Abstract:

In the survey, the structure of religious enrichment of the Bukhara Emirate in the late 19th and early 20th centuries is highlighted based on historical sources, archival documents, and contemporary studies. (In numerous international historical sources, the “Bukhara Emirate” is modified to the “Bukhara Khanate” as one of the Central Asian khanates. These terms have the same meaning, but in local sources, the term "Emirate of Bukhara" refers to the period during the Manghit dynasty (1756-1920)).

In the historiography of the Soviet era, the Emirate of Bukhara is described as a conservative state that adheres only to Islam. However, Bukhara has long been not only the center of Islam but also the location of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Hinduism, and Christianity.

By the second half of the 19th century, when the Emirate of Bukhara became a Russian protectorate, Orthodox Christianity spread in the region. Consequently, the number of churches, their houses of worship, also increased. This was due to the establishment of Russian settlements (colonies) in Bukhara since 1888. Contemporary research and documents indicate that representatives of more than twenty nationalities were transferred there, including the Slavic population (Russian, Ukrainian, Belorussian), Caucasians (Armenian, Georgian, Ossetian, Azerbaijani, etc.), nations from Eastern countries (Afghanistan, Turkey, India, Iran, etc.), German-Mennonites, and even Baltic nations (Lithuanian, Estonian, Latvian), former prisoners of the First World War (German, Austrian, Czech, Polish, Slavic, Romanian, Hungarian, etc.), and representatives of the local population (Uzbek, Tajik, Kyrgyz, and Kazakh). Islam (Sunni, Shia), Judaism (Bukhara Jews, Ashkinazis, Sephardi), Hinduism, and Christianity (Orthodox, Protestant; Starover, Baptist, Mennonite, Sigovo, Molokan) were among the religions represented.

Thus, Bukhara has long been a multi-religious and multi-ethnic country, where there were signs of tolerance. The inviolability of the religious and confessional life of Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Christianity in the Bukhara Emirate in the late 19th and early 20th centuries is characterized by the fact that the last Manghit emirs (Amir Muzaffarkhan (1860-1885), Amir Abdulahadkhan (1885-1910), and Amir Olimkhan(1910-1920)) pursued a socially moderate policy in state governance compared to other Eastern countries.There is a need for a scientific and objective re-examination of Soviet historiography or other historical materials of this colonial period.