The ancient city - Bukhara
The ancient city of Bukhara was for
many centuries a major center of enlightenment and
religion in the East. It ranked among other cities
of Turkestan, such as Balkh, Herat, Men/ (Mary), Samarkand,
Termez, Nasaf (Karshi), Chach (or Shash, present-day
Tashkent), and Khorezm (Khiva) as a well-known center
of trade and culture.
During the Middle Ages, Bukhara was the trading and
administrative center of Maverannakhr. It lay on the
Silk Road, the ancient international trading route
that linked the countries of the Middle East to India
and China. This route also served in wartime as a
road for conquerors during their military campaigns.
At other times, it served merchant caravans but also
envoys, travelers, and dervishes.
Throughout history, Bukhara was periodically invaded,
plundered and terrorized. Despite this, during the
early Middle Ages, it became the primary center of
science and enlightenment in ancient Turan. Religion
and secular sciences (such as history, poetry, astronomy,
medicine, mathematics, and jurisprudence) developed
here. Great scientists and philosophers such as Ismail
Bukhari, Abu AH ibn Sina, Marshakhi, Rudaki, Dakiki,
Hoja Bahauddin Makshbandi, and many others led creative
lives in Bukhara. Over the years, dozens of madrasas
were erected for the education of thousands of students.
For centuries, Bukhara was famous not only for the
development of science, culture and trade, but also
as a large administrative center for Turkestan. It
was the capital of the ancient state of Bukhara whose
population was situated downstream from the Zarafshan
(sixth to eighth centuries A.D.). It was also the
capital of a number of other states, including the
Samanid Dynasty (ninth to tenth centuries), the Sheybanid
Empire (sixteenth century), the Ashtarkhanid Dynasty
(seventeenth to eighteenth centuries), the Bukhara
Emirate (eighteenth to twentieth centuries) and the
Bukhara People's Soviet Republic (1920 to 1924).
Despite the fact that Bukhara is credited with many
important historical events, there are few written
records of its history. Although Bukhara is mentioned
in some ancient sources, only the western section
of ancient Soghdiana is referred to, not the city
itself. A brief but more accurate description of the
city is found in Chinese sources dating back to the
early Middle Ages.
There is no accurate data on the age of this ancient
city, known in the Muslim world as "Kubbat ul-Islam"
and "Bukhara-i-Sharif." Written sources
that have been preserved do not provide the information
necessary to determine the exact age of Bukhara. Based
on legends taken from Narshakhi's History of Bukhara,
the people of Bukhara claim that the city has been
around for three millennia1.
Mukhammad Narshakhi's History of Bukhara, written
in Arabic and translated into Persian in 1288 by Abu
Masr Akhmad Kubavi2, a courtier and translator from
Ferghana, has been one of the most valuable sources
of information about the city's history. Abu nasr
Akhmad Kubavi asserts that Mukhammad ibn Djafar Narshakhi
did not give credit to the chapter about the emergence
of Bukhara which, according to Akhmad Kubavi, was
taken from the Treasury of Knowledge, a medieval book
by Abulhasan Hishapuri which has not survived3. In
this chapter, Abulhasan nishapuri elaborately describes
the historic and geographic process that formed the
Bukhara oasis along with its landscape, hydrography,
flora and fauna, the hunting, fishing, and farming
activities of the people, how the population of Bukhara
got there, and where they came from4.
According to Nishapuri, the people of Turkestan were
attracted by the abundance of plants and animals.
There was no the city as such but some villages (with
names such as Nut, Kharkanrud, Vardana, Taravcha,
and Safna Is-vana) were established. The History of
Bukhara recounts that the western area of this territory
was preferred for habitation. The people who came
to the place where Bukhara is now situated initially
lived in tents and yurts and, later, in houses they
built for themselves.
Abulhasan nishapuri links the construction of the
Bukhara Ark with a legendary Iranian prince, Siyavush.
Siyavush ibn Kaykawus had fled from his father, crossed
the Djeykhun River and was welcomed by Prince Afrasiab
who then married him to his daughter. Afrasiab also
granted him an apanage within the
Bukhara district. Siyavush liked this place so much
that he decided to build the Bukhara fortress where
he spent most of his time. But, because of some provocation,
Afrasiab killed Siyavush and buried him at the entrance
of the eastern gate of Ark, "Darvaza Quriyan"
(which means "The Maysellers' Gate").
