ABSTRACT
The Problem of Tashkent Up to the close of 1864 Russia’s territorial acquisitions in Central Asia had been made entirely at the expense of Kokand. Yet Bukhara’s interests were deeply involved in anything affecting its neighbor and traditional rival, especially since the khan of Kokand, Khudayar, had in 1863 become the emir of Bukhara’s vassal and brother-in-law. In 1865 the emir, Muzaffar ad-Din (1860-1885), decided to take advantage of the fact that his vassal was beset by civil war as well as foreign invasion to seize the districts long in dispute with Kokand. Tashkent, which was Bukhara’s only rival among Central Asian towns in size and commercial importance, quickly became the focus of conflicting Russian and Bukharan ambitions. Thus began three difficult years of Russo-Bukharan hostility and armed conflict.
