History of Bukhara

History of Bukhara: A fascinating look at the centuries-old beauty and cultural grandeur of a legendary city

Bukhara is an oasis city, the largest settlement in the middle of the desert. The city, once situated on the Great Silk Road, is one of the oldest – the history of Bukhara goes back over 2500 years.

Bukhara embodies the centuries-old history of ancient traditions with Islam. It is a city with an incredible atmosphere of wisdom, holiness and teaching. Once you arrive in this city, you find yourself in another world and on another planet. An incredible mix of cultural, religious and ethnic civilizations made Bukhara a city of unforgettable experiences.

Zoroastrians, Christians, Jews, Buddhists lived on the territory of Bukhara region. At the end of the IX century Bukhara became one of the most important Islamic and cultural centres in Central Asia. For several centuries travelers, pilgrims, preachers and researchers have been coming here. Bukhara is a pearl of scientific, religious and philosophical knowledge.

The religious and scientific personalities of their time lived and studied here: Alisher Navoi, Abu Ali ibn Sino, Al-Bukhari and many others. They were the most famous followers of the spiritual-philosophical teachings of Sufism. Their knowledge has been preserved in this country. They created incredible material and immaterial monuments, made discoveries and built madrasahs and mosques of unimaginable beauty.

The first historical records were made by Narshakhi in “History of Bukhara” in the 10th century. In his work he described the ancient fortress of Ark, which can still be visited today. Like Samarkand, Bukhara passed from one conqueror to another for many centuries. All inhabitants of Bukhara remember their rulers and know them very well.

Archaeological evidence of early times – the settlement layer of Paikend and the oasis of Zarafshan
The region around Bukhara was already inhabited in prehistoric times. Archaeological excavations in the area, particularly at Paikend, a precursor of urban settlements southwest of Bukhara, indicate continuous settlement since the 2nd millennium BC. The earliest traces of settlement belong to the so-called Sapalli culture – a Bronze Age civilisation that developed in the area of today’s Zerafshan Oasis.

This early advanced civilisation developed irrigation systems for agricultural use of the oasis landscape and created the basis for permanent settlements. The fertile oasis with access to watercourses, in particular the Amu Darya (Oxus), encouraged the development of agricultural production, trade and later urban structures. The transition from nomadic lifestyles to settled agriculture was a significant step in the development of the region and laid the foundations for later cities such as Bukhara.

Ancient Iranian period and Sogdian heyday – the birth of a trading metropolis
In the first millennium BC, the area of today’s Bukhara belonged to the cultural sphere of the ancient Iranian world. The influence of the Achaemenids – the first Persian empire – is archaeologically documented, although their control over remote Sogdia was probably indirect. Later, after the fall of the Achaemenids through the conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC, Transoxania was integrated into the Seleucid Empire and then into the Greco-Bactrian kingdom.

During the Hellenistic period, cities in Sogdia increasingly developed into urban centres with fortified complexes, marketplaces, administrative buildings and temples. Even though Bukhara did not yet exist on the scale it does today, Sogdian culture laid the foundations for its later prosperity. The Sogdians – an Iranian-speaking people – were famous for their role as traders, mediators and cultural carriers along the early Silk Road. They controlled large parts of the trade between China, India, Iran and the Mediterranean world.

During this period, Bukhara developed from a fortified village into an up-and-coming urban settlement, whose favourable location on important trade routes gave it increasing economic importance. The Sogdian influence manifested itself not only in the language and religion, but also in the urban architecture, administration and social structures.

Cultural diversity in antiquity – Zoroastrianism, Buddhism and trade religions
In ancient times, Bukhara was a culturally and religiously pluralistic centre. In addition to the dominant Sogdian population, traders, settlers and missionaries from India, China, Iran and later Byzantium were present in the city. Zoroastrianism was the predominant religion for centuries – temples of fire and holy sites of this doctrine were also built in Bukhara.

