sacred hill, the place where sacrifices were made by fire-worshippers in

springtime. This city was mentioned in a holy book "Avesto". Bukhara city

is supposed to be founded in the 13th c.B.C. during reign of Siyavushids

who came to power 980 years before Alexander the Great. The name of

Bukhara originates from the word "vihara" which means "monastery" in

Sanskrit. The city was once a large commercial center on the Great Silk

Road.

Bukhara lies west of Samarkand and was once a center of learning renowned

throughout the Islamic world. It was here that the great Sheikh Bahautdin

Nakshbandi lived. He was a central figure in the development of the

mystical Sufi approach to philosophy, religion and Islam. In Bukhara there

are more than 350 mosques and 100 religious colleges. Its fortunes waxed

and waned through succeeding empires until it became one of the great

Central Asian Khanates in the 17th century.

Bukhara with more than 140 architectural monuments is a "town museum"

dating back to the Middle Ages. 2,300 years later, ensembles like the

Poi-Kalon, Kos Madras, Ismail Samani Mausoleum and the Kalian Minaret are

attracting a lot of attention. The city consists of narrow streets, green

parks and gardens, historical and architectural monuments belong to the

different epochs, but locate very close to each other.

Bukhara, ancient home of the cruel Emir

The ancient town of Central Asia has a huge and ever changing history but

remained a very charming and green city until our recent days.

Bukhara, emirate of, former state, central Asia, in Turkistan , in the Amu

Darya River basin. Part of ancient Sogdiana, it was ruled ( A.D. 709–874)

by the Umayyad Arabs and played an important role under the Samanid

dynasties (875–1000). It was a trade, transport, and cultural center of

the Islamic world. The Seljuk Turks ruled from 1004 to 1133; later, the

realm was conquered by Jenghiz Khan (1220) and in the 14th cent. by Timur.

The Timurid dynasties ruled until the invasion of Uzbek tribes early in

the 16th cent. The Bukhara emirate was founded by the Uzbek Khan Sheybani,

who between 1500 and 1507 conquered the Timurid domains in Transoxania. In

1555, Abdullah Khan transferred the capital from Samarkand to Bukhara,

from which the state then took its name. Internal feuds weakened Bukhara,

it split into a number of principalities, and in 1740 it was conquered by

Nadir Shah of Persia. In 1753, Bukhara again became an independent emirate

but did not recover its supremacy over Khwarazm, Merv, Badakhshan,

Tashkent, and the Fergana Valley. Bukhara's population consisted

principally of Uzbeks (who remained politically dominant), Sarts, and

Tajiks. Defeated by Russia in 1866, the emirate became a Russian

protectorate in 1868. In 1920, after a prolonged battle with Bolshevik

forces, the last emir was driven into Afghanistan. The Bukhara People's

Soviet Republic was established (1920) and lasted until 1924. In the same

year it was proclaimed a socialist republic and was included in the USSR;

a few months later, however, it was dismembered and divided between

Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.

Bukhara, city (1991 pop. 231,000), capital of Bukhara region, Uzbekistan,

in the Zeravshan River valley. On the Shkhrud irrigation canal system, it

is the center of a large cotton district and has textile mills as well as

cotton-ginning industries and a large karakul skin processing plant. The

population is mainly Uzbek, with Tajik, Arab, and Afghan minorities and a

much-dwindled Jewish minority. First mentioned in Chinese chronicles in

the 5th cent. A.D. , Bukhara is one of the oldest trade and cultural

centers in central Asia. It was a long-time center of Judaism. It came

under the Arab caliphate in the 8th cent. and became a major center of

Islamic learning. During the 9th and 10th cent. it was the capital of the

Samanid state. From the 16th cent. to 1920 it was the capital of the

khanate of Bukhara, which was ceded to Russia in 1868. From 1920 to 1924

it was the capital of the Bukhara People's Republic. Its many monuments

include the mausoleum of Ismail Samanid (892–907), the minaret of Kalyan

(1127), the mosque of Magoki-Attari (12th cent.), the Ulughbek (1417–18)

and Mir-Arab (1535–36) madaris (theological schools), and the madrasah of

Abdulaziz-Khan (1651–52). The name is also spelled Bokhara.

We would like to show you our Bukhara, its quirreling life, the historic

sites, the bazaars and the quiet places.

You come as an individual or in a small group, so lets show you Bukhara

the way few foreigners have seen it.

Mausoleum Samonidov

Bukhara Bukha ra, one of Uzbeki stan's treasur es, is a place rich in

history and dramatic architecture. The city's most famous landmark, the

Kalyan Minaret (dating back to 1127), is the greatest remnant of truly

old Bukhara; Genghis Khan destroyed most of the city, but left the

minaret standing, supposedly because he was struck by its beauty. The

minaret, which

draws visitors up its 105 steps to see a panora mic view of the city, was

once the tallest structure in Central Asia. It has been called the Tower

of Death, legend has it, executions were often performed by throwing the

condemned from its heights. In truth, however, locals will tell you that

only one such killing occurred from the tower. Yet the city has witnessed

some brutal executions; perhaps the most infamous were the killings of

British officers Col. Charles Stoddart and Capt. Arthur Conolly in 1842.

Victims of a misunderstanding between the Emir of Bukhara and the British

government (which failed to supply its emissaries with the appropriate

gifts and royal letters of introduction), the two were imprisoned in the

Bug Pit at the Zindan (city jail), then forced to dig their own graves

before their ceremonial beheading in front of the Ark (the Emi's palace).

The Ark now houses a museu m on the city's history , and the Zindan is

now a tourist attraction, showcasing such skin-crawling rooms as the Bug

Pit, a torture chamber and the dungeons. Bukhara, with its population of a

quarter of a million, is a major tourist attraction for travelers

following the old Silk Road. Celebrating its 2,500th anniversary in 1997,

the city has been working hard to put its best old face forward. And

though Bukhara's mud-colored buildings are often a let-down to visitors

who have just seen the dazzling mosaics of Samarkand, the city's subdued

desert hues and centuries-old buildings exude their own exotic air of

ancient culture.