Emirate of Bukhara

1785–1920 state in Central Asia

Emirate of Bukhara

امارت بخارا (Persian)
بخارا امیرلیگی (Chagatay)

1785–1920

Bukhara National Flag as published in 1929 by deposed Emir in exile Sayyid Alim Khan.[1]

[1800]

QING EMPIRE

SIKHS

AWADH

MARATHA
STATES

NIZAM

MYSORE

EAST INDIA
COMPANY

QAJAR
EMPIRE

OTTOMAN
EMPIRE

KHIVA
KHANATE

BUKHARA
EMIRATE

KOKAND

Kumul

CHAM-

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|

* Independent emirate (1785–1873)
* Quasi-independent Russian protectorate (1873–1920)

Capital

and largest city

| Bukhara
Common languages|

* Persian (main literary and administrative language)[2]
* Chagatai Turkic[3]

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[4]

| c. 2,478,000

• 1911[5]

| c. 3,000,000–3,500,000
Currency| Fulus, tilla, and tenga[6]

Preceded by | Succeeded by

|

|  | Khanate of Bukhara

|

| Bukharan People's Soviet Republic |

|

The Emirate of Bukhara (Persian: امارت بخارا, romanized: Imārat-i Buxārā,[7] Chagatay: بخارا امیرلیگی, romanized: Bukhārā Amirligi) was an Uzbek absolute monarchy in Central Asia[8][9] that existed from 1785 to 1920 in what is now 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.[10]

## History

[edit]

See also: Bukharan Revolution and Bukhara operation (1920)

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.[11]

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.[12]

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.[13]

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."[14]

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.[15] In 1873, the remainder became a Russian protectorate,[16] 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.[17]

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.[18] 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.[19]

* 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

[edit]

### Administrative and territorial structure

[edit]

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.[20]

By 1916 they were:

Bukhara

Karmana

Ziadin

Khatirchi

Nurata

Karakul

Gabakly

Pitnak

Charjew

Burdalyk

Mary

Bayram-Ali

Kerki

Qarshi

Chirakchi

Kitab

Shahrisabz

Yakkabag

Guzar

Kelif

Sherabad

Termez

Baysun

Dehnau

Andkhoy

Aqcha

Sheberghan

Mazar-i-Sharif

Balkh

Fayzabad

Qubadiyan

Kurganteppa

Hisar

Dushanbe

Kafirnihan

Fayzabad

Baljuvan

Kulab

Gharm

Khorog

Qal'ai Khumb

Urgut

Samarqand

Panjakent

Jizzakh

Chinaz

Tashkent

Ura-Teppa

Khujand

Kokand

Yangi Margilan

Margilan

Namangan

Andijan

Osh

Uzgen

1. Baljuvon (now Khatlon Region, Tajikistan)
2. Hisar (now Tajikistan)
3. Burdalik (now Lebap Region, Turkmenistan)
4. Guzar (now Qashqadaryo Region, Uzbekistan)
5. Charjuy (now Lebap Region, Turkmenistan)
6. Darvaz (c 1878, now Darvoz district, Tajikistan)
7. Dehnav (now Surxondaryo Region, Uzbekistan)
8. Kabakli (now Lebap Region, Turkmenistan)
9. Karakul (now Bukhara Region, Uzbekistan)
10. Karategin (now Rasht district, Tajikistan)
11. Karshi (now Qashqadaryo Region, Uzbekistan)
12. Kattakurgan (now Samarkand region, Uzbekistan)
13. Kulyab (now Khatlon Region, Tajikistan)
14. Karshi (now Qashqadaryo Region, Uzbekistan)
15. Kerki (now Lebap Region, Turkmenistan)
16. Nurata (now Navoiy Region, Uzbekistan)
17. Panjikent (now Sughd province, Tajikistan)
18. Rushan (now Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous region, Tajikistan)
19. Samarkand (now Samarqand Region, Uzbekistan – part of Russia since 1868
20. Shahrisabz (c 1870, now Kashkadarya Region, Uzbekistan)
21. Urgut (now Samarqand Region, Uzbekistan)
22. Falgar (now Sughd province, Tajikistan)

### Military

[edit]

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## Foreign relations

[edit]

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|

## Society

[edit]

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## Economy

[edit]

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.[21]

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.

## Culture

[edit]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

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 Abdalazim Sami, Mirza Salimbek.[22]

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.

## List of emirs

[edit]

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

[edit]

Part of a series on the

History of Tajikistan

* Early history
* Medieval history
* Early modern history
* Russian vassal
* Soviet rule
* Since independence

Timeline
Tajikistan portal

* v
* t
* e

Part of a series on the

History of Uzbekistan

Prehistoric

| Paleolithic|

|

* Teshiktash| 70,000 BC
Neolithic|
* Kelteminar culture| 5,500–3,500 BC
Bronze Age|
* BMAC| 2400–1950 BC
* Andronovo culture| 2,000–1,150 BC
* Tazabagyab culture| 1850–1500 BC
* Chust culture| 1500–900 BC
* Scythians| 900–300 BC