However, with the growing influence of long-distance trade and trans-regional contacts, other religious movements also arrived in the region: Buddhist missionaries reached Bukhara from India and Bactria, and there is evidence of Buddhist monasteries and stupas in the vicinity of the city. Manichaeism, a syncretic world religion with Iranian roots, and early Christianity in its Nestorian form also found their way into the region.

This religious diversity testifies to the open character of the city in antiquity and its function as a cultural melting pot between East and West. Tolerance towards different faiths was less an expression of ideological openness than a practical necessity in a city that thrived on international exchange.

The city in the focus of the great powers – from the Kushan Empire to the Hephthalites
Between the 1st and 5th centuries AD, Bukhara repeatedly came under the control of changing empires, including the Kushan Empire, which stretched from northern India to Transoxania, and later the Hephthalites, a Central Asian nomadic people with Iranian and Hunnic elements.

Under these rulers, Bukhara became a consolidated city with an urban infrastructure, an organised craft system, trade guilds and a differentiated religious life. Coin finds, inscriptions and reports from Chinese envoys attest to the economic rise of the city and its increasing integration into supra-regional networks.

Arab conquest and Islamisation
The Islamisation of Bukhara was part of the large-scale expansion of the Arab Umayyad dynasty into the East. Under the military leadership of Qutayba ibn Muslim, Bukhara was incorporated into the Arab caliphate in 709 AD after fierce battles. The transition to Islam was initially slow. The local population – mainly Sogdians with a Zoroastrian and Buddhist background – showed resistance to the new religion and its political implications.

However, the Arab governors pursued a consistent policy of Islamisation. Mosques were built, Arabic language and culture were introduced, and a skilful combination of pressure and integration succeeded in permanently integrating Bukhara into the Islamic cultural sphere. The Juma Mosque (Friday Mosque) became the spiritual centre of the city, and with it began the new religious architecture that still characterises the cityscape today.

The Samanids – a Persian-Islamic renaissance
However, Bukhara experienced its real rise to prosperity under the Samanid dynasty, which ruled over large parts of Central Asia and Iran from 819 to 999. The Samanids, originally of Persian descent, were vassals of the Abbasid caliphate, but developed into de facto independent rulers with a clear vision: they combined Islam with the revitalisation of Persian culture and language.

In 892, Bukhara was declared the capital of the Samanid Empire – a political act of enormous significance. In the following decades, the city became the centre of a cultural awakening that put it on a par with Baghdad, Cairo and Córdoba. It was an era in which theology, philosophy, poetry, science and architecture flourished to an unprecedented extent.

Bukhara as a centre of Islamic scholarship
In the ‘Golden Age’ under the Samanids, Bukhara established itself as one of the most important intellectual centres of the Islamic world. Important madrasas (Koranic schools) were founded and the city attracted scholars, poets and philosophers from all over the caliphate. The madrasa complexes not only taught Koran exegesis, Islamic law and hadith science, but also philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, medicine and poetry.

The most famous son of this era was undoubtedly Ibn Sina, known in the West as Avicenna. The polymath was born near Bukhara and received his education in the city. His medical work ‘Canon of Medicine’ remained the definitive textbook in Europe and the Islamic world for centuries. The scholar Al-Farabi and the poet Rudaki, who is considered the father of Persian literature, also worked in or near Bukhara and made the city a shining centre of the intellectual world.

Architecture and urbanism of the heyday
The material manifestation of this cultural upswing can be seen impressively in the architecture. The Samanid Mausoleum, built towards the end of the 9th century for Ismail Samani, the most important ruler of the dynasty, is one of the oldest surviving Islamic buildings in Central Asia. It is considered a masterpiece of early Islamic brick architecture, which set standards both technically and aesthetically.

The mausoleum was built in clear geometric shapes, with artistically patterned bricks that create an almost textile effect. It exemplifies the combination of Persian building tradition with Islamic symbolism – an expression of the cultural synthesis that characterised the Samanid Empire.

