ABSTRACT
Works devoted to Bukharan society by the Soviet ethnographer O. A. Sukhareva (1903–83) 1 elucidate the history and culture of Shi‘i Muslims in Bukhara in detail. These works, which are based on several written sources and many accounts from local inhabitants, demonstrate that the Bukharan Shi‘is had come from Iran at different times and for various reasons and that most if not all of them had continued to observe Shi‘ism. 2 Although her study as a whole sheds light on many aspects of life among Bukharan Shi‘is, it seems that much still remains to be considered. One of the most basic topics to be argued is the historical relationship that developed for decades between the Sunni majority and the Shi‘i minority. 3 According to Sukhareva, the latter enjoyed religious freedom to observe Shi‘ism “without hindrance” in Central Asia, particularly under the rule of the Bukharan amirs:
In accordance with a tradition peculiar to the theocratic states (one of which was Bukhara, whose ruler bore the title of amir ul-muminin), each inhabitant of a country was guaranteed the right to observe the regulations of his own religion, and was even obliged to observe such regulations. In this respect, also, the Shi‘is who inhabited Bukhara suffered no interference. They freely practiced their worship, and they had their own chapels headed by Shi‘i clergy, or sheykhs. 4
