The Emirate of Bukhara was an Uzbek absolute monarchy in Central Asia that existed from 1785 to 1920 in what is now parts of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, 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. The Turco-Mongol tribe of Uzbeks known as "Mangits" were the rulers.
Emirate of Bukhara امارت بخارا (Persian) بخارا امیرلیگی (Chagatay) | |||||||||
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| 1785–1920 | |||||||||
Bukhara National Flag as published in 1929 by deposed Emir in exile Sayyid Alim Khan. | |||||||||
[1800] QING EMPIRE SIKHS AWADH MARATHA STATES NIZAM QAJAR EMPIRE OTTOMAN EMPIRE Kumul CHAM- PA DURRANI EMPIRE KALAT KAZAKH KHANATE RUSSIAN EMPIRE JO- SEON DAI VIET SIAM KINGDOM class=notpageimage| The Emirate of Bukhara and main polities in Asia c. 1800 | |||||||||
| Status |
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| Capital and largest city | Bukhara | ||||||||
| Common languages |
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| Religion | Sunni Islam (official), Sufism (Naqshbandi) | ||||||||
| 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 | ||||||||
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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.
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.
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 forced 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. The Russians forced the abolition of the Bukhara slave trade in 1873, though slavery itself was not formally abolished until 1885.
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. 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.
- 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
Government
Administrative and territorial structure
During the reign of Amir Nasrullah, when the territory of the emirate was most expanded, Bukhara consisted of 30 regions (begliks). These were Karshi, Guzar, Chirakchi, Kitab, Shahrisabz, Yakkabog, Baysun, Denov, Sherabad, Hisar, Korategin, Darvoz, Baljuvan, Shugnon, Rushan, Kulob, Kurgantepa, Qobadiyon, Kalif, Karki, Burdalik, Kalakli, Narazm, Charjoi, Karmana, Ziyovuddin, Nurota, Khatirchi, Urgut and Samarkand regions. In addition to them, Jizzakh, Oratepa, Tashkent, Turkestan and other neighboring regions were also temporarily included in the emirate during this period.
By 1916 they were:
- 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)
Military
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The highest military power and command of the army belonged to the Emir. The main command of all infantry and all artillery was concentrated in the hands of the tupchi-bashi (chief of artillery), who, in case of receiving the rank of commander-in-chief, became the head of the entire Bukhara army (including cavalry). The provision of the troops was under the jurisdiction of the Kush-Begi (Uzb. qushbegi, vizier), and the management of monetary and clothing allowances was entrusted to the durbin (state treasurer), and the in-kind allowance was entrusted to the Ziaetdin Bek. The militia came under the jurisdiction of the military authorities only after being called up for service.
In 1837-1845, the naib and head of the artillerymen, Abdusamatkhan, a native of Tabriz, enjoyed great influence in the political life of the Bukhara Emirate. Abdusamatkhan was the first organizer of a regiment of sarbazs and a detachment of artillerymen - topchi in Bukhara.
Those serving in the cavalry had to have their own horses, and the artillery was supplied with horses by the Ziaetdin Bek, who was also in charge of the treatment of horses and fodder provisions.
The Bukharan army had the following ranks (ranks):
- Alaman: private
- Churagasy: non-commissioned officer, sergeant major
- Yuz-bashi: (cf. Turk. Yüzbaşı: captain), commander of a hundred, lieutenant
- Churan-bashi: or lieutenant
- Tuksaba: regimental commander, lieutenant colonel or colonel
- Kurgonbegi: Brigadier General
- Mingboshi: commander of several regiments, divisional general, major general
- Farmonchi: Commander of the Troops, Marshal, Lieutenant General
Initially, the Bukhara army consisted exclusively of horsemen, but as a result of the military reform of 1837, sarbaz infantrymen appeared. Later, the infantry consisted of 2 bayraks (companies, hundreds) of the Emir's Guard (jilau) and 13 serkerde (battalions) of sarbazs of five companies, a total of 14 thousand people. The armament of the infantry consisted of hammer guns, partly smooth, partly rifled, with bayonet knives; In 1883, by order of the Turkestan Governor-General, 1000 Berdan rifles with 100 thousand cartridges were presented to the Emir. The officers were armed with sabers and revolvers.
The cavalry consisted of 20 serkerde (10 thousand) galabatyrs (sipahi), who were supposed to act during the battle in cavalry formation, and 8 regiments (4 thousand) of hasabardars, something like mounted archers, armed with falconets, one for two; A total of 14 thousand people. The armament of the cavalry consisted of pikes and sabers, daggers and pistols, etc. Instead of pikes, the Khasabardars were armed with cast-iron matchlock falconets, weighing 50 pounds, with a stand and a sight for firing at a distance of up to 300 fathoms. Cavalrymen sometimes engaged in horse riding, but this was done on their own initiative.