Urban planning was also decisively developed during this period. The urban structure of Bukhara was reorganised: In addition to mosques and madrasas, caravanserais, bazaars, palaces and baths were built. Public life flourished and Bukhara became a magnet for traders, craftsmen, intellectuals and pilgrims.

Religious significance and the title ‘Dome of Islam’
In addition to its political and cultural function, Bukhara developed into an important religious centre of Sunni Islam in the course of this century. The city became a centre of the Hanafi school of law, one of the four major schools of law in Sunni Islam. Many of the most influential Hanafi jurists of the time worked in Bukhara, and their teachings spread from here across Central Asia and beyond.

The nickname ‘Qubbat al-Islām’ – ‘Dome of Islam’ was an expression of this spiritual significance. The city was regarded as a bastion of orthodox Islamic teachings and became an ideal antithesis to other religious centres such as Baghdad or Cairo.

The end of the Golden Age
The Golden Age came to an abrupt end with the invasion of the Qarakhanids at the end of the 10th century, followed by further conquests by the Ghaznavids and finally the devastating attacks of the Mongols in the 13th century. The Samanid dynasty collapsed, its cultural splendour faded and Bukhara was destroyed and rebuilt several times over the following centuries.

However, the spiritual and cultural heritage of this period was preserved. The foundations laid in the Golden Age formed the basis for the subsequent Islamic civilisations in Central Asia and had a lasting influence on the entire Islamic world.

Turkic rule – the legacy of the Samanids in new hands
After the fall of the Samanid dynasty towards the end of the 10th century, Bukhara initially fell under the control of the Karakhanids, a Turkic dynasty that professed Islam and ruled Transoxania between 999 and around 1212. The Karakhanids deliberately favoured continuity and continued many of the cultural and administrative structures established by the Samanids. Under their rule, Bukhara remained an important centre of Islamic scholarship and religious education, particularly within the framework of the Hanafite school of law.

Despite cultural continuity, the ethnic and social structure of the city changed: the Turkic elite increasingly moved into central positions of power, while the Persian-speaking population dominated culturally. From then on, this synthesis of Turkish leadership and Persian-Islamic high culture characterised the image of many Central Asian cities.

From the early 12th century, the Karakhanids were followed by the Khorezm Shahs, another important dynasty that controlled large parts of Central Asia from its centre on the Aral Sea. They also saw Bukhara as an important bastion of religious authority and economic significance. The city’s prosperity at this time was based on flourishing trade, traditional crafts and its role as the intellectual centre of the Islamic world.

The Mongol invasion – devastation and destruction
The 13th century brought a caesura in the history of Bukhara that left deep wounds. Under the command of Genghis Khan, the Mongols attacked Bukhara in 1220 during their campaign against the Khorezm Empire. The conquest of the city was brutal. Contemporary sources report massive destruction, looting and a devastating massacre of the civilian population. The legendary anecdote that Genghis Khan climbed onto the pulpit of the main mosque and proclaimed: ‘I am the punishment of God’ is symbolic of the extent of the devastation.

Although Bukhara was subsequently rebuilt, under Mongol rule – particularly by the Ilkhans and later under the control of the Chagatai khans – the city initially lost its leading political and economic position. Nevertheless, the Mongol conquerors managed to respect Islamic institutions and later to enter the religious and cultural fabric themselves. From the late 13th century onwards, large sections of the Mongolian elite embraced Islam, ushering in a new phase of cultural integration.

The Timurid Renaissance – resurgence through art, science and spirituality
The rise of the Central Asian conqueror Timur (Tamerlan) in the late 14th century marked the beginning of a new era for Bukhara. Although Samarkand was Timur’s preferred centre of power, Bukhara remained an important city within his empire – both as a spiritual centre and as a place of religious education and traditional scholarship.

The Timurid Renaissance was a cultural heyday that raised art, architecture, literature and science to a new level. Timur and his successors specifically promoted the reconstruction of destroyed cities, the restoration of Islamic educational institutions and the employment of artists, architects, mathematicians and theologians. Bukhara benefited from this policy: new mosques, madrasas and mausoleums were built or extensively restored. The old caravanserais were also revitalised and served the flourishing trade along the Silk Road.

