Bukhara

The Central Asian lowlands are characterized by an arid and continental climate. At the same time, the large streams and rivers have been providing water for the development of flourishing oases and extensive irrigated farming areas. Bukhara is one of those oases. The population of 1.7 mln. and especially the agricultural sector (with an irrigated area of 275,000 ha) use a considerable amount of water. But as the flat topography does not provide sufficient natural drainage, water logging and raising groundwater tables have become serious problems for the agricultural productivity. The combination of the high salinity of the irrigation water and the generous application of fertilizers leads to a widespread soil salinization. Excessive leaching is supposed to reduce the top soil salinity, but as the drainage system is only covering a small portion of the irrigated areas and is in need of maintenance, this process only contributes to the ongoing salinization and the reduction of soil f...

This is Part 4 in a series of travel articles titled "Taekwondo Quest" published in Taekwondo Times magazine. The story revolves around a visit to an ITF Taekwondo school in Bukhara, the marvelous historical sites there, and a love story between two great Taekwondoka.

https://www.tups.jp/book/book.php?id=284
　
かつてソヴィエト連邦を構成していた中央アジアの共和国タジキスタンにおいて現在「国家語」という位置づけを与えられている言語がタジク語である。タジク語は、イランのペルシア語やアフガニスタンのダリー語もその成員である西南イラン語の一員である。本書はタジク語文法の要諦を言語学的に整理した参考書である。

本書では、学習書や入門書とは異なり、タジク語文法の全体像が把握できるようになっている。また、文法項目ごとの章立てや項目間の綿密な相互参照などが施され、学術的利用の便が図られている。

Review of The Sands of Oxus: Boyhood Reminiscences of Sadriddin Aini (translated from the Tajik Persian with an introduction and notes by John R. Perry and Rachel Lehr.  Costa Mesa Cal.: Mazda Publishers, 1998), Irânšenâsi 13/3, Autumn 2001, pp. 647-655; English summary, p. 32.

В статье мы попытаемся осветить сложное положение Бухарского эмирата в рассматриваемый период на основе трудов
современников.
Взглянув на этот период их глазами, мы достаточно ясно
сможем понять логику их поступков. В статье будут рассмотрены малоизвестные работы двух авторов, Ахмада Дониша и Абдурауфа Фитрата, которые долгое время по различным соображениям замалчивались. В статье не ставится задача освещения деятельности Ф.Ходжаева и джадидов, так как этот вопрос довольно подробно изучен. Цель работы показать средневековое положение Бухарского эмирата и как следствие, формирование прогрессивных идей Ф. Ходжаева и джадидов.

notes on coin issues of the Bukhara mint
NB: incomplete, constantly updated; inquire for latest version, or about the specific period of interest. Much of my work (including GC Miles') is still on 3x5 cards, but I transfer these to the digital version as requested or necessary.

The present article summarizes the first field season of new investigations at the Devor-i Kampirak in Bukharan Sogd in 2011. In the first part we give a detailed description of our topographic survey, documenting a total of 15 sectors of the Kampirak in the western, eastern and – possibly – the northern fringes of the oasis.

The second part deals with the results of our excavations: at Sector 1 and at Sector 12. The profile at Sector 1 only revealed a pakhsa monolith, perhaps a platform of some non-preserved superstructure. In Sector 12 we observed a peculiar building technique: a sand-gravel pile was at both sides stabilized by a very coarse wall consisting of mortar and little irregular pakhsa lumps. The space between these two walls was filled with loose gravel. Only for the upper parts of the wall mudbricks were used (46-49×30-33×9-10 cm). A similar building technique has been observed at the Devor-i Kundalang near Rabat-i Gaziyon in Samarkand Sogd. Excavations at Section 12 also revealed a semi-circular bastion. The erosion layers of the bastion and the wall contained a significant number of diagnostic ceramic fragments suggesting the late 4th and 5th century as the original date of construction of the Kampirak in the delta area of the Zerafshan oasis.

In the third part we discuss observations resulting from a new topographic plan of the site Shakhri-Vayron. It shows that the center of the site is formed by a quadratic structure with four round towers at each side. This resembles a type of castles known from Chach, Ustrushana, and Samarkand Sogd, dating to 4th-5th centuries. However, the central structure at Shakhri-Vayron (measuring ca. 65 x 65 m) is 2-3 times larger than these small castles. While there are good arguments to finally reject the equation of Shakhri-Vayron with Tawawis-Arqud (which must be identified with the major site of Khodja-Buston) it is noteworthy that the central structure at Shakhri-Vayron is comparable in size with the “citadel” at Kafir-kala, the rural residence of the Ikhshids of Samarkand. Could the central structure at Shahri-Vayron originally also have functioned as a rural residence of the lords of Tawawis-Arqud, before it was later turned into a fortress in the system of the Devor-i Kampirak?

