Bokhara

Bokhara: see Bukhara, Uzbekistan.

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Bukhara

 or Bokhara or Buxoro

City (pop., 1999 est.: 237,900), west-central Uzbekistan. Lying east of the Amu Darya, it was founded in the 1st century AD and was a major trade centre when the Arabs captured it c. 710. Built up by the Samanid dynasty, it became the capital of their realm, which at its height encompassed much of southern Central Asia. After falling to Genghis Khan in 1220 and to Timur in 1370, it was taken by the Uzbeks, who in the 16th century made it the capital of the khanate of Bukhara. In 1868 the khanate was made a Russian protectorate and in 1920 a Soviet republic. Bukhara was the capital until the republic was absorbed into the Uzbek S.S.R. in 1924. It became part of Uzbekistan on that country's independence in 1991. Historic buildings in the central city were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993.

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Bukhara, Bokhara

1. a city in S Uzbekistan. Pop.: 299 000 (2005 est.)

2. a former emirate of central Asia: a powerful kingdom and centre of Islam; became a territory of the Soviet Union (1920) and was divided between the former Uzbek, Tajik, and Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republics