Early History

|  Sogdia|

|

Transoxiana|
Bactria|
Kushan Empire|
Kangju|
Kidarites|
Hephthalites|

Medieval history

|  Turkic Khaganate|

|

Onoq|
Türgesh|
Tang Protectorate|
Muslim conquest|
Umayyad Caliphate|
Abbasid Caliphate|
Samanid Empire|
Ghaznavids|
Kara-Khanid Khanate|
Anushtegin dynasty|
Khwarazmian Empire|
Mongol conquest|
Chagatai|

Timurid Era

* Rise of Timur
* capital Samarkand
* Siege of Balkh (1370)
* Period of expansion
* Timurid Renaissance
* Timurid art
* Timurid architecture
* Stagnation and decline

| 1370–1507

Uzbek khanates

Uzbek Khanate

* Consolidating Uzbek tribes
* Conquest of Urganj (1431)
* Conquest of Sighnaq (1448)
* Özbek-Qazaqs (separated Uzbeks)
* Conquest of Samarkand (1500)
* Shaybanid Architecture

| 1428–1471

|

Khanate of Khiva

* Shaybanid-Arabshahid dynasty (1511–1804)
* Khivan slave trade
* Qungrat dynasty (1804–1920)
* Abolition of slavery in Khwarezm (1873)
* First Uzbek documentary (1910)
* Turkoman Revolt of 1912–1913

| 1511–1920

Khanate of Bukhara

* Shaybanid dynasty
* Janid dynasty
* Bukhara slave trade

| 1501–1785

Emirate of Bukhara

* Reconstruction of Samarkand
* Khitoy-Qipchoq rebellion
* Battle of Ura-Tyube (1861)
* Abolition of slavery in Bukhara
* Bukhara operation (1920)
* Bukharan Revolution

| 1785–1920

Khanate of Kokand

* Legitimization of Ming dynasty
* Foundation of Tepaqurghon
* Establishment of Istanbul embassy (1819)
* Annexation of the Kokand Khanate (1876)

| 1709–1876

Tashkent State

| 1784–1808

Colonial period

|  Russian conquest of Central Asia|

|

Great Game|
Khivan campaign of 1839–1840|
Siege of Tashkent|
Siege of Samarkand| 1868
Russian conquest of Bukhara|
Khivan campaign of 1873|
Russian Turkestan|

National Awakening

|  Basmachi movement|

|

Turkestan Autonomy|
Young Bukharans|
Young Khivans|
Jadidism|

Modern Uzbekistan

| Khorezm People's Soviet Republic|

|

Bukharan People's Soviet Republic|
Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic|
Republic of Uzbekistan|
Commonwealth of Independent States|

Related topics

* By year
* Cities \- Politics

Uzbekistan portal

* v
* t
* e

* Khanate of Bukhara
* Khanate of Khiva
* Khanate of Kokand

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Alim Khan (1881-1944), Saïd (1929). La voix de la Boukharie opprimée (in French). Paris: Librairie Orientale et Américaine MAISONNEUVE. p. 8\. "Drapeau National Boukhare (Bukhara National Flag)"`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
2. ^ DeWeese 2019, p. 137.
3. ^ Grenoble, Lenore (2003). Language Policy of the Soviet Union. Kluwer Academic Publishers. p. 143\. ISBN 1-4020-1298-5.
4. ^ 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.)
5. ^ Olufsen, Ole (1911). The emir of Bokhara and his country; journeys and studies in Bokhara. Gyldendal: Nordisk forlag. p. 282.
6. ^ 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.
7. ^ "نگاهی به امارت بخارا در صد سالگی انقلاب اکتبر". BBC News. 5 November 2017.
8. ^ Golden, Peter B. (2011). Central Asia in World History. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p. 115.
9. ^ Bregel, Yuri (17 January 2003). "A Historical Atlas of Central Asia".
10. ^ Soucek, Svat (1 June 2012). "A History of Inner Asia - Cambridge University" (PDF).
11. ^ Soucek, Svat. A History of Inner Asia (2000), p. 180.
12. ^ 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
13. ^ Soucek (2000), pp. 179–180
14. ^ Eastern Approaches ch 6 "Bokhara the Noble"
15. ^ Soucek (2000), p. 198
16. ^ Russo-Bukharan War 1868, Armed Conflict Events Database, OnWar.com
17. ^ Becker, S. (2004). Russia's Protectorates in Central Asia: Bukhara and Khiva, 1865–1924. Storbritannien: Taylor & Francis., p. 67-68
18. ^ Soucek (2000), pp. 221–222
19. ^ 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.
20. ^ Zamonov, Akbar (2022). Buxoro Amirligi Tarix [History of Emirate of Bukhara] (in Uzbek). Tashkent: Tamaddun. p. 97\. ISBN 978-9943-5126-0-3.
21. ^ Yodgorovich, Qudratov Shukhrat (2019). "The trade relations of the emirate of Bukhara with the countries of Europe and Americas" (PDF). International Journal of History: 25–27.
22. ^ Anke fon Kyugel'gen, Legitimizatsiya sredneaziatskoy dinastii mangitov v proizvedeniyakh ikh istorikov (XVIII-XIX vv.). Almaty: Dayk press, 2004

### Bibliography

[edit]

* 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.

## Literature

[edit]

* Malikov A., "The Russian conquest of the Bukharan Emirate: military and diplomatic aspects", Central Asian Survey, Volume 33, issue 2, 2014, pp. 180–198.

## External links

[edit]

* Media related to Emirate of Bukhara at Wikimedia Commons

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