BUKHARIA, BUKHARA, or BOCKHARA, an extensive region of Asia, in Usbeck or Independent Tartary. We have no data to define the exact limits of this country, which vary in extent, as in most Asiatic states, according to its power. The habitable part of the country is small in proportion to the desert by which it is mostly surrounded, and which may be considered as in a great measure its boundary. It is divided in this manner from Khyvah or Khaurezm on the west and north-west; to the north and north-west stretch vast tracts of desert, thinly sprinkled with the tents of the Toorkoman and other barbarous tribes, and only interrupted by the Jaxartes or Sihoon; upon the east it is bounded by Kokau or Ferghanah, and Hissar; and the Oxus, with the mountains from which it flows, may be said to form a rude boundary to the south. The country extends, according to the best estimate that can be obtained, about seven hundred miles from north to south, and three hundred and fifty from east to west. But we are greatly in want of accurate information concerning its extent, and, according to the different theories of geographers, large districts are either withdrawn from or annexed to it. We know but little of the nature of the country, further than that a great part of it is a flat and sandy desert, though it contains large tracts which are fertile and well cultivated. It is watered by the Sihoon or Jaxartes on the north, and by the Amu or Oxus on the south; and there is a vague report that a lake called Taran lies in the central districts. The country near the city of Bukharia is described as in a high state of cultivation, and thickly studded with well-inhabited villages for forty miles around. Beyond the circle of cultivation commences an arid desert, which surrounds on every side the fertile spot in which Bukharia is situated. Towards the south-east, as the country approaches the great Himalaya range, and the sources of the two great rivers between which it lies, it is rugged and mountainous. Fraser, who during his residence in Persia collected the most satisfactory and recent information which we possess respecting Bukharia, mentions that in this quarter there is a mountain abounding in gold, which being washed down by the torrents, is intercepted along with the sand by means of sheep-skins placed in the water; the metal is extracted by amalgamation with quicksilver, which is evaporated by heat, leaving the gold in a pure state. Silver is also found, but in what manner is not known. Many other valuable products are enumerated, among which are rubies, lapis lazuli, and marble. About a hundred and fifty miles due east from the city of Bukharia lies the celebrated city of Samarcand, now presenting a heap of ruins. The first two days' journey is, for about sixty miles, through a succession of villages, gardens, and cultivation, to Karmina, a large and populous village; the third to Zee-o-Deen, a village; the fourth to Khet-e-Courgam, a considerable town; the fifth to Samarcand. Four days' journey south-east of Bukharia is the district and town of Karchee, of no great magnitude, and deficient in water. The country around produces little else than wheat and barley. About a hundred miles east of the capital, and separated from the open country by a chain of low hills, lies the town of Kheish or Sheher-e-Subz. This district is said to be blessed with a fine climate and an abundant supply of water. It is verdant and richly wooded, interspersed with valleys that yield abundantly fruits and grain, and it contains many flourishing villages. The town of Kheish, which contains from twenty to thirty thousand inhabitants, and is sur-
rounded with fine gardens, displays, along with its environs, a beautiful combination of wood, water, and mountain scenery. The chief of this district is said to be only nominally dependent on Bukharia, to whose sovereign all the allegiance that he owes is to furnish a contingent of troops in case of need. There are several other districts nominally dependent on the sovereign of Bukharia; namely, the district of Ooratupcheh, eleven days' journey or three hundred and thirty miles east-north-east of Bukharia; and the district of Hissar at the same distance, in a direction east-south-east. It is described as fertile and well watered; and its chief town, Deh No, is large and populous.
Bukharia being an elevated table land, its climate is modified by the height of the ground; and in winter the cold is severe. The rivers are frozen over, and remain in that condition for about three months; and even the great Oxus is passable for caravans. During all this period the wind is dry and piercingly cold, and the ground is covered with snow. Light rains are common during the three months of spring, every three or four days, from the west. In summer the wind generally blows from the north-west, and is frequently scorching, especially during the first two months of summer. Bukharia is without the range of the tropical rains, but there are light showers in summer; and in autumn heavy rains set in from the west.
