th century?

The Emirate of Bukhara was officially created in 1785, upon the assumption of rulership by the Manghit emir, Shah Murad. 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. Moreover, both of its neighbors, the Khanate of Khiva and the Kokand Khanate, as well as its predecessor, the Khanate of Bukhara, were ruled by Genghisid descendants.

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.

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 aspirations of conquest 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, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. It had also included present northern Afghanistan between 1793 and 1850.

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 joined the VOA, and has worked as a broadcaster for VOA's Dari Service, editor, host and producer.

Culture

Located along important trading routes, Bukhara enjoyed a rich cultural mixture, including Persian, Uzbek, and Jewish influences. 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.

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 Bey دانیال بیگ	1758–1785
Amir Masum امیر معصوم	Shah Murad bin Daniyal Bey شاہ مراد بن دانیال بیگ	1785–1800
Amir امیر	Haydar Tora bin Shah Murad حیدر تورہ بن شاہ مراد	1800–1826
Amir امیر	Hussain bin Haydar Tora حسین بن حیدر تورہ	1826–1827
Amir امیر	Umar bin Haydar Tora عمر بن حیدر تورہ	1827
Amir امیر	Nasr-Allah bin Haydar Tora نصراللہ بن حیدر تورہ	1827–1860
Amir امیر	Muzaffar al-Din bin Nasr-Allah مظفر الدین بن نصراللہ	1860–1886
Amir امیر	Abdul-Ahad bin Muzaffar al-Din عبد الأحد بن مظفر الدین	1886–1910
Amir امیر	Muhammad Alim Khan bin Abdul-Ahad محمد عالم خان بن عبد الأحد	1910–1920
Overthrow of Emirate of Bukhara by Bukharan People's Soviet Republic.

• Pink Rows Signifies progenitor chiefs serving as Tutors (Ataliqs) & Viziers to the Khans of Bukhara.
  • Green Rows Signifies chiefs who took over reign of government from the Janids and placed puppet Khans.

References

Bibliography

• Soucek, Svat (2000). A History of Inner Asia. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521657044. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Literature

• Malikov A., The Russian conquest of the Bukharan Emirate: military and diplomatic aspects in Central Asian Survey, Volume 33, issue 2, 2014, p. 180-198