Narshakhi recounts that after Siyavush had been killed,
his son Kaykhusraw, longing to revenge his father's
murder, summoned a large army and set off for Bukhara6.
Afrasiab found refuge in the Ramitan fortress, which
Kaykhusraw besieged for two years. Kaykhusraw attacked
Afrasiab from the Ramus settlement he built opposite
Ramitan. Finally, Kaykhusraw managed to conquer the
fortress and kill Afrasiab. This legendary ruler of
Turan was buried on the Khadji Imom Abu Khafs Kabir
hill near the Mabad Gate of Bukhara, narshakhi asserts
that "these events occurred over three millennia
ago"7.
Similar legendary data that hints at the age of Bukhara
is scattered throughout the pages of narshakhi's book.
As a tenth century writer said, "the townsfolk
of Bukhara sang a mourning song called 'Kini Siyavush'
— 'The Battle of Siyavush.'" narshakhi
repeats that these events took place "a millennia
ago." Thus, according to narshakhi, Afrasiab
built Bukhara and Ramitan, Siyavush — the Bukhara
Ark, and Kaykhusraw, a son of Siyavush — the
Ramish fortress. If we take this date as the benchmark,
then the age of the Bukhara Ark would be over 4,000
years while that of Bukhara would be about 3,000 years,
but not 4,000 as the townspeople of Bukhara assert.
While talking about the date of the establishment
of Bukhara, attention should be given to one more
piece of trustworthy evidence attributed to narshakhi's
book. It covers the period when Bukhara had not yet
developed into an urban unit, narshakhi writes: "The
population increased and one man was elected to be
emir. His name was Abruy"8. Thus, the first ruler
of Bukhara was Abruy, who was a historical figure,
unlike Afrasiab or Siyavush. Sources mention that
in the 580s he led a popular uprising against the
ruling powers in Paikend. To suppress it, landlords
from Bukhara and Paikend asked the Turkic Kagan Karachurin
for assistance. Kagan Karachurin sent a large army
under the command of his son Sher-i-Koshvar to Bukhara.
In 586, the uprising was suppressed and Abruy was
killed.
According to Narshakhi, Sher-i-Kishvar built the Shakhristan
in Bukhara, as well as the Mamastin, Sakhmatin, Samtin,
and Farab settlements. If the above-mentioned date
can be believed, then Bukhara should only be about
1400 years old, not 3000 to 4000 years. Thus there
are two contradictory dates for the founding of Bukhara.
In addition, Narshakhi talks about the settling of
the Bukhara oasis. The author asserts that such big
settlements as Vardana, Varah-sha, Paikend, Ramush
and Ramitan are "older than Bukhara"9, Narshakhi
writes that Vardana was a big settlement containing
the Kuhandiz Ark, a fortified inner city. From "time
immemorial" the rulers of Vardana — the
Vardan-khudats — resided here. Vardana was founded
much earlier than Bukhara. It was built by the Samanid
prince, Shapur Khusraw I (531 to 578 A.D.) and situated
on the fringe of Turkestan. Remnants of the old Vardana
settlement, now known as Vardanze, have survived as
a large hill. Vardana, riarshakhi believed, was older
than Bukhara, having been built in the 6th century
A.D.
The book mentions that rulers had residences in Varahsha
and Paikend as well as Vardana. "The big settlement
that was the residence of the shah bore the name of
Paikend"10. The author implies that Kalai Da-busi
(The Dabusi fortress) was a city. There are some books
that use the name Ramitan Bukhara. "In ancient
times, this was the rulers' residence and later on,
after the emergence of Bukhara, rulers used it only
as a winter residence. The same happened during its
transition to an Islamic state."" By analyzing
Narshakhi's data, we may conclude that the Ramitan
fortress was named Bukhara in ancient times.
It is important to note that Narshakhi gives contradictory
information on who built Vardana, Paikend, Ramitan,
Varahsha, and Ramush and when Bukhara emerged. This
information rests on legends that circulated among
folklore narrators. If the sixth century is accepted
as the limit according to this valuable source, one
can definitely assert that the author of The History
of Bukhara had no idea about the earliest features
of the history of the city or the age of Bukhara.
The opportunity to resolve this problem came later,
after archaeologists had conducted research on Bukhara
and other old urban centers around the oasis, namely
Vardana, Paikend, Varahsha, Ramitan and Ramush.
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