Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/13

Rh of Persia, passed the Oxus about the end of the llth century, and subdued the whole country watered by that river and the Jaxartes. In 1216 Bokhara was again sub dued by the celebrated Mahomet Shah Kharezm, who enjoyed his conquest but a short time ere it was wrested from him by Genghis Khan in 1220. The country was wasted by the fury of this savage conqueror, but recovered something of its former prosperity under Octai Khan, his son, whose disposition was humane and benevolent. His posterity kept possession till about 1400, when Timur bore down everything before him. His descendants ruled in the country until about 1500, when it was overrun by the Usbek Tatars, under Ebulkhier Khan, the founder of the Sheibani dynasty, with which the history of Bokhara properly commences. The most remarkable representative of this family was Abdullah Khan, who greatly extended the limits of his kingdom by the conquest of Badakhshan, Herat, and Meshed, and greatly increased its prosperity by the public works which he authorized. Before the close of the century, however, the dynasty was extinct, and Bokhara was at once desolated by a Kirghiz invasion and distracted by a disputed suc cession. At length, in 1598, Baki Mehemet Khan, of the Astrakhan branch of the Timur family, mounted the throne, and thus introduced the dynasty of the Ashtar- khanides. The principal event of his reign was the defeat ho inflicted on Shah Abbas of Persia in the neighbourhood of Balkh. His brother Veli Mehemet, who succeeded Baki in 1G05, soon alienated his subjects, and was supplanted by his nephew Imamkuli. After a highly prosperous reign this prince resigned in favour of his brother, Nezr Mehemet, under whom the country was greatly troubled by the rebellion of his sons, who continued to quarrel with each other after their father s death. Mean while the district of Khiva, previously subject to Bokhara, was made an independent khanate by Abdulgazi Bahadur Khan ; and in the reign of Subhankuli, who ascended the throne in 1680, the political power of Bokhara was still further lessened, though it continued to enjoy the un bounded respect of the Sunnite Mahometans. Subhankuli died in 1702 at the age of 80, and a war of succession broke out between his two sons, who were supported by the rivalry of two Usbek tribes. After five years the contest terminated in favour of Obeidullah, who was little better than a puppet in the hands of Rehim Bi Atalik, his vizier. The invasion of Nadir Shah came to complete the degradation of the land ; and in 1740 the feeble king Ebulfciz paid homage to the conqueror, and was soon after murdered and supplanted by his vizier. The time of the Ashtarkhanides had been for the most part a time of dis solution and decay ; fanaticism and imbecility went hand in hand. On its fall the throne was seized by the Manghit family in the person of Mir Maasum, who pretended to the most extravagant sanctity, and proved by his military career that he had no small amount of ability. He turned his attention to the encroachments of the Afghans, and in 1781 reconquered the greater part of&quot; what had been lost to the south of the Oxus. Dying in 1802 he was succeeded by Said, who in bigotry and fanaticism was a true son of his father. In 182G Nasrullah Bahuder mounted the throne, and began with the murder of his brother a reign of continued oppression and cruelty. Meanwhile Bokhara became an object of rivalry to Russia and England, and envoys were sent by both nations to cultivate the favour of the emir, who treated the Russians with arrogance and the English with contempt. The Russian armies were gradu ally advancing, and at last they appeared in Khokand ; but the new emir, Mozaffer-eddin, instead of attempting to expiate the insults of his predecessor, sent a letter to General Chernayeff summoning him to evacusito the country, and threatening to raise all the faithful against him. In 18GG the Russians invaded the territory of Bokhara proper, and a decisive battle was fought on 20th May at Irdjar on the left bank of the Jaxartes. The Bokharians were defeated ; but after a period of reluctant peace they forced the emir to renew the war. In 1868 the Russians entered Samarkand (May 14) and the emir was constrained to submit to the terms of the conqueror. Bokhara, though still nominally independent, is in reality subject to Russia, which must ere long absorb it completely. Hitherto European intercourse with Bokhara has been very slight, and few travellers have personally visited it. The Brothers Polo were there in the time of Borak Khan (1264-1274) and Anthony Jenkinson in 1558-9, Cladisheii in 1740, Meyendorff and Nagri in 1820, Burnes in 1832, Wood in 1838, Khanikoff and Lehmann in 1841-2, Stoddait and Conolly in 1842, Danilevsky in 1842-3, audVambery in 1863.

1em

, or, the capital of the above khanate, is situated six or seven miles from the left bank of the Zer- Affshan, in 39 48 N. lat. and 64 26 E. long. It is about eight miles in circumference, has a triangular shape, and is surrounded by an earthen wall about 20 feet high, which is pierced by eleven gates. It is divided into two main por tions known as the Deruni Shehr and Beruni Shehr, or the inner and outer city, and these are subdivided into several districts. Of the former splendours of &quot; Bokhara the Noble &quot; the remains are comparatively few, and the general appearance of the city is very disappointing. Vambery describes it as one of the dirtiest and most unhealthy places in all Asia. The streets are extremely narrow, and the houses, flat-roofed and built of sun-dried bricks on frameworks of wood, are small and only one story in height. The bazaars are very numerous, and each trade has its own. There are about thirty small caravanserais throughout the city, which serve partly as store-rooms and partly as inns. The largest building in Bokhara is the Mosque of Kelan, which was originally built by Timur, and was restored by Abdullah Khan. It occupies a square of 300 feet, and is surmounted by a dome 100 feet high. There the khan comes to pay his devotions on Fridays in the midst of his subjects. Among the other mosques, which are fabulously said by the inhabitants to number 3G5, the most important are the Mesdjidi Mogak, a subterranean building of uncer tain origin, and the Divanbeghi, which dates from 1629. In the neighbourhood of the latter is an open square, with a reservoir in the middle, which forms one of the favourite lounges of the people of Bokhara. On the opposite side rises the ark or palace of the khan, a gloomy building on an elevated site. Bokhara has long been regarded as the intellectual centre of Central Asia, and possesses a large number of educational establishments. There is hardly a street without its school, and the number of colleges or medresscs, set down too at 365 by the inhabitants, is really about 80. Of these the handsomest is Abdullah s, which was built ia 1372, and contains about 100 cells. Others date from 1426, 1529, and 1582; and one was founded by the Empress Catherine of Russia. The water supply of Bokhara is very defective, and the canals that convey it from the river are left in such an extreme state of filthiness, as readily to account for the prevalence of many forms of disease. The population was estimated by Meyendorff at about 70,000, and in this he was sup ported by Moorcroft and Khanikoff. Burncs raised the number to 150,000, and Wolff to 180,000 ; but it is now stated by Vambery at no more than 30,000.