Arikah Map

Bukhara

For other uses of this name, see Bukhara (disambiguation).

Bukhara (Uzbek: Buxoro, Бухоро; Tajik: Бухоро; Persian: بُخارا‎, Buxârâ; Kazakh: Бұхара; Russian: Бухара), from the Soghdian βuxārak, is the fifth-largest city in Uzbekistan, and capital of the Bukhara Province (viloyat). It has a population of 237,900 (1999 census estimate). Bukhara (along with Samarkand) is one of the two major centres of Uzbekistan's Tajik minority. The city was also known as Bokhara in XIX century English and Buhe/Puhe in Tang Chinese. [1] Bukhara is also home to a large number of Jews, whose ancestors settled in the city during Roman times. The term 'Bukharan Jews' is frequently used to describe the indigenous Jews of Central Asia.


Contents

History

Introduction

Bukhara:Entrance to the Ark fortress.
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Entrance to the Ark fortress.

Bukhara has been one of the main centres of Iranian civilization during its history. Its architecture and archaeological sites form one of the pillars of the Persian history and art. The region of Bukhara was for a long period a part of the Persian Empire. The origin of its inhabitants goes back to the period of Aryan immigration into the region.

Iranian Soghdians inhabited the area and some centuries later the Persian language became dominant among them. Encyclopedia Iranica mentions that the name Bukhara is possibly derived from the Soghdian βuxārak.[1] Another possible source of the name Bukhara may be from "Vihara", the sanskrit word for monastery and may be linked to the pre-Islamic presence of Buddhism (especially strong at the time of the Kushan empire) originating from the Indian sub-continent.

The Last emir of Bukhara was Muhammad Alim Khan (1880-1944). The Trans-Caspian railway was built through the city in the late 19th century. The historic center of Bukhara has been listed by UNESCO as one of the World Heritage Sites. It contains numerous mosques and madrassas.

Legends

According to the Iranin epic poem Shahnama the city was founded by King Siavush son of Shah Kavakhous, one of the mythical Iranian Shahs of the Pishdak Dynasty. As the legend goes Siavush was accused of seducing his mother by the Vizers. To test his innocence he underwent trial by fire. After emerging unscathed from the flames he crossed the Oxus into Turan. The king of Samarkand Afrosiab, gave Siavash his daughter Ferganiza and a vassal kingdom in the Bukhara Oasis. There he built the Ark, and surrounding city. Some years later Siavash was again accused of seducing his father-in-law's wife. Afrasiab killed Siavash, and buried his head under the Haysellers Gate. In retaliation Shah Kavakhous attacked Turan killed Afrasiab, and took his son and daughter-in-law back to Persia.

Origin

Officially the city was founded in 500 BC in the area now called the ark. However, the Bukhara oasis had been inhabitated long before, since 3000 BC an advanced bronze age culture called the Sapalli Culture thrived at such sites as Varakhsha, Vardan, Paykend, and Ramitan. In 1500 BC a combination of factors; climatic drying, iron technology, and a the arrival of Indo-Iraninan nomads triggered a population shift to the oasis from outlying areas. Together both the Sapalli and Aryan people lived in villages along the shores of a dense lake and wetland area in the Zervashan Fan (the Zervanshan River had ceased draining to the Oxus). By 1000 BC both groups had merged into a distinctive culture. Around 800 BC this new culture called Soghdian flourished in city-states along the Zaravshan Valley. By this time the lake had silted up and small three fortified settlements had been built. By 500 BC these settlements had grown together and were enclosed by a wall, thus Bukhara was born.

Pre-Islamic era

Bukhara entered history in 500 BC as vassal state in the Persian Empire. Later it passed into the hands of the Hellenistic, Greco-Bactrian, and Kushan States. During this time Bukhara functioned as a cult center for the worship of Anahita, and her associated temple economy. Approximately once a lunar cycle, the inhabitants of the Zeravshan Fan exchanged their old idols of the goddess for new ones. The trade festival took place in front of the Mokh Temple. This festival was important in assuring the fertility of land on which all inhabitants of the delta depended. As a result of the trade festivals Bukhara became a center of commerce. As trade picked up along the silk road the already prosperous city of Bukhara then became the logical choice for a market. The silk trade itself created a growth boom in the city which ended around 350 BC. After the fall of the Kushan Empire Bukhara passed into the hands of Hua tribes from Mongolia and entered a steep decline.

Prior to the Arabic Invasion Bukhara was a stronghold for followers of the Zurvanite Heresy, as well as the two other persecuted religious movements within the theocratic Sassanian Empire, Manicheanism and Chaldean Chrisitanity[citation needed]. When the Islamic armies arrived in 650 AD, they found a multiethnic, multireligous and decentralized collection of petty feudal principalites[citation needed]. The lack of any central power meant that while the Arabs could gain an easy victory in battle or raiding they could never hold territory in central Asia. In fact Bukhara along with other cities in the Sogdian federation played the Caliphate againast the Tang Empire. The Arabs did not truly conquer Bukhara until after the Battle of Talas in 751 AD. Islam became the dominant religion at this time and remains the dominant religion to the present day.

