Bukhara under the Arabian conquest
In his History of Bukhara, Marshall
mentions several rulers of Bukhara. The first one
was Abrui (or Abarzi), followed by two others: Kana
and Mak. R. Frye mentions a silver dish bearing the
name of another ruler of Bukhara, Dizo. Arabic-Persian
and Chinese sources provide us with much more data
on the seventh and eighth century rulers of Bukhara:
Bidun (died prior to 673 AD) Khutak Khatun (673-692
AD) Tugshada I (692-724 AD) Vardankhudat-usurper (706-709
AD) Tugshada II (724-738 AD) Kutaiba (738-753 AD)
Unidentified bukharkhudat-Tugshada III (753-768 AD)
Sukan (768-775 AD) Buniat (755-782 AD) O.I.
Smirnova proposes a somewhat different chronological
table of the rulers of Bukhara. It differs in the
dating and the way of reading names. O.I. Smirnova's
opinion is based upon comparing the Chinese and Arabic
written sources. Chinese Sha Dusaboti I Dusaboti II
Tsoidibo (Kyuidiba) Asilan (Dafudan-fali) Aarabic
name Shaba (Shaya'a) Bidun Khatun (his widow) Tukaspada
(Tugshada I) Varkhan-khudat (usurper) Tukaspada II
Kutaiba (Tukaspada ll's brother) Skan (Salan, Tukaspada
II's brother) Buniyyat (Tukaspada II's brother) reigned
for ten years between 760 and 780, killed by caliph
Mahdi's order
By the time of the first Arab campaigns against Bukhara,
began under the vice-regent of Khorasan Ubaydullah
ibn Ziyad (673-674) and continued under Said b. Usman
and Salmb. Ziyad (680-683), there were several independent
kingdoms in the Bukhara oasis: Bukhara itself, ruled
by the Bukhar-khudat Dynasty; Vardana, ruled by the
Vardan-khudats, descendants of Shapur, a Persian prince;
Karmana and Paikend, the merchants' city. Numismatic
evidence eloquently testifies to the fact that in
the Bukhara oasis there were independent kingdoms
that had the right to mint their own coins. V.A. Livshits
reads a Soghdian legend, stamped in the coins of so-called
Bukhara-Chinese type, A. Naimark, however, examined
coins of this type that were better preserved and
proposed deciphering the legend in a different way:
"magnificent city, the city of glory, the city
of grace". In his opinion, this interpretation
corresponds to the medieval name of Bukhara: Bukhara-i-Sharif.
He also supposes that a group of bronze coins, defined
comparatively recently, was minted by the rulers of
Vardana. The images on these coins show a predator
animal on the obverse and a Nestorian cross in the
reverse. At the same time, A. Musakayeva, who defined
several new coin-groups ("deer and cross"
and "ram and cross", apart from the "predator
and cross" group) suggested that these coins
were localized to the area of Varaksha. Among the
Bukhara-Chinese coins, according to A. Naimark, are
those bearing the Hestorian cross along with tamgas
to the left or below a square hole.
O.I. Smirnova says that the majority of Central Asian
coins bearing Christian symbols were minted by leaders
of Christian communities, not by rulers of certain
kingdoms. The strong influence of Christianity in
this region can be seen in the large number of coins
with Christian symbols found here, unlike in any other
Central Asian region. It is an established fact that
there was a Christian cathedral in Bukhara itself
which was later replaced by the Banu Khanzala, the
first mosque that Kutaiba. Muslim had built in this
city in the year 1334.
Currently, we do not know what kind of pre-Islamic
coinage existed in either Karmana or any other kingdom
in the Bukhara oasis. However, it is known that in
the seventh and eighth centuries there were copper
coins bearing the image of a Bactrian camel on the
obverse and a fire altar with a legend written in
Soghdian letters in the local Bukhara form. These
coins were used as currency in the Early Middle Ages.
They were minted in one of the kingdoms of the Bukhara
oasis. One more type of coin is also known, namely
one made of copper and bearing a three-quarter image
of the ruler with a Soghdian legend opposite his face.