The promotion of the Naqshbandiyya, an influential Islamic mystical Sufi order, whose namesake Baha’uddin Naqshband was born not far from Bukhara, played a special role in this. The Naqshbandiyya combined spiritual asceticism with social commitment and developed into the most influential religious movement in the region in the 15th century. Under the patronage of the Timurids, Bukhara became a spiritual centre of the order, whose influence extended far beyond the borders of Transoxania – as far as India, Persia and the Ottoman Empire.

Intellectual continuity despite political upheavals
Despite political instability, wars and occupations, Bukhara remained an intellectual beacon throughout all these centuries. The city maintained its position as one of the most important centres of Islamic education. Its madrasas attracted students from all over the Muslim world, its libraries were legendary and its theological debates trend-setting.

Even during its temporary marginalisation after the Mongol invasion, the ‘science of Islam’ – the so-called ʿIlm al-dīn – remained alive in Bukhara. The Hanafi school of law continued to dominate the understanding of law, supplemented by philosophical and mystical currents.

With the end of Timurid rule and the beginning of the dominance of the Uzbek Shaybanids in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, a new historical epoch dawned in Bukhara. This period was characterised by political upheaval, territorial reorganisation and a remarkable cultural renaissance, which made Bukhara one of the most important centres of the Islamic world. Under the Shaybanid dynasty and the subsequent establishment of the Khanate of Bukhara, the city was transformed from a regional centre to a capital with supra-regional influence in politics, science, religion and architecture.

The rise of the Shaybanids – assumption of power by Muhammad Shaybani Khan
The Shaybanids, an Uzbek ruling dynasty, derived their lineage from Shayban, a grandson of Genghis Khan. They belonged to the so-called ‘Abulkhairids’, an important tribal organisation of Central Asian Uzbeks, who gained increasing influence in Transoxania and present-day Uzbekistan in the 15th century.

The decisive turning point came in 1500, when Muhammad Shaybani Khan, a charismatic and militarily successful leader, captured Samarkand with his Uzbek cavalry troops and ousted the last Timurid rulers from the region. In 1506, he succeeded in conquering Bukhara, and shortly afterwards also took Herat, the cultural centre of the Timurid Empire at the time. With these successes, Shaybani Khan consolidated a new centre of power in Transoxania – the Shaybanid Khanate – with Samarkand and Bukhara as its most important cities.

Bukhara under the early Shaybanids – from provincial city to centre of power
Although Samarkand initially remained the capital, Bukhara increasingly gained political and religious importance under the Shaybanids. After the death of Shaybani Khan in 1510 in a battle against the Safavid troops of Persia, a phase of internal power struggles began among the Shaybanids. During this phase, Bukhara became a favoured seat of power due to its strategic location, economic infrastructure and religious institutions.

The official status of Bukhara as the capital of the Shaybanid Empire was only permanently established later, under Abdullah Khan II (r. 1557-1598). He was the most important ruler of the Shaybanid era. During his long reign, Bukhara not only became a permanent seat of government, but also developed into a cultural beacon of the Islamic world.

Political organisation and religious legitimacy
The Shaybanids knew how to stabilise their rule through a skilful combination of military power, dynastic legitimacy (through their Genghisid ancestry) and religious authority. They co-operated closely with the influential ulama (Islamic scholars) and the leaders of the Sufi orders, especially the Naqshbandiyya, which was deeply rooted in Bukhara.

Under Abdullah Khan II, a centralised administrative system was established, based on local governors (bek or hakim), a standing army and a network of religious foundations (waqf). As the capital, Bukhara became the seat of a powerful court with diplomatic connections to Persia, India, the Ottoman Empire and Russia.

Cultural and architectural heyday
The period of Shaybanid rule was characterised by a renaissance of Islamic science, literature and architecture. Important madrasas, mosques, caravanserais and markets were built in Bukhara, which still characterise the cityscape today.