Such parts of the country as are not desert are fertile, and yield two crops in the year, one in spring, the other in autumn. The spring crop consists of a species of wheat and barley, jowarree, and various other grains; cotton, madder, with sweet and water melons, cucumbers, &c. The autumn crop consists of another species of wheat and barley, which are chiefly reaped at this season, and a little jowarree. Besides the moisture derived from the heavens, the fields in the spring are watered from wells by means of Persian wheels; and during the autumn by watercourses, which are supplied by embanking the streams of rivers. Bukharia yields a variety of excellent fruits, such as apples, pears, quinces, plums, peaches, apricots, cherries, figs, pomegranates, mulberries, grapes, melons, &c. The musk melons especially are mentioned as remarkable for size and flavour, often weighing twenty pounds, and being fresh and good for eight months in the year.
The population of Bukharia consists of the Ooshecks or Ushecks, a Tartar tribe; the Taujiks, a race widely diffused over all those countries; and the Toorkomans, of various tribes. Of these the Ushecks are by far the most numerous, in the towns and villages as well as in the tents of the desert. They are for the most part of a short and stout make, their complexion is clear and ruddy, with the hair thick and the beard thin, a broad forehead, high cheek bones, and small eyes. Their dress consists in summer of a cotton shirt and drawers, and in winter of a woollen shirt, over which they throw a silk or woollen wrapping gown, tied round the waist with a girdle. In cold weather they wrap themselves in sheep-skin, or in a coat of thick felt. In summer they wear a painted cap of silk; in winter one of broad cloth lined with fur. Bandages of cloth are rolled round the legs instead of stockings, and boots are in general use. The women wear a pair of trousers and shift of silk or cotton, and over this is thrown a robe like that of the men; the dress of both sexes being very similar. The Ushecks who dwell in the tents live in parties of from two hundred to a thousand families; each of these tribes has a ruler or chief, chosen by common consent, who adjusts all disputes, and acts in the capacity of judge. In serious matters, two or three chiefs are called to decide; and if they cannot agree, they refer the matter to the cauze, an officer appointed by the king, and held in general awe. The chief or the beg collects the revenue, which
Bukharia. he pays to the king's officer or aumil, who is sent to him to receive the sheep, camels, oxen, or other animals that are due, in the proportion of one in forty, from the flocks or herds of the desert; a price is then fixed on them, which is paid in money to the king's officer. All these tribes are in perfect subjection to the king, who discourages the confederacy of large tribes, and even directly prevents it. In the towns the women never appear without veils; but among the wandering tribes they have no such concealment, and with their faces uncovered they carry on all their usual domestic occupations of working, making clothes, cooking, carrying water, &c. Fraser, during his residence in Persia, received from all those with whom he conversed, very favourable impressions of the Usbecks of Bukharia. They are said, he observes, "to be honest, just, sincere, good tempered, generally well disposed, and by no means either cruel or treacherous;" to be less given to quarrels and murderous revenge than their neighbours, less stained with foul crimes and profligacy, to be hospitable and kind; and the same traveller adds, "from what I have heard, strangers, after passing through the dangers of their frontier, would probably be well treated, and secure." Several facts, however, which are stated by Mr Fraser do not certainly agree with this favourable character. Among these he relates an adventure of a native of Kabooshan who went to Bukharia on business, and who, being suspected by the king, was called before him and questioned; but attempting to disguise his real character, he was seized as an impostor, and thrown into prison, where he was nearly starved to death, and was at last taken out and sold in the public market as a slave. He retained his clothes, in which he had sewed a sum of money, with which he afterwards purchased his freedom, and returned to his own country, where he told the story to Mr Fraser. With regard also to the purity of their morals, several persons, who had good opportunities of knowing, informed him that the most odious vices were practised, even more openly than in Persia. To Europeans all access to these countries is denied by the intolerance of the people, who would insult them, and probably put them to death, or sell them for slaves. They evince the same hatred of the Mahomedans who differ from them; and they are at constant war with the Sheahs (they themselves being zealous Soonies), whom they make no scruple, and even think it praiseworthy, to sell for slaves. The Usbecks, true to their Tartar origin, delight in war, and pride themselves in being the bravest and most robust of the Tartar race. Some say they are fond of horse flesh; but this is denied. There is no doubt, however, of their fondness for the national drink, called kimmiz, an intoxicating liquor prepared from mare's milk by shaking it violently in a skin for several hours. They are also fond of tea. They are patient of hunger, thirst, and fatigue, and are renowned for their activity in predatory war.
