ABSTRACT

Description: Bukhara is an old oasis city of Central Asia, Iranian in origin but progressively Turkified from the Mongol invasions. Its chief signific­ ance was as a seat of Islamic learning and in particular as the birthplace and headquarters of the Naqshbandī order, the most widely diffused of Muslim tarikats (dervish orders). In addition, Bukhara was the capital of the Uzbek polity and of one of its three successor states. Its considerable monuments reflect its role as a religious and political capital.