Among the outstanding building projects were:

• The Mir-i-Arab madrasah (built in the 1530s by Abdullah Khan II), a symbol of religious scholarship and one of the most important Islamic educational centres in Central Asia.
• The Kalon Mosque and the Kalon Minaret, which date back to Timurid times, have been restored and supplemented with new buildings.
• The Labi-Hauz complex, an ensemble around an artificial water basin, was built under the subsequent Janid dynasty, but had its conceptual origins in Shaybanid urbanism.

The Shaybanids also patronised the arts, particularly miniature painting, calligraphy and poetry. Bukhara became a centre of book art, chronology and legal-theological research. During this period, numerous manuscript commentaries, historical chronicles and Islamic legal works were produced and taught in the city’s madrasas.

Economic boom and international network
The political stability under Abdullah Khan II also enabled economic consolidation. Bukhara benefited from the flourishing trade along the Silk Road, particularly in exchange with Persia, India and China. The city became an important trading centre for silk, cotton, precious metals, spices and manuscripts. An elaborate network of caravanserais, bazaars and warehouses emphasised Bukhara’s role as a trading hub.

At the same time, Bukhara developed into a hub for diplomatic contacts. Legations from Safavid Persia, the Mughal Empire of India, the Ottoman Empire and later Tsarist Russia regularly travelled to the court of the Shaybanids.

The transition to the Janid dynasty and the continued existence of the khanate
With the death of Abdullah Khan II in 1598, the rule of the Shaybanids over Bukhara came to an end. The dynasty was replaced by the Astarkhanids (also known as Janids), a collateral line of the Genghisids. Nevertheless, the Khanate of Bukhara continued to exist as a political entity, and many institutional and cultural structures of the Shaybanid era were adopted and further developed.

Although the Janid period led to a decline in centralised state power and increasing fragmentation, Bukhara remained one of the most important metropolises in the Islamic Orient.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Bukhara, once a proud centre of Islamic scholarship and the influential capital of a khanate, increasingly became the geopolitical focus of the major imperial powers. In the course of the ‘Great Game’ – the colonial competition between the Russian Tsarist Empire and the British Empire for supremacy in Central Asia – Bukhara became a strategic target of Russian expansionist policy. The subsequent establishment of Russian influence and the far-reaching social and political transformations under Soviet rule heralded a fundamental change in the history of the city, which was accompanied by both losses and innovations.

The advance of the Tsarist Empire – political influence and economic integration
As early as the early 19th century, the Russian Tsarist Empire attempted to consolidate its influence in Central Asia through diplomatic missions, trade agreements and military presence. The treaty of 1842 between the Khanate of Bukhara and the Tsarist Empire authorised the establishment of a Russian consulate in Bukhara – a first step towards political influence. At the same time, Russia gained economic control over the region through the expansion of trade links via Orenburg and Tashkent.

However, the decisive turning point came in the second half of the 19th century: in the course of their imperial expansion, Russian troops subjugated large parts of Central Asia between 1865 and 1873. In 1868, the neighbouring Emirate of Samarkand was militarily occupied, and in 1873 Russian forces under General Kaufmann invaded the Khanate of Bukhara. The ruling Emir Muzaffar ad-Din was forced to recognise the military defeat and signed a vassal treaty that formally left Bukhara autonomous, but in fact made it a protectorate of the Russian Empire.

The Emirate of Bukhara under Russian suzerainty (1873-1920)
While the khanate was transformed into an emirate and retained its monarchical structure, it was henceforth subject to strict supervision by a Russian ‘political agent’ in the capital. The emir nominally retained his powers, but decisions on foreign policy, trade, customs policy and military affairs were de facto made in St. Petersburg or by the governor-general’s administration in Tashkent.

At the same time, the tsarist administration pursued a policy of economic integration: railway lines such as the Trans-Caspian Railway connected Bukhara with Russian industrial centres, Russian entrepreneurs set up commercial branches and modern infrastructure, and Russian goods increasingly dominated the local markets.