Islamic era

For a century after the Battle of Talas, Islam slowly took root in Bukhara. In 850 AD Bukhrara became the capital of the Persian Samanid Empire. During the golden age of the Samanids, Bukhara became the intellectual center of the Islamic world and therefore, at that time, of the world itself. Many illustrious scholars penned their treaties here. The most prominent Islamic scholar known as Imam al-Bukhari, who gathered most authentic sayings (hadithes) of Prophet Muhammad was born in this city. The city was also a center of Sufi Islam, most notably the Naqshbandi Order. In 999 AD the Samanids were toppled by the Karakhanid Uyghurs. Later Bukhara bacame part of the kingdom of Khorezmshakhs, who fueled anger of Monghols by killing their ambassador, and in 1220 the city was leveled by Chinggis Khan. The city slowly recovered and was part of first the Chaghatay Khanate, then the Timurid Empire, and finally the capital of the Khanate of Bukhara, which lasted until 1920.


Modern era

Bukhara entered the modern period as a colonial aqusition of the Russian Empire. It became a chess piece in the Great Game between Russia and Britain. It was briefly independent during the communist revolution before finally being folded into the Soviet Union. Following the formation of the Soviet Union, the Tajiks, who were then part of the Uzbekistan province, pushed for independence. The Russians, who supported the Uzbeks over Tajiks, gave the traditionally and linguistically Iranic cities of Bukhara and Samarkand to Uzbekistan.

Major sights

Ismail Samani mausoleum

The Ismail Samani mausoleum (9th-10th century), one of the most esteemed sights of Central Asian architecture, was built in the 9th century (between 892 and 943) as the resting-place of Ismail Samani - the founder of the Samanid dynasty, the last Persian dynasty to rule in Central Asia, which held the city in the 9th and 10th centuries. Although in the first instance the Samanids were Governors of Khorasan and Ma wara'u'n-nahr under the suzerainty of the Abbasid Caliphate, the dynasty soon established virtual independence from Baghdad.

Lyab-i Hauz

The Lyab-i Khauz Ensemble (1568-1622) is the title given to the area surrounding one of the few remaining Hauz or ponds surviving in the city of Bukhara. Until the Soviet period there were many such ponds, which were the city's principal source of water, but they were notorious for spreading disease and were mostly filled in during the 1920s and 30s. The Lyab-i Hauz survived because it is the centrepiece of a magnificent architectural ensemble, created during the 16th and 17th centuries, which has not been significantly changed since. The Lyab-i Hauz ensemble consists of the Kukeldash madrasah (1568-1569) (see picture), the largest in the city, and of two religious edifices built by Nadir Divan-Begi: A Khanaka (1620) (see picture) - a Khanaka is a lodging-house for itinerant Sufis - and a Madrasah (1622) (see picture) that stand at right angles to each other.

Po-i Kalyan Complex.

The title Po-i-Kalyan (also Poi Kalyan), which means "The foot of the Great", belongs to the architectural complex located at the foot of the great minaret Kalyan.

See also a total list of Bukhara sights.

Transportation

Bukhara Airport

Bukhara in poetry and literature

Being a cultural magnet, Bukhara has long appeared in much local and Persian literature. Many examples can be sought.

ای بخارا شاد باش و دیر زی
Oh Bukhara! Joy to you and live long!
شاه زی تو میهمان آید همی
Your King comes to you in ceremony.
---Rudaki

Dehkhoda for defines the name Bukhara itself as meaning "full of knowledge", referring to the fact that in antiquity, Bukhara was a scientific and scholarship powerhouse. Rumi verifies this when he praises the city as such:

آن بخارا معدن دانش بود
"Bukhara was a mine of knowledge,
پس بخاراییست هرک آنش بود
Of Bukhara is he who possesses knowledge."

Notable People born in Bukhara

Sister cities

Sister cities of Bukhara- Rueil-Malmaison(Paris) and Cordoba(Spain)

References

  1. ^ Encyclopedia Iranica, Columbia University, p.512

Views of Bukhara

Study of a Stork's Nest at the top of a palace wall, before 1915
City skyline of Bukhara, dominated by the Kalyan minaret
Arq fortress walls, home to the Khans of Bukhara
A view from the inside of the Po-i Kalyan mosque, showing the Kalyan minaret
Chor Minor, the gatehouse to a now-disappeared madrasah
Entrance to the emir's palace
Alim Khan (1880-1944), last emir of Bukhara
The Kalyan minaret (photo 2003).
Arq fortress panoramic (photo 2003).
Samanids mausoleum (between 892 and 943) (photo 2003).
Mir-i Arab madrasah (photo 2003).
City gate Talipoch (photo 2003).
Chor Minor madrasah (photo 2003).
Trade couple Tagi Zargaron 16-th century (photo 2003).
Piscine for harem in palace (1912-1918) of Amir Sitorai Mokhi Khossa near Bukhara (photo 2003).
The Kalyan minaret (photo 2003).

Coordinates: 39°46′N 64°26′E

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