Conflict: | Russian conquest of Bukhara |
Partof: | the Russian conquest of Central Asia and Russian imperialism |
Date: | 1842 – 20 May 1868 |
Place: | Central Asia (i.e., Uzbekistan) |
Result: | Russian victory |
Commander1: | Nicholas I Alexander II |
Commander2: | Nasrullah Khan Muzaffar ad-Din |
Strength1: | 300–500 troops |
Strength2: | 3,000 troops |
Casualties1: | 100 killed/wounded |
Casualties2: | 1,600 killed 500 wounded |
Territory: | Bukhara becomes a new imperial protectorate of Russia |
The Russian conquest of Bukhara was a series of wars, invasions, and subsequent conquests of the Central Asian Emirate of Bukhara by the Russian Empire.
The nomads of central Asia, who had produced great conquerors in the distant past, were little match for the disciplined armies of the 19th century. Raids by Muslim guerillas encouraged local Russian governors to take the initiative in subduing the central Asian khanates of Khiva and Bukhara. Envoys from Russia and Britain to Bukhara were treated with arrogance and contempt, and in 1848 two British officers were imprisoned and killed. In the early 1860s the Bukharans managed to fend off Russian advances, but in May 1866 they were defeated. The Russians then established a governor-general of Turkestan, on Syr Darya. The war resumed in 1868, when the Emir was forced to accept vassal status after the Battle of Zerabulak.