Of the Taujiks the origin is not known. They are widely diffused, however, over all the countries of the East, and are generally distinguished from the various races of Tartars by their commercial, industrious, and pacific habits, and by their residence in cities and in fixed habitations rather than in tents. The Taujiks are all engaged in commerce, being either merchants, tradesmen, or mechanics; but they are described as being dissolute and corrupt. They bear a small proportion in Bukharia to the Usbecks, from whom they differ in appearance and features, being of ordinary stature, and fair complexion, with black expressive eyes, a hawk nose, well-shaped face, fine black hair, and thick beards. The Toorkomans, who are wandering Tartars, ferocious and warlike in their habits, and divided into a variety of tribes, form a very scattered population. They inhabit chiefly the banks of the Oxus,
and the fertile spots scattered throughout the desert; but they are also to be found in greater or smaller numbers all over the more fruitful and well-watered country to the south and south-east of Bukharia.
The government of this country, as of most countries in Asia, is a despotic monarchy, in which the king is perfectly absolute, the fountain of all authority and power. The ulemah and heads of religion alone have influence to control him; and these the present monarch, Shah Hyder, has brought under his power, and he has even put some of the most highly esteemed among them to death without the smallest disturbance. They hold, however, the first rank in the state. One class of these priests claim their descent from the caliph Abubekr, and are accounted the greatest among these holy personages; while they derive so much weight from their wealth and their extensive possessions, that they have been in some measure considered as independent of the king. But they do not enjoy the first rank among the ecclesiastics. That distinction belongs to an officer, the head of another class, who sits on his majesty's right hand, on an elevated seat; and after him come the chief cauzees and mustis, with the rest of the ulemah or priestly order. The omrahs, or nobles belonging to the army, only occupy the second rank before the king, sitting on his left hand; and the first of them is the commander-in-chief, followed by his officers in their respective ranks. Then come the civil functionaries and confidential slaves, according to their offices. The king's treasurer, who has the highest rank of any civil officer, stands always in front of the throne. In its arrangements the court is said to resemble that of Afghanistan, but to be far more splendid, the officers wearing rich gold brocade, and embroidered broad-cloth dresses, but no jewels.
Bukharia and the cultivated country around is divided into seven districts, each district containing many villages, and each village having its separate system of government. The chief authority in the district is in the elder or president, chosen by the inhabitants for his respectability, wisdom, and learning. His office is permanent, and indeed is commonly hereditary. His business is to decide in all disputes, to collect the revenue, and to levy the militia; and he is aided in these matters by inferior officers, chosen, as he is himself, by the people. The sovereign of the country is, however, the chief judge; and when he attends to his duties, and dispenses justice with impartiality, his example is copied in all the other departments of his government, and there is less occasion to employ delegates of high rank. But all depends on the personal character of the king, and when he is negligent and corrupt, similar evils run through every branch of the public administration. In these rude and lawless countries life and property are not secured, as in Europe, by permanent institutions; the inclinations and passions of the monarch form the only rule of his conduct; and where the people are not plundered and oppressed, they owe this immunity from outrage, not to the protection of fixed laws, but to the gracious dispositions of the reigning sovereign.
The public revenue arises from a tax on land, which amounts to a tithe of the produce; a tax of one fortieth on flocks, money, and other movables; and a custom duty, which amounts to a fortieth, on the entrance and exit of all goods. There is a capitation tax also on all inhabitants who are not of the Mahomedan faith, of from sixpence to two shillings a head. Of the amount of the revenue derived from these various sources we have no account that can be depended on. It is expended by the king in the maintenance of the army, on the priesthood, including benefactions to religious, charitable, and learned institutions, and all other contingencies of government. His own expenses are supplied from the capitation tax. Va-
Bukharia. rious accounts are given of the military establishment of Bukharia, and of the number of the troops. By some writers they have been estimated at a hundred thousand, by others so low as thirty thousand; but this discrepancy may be accounted for by supposing the one number to apply to the troops which may be called out in cases of emergency, and the other to the troops which are kept always in readiness. The army consists entirely of cavalry, who are armed with a very long lance, a sword, and a shield: a certain number, probably a third, have matchlocks; and they all wear long knives and daggers at the waist.
