Bokhara has a considerable number of Persians, especially Persian captives, who are brought thither in small parties. The greater majority, however, of this peoplo were transplanted from Merv, in the reign of Amir Seyid, when that city fell under his sway. With a view of weakening it, and thereby ensuring his own safety, he ordered 40,000 families to be transported from Mery to the neighbourhood of Samarcand. It is from them the Persians of Bokhara chiefly descend.
The Persian population are easily distinguished by the regularity of their features and their bushy black hair. They profess outwardly. the Sunni faith, though in their hearts they remain Shiab. The Jughi, Mezeng, and Luli are classed among Musalmans in Bokhara; their women go unveiled, and the men are careless in their religious duties. Numbers of them are established at Bokhara and other towns as medical men, fortune-tellers, and horse-dealers. Such as lead a wandering life encamp in tents of a coarse cotton stuff called bez. They have permission to halt near all the lakes and rivers of the khanate whenever those places are not previously occupied by Uzbeks; in consequence of which a great number of them are dispersed along the banks of the Zar-afslian, near Samarcand, while others encamp in the neighbour hood of Karakul. Bokhara and Samarcand are the centres of Mahomedan theology. There are no Mahomedans so strict as the inhabitants of Bukhara, but it was the most shameless sick of iniquity In the east. They have a monastery at Bokbara, dedicated to the famous darvesh Mu6na Jalal-nd-Din, who centuries ago went from Bokh are to Iconium. Its houses are built of mud and wood. The rooms have no furniture ; and glees for windows is unknown, oiled paper being Ivied in lieu. Bokhara and Turkestan send out raw silk of various kinds, cased chilla jaidar, vardanzwi, lab-i-abi. churkhi, from Khoken, Balkh, Kunduz,
Akcha, Shibarghan, etc. Bokhara gold coins are budki and tila. Broadcloth is little used, only cotton clothe (alaja), and stiff, loose silken gar ments. Women's clothes are of a dark colour, often blue, and fit tightly, with a horsehair veil.
Bokhara city, in lat. 39° 46' 45" N., long. 64° 26' E., is about 7 miles from the left bank of the river Zar-afshan. It is about 71 miles in cir cumference, and is surrounded by a clay curtain, with bastions at intervals. It has about 15,000 houses, and a population of 75,000 souls. The ark or palace was built by Alp Aralan. The foreign traders have their respective caravansaries. It has numerous mosques, and about 140 schools and colleges. The inhabitants consist of the Tajak, Nogay, Uzbek, Arab, Jews, Persians, and a few Russians. The Jews are dyers and silk traders, and must wear a small cap cud girdle around their waist, to be distinguished from the Mahomedans. There are merchants from Sind, and many darvesh. Whole streets contain nothing but shops and magazines for merchants from all parts of Turkestan, Kashgar, Ilindustan, and Russia. There are, all around, numbers of country houses, with gardens.
The brothers Polo stayed three years in Bokh ara in the time of Barak Khan (A.D. 1264-1274); and Anthony Jenkinson, who together with the brothers Johnson travelled in Central Asia as agent for Russian cloth manufactures, was in Bokbara s.n. 1538-59. It was visited in the early of the 19th century by Sir Alexander Burnes, Be. Joseph Wolff, Colonel Stoddart, and Captain Conolly. The two last fell victims to the fanati cism of the people. It was taken by Russia in 1868.-1Vollf's .Bokhara, ii. pp. 3, 4 ; De Bode, Bukhara ; Irigne, Personal Narratire; Ferrier's Journey ; Max Duller; handbook ; Trotter, Central Asia.