Mawlana Yaqub-i Charkhi/ his full name was Ya‘qūb bin Usmân b. Mahmûd el-Ghaznavî al- Charkhi (death 851/1447) (a.d. 851/1447 who had lived at the fifteenth century and was a shakird of Baha al-Din Naqshiband/ Hodja Muhammad b. Muhammad el-Bukhârî (death 791/1389) who has established Naqshibandi tariqah, at the same time, he was a Hodja of Ubeydullah Ahrâr-ı Veli/ Nâsırüddîn Ubeydullāh b. Mahmûd al-Shâshî es-Samarqandî (death 895/1490) who was a sheikh of the Naqshibandis. Mawlana Yaqub-i Charkhi was born in the Charkh city, which is with in the boundras of Afghanistan state in nowadays, then had educated at Bukhara and Egypt etc. After that he adhered to Baha al-Din Naqshiband who was established Naqshibandi tariqah. Mawlana Yaqub-i Charkhi who had a plenty of religious and sufic books, expounded Fatiha, Amma and Tabaraka which are sura of Qoran.

In this study, after discribed Yaqub al- Charkhi’s life and books it is worked about the Persian tefsir (comment) of Mawlana Yaqub-i Charkhi which was written by Hodja Hamadani as Turkish. It was explained when, where, why and what to made in this Turkish translating and widely discussed. Tefsir of Mawlana Yaqub-i Charkhi is a isari’s tafsir and particularly is known and pressed in Iran, Turkiye, India, Malesia, Pakistan. In addition, for the tafsir’s language is Persian it is not understood by the Turks and thus it has translatted Turkish.

This paper reconsiders the existing accounts of Qutayba b. Muslim's campaigns in Bukhārā in the context of the region's historical topography. It proposes a new yet more coherent reconstruction of the course of events during these campaigns. The resulting new narrative highlights how difficult this first step of the conquest of Mā warāʾ-al-nahr was for the Arab armies.

I analyzed mechanisms of transformation of the monarchic system in Khiva, Bukhara, Mongolia and Tibet to socialist systems in the first half of the 20th Century. Considering differences between these states in their social systems and historical trajectories in that period, we can note some traits of similarity. All these countries were absolute monarchies legitimized power of their monarchs by religion (Buddhism or Islam); they were dependent on Russia, the Qing Empire, or China; their society was traditional. RSFSR/USSR and the People's Republic of China were guided by the same ideology, Marxism–Leninism, with the same goal, building of socialism and then communism. As Khiva, Bukhara, Outer Mongolia and Tibet had no internal forces which could incite revolution, they should receive a communist "help" which was, in fact, an export of revolution. The concept of assistance to revolutionary state in promoting revolution abroad, which was adopted by the communists, dates back to the days of the revolutionary France. Very narrow group of indigenous peoples, indoctrinated with revolutionary views, have been recruited abroad among the people from Khiva, Bukhara, Mongolia and Tibet. Communists "justified" their military invasions to these states by statements that local people are suffering from the oppression of local exploiters and foreign imperialists, and they are not able to overthrow them; a backward country needs modernization; they need to support revolutionary groups because they reflect aspirations of the people. In respect of Tibet, the Chinese leadership used sinocentric historical myth that the Qing Empire is identical to China and it includes Tibet as its integral part. The "help" of the communists for "workers liberation" was originally mortgaged future struggle against religion until its dissolution. The power of feudal lords was eliminated first, and then the church has become one of the main objects of struggle. This was due to the need of legitimization of the new government, which interfered with traditional religious legitimization, since the communism opposes to religion in its doctrine. Further developments of these countries displayed steady dismantling of clerical structures and replacement of the religious worldview to the materialistic. There were no internal factors for revolutions in Khiva, Bukhara, Mongolia and Tibet.

This paper presents and analyses half a page of Uzbek text that appears in a Tajik-language prose work published at the turn of the 20th century. The Uzbek text was written by a Bukharan bilingual who had Bukharan Tajik as his native language but also possessed competence in Uzbek. The text is a rare example of an Uzbek text written in fully vocalized Hebrew script, and thus provides a rare glimpse into the Tajik-Uzbek bilingualism in the capital area of the emirate of Bukhara in the late 19th century.