Bukharia is an entrepôt of the general trade which is carried on between the east and the west of Asia; and as it enjoys peace and security under the equitable administration of its present monarch, Shah Hyder, its trade is extensive, and a regular intercourse is maintained with Russia by the way of Orenburg, with Persia through Mushed, with Herat, Cabul, Peshawer, Shikarpore, Buduckshan, Cashmere, China, and all the countries which depend on them. Two caravans pass every year between Russia and Bukharia, consisting of from four to five thousand camels each. Russia sends into Asia iron, steel, copper, brass, quicksilver, hardware, plated goods, gold and silver embroidery; furs, broad cloths, white and coloured cotton manufactured goods, cochineal, refined sugar, paper, and a variety of such articles. The exports from Bukharia are black lamb-skins, certain manufactures of cotton and silk, lapis lazuli, rubies from Buduckshan, torquois from Persia, antique gems, coins, medals, and various other antique utensils, and arms. These latter articles are found among the ruins of the ancient cities which formerly flourished in this country. The extensive ruins of one city, Khojahwooban, lie buried under sand, in which it is the practice to dig after rain, when many articles of value are found, particularly plate, utensils of gold and silver, all which are eagerly purchased by the Russian merchants, who give for them five times their weight, and an exorbitant price for carved gems, both cameos and intaglios, some of which are of extraordinary beauty. Four or five guineas each were asked from Fraser while he was in Persia for oval stones of corneian, garnet, and sardonyx, on which figures were cut, some of which exceeded five-eighths of an inch in length; and the same traveller mentions, that for a sardonyx cameo about an inch and a half long by an inch broad, bearing the head and shoulders of a queen, exquisitely cut, L.700 or L.800 were refused by a Persian virtuoso. Bukharia imports from Persia the shawls and woollen goods of Kerman, and the silk stuffs of Yezd and Ispahan; from the latter place also gold and silver embroidery, copper-ware, and other articles; from Cashan, Hamadan leather, loaf, candy, and raw sugar. Besides their own productions of lamb-skins, cloth made of camels' hair, coarse coloured silk handkerchiefs, tobacco, &c. they send the indigo, cochineal, chintzes, and cotton manufactures of India. From Cabul, Peshawer, and Shikarpore, and the countries which lie to the south and east, Bukharia receives wool, turbans, white cotton cloth, chintz, sugar in all shapes, yellow stick for dye, spices, black pepper, &c. The returns are made in horses, copper, silk vests and cloth, and various other manufactures; plated and gilt copper wire imported from Russia; silk and silk stuffs, tea and China ware. From Kashgar, Yarkund, and the countries on the side of China, are brought large quantities of tea, China ware, and all the productions of China; and the articles exported are the same as those already enumerated. Bukharia carries on an extensive trade in horses, for which, outside the capital, there is a market every Saturday, Monday, and Thursday. They are exported in considerable numbers to Afghanistan, whence they find their way
to India. These horses of Bukharia, though they are strong, and well enough suited to the country, are far inferior to the Persian and Toorkoman breeds. They have a very large and powerful breed of asses, which are greatly valued for the road. The currency of this country consists of tillas, a gold coin worth ten shillings and sixpence, and of tengens, a silver coin, value sixpence. Bills of exchange are not common, nor are they well understood; and when an order is given by a merchant or his agent at a distant place, a rate of exchange is exacted of from twenty to twenty-five per cent.
