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Bukhara is the capital of the Bukhara Province (viloyat) of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 237,900 (1999 census estimate).
The region around Bukhara has been inhabited for at least five millennia and the city itself has existed for half that time. Located on the Silk Road, the city has long been a center of trade, scholarship, culture, and religion.
Names
Bukhara was also known as Bokhara in 19th and early 20th century English publications and as Buhe/Puhe(??) in Tang Chinese.
history
Bukhara has been one of the main centres of Persian civilization from its early days in 6th century BCE and since 12th century CE, Turkic speakers gradually moved in. Its architecture and archaeological sites form one of the pillars of the Central Asian 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 ßuxarak ("Place of Good Fortune").[2] Another possible source of the name Bukhara may be from "a Turkic (Uighur) transfer of the Sanskrit word 'Vihara'"[3] (monastery), and may be linked to the pre-Islamic presence of Buddhism, although this appears highly unlikely since the region was inhabited by Zoroastrians, and not Buddhists - nor was there ever any reference of a Buddhist monastery in the region.[citation needed]
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.
Origin in Legends
According to the Iranian epic poem Shahnameh, the city was founded by King Siavash, son of Shah Kai Kavoos, one of the mythical Iranian kings of the Pishdak (Pishdadian) Dynasty. As the legend goes, Siavash was accused by his step-mother Sudabeh of seducing her and even attempting to violate her. To test his innocence he underwent Trial by Fire. After emerging unscathed from amidst the flames, he crossed the Oxus River (now the Amu Darya) into Turan. The king of Samarkand, King Afrasiab, wed his daughter, Ferganiza (Persian: ?????? Farangis), to Siavash and further granted him a vassal kingdom in the Bukhara Oasis. There he built the Ark or Arg (Persian for 'citadel'), and the surrounding city. Some years later, Siavash was accused of plotting to overthrow his father-in-law and become the King of united Iran and Turan. Afrasiab believed this and ordered Siavash's execution in front of his own daughter and Siavash's wife, Farangis, and buried Siavash's head under the Hay-sellers Gate. In retaliation, King Kai Kavoos sent Rostam, the legendary super-hero of Iran, to attack Turan. Rostam killed Afrasiab, and took Farangis and Siavash's son, Kay Khusrau back to Iran (Persia).
Arq fortress panoramic
Origin
Officially the city was founded in 500 BCE in the area now called the Arg. However, the Bukhara oasis had been inhabitated long before, since 3000 BCE an advanced Bronze Age culture called the Sapalli Culture thrived at such sites as Varakhsha, Vardan, Paykend, and Ramitan. In 1500 BCE a combination of factors; climatic drying, iron technology, and the arrival of Aryan 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 Zeravshan Fan (the Zeravshan (Zarafshan) River had ceased draining to the Oxus). By 1000 BC both groups had merged into a distinctive culture. Around 800 BCE this new culture, called Sogdian, flourished in city-states along the Zeravshan Valley. By this time, the lake had silted up and three small fortified settlements had been built. By 500 BCE these settlements had grown together and were enclosed by a wall, thus Bukhara was born.[citation needed]
Persian and Sassanid Empires
Gold 20-stater of the Greco-Bactrian king Eucratides (170-145 BC), the largest gold coin ever minted in Antiquity. The coin weighs 169.2 grams, and has a diameter of 58 millimeters. It was originally found in Bukhara, and later acquired by Napoleon III. Cabinet des Médailles, Paris.Bukhara entered history in 500 BCE as vassal state or satrapy in the Persian Empire. Later it passed into the hands of the Alexander the Great, the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, the Greco-Bactrians, and the Kushan Empire. 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 accelerated along the silk road after the Han Dynasty pushed back the northern tribes to secure this key trading route, [4] 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 BCE.[citation needed] 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 Arab invasion, Bukhara was a stronghold for followers of two persecuted religious movements within the Sassanian Empire, that is, Manicheanism and Nestorian Christianity.[5] When the Islamic armies arrived in 650 AD, they found a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and decentralized collection of peoples; nevertheless, after a century many of the subjects of the Caliphate had not converted to Islam, but retained their previous religion. [6] 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 against 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
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Many prominent people lived in Bukhara during the Islamic era. For a century after the Battle of Talas, Islam slowly took root in Bukhara. In 850 AD Bukhara became the capital of the Samanid Empire, which brought about a revival of Iranian language and culture after the period of Arab domination. While under Samanid control, Bukhara was a rival to Baghdad in its glory. [7] Scholars note that the Samanids revived Persian more than the Buyids and the Saffarids, while continuing to patronize Arabic to a significant degree.[7] Nevertheless, in a famous edict, Samanid authorities declared that "here, in this region, the language is Persian, and the kings of this realm are Persian kings."[7]
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 treatises here. Muhammad al-Bukhari, a prominent Islamic scholar who gathered the authentic sayings (hadiths) of the Prophet Muhammad, was born in this city. During this time[which?] Bukhara was by far the largest city in Central Asia and it was one of the biggest and most populated cities (having a population of over 300,000)[citation needed] in the world along with Córdoba, Cairo and Baghdad. 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 became part of the kingdom of Khwarazm Shahs, who incurred the wrath of the Mongols by killing their ambassador, and in 1220 the city was leveled by Genghis Khan. The city slowly recovered, and was part of first the Chaghatay Khanate, then the Timurid Empire. It next became the capital of the Khanate of Bukhara and later the Emirate of Bukhara, which lasted until 1920, though it was a Russian protectorate for much of this time.
Ibn Hawqal gives a detailed account of the chief canals which, starting from the left bank of the Sughd river, watered Bukhara and the gardens in the plain around the city.
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