In 1837, the Emir organized a battalion of artillerymen (tupchi). Initially, artillery (Uzb. Toʻp) consisted of one horse battery, armed with six 12-pounder copper guns with six charging boxes, the place of permanent deployment of which was Bukhara, and the same six-gun battery at the disposal of the Hissar Bek. Then[when?] the field artillery increased to 20 guns. The servants were armed with sabres. The artillerymen formed a separate company of 300 people and were trained only in the techniques of the guns. In the city of Bukhara there were cannon foundries and gunpowder factories. At the beginning of the XX century, English machine guns (Vickers) appeared in the Bukhara army.
In the second half of the 19th century, after the subjugation of Bukhara by the Russian Empire, the army of the Emir of Bukhara numbered, according to various estimates, from 10 to 14 thousand sarbaz. The mobilization capabilities of the Bukhara Khanate made it possible to field up to 60,000 soldiers in wartime. 10,000 men with 14 guns are in the capital, 2,000 men with 6 guns are in Shakhrisabz and Kitab, and 3,000 people make up the garrisons of the fortified cities of Ziadin, Karman, Guzar, Sherabad, etc. The most significant fortifications are in Bukhara, Karshi, Nurata, Vardanzi, and Hissar. The maintenance of the army cost the Emir about 11/2 million rubles a year. Allowances for servicemen were given partly in money, and partly in kind in the form of a certain amount of batmans of wheat.
Camp musters were partially replaced by annual summer trips of the Emir to Karshi and Shaar, where he was accompanied by 6 battalions of sarbaz, 1 artillery company and a cavalry regiment, but these trips had no real significance for increasing combat readiness. Sarbaz only knew how to make rifle moves and a few formations.
Senior officers and generals wore a turban and robes, sometimes supplementing it with Russian epaulettes. Sarbaz infantry and artillerymen wore black hats, black cloth uniforms with red flaps on the collar and red shoulder straps, black (ceremonial) trousers or red leather chembars (everyday), high boots. In summer, sarbaz wore white linen shirts, and officers wore white tunics.
The Emir's Guards units had a special uniform: red single-breasted uniforms, white trousers, low black astrakhan hats.
Foreign relations
Bukhara initially resisted Russian expansion into Central Asia, but would become a Russian protectorate.
Economy
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the majority of the Emirate's exports consisted primarily of cotton, wool, silk and related products, wool and oils. Bukhara was also considered the center of the Central Asian Astrakhan trade, obtained from the skin of karakul sheep. These skins were brought from around the breeding regions in neighbouring Karakul, Chorjou, Karki, Karshi, Khorezm and Afghanistan.
Trade for the most part largely interacted with western nations, predominantly the Russian Empire, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany (and its predecessor states) and in later years, the United States of America.
Society and 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, Arab, 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 Azim Sami, Mirza Salimbek.
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.
Turkic-speakers, whatever their dialect, were referred to as Turks, while Persian-speakers were referred to as Tajiks. The term "Sart" was commonly applied to sedentary Turks and Tajiks.
The idea of tying a region to a certain ethnic or language group was unfamiliar to the Muslims of Central Asia. At that time, while terms such as Uzbek, Tajik, and Kyrgyz were recognized, they did not adequately describe the overlapping and shifting identities of the population. For these people, allegiances based on tribal, clan, local, or family ties were more significant than those based solely on ethnicity, since they had long intermixed. Due to years of interaction between Turks and Tajiks, the urban population of Central Asian cities developed a unique mixed identity, making it difficult to determine which linguistic community an urban inhabitant belonged to, since bilingualism was widespread. This is demonstrated in the bayaz, private journals wrapped in leather from the 16th to 19th centuries, where verses in both languages often appeared together. Unlike grandiose manuscripts made for the elite, these notebooks reflect popular readership. The most well-known poet at this time seems to have been the Persian poet Jami, who was followed by two other poets who also wrote in the same language, Hafez and Amir Khusrow. However, the Turkic poets Ali-Shir Nava'i and Fuzuli are also commonly cited. In 1924, when the Soviet Union established national and ethnic boundaries in Central Asia, many of the locals of the present-day countries of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan were unsure if they were Tajiks or Uzbeks.
Since the 8th and 9th centuries, the common culture of the locals was Persian and Muslim. Persian was the language of civilisation par excellence and the principal language of culture, serving as the official and court language of Emirate of Bukhara.
List of emirs
| 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.
See also
Literature
- Malikov A., "The Russian conquest of the Bukharan Emirate: military and diplomatic aspects", Central Asian Survey, Volume 33, issue 2, 2014, pp. 180–198.
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