The Emir’s rule continued to be supported by many of Bukhara’s inhabitants – especially the religiously conservative elite – but growing social inequality, economic dependence and political powerlessness led to tensions within the population.

Reform movements and national renewal – the Jadidists
Around the turn of the century, an influential reform-oriented movement developed within Bukhara’s intellectual and religious circles – the Jadidists (‘renewers’). This educational and reform movement advocated the modernisation of Islamic education, the introduction of Western-influenced sciences, the strengthening of national identity and moderate democratisation.

Led by personalities such as Abdurauf Fitrat and Munawwar Qari, the Jadidists attempted to establish new madrasas (so-called ‘usul-i-jadid’ schools) that combined traditional Islamic content with modern subjects such as science, history and geography. They published newspapers and pamphlets calling for the renewal of society and saw the Russian Empire as both a source of technological modernity and a colonial threat.

However, the authoritarian attitude of the Emirati rulers – especially the last Emir Said Alim Khan (r. 1911-1920) – prevented a far-reaching realisation of the reform plans. The split between conservative ulema and progressive-minded Jadidists became increasingly acute.

The Bolshevik Revolution and the fall of the Emirate
The October Revolution in Russia in 1917 and the collapse of the Tsarist Empire opened up a new power vacuum for revolutionary movements in Central Asia. In Bukhara, tensions intensified between the conservative forces of the emirate and the socialist reformers, who formed an alliance under the leadership of the Jadidists and Bolshevik-oriented groups.

After a failed popular uprising in 1918, the Emir was initially supported, but the Red Army and Central Asian revolutionaries undertook a second, this time successful, offensive in 1920. On 2 September 1920, the Emirate of Bukhara was officially abolished after fierce resistance by the Emir’s troops. Said Alim Khan fled into exile in Afghanistan. He was replaced by the People’s Republic of Bukhara, a Soviet-orientated satellite state.

The Soviet reorganisation – socialist transformation and cultural upheaval
The establishment of the People’s Republic of Bukhara (1920-1924) marked the beginning of the systematic integration of the region into the Soviet state structure. The People’s Republic was initially run as an autonomous political entity within the Soviet sphere of influence, but as early as 1924 the People’s Republic was dissolved and incorporated into the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR). Bukhara lost its status as the capital and became a provincial city in Soviet Uzbekistan.

The Soviet reorganisation affected all areas of life:

• Politically, a centralised party structure was introduced; opposition groups, especially religious elites and former Jadidists, were persecuted or systematically marginalised.
• In religious terms, Soviet religious policy led to the closure of mosques and madrasas. Many of the spiritual institutions for which Bukhara had been famous for centuries were expropriated or secularised.
• Economically, agriculture was collectivised, trade was nationalised and the traditional craft industry was pushed back in favour of industrial planning.
• Culturally, the region underwent aggressive Sovietisation: the Arabic script was replaced by the Latin alphabet and later by the Cyrillic alphabet; local customs and holidays were replaced by Soviet rituals; national identities were reshaped by the ideology of internationalism.

Resistance and repression – the Basmatchen uprising
However, the Soviet reorganisation also provoked massive resistance. The so-called Basmatchen movement – a broad-based guerrilla movement made up of former emir loyalists, tribal militias, religious leaders and nationalist groups – fought against the Soviet occupation until the end of the 1920s. There were repeated uprisings, sabotage and armed clashes in Bukhara and the surrounding area.

The Soviet response was brutal repression: thousands of people were arrested, executed or deported. The Basmach movement was crushed militarily by 1931, after which the Soviet claim to power in Central Asia was irreversibly cemented.

Rediscovery of cultural identity after independence
With the collapse of the Soviet Union and Uzbekistan’s independence in 1991, a new era began for Bukhara. The city, which had been under Soviet central planning for decades, became part of a national strategy to revitalise cultural and religious identity. Bukhara played a prominent role in this, as it was seen as a symbol of Uzbekistan’s historical heritage.

