# The Emirate of Bukhara (1785–1920)

> The last pre-Soviet state to rule Bukhara — a theocratic emirate that became a Russian protectorate in 1868 and was abolished by the Red Army in 1920.

The **Emirate of Bukhara** was the state that governed central Uzbekistan from 1785 (when the Manghit dynasty took power) until the Bolshevik revolution abolished it in September 1920.

Key events:

- **1842**: Emir Nasrullah Khan executes British envoys Charles Stoddart and Arthur Conolly in the Bug Pit at the Ark. The incident becomes a cause célèbre in Britain.
- **1868**: Russian general Kaufman takes Samarkand and imposes a protectorate on Bukhara. The emir retains internal autonomy but loses foreign policy and military independence.
- **1868–1920**: the emirate exists as a Russian/Soviet vassal. Last emir: Muhammad Alim Khan (r. 1911–1920).
- **September 1920**: Red Army general Frunze shells the Ark, overthrows the emirate. Alim Khan flees to Afghanistan with the treasury.

The emirate was deeply conservative:
- Sharia law, including public executions and the Bug Pit.
- No secular schools, no printing press, no telegraph.
- The Jadid (modernist) reform movement was suppressed.

Its legacy is visible today in Bukhara's architecture: most of the extant madrasas, mosques, and covered markets were built or maintained under the emirs, and the Ark fortress was their seat until Frunze's artillery ended it.

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Keywords: Bukhara, emirate, Manghit, Russia, protectorate
Updated: 2026-08-15
Category: history
URL: https://uzbguidedtours.com/kb/kb-history-bukhara-emirate