Introduction The era of Sadriddin 'Aini can be characterized as an era of reforms. During that era, the populations of the Middle East and Central Asia endeavored to push aside the agents of illiteracy and ignorance (i.e., agents that over centuries had created stagnant societies). Instead, through introducing progressive modes of individual and societal interactions, they ushered in a new way of life. Their desired, new and progressive societies, those populations thought, could be realized only if their people were able to write constitutions of their own, and if they had a fair chance to establish parliaments in which to legislate progressive laws. The awakening to this reality happened gradually and the efforts to realize it moved in an easterly direction from Europe. An account of the life and works of Sadriddin 'Aini is followed by a discussion of the modernizing, westernizing, and Sovietizing changes implemented in the Central Asian and Middle Eastern societies of the era. Those changes were expected to raise the socio-political and cultural values of these countries so that, at the end of the process, they would be on a par with European values of the time. In this section, in order to produce a meaningful context for presenting the thought and activities of Sadriddin 'Aini, more emphasis is placed on the developments in Central Asia. The discussion of the changes in the area is followed by an account of the dynamics of the Emirate of Bukhara at the turn of the twentieth century through the eyes and reportage of Sadriddin 'Aini. Bukhara is used as an example, indeed as a last bastion of pure, traditional ways confronting a brave new world. A glance at the reaction of the Muslims of Central Asia and the Middle East to the modernizing, westernizing, and Sovietizing trends that had been brought to them ends the study. Additionally, two sections: a chronology of the life of 'Aini, and a section called " 'Aini's People " are appended. The former supplements the narrative about 'Aini's life and provides depth. The latter provides information about individuals in 'Aini's life who shared his concerns regarding Bukhara. They are some of the Bukharan intellectuals at the turn of the twentieth century who, by introducing new-method schools, tried to retain the traditional values of the old kingdom while implementing necessary changes to modernize. All these together, it is hoped, will bring 'Aini's life and works, but more importantly 'Aini's Bukhara, during a turbulent time in its history, into perspective.

This article takes a new look at the Seljuq migration into Transoxiana, and in doing so, discusses the theses recently put forward by Richard Bulliet in his Cotton, Climate, and Camels. In particular, it raises the question of where the Seljuq Ghuzz – pastoral nomads after all – had their pasture grounds and which animals they herded. The result is that they had only limited access to pasture (in particular summer pasture) and were looking for new places. Their herd was a mixed herd of the well-known Central Asian type, with sheep, horses, and camels; cows were largely absent. This is contrasted with one element in Bulliet's argument about the reasons for the Ghuzz-Seljuq migration: Bulliet sees the Seljuq Ghuzz as camel breeders. In a second step, the question of the relation between this migration and climatic conditions in northern Transoxiana are discussed, in contrast to another element in Richard Bulliet's argument. Paleoclimatic evidence is adduced, showing that there was climate change in the 10th-11th centuries , notably a cooling of the summer temperature and a marked desiccation. But winter temperatures remained more or less constant – no marked chilling of the winters took place. In all, the article rejects Bulliet's causation chain and proposes that the Ghuzz-Seljuq migration into Transoxiana was due to political reasons rather than induced by climate change. Braudel started his magnum opus with an observation about the relationship between geography and history. He wrote that he was not satisfied with " ces traditionnelles introductions géographiques à l'histoire, inutilement placées au seuil de tant de livres, avec leurs paysages minéraux, leurs labours et leurs fleurs qu'on montre rapidement et dont ensuite il n'est plus jamais question, comme si les fleurs ne revenaient pas avec chaque printemps, comme si les troupeaux s'arrêtaient dans leurs déplacements, comme si les navires n'avaient pas à voguer

Almost all of well-known Sufism leaders who lived in XIV-XIX centuries, had their autobiography written. Although Sufi Allayar was recognized as a pir of the tariqa, he strictly avoided being praised. Nevertheless, none of the sheikhs of Juybar and other leaders of Sufism who lived in the XVI century after the most famous leaders of tariqa Makhdumi A'zam, including Maulana Lutfulloh Chustiy, Hidoyatullah Afaqkhwadja, Musakhan Dahbedi, Shaikh Habibullah and Ghulam Ali Shah Mujaddidi, was so popular as Sufi Allayar. Babarahim Mashrab, a well-known dervish (hermit) in Central Asia, craving after a talk went to see him three times. His name was popular in other countries. His works in the nineteenth century were published in the lithographic method and copied in a large quantity not only in Central Asia but also in Turkey and Tatary (Russian ). For 200 years his books were used as a basic manual in teaching at schools. His "Sabot ul-‘ajizin" is widely used in special ceremony that involves reading religious books that is widespread among the nations of Central Asia. These illustrate the important role of Sufi Allayar in the social and spiritual life of Movarounnahr. Nevertheless, the issues on phenomenon, personality and outlook of Sufi Allayar are still not explored properly. The book provides wit the reasons for the popularity of Sufi Allayar and new details of his biography.