The post-Soviet government under Islam Karimov recognised the symbolic potential of the city early on: as a former centre of Islamic scholarship, home to important philosophers such as Imam al-Bukhari and a repository of the architectural heritage of the Timurids and Sheibanids, Bukhara was integrated into the official narrative of Uzbek national history.

In this context, a targeted restoration of historical buildings that had been neglected or profaned during the Soviet era took place. Mosques, madrasas, mausoleums and caravanserais were restored with the support of national and international partners – including UNESCO – while new monuments, memorials and museums were created to emphasise the importance of Bukhara in Uzbekistan’s history.

UNESCO World Heritage Site and tourism development
A milestone in the new perception of Bukhara was the inclusion of the old town of Bukhara (‘Historical Centre of Bukhara’) on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1993. This recognition was based on the extraordinary stock of Islamic architecture that has been preserved almost continuously over the centuries.

The most important monuments include

• the Kalon Mosque and the Kalon Minaret,
• the Mir-i-Arab Medrese,
• the Lyabi-Hauz complex,
• the Ark Citadel
• and the Mausoleum of the Samanids.

These buildings are not only under protection, but have also been extensively restored in recent decades and integrated into tourist utilisation concepts. The historic city centre of Bukhara has been partially traffic-calmed, new hotels have been built in the traditional style and the infrastructure for visitors from home and abroad has been expanded.

Bukhara has thus developed into one of the most important tourist attractions in Uzbekistan – together with Samarkand and Khiva, it forms the ‘Golden Triangle’ of Central Asian cultural tourism. The city welcomes several hundred thousand visitors every year, including many from Europe, East Asia and increasingly also from the Gulf region.

Social change and religious renaissance
Parallel to the economic and cultural change, Bukhara experienced a religious renaissance. Following the collapse of the atheistic Soviet order, Islam once again became an increasingly important part of public and private life. Mosques were reopened or newly built, religious holidays were officially recognised and Islamic education was gradually re-admitted.

New madrasas and Islamic universities were established in Bukhara, with the spiritual legacy of Imam al-Bukhari († 870), a hadith scholar born nearby, being particularly emphasised. Today, his name can be found in schools, institutes and on monuments – an expression of a state-sponsored reception of Islam that is based on tolerance, spiritual education and cultural identity, but clearly distances itself from extremist movements.

At the same time, Uzbekistan’s religious policy remains restrictive towards groups that are not controlled or influenced from abroad, meaning that the Islamic renaissance in Bukhara is strongly characterised by state structures.

Economy, education and urban development
Bukhara’s economy has also changed in recent decades. In addition to tourism, traditional crafts – especially silk weaving, ceramics, wood carving and metalwork – are once again playing a central role. In specialised workshops, bazaars and craft centres, products are not only manufactured for local needs, but also specifically for the export and tourist market.

University education is also a growing sector. Bukhara is home to Bukhara State University, one of the most traditional universities in Uzbekistan, which offers programmes in history, architecture, tourism, economics and natural sciences. In cooperation with international organisations, there is an increasing focus on bilingualism, digitalisation and international mobility.

In terms of urban development, Bukhara is undergoing a gentle but far-reaching modernisation: new residential districts are being built on the outskirts of the city, while the historic old town is being protected by urban development measures. The balance between preservation and renewal is a constant challenge, especially in view of the pressure from growing tourism.

International cooperation and cultural diplomacy
Today, Bukhara plays a central role in Uzbekistan’s cultural diplomacy. The city regularly hosts international conferences, festivals and scientific symposia. Events such as the ‘Festival of the Golden Silk Road’ or the ‘International Symposium for Islamic Culture’ attract specialised audiences from all over the world.

Bukhara also cooperates with partner cities in Europe and Asia and is part of numerous UNESCO programmes for the preservation of intangible cultural heritage, particularly in the field of traditional music and craftsmanship.