The bukharan emirate and turkestan under russian rule in the revolutionary era: 1917-1924

1.4. Religiosity in Bukhara 
Bukharan population was mostly orthodox Sunnite Muslim. The most 
important cities of the emirate were known as the holy centers of Sunnite Islam, 
especially Samarkand and Bukhara. The cities had a source of traditional religious 
fame and legacy among other Muslim countries. In the nineteenth century, Islam was 
so effective in Turkestan and the khanates. Especially, Bukhara was one of the 
leading cities in terms of implementation of Islamic practices, for instance it was 
compulsory for each man to attend the daily prayers, especially the morning prayer 
of the day and Friday prayer.
36
For these reasons, the citizens of Bukhara were very 
traditional and conservative in many aspects. They were open to influence of clergy 
and loyal to the orders of their holy emir. In addition, Bukhara and Samarkand were 
important centers about religious education in addition to being commercial and 
administrative centers in the Emirate. The madrasas in these cities had been growing 
mullahs and clergy for the emirate. The religiosity of these cities dated back to very 
early times. Centuries ago, they were famous with their religious scholars, for 
example Imam Bukhari, born in Samarkand and lived in Bukhara in the reign of 
Samanids, was a famous scholar of the Hadith and his books were the most reliable 
and advisable sources throughout the Islamic world. Both Bukhara and Samarkand 
36
E.Bacon, Elizabeth, 
Central Asians under Russian Rule: A Study in Culture Change,
(New York: 
Cornell University Press, 1966), 76-77. 

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had lots of madrasas for students to take religious education; and had lots of mosques 
and tombs which influenced the cultural atmosphere of the Emirate.
On the religious level, its madrasas-Miri Arab madrasa being the most 
famous one-gave the city the reputation of one of Islam’s foremost centers of 
learning and orthodoxy, while its Sufi shaykhs and dervishes-here the 
aforementioned shrines of Baha al-Din Naqshband in Qasr-i Arifan and of Abu Bakr 
in Sumitan led the roster- added their dimension of wide appeal and participation by 
the masses
.
37
The holy madrasas in both Samarkand and Bukhara not only welcome 
students from the citizens but also other khanates and students coming to take 
education from all the Muslim countries. 
The Emirate of Bukhara was mainly a Sunni Muslim State. In Sunni 
theology, the people of Central Asian states were mostly adapted to Hanafi sect. The 
major ethnic groups in the Emirate like Uzbeks, Tajiks and Turcoman were Sunni 
Muslims. Bukhara and Samarkand were famous with the Sufi orders of Hanafi sect. 
These cities were the birth places of Sufi orders and from here these philosophies 
spreading to the whole world. These orders are still effective and common in Sunni 
Muslim countries. There were Sufi brotherhoods, spreading to the population in the 
region such as the order of Naqshibandi which was very common in Bukhara and 
Samarkand, the order of Qadiriya in Fergana, Kubraviyya in Khwarazm and 
Yassaviyya which was followed by the nomads
.
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Not only Sunni groups but also there were Shiite groups like Persians coming 
from Merv region of Iran due to captivity in a war. Population of Bukhara was Sunni 
37
Wheeler, Geoffrey, 
The Modern History of Soviet Central Asia
, (New York: Greenword Press, 
1964), 178. 
38
Carrere D’Encausse, Hèlene, trans
., Islam and the Russian Empire Reform and Revolution in 
Central Asia
, (London: I.B.Tauris-Co Ltd, 1966), 33. 

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in majority, but there was a Shia minority that emerged after the capture of Marv city 
in the eighteenth century