Polymaths of Islam analyzes the social and intellectual power of religious leaders who created a shared culture that integrated Central Asia, Iran, and India from the mid-eighteenth century through the early twentieth.

James Pickett demonstrates that Islamic scholars were simultaneously mystics and administrators, judges and occultists, physicians and poets. This integrated understanding of the world of Islamic scholarship unlocks a different way of thinking about transregional exchange networks. Pickett reveals a Persian-language cultural sphere that transcended state boundaries and integrated a spectacularly vibrant Eurasia that is invisible from published sources alone.

The present article argues that the earliest attestation of the city of Paykand in Bukhārān Soghd is to be found in the memoirs of the ‘Western regions’ of the Beishi and the extant Weishu (both going back to the now lost original ‘Xiyu zhuan’ of the Weishu). This identification has so far been overlooked due to a scribal error. This earliest mentioning of Paykand goes in all likelihood back to information gathered by the Northern Wei embassy of the years 436-437, which visited the various countries of the ‘Western regions’ up to Chāch.
Although the passage in question is relatively short, it nonetheless provides us with important details regarding the urbanization process in Paykand, the mercantile atmosphere already at this early stage of the development of the city, and the earliest attestation of rice in Sogdiana. It is quite possible that these details were provided to the Chinese emissaries by an informant from Bukhārān Sogd.

Keywords
Paykand, Sogdiana, Weishu, rice.

One of the oldest religious and ethnic groups in Central Asia is the Bukharian Jews. The Bukharian Jews, especially settled in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and some other Central Asian republics, are known as a different Jewish group in history because of their unique culture...

Key Words: Bukharian Jews, Central Asia, Uzbekistan, Chala, Judaism, Israel, USA

Бухорои-шариф или благородная Бухара - один из древнейших городов на нашей планете. Возраст города насчитывает более 2500 лет. Находясь на пересечении многих торговых путей, являясь одним из главных городов «великого шелкового пути», Бухара внесла и вносит достойный вклад в развитие мировой цивилизации.
Город входил в те или иные периоды своей истории в состав ряда крупных государственных образований; персидской, греческой, тюркской, арабской, монгольской, российской и советской. Естественно, что это, не могло не сказаться на культурном и экономическом развитии славного города.
В обычаях и обрядах жителей Бухары явно присутствуют элементы древних верований вперемешку с исламскими традициями. Один из таких древних ритуалов, который почитается женщинами в Бухаре называется «Биби-сешанбе» ( бабушка-вторник с тадж).Расскажем о происхождении этого обычая и о том, как его проводят в настоящее время.

Biran, Michal. "The Mental Maps of Mongol Central Asia as Seen from the Mamluk Sultanate," Journal of Asian History, Vol. 49, No. 1-2, Chinese and Asian Geographical and Cartographical Views on Central Asia and Its Adjacent Regions (2015), pp. 31-51

This paper deals with mental maps of Mongol Central Asia as they were conceived in the Mamluk Sultanate. That is, it looks at the subjective spatial image of Central Asia under Mongol rule as viewed from Egypt and Syria in the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, and presents this from two distinct perspectives: a biographical-scholarly perspective and a geographical perspective.

In 1788 Ephraim Pote, a British merchant in Patna, sent a large portion of the manuscript collection which formerly belonged to Colonel of the East India Company Antoine Polier. Among those manuscripts there was a Divan by Badr al-Din Hilali, who was executed by the Uzbek Sultan ‘Ubaydallah right after the conquest of Herat in 1529. The calligrapher responsible for compiling the impressive selection of Hilali’s Divan was the famous Mir ‘Ali Haravi. He produced it in fond memory of his perished friend and their beloved Herat, when he was already working for ‘Ubaydallah in Bukhara, where he had been brought as part of the Sultan’s intellectual booty.
The manuscript is exceptionally important from various points of view: history, literature, artistic decoration and provenance. It is not only the earliest surviving copy of Hilali’s Divan, but allows the siege of Herat to be attributed with more chronological precision than was possible before.
When the manuscript arrived to Delhi by the time of Emperor Shahjahan, it had spectacular marginal decorations of arabesque, floral and animalistic motifs in gold and polychrome. This makes the manuscript a brilliant example of intercultural communication between Persia, Central Asia and India in the sixteenth century.

