| Conventional Long Name: | Emirate of Bukhara |
| Native Name: | |
| Common Name: | Bukhara |
| Status: | Emirate |
| Status Text: |
|
| Government Type: | Absolute monarchy |
| Year Start: | 1785 |
| Event Start: | Shah Murad became Emir |
| Event Pre: | Manghit control |
| Date Pre: | 1747 |
| Date Event1: | 1868 |
| Event2: | Russian protectorate |
| Date Event2: | 1873 |
| Year End: | 1920 |
| Date End: | 2 September |
| Event End: | Fall of Bukhara |
| Capital: | Bukhara |
| Common Languages: | |
| Largest City: | Bukhara |
| Religion: | Sunni Islam, Shia Islam, Sufism (Naqshbandi), Zoroastrianism, Judaism |
| Title Leader: | Emir |
| Leader1: | Mir Masum Shah Murad |
| Year Leader1: | 1785–1799 |
| Leader2: | Mir Muhammad Alim Khan |
| Year Leader2: | 1911–1920 |
| P1: | Khanate of Bukhara |
| S1: | Bukharan People's Soviet Republic Soviet Republic |
| Flag S1: | Flag of the Bukharan People's Soviet Republic.svg |
| Flag Border: | no |
| Stat Year1: | 1875[4] |
| Stat Year2: | 1911[5] |
| Currency: | fulus, tilla, and tenga.[6] |
The Emirate of Bukhara (Persian: {{nq|امارت بخارا,[7] Chagatai: {{nq|بخارا امیرلیگی) was a Muslim-Uzbek polity in Central Asia[8] that existed from 1785 to 1920 in what is now Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, 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.
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.[9]
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.[10]
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."[11]
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,[12] 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.[13]
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.[14]
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, 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.[15]
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.
Administratively, the Emirate was divided into several beyliks or bekliks:
| Titular Name | Personal Name | Reign | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ataliq | Khudayar Bey | ? | |
| Ataliq | Muhammad Hakim | ?–1747 | |
| Ataliq | Muhammad Rahim | 1747–1753 | |
| Amir | Muhammad Rahim | 1753–1756 | |
| Khan | Muhammad Rahim | 1756–1758 | |
| Ataliq | Daniyal Biy | 1758–1785 | |
| Amir Masum | Shahmurad | 1785–1799 | |
| Amir | Haydar bin Shahmurad | 1799–1826 | |
| Amir | Mir Hussein bin Haydar | 1826–1827 | |
| Amir | Umar bin Haydar | 1827 | |
| Amir | Nasr-Allah bin Haydar Tora | 1827–1860 | |
| Amir | Muzaffar bin Nasrullah | 1860–1885 | |
| Amir | Abdul-Ahad bin Muzaffar al-Din | 1885–1911 | |
| Amir | Muhammad Alim Khan bin Abdul-Ahad | 1911–1920 | |
| Overthrow of Emirate of Bukhara by Bukharan People's Soviet Republic. | |||