V.A. Livshits reads this legend. A. Musakaeva links
this inscription with the village of Karnab, situated
to the south of the Bukhara oasis. Musakaeva has defined
thirteen independent coinages within the so-called
"Turan" coins. Apparently, each coinage
belonged to a separate principality that minted these
coins.
The first Arab campaigns were raids conducted in order
to acquire plunder. It is well known that Khutak-Khatun
paid a tribute to Ubaydullah b. Ziyad of one million
dirkhems and 4,000 slaves. Once Kutaiba ibn Muslim
was appointed as the vice-regent of Khorasan and general
commander of the Arab troops there, the conquest of
Maverannakhr proceeded systematically. In 706, Kutaiba
started a military campaign against Paikend with his
united army, which now included the troops of the
Chagan-khudat and other Central Asian rulers. Paikend
was seized after a fierce battle. The Arabs seized
many arms and valuables in the city.37 Then, having
seized Bukhara, Kutaiba routed the troops of the Bukhar-khudats
and their Turkic allies and demanded a tribute of
220,000 dirkhems to be paid to the Caliph and 10,000
dirkhems to be paid to the vice-regent of Khorasan.
Kutaiba stationed a permanent garrison of Arab soldiers
in the city and appointed Ayub b. Khasan as the first
Arab emir of Bukhara.38 At the same time the Bukhar-khudats
retained their power as co-rulers in their kingdom.
Once Kutaiba died in 715, Bukhara was no longer in
Arab control. In 110 Hijra (728-729), the Arabs lost
the city as a result of a powerful Soghdian uprising
supported by either Mos'o (Moschjo), a kagan of the
Western Turks, or Sulu, a kagan of the Turgeshes.
This situation lasted for a year,39 but then the city
felt under Arab control again.
The Arab tribes settled in Bukhara expressed their
opposition to the rise of the Abbasids to the power
of the Caliphate. This is evident in the anti-Abbasid
uprising led by Shariq ibn Shaikh Makhri that broke
out in 750. The leader of this uprising was supported
by the Arab authorities in Bukhara and the people
of the city. Abu Muslim sent Ziyad. Salih, a ruler
of Bukhara and Samarkand, to suppress the uprising
and the latter was successful in his action. The uprising
was suppressed with cruelty, and Bukhara was burnt
down in three days. Bukhar-khudat Kuteiba fought together
with the inhabitants of 700 castles against Shariq
b. Shaikh Makhri. However, despite his support of
the government troops, he was executed by Abu Muslim,
who convicted Kuteiba of betraying Islam.
During the third quarter of the eighth century, the
Arabs strengthened their power in Bukhara. The Bukhar-khudats
became only nominal rulers and gradually faded into
the background. In 148 Hijra(765-766), Ma'bad, an
Arab amir of Bukhara, minted felses for the first
time in history. It happened under Al-Mahdi, who was
a vice-regent at that time and who later became calipha
These felses contain only Arab legends reflecting
Islamic symbols, place, date, mintage, and the rulers'
names. However, some of the other coins of Ma'bad
retained the ancient symbol of the Bukhara rulers.
In 151 Hijra (768), al-Djunayb. Khalid, an arnil of
imam al-Mahd: minted felses in his own name as well.
The Bukhar-khudats supported Hashem b. Hakim (Mukanna)
who made Bukhara into one of the main centers of his
struggle against the Abbasids. The leaders of this
struggle were Mavali Tagif, Yusuf Qarm and the village
of Narshakh appears to have been a place where Mukanna's
partisans from all over Bukhara concentrated.
As soon as Mukanna's uprising was suppressed in 782
under vice-regent Museiba b. Zukheir 780-783, the
caliph's warriors killed the last Bukhar-khudat, Buniyyat,
who had supported the uprising of Mukanna42 The death
of Buniyyat ended the dynasty of the Bukhar-khudats
that had been ruling Bukhara for many centuries. This
event also completed the pre-Islamic period in the
history of Bukhara.
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