Drawing on archival materials, the article explores biographies of members of the family of Siberian Tatars – the Kulmametevs. From the end of the 17th to the first third of the 19th century they occupied the position of the head of the Tobolsk Tatar servicemen. The article shows in detail how the Kulmametevs’ position was gradually getting stronger to eventually become hereditary. The analyzed events reveal the complex relationships with the authorities and subordinates as well as within the Kulmametev family itself. For the first time the
genealogy of the Kulmametev murzas has been reconstructed.

In 1976, O.A. Sukhareva expressed her doubts concerning the traditional date for the Madrasa of Khalif Niyaz-kul (Chor Minor) in Bukhara. She was urged by its mention in the late 17th century documents. In 2001, A. von Kyugelgen suggested that the date on the wall of Chor Minor was not the date of its building but the date of the foundation of the vaquf. In 2012, in Darwaz (in Tajikistan) at the site which can be dated not later than the late 17th century a structure was found (conventionally named Panjmanor) very similar to the Madrasa of Khalif Niyaz-kul (Chor Minor) in Bukhara. It allows one to reconsider the dating of the madrasa. Photographs made after the demolition of the cells surrounding the structure show that the entrance to the madrasa was built earlier than other rooms. Therefore, it is possible suggest, in support of Sukhareva's idea, an earlier date for the Chor Minor structure, which fi nds other parallels in medieval Islamic architecture. It can be dated to the period before the end of the 17th century or even earlier.

Among coins of Pre-Islamic Central Asia with double descriptions, mostly coins from Chach (Tashkent), Sogd and Tokharistan (Southern Uzbekistan - Southern Tajikistan - Northern Afghanistan were relatively well-researched, while coins from Otrar (Southern Kazakhstan) and
Bukhara belong to slightly studied, even almost not-researched group of
coins. Bukhara, in the Early Middle Ages, due to its position, at the junction
of nomadic pastoral and sedentary agricultural areas, was one of the key regions of Transoxiana (Amu - Darya, Syr - Darya). If  Chach, Otrar and
Ferghana were located directly in the contact zone, then Bukhara was
located near the routes of movement of nomadic tribes from the Syr-Daria
and Yettisuv basin to the south-western regions of Central Asia. All this
could leave its imprint on the history of these historical and cultural areas.
Key words: Pre-Islamic period, Bukhara, coins, tamgha signs,
Turkic Khanate, Sogdian language.

When the Arabs took control, the Sogdian city Bukhara, for well over a century, had been issuing a distinctive coinage derived from a Sasanian prototype with the name of its lord, the Bukhara-Khuda. When the Muslims took firm control of the city, the coinage was continued with the names of Arab governors of the Abbasid region Khurasan, starting in 755 CE. Working on the Bukhara coinage in its historical, geographical, administrative and numismatic context, it is easy to put the series in order and assign firm dates to most of the issues. It seems that some of the issues came from Samarqand. The last of the Abbasid series has the name of `Ali b. `Isa b. Mahan, who was removed in 807. There is one last issue in the name of "al-Khaqan al-A`zam" that is very like the coins with "`Ali," but the Khaqan cannot be identified. This presentation was made at the 2017 B. D. Kochnev Seminar in Central Asian and Middle Eastern Numismatics at Hofstra University, organized by Prof. Alexandr Naymark.

Map drawn for my Histoire des marchands sogdiens, Paris: Collège de France, 2002, map 5. Please feel free to modify and adapt it to your needs: the layers can be modified in Illustrator. Although I have drawn it I claim no copyright, but would welcome that you mention the source.

The first three formant frequency (F1, F2, and F3) values of vowels produced by three Bukharan Eroni informants were measured. An analysis of the F1 and F2 values of the vowels indicated an apparent lack of sociolinguistic variation between the Eroni informants’ Bukharan Tajik vowel system and the Bukharan Tajik vowel system of the general (non-Eroni) population of Bukhara. It also revealed an apparent interlingual consistency between the informants’ Bukharan Tajik and Uzbek vowel systems.