Bukharia was known to the ancients under the name of Sogdiana; and was too far removed to the east ever to be brought under the wide-spreading dominion of Rome. But it has shared deeply in all the various and bloody revolutions of Asia. It is mentioned by the earliest historical writers of Persia; and, about the year 856, Yacoob-bin-Leis is said to have been invested with the government of that province by the caliph. About twenty years after, it was conquered by Ismael, the first sovereign of the Sassanian dynasty, whose successors held it until the renowned Malek Shah, third of the Seljuk dynasty of Persia, passed the Oxus about the end of the eleventh century, and subdued the whole country watered by that river and the Jaxartes. In the year of the hejira 594, A. D. 1216, Bukharia was again subdued by the celebrated Mahomed Shah Khauresme, who enjoyed his conquest but a short time ere it was wrested from him by the irresistible power of Ghenghis Khan in A. D. 1220. The country was wasted by the fury of this savage conqueror; but recovered some share of its former prosperity under Octai Khan, his son, whose disposition was humane and benevolent. His posterity retained the dominion of this country until about the year 1500, when Tamerlane with his mighty host bore down every thing before him, and spread far and wide the terror of his arms. His descendants ruled in the country until about the year 1500, when it was overrun by the Usbeck Tartars, in whose possession it still remains. The present king claims his descent from Sheibahnee Khan, who reigned in Bukharia about the beginning of the sixteenth century, and who was a descendant of the great Ghenghis Khan. His dominion extended over the countries north and west of the Caspian, now subject to Russia; and being driven from these, he retreated to Bukharia, and extended his sway over Balk, Buduckshan, Herat, Merve, and Khaurezm. He was slain in a great battle with the Persian king, after a reign of twenty-two years; and was succeeded by his nephew Obeidoollah, who conquered part of Khorassan, including Mushed, where he committed great devastation, putting multitudes of the inhabitants to the sword. He was succeeded by his cousin Isander Khan, who reigned twelve years, in the course of which he is said to have built twelve hundred mosques, caravanserais, and water cisterns, for the convenience of travellers; and the latter was succeeded by Abdool Khan, who reigned thirty years. His son Abdool-momen was deposed by the Omrahs after a reign of six months. His cousin Wullee Mahomed Khan succeeded, and reigned eighteen years, when he left the throne to his son Koolie Khan, who after a reign of sixteen years became blind, and resigning the kingdom to Seyed Nadir his half-brother, went on a pilgrimage to Mecca, where he died. Seyed Nadir reigned twenty-four years, and amassed great treasures. He had twelve sons, one of whom, Abdool Azeez, rebelled against him, and seized upon the throne; in consequence of which the father retired to Mecca, where he ended his days. Abdool Azeez, after reigning thirty years, first at Bukharia, and afterwards at Balk, resigned his throne to Koolie Khan, and, following the example of his father and uncle, retired to Mecca. His
Bukharia brother reigned twenty-four years, and was succeeded by his youngest son, Obeidoola Khan, whilst his elder brother reigned at Balk. These two rival chiefs went to war, and were succeeded by their younger brother, Abool Feize Khan, who being of an indolent disposition, lost the greater part of his dominions. It was in his reign that Nadir Shah, in 1740, crossed the Oxus, and having advanced within three days' journey of the capital, sent messengers to demand of the king whether he meant to oppose his further progress. The king of Bukharia, sensible of his weakness, submitted to his clemency; and on being required to furnish a supply of provisions for his army, at the rate of two mauns of wheat and one of barley for every house in the capital, he sent the requisition according to the Bukharia measure, of which one maun is equal to sixty Persian mauns; with which Nadir Shah was so pleased, that he departed from his dominions, and confirmed the king on his throne. He was finally dethroned by Raheem Khan, a usurper, who, by his vigorous administration, restored order and tranquillity throughout his dominions; and dying without male issue, Dauniar Beg, his uncle, and a descendant of the royal stock, was raised by common consent to the throne. He was a weak prince, and was succeeded by his son Shah Murad, who by his capacity and talent extended his territories, on the one side to the Jaxartes, Jihon, Sihoon, or Seer river, and on the other beyond the Amoo or Oxus, reconquering Balk from the Afghans, and Merve from its Persian governor, which he destroyed, and it has remained desolate ever since. He reigned sixteen years, and was succeeded by his son Shah Hyder, who now rules in Bukharia, and who is described as mild, pacific, unambitious, charitable, just, and religious even to bigotry. The above account of the rulers of Bukharia was received by Mr Fraser when he was at Mushed in 1822, from a hereditary historian of the family, in presence of the king's brother, then residing at Mushed. We have no data from which to form even a conjecture as to the population of Bukharia. The inhabitants are chiefly collected in the great towns and their dependent villages; and by Mr Irvine, who accompanied Mr Elphinstone in his embassy to Afghanistan, they are estimated at 3,600,000.
Fraser's Narrative of a Journey into Khorassan; Sir J. Malcolm's History of Persia; Kinneir's Geographical Memoir of Persia; Elphinstone's Account of the Kingdom of Cabul and its Dependencies. (F.)