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109-767: Most of the population lives in the flat northern part of the region, on the edge of the Ferghana Valley . The land gradually rises southward to the crest of the Alay Mountains , drops into the Alay Valley and rises to the Trans-Alai Range which forms the border with Tajikistan. In the east, the land rises to the Ferghana Range, roughly parallel to the Naryn border. This area is drained by

218-470: A Tilpak, and had their belts made of rope, while the leather belts were reserved for Muslims. Jewish homes also had to be marked as "Jewish" with a dirty cloth nailed to their front doors, and their stores and homes had to be lower than Muslim ones. In court cases, any evidence from a Jew was inadmissible involving a Muslim. They were also forbidden to ride horses and donkeys and had to transport themselves by foot. Lastly, when paying their annual Jizya tax,

327-589: A considerable degree with the local Turkic and Turkic-speaking population, so that at the time of Timur's reign the Barlas had become thoroughly Turkicized in terms of language and habits. Additionally, by adopting Islam, the Central Asian Turks and Mongols also adopted the Persian literary and high culture which had dominated Central Asia since the early days of Islamic influence. Persian literature

436-611: A delegate to the World Zionist Congress claimed that an estimated 40,000 Bukharan Jews had been killed or starved to death. By the end of 2004, only two known Jews were left in Afghanistan, Zablon Simintov and Isaac Levy (born c. 1920). Levy relied on charity to survive, while Simintov ran a store selling carpets and jewelry until 2001. They lived on opposite sides of the dilapidated Kabul synagogue. In January 2005, Levy died of natural causes, leaving Simintov as

545-535: A few books were written in Persian and many of them were old and incomplete. Hakham decided to change this situation by translating religious books into Bukhori. But since there was no printing in Bukhara at that time, he went to Jerusalem to print his books. In 1865, Russian colonial troops took over Tashkent and established the Russian Turkestan region, as part of their expanding empire. Unlike

654-465: A gallop, the sculpture symbolizes peak speed and power, with its V-shaped leg arrangement echoing Greek symbols of speed and victory. Detailed anatomical features, such as visible ribs and dynamic muscle contractions, showcase a profound understanding of equine biomechanics. The lifelike depiction extends to aerodynamic adaptations like flat ears, a streamlined mane, and a fanned tail, enhancing balance and stability at high speeds. Decorative swirls symbolize

763-426: A good many camels are bred. Over 6,900 ha (17,000 acres) were planted with vines , and some 140,000 ha (350,000 acres) were under cotton . Nearly 400,000 ha (1,000,000 acres) were covered with forests. The government maintained a forestry farm at Marghelan , from which 120,000 to 200,000 young trees were distributed free every year amongst the inhabitants of the province. Silkworm breeding, formerly

872-566: A group of prominent local businessmen brought underlying tensions to a head in the region around Andijan and Qorasuv during the May 2005 unrest in Uzbekistan in which hundreds of protestors were killed by troops. There was violence again in 2010 in the Kyrgyz part of the valley, heated by ethnic tensions, worsening economic conditions due to the global economic crisis, and political conflict over

981-535: A large impact on the everyday life, culture and identity of the Bukharan Jews. Bukharan Jews who had put efforts into creating a Bukharan Jewish Soviet culture and national identity were charged during Stalin's Great Purge , or, as part of the Soviet Union's nationalities policies and nation building campaigns, were forced to assimilate into the larger Soviet Uzbek or Soviet Tajik national identities, but

1090-639: A missionary kabbalist named Rabbi Yosef Maimon , who was a Sephardic Jew originally from Tetuan , Morocco , travelled to Bukhara to collect/solicit money from Jewish patrons. Upon arriving and his first days of meeting the Bukharan Jews, he stated in his writings: "As I arrived in Bukhara in 1793, I found my co-religionists in a state of utter ignorance. Only a few of them could read. I found serious deviations in Jewish observance. The local community did not have leaders who could competently govern their people. In addition, there weren't enough religious literature,

1199-758: A path between Greek, Chinese, Bactrian and Parthian civilisations. It was home to Babur , founder of the Mughal dynasty , tying the region to modern Afghanistan and South Asia. The Russian Empire conquered the valley at the end of the 19th century, and it became part of the Soviet Union in the 1920s. Its three Soviet republics gained independence in 1991. The area largely remains Muslim , populated by ethnic Uzbek , Tajik and Kyrgyz people , often intermixed and not matching modern borders. Historically there have also been substantial numbers of Russian , Kashgarian , Kipchak , Bukharan Jewish and Romani minorities. The economy centers around extensive cotton cultivation,

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1308-472: A practice initiated by the Soviets, complemented by a diverse array of grains, fruits, and vegetables. Additionally, the region has a rich heritage in stock breeding, leatherwork, and a progressively expanding mining industry, including deposits of coal , iron , sulfur , gypsum , rock-salt , naphtha and some small known oil reserves. The word Fergana ( / f ɜːr ˈ ɡ ɑː n ə / fur-GAHN-ə )

1417-625: A prosperous industry, had decayed, despite the encouragement of a state farm at New Marghelan. Coal, iron, sulfur, gypsum , rock-salt , and naphtha are all known to exist, but only the last two have ever been extracted in significant quantities. In the late 19th century there were a few small oil-wells in Fergana, but these no longer function. In the Tsarist period the only industrial enterprises were some seventy or eighty factories engaged in cotton cleaning. Leather, saddlery, paper and cutlery were

1526-649: A reasonable price. In 1990, there were riots against the Jewish population of Andijan and nearby areas. This led to most Jews in the Fergana Valley immigrating to Israel or the United States. In early 2006, the still active Dushanbe Synagogue in Tajikistan as well as the city's mikveh (ritual bath), kosher butcher, and Jewish schools were demolished by the government (without compensation to

1635-654: A revolt which was far more widespread than that of 1898, and which was not entirely suppressed by the time of the Russian Revolution . In 1924, the new boundaries separating the Uzbek SSR and Kyrgyz SSR cut off the eastern end of the Fergana Valley, as well as the slopes surrounding it. This was compounded in 1928 when the Tajik ASSR became a fully-fledged republic, and the area around Khujand

1744-632: A separate geographic zone. The valley owes its fertility to two rivers, the Naryn and the Kara Darya , which unite in the valley, near Namangan , to form the Syr Darya . Numerous other tributaries of these rivers exist in the valley including the Sokh River . The streams, and their numerous mountain effluents, not only supply water for irrigation, but also bring down vast quantities of sand, which

1853-588: A sizable Jewish population. The vast majority lived in modern-day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan , with small groups in Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan . Bukharan Jews are one of the oldest Jewish diaspora groups, dating back to the Babylonian exile , and are a branch of Persian-Jewry . They are also one of the oldest ethno-religious groups in Central Asia. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union ,

1962-575: A special fund for the Quarter's improvement and this was tied with Prime Minister Menachem Begin 's urban revitalization program, Project Renewal. Johannesburg was twinned with the Bukharan Quarter, and Johannesburg Jewry raised enormous funds for its rehabilitation. Frustrated by the lack of progress, Casper traveled to Jerusalem in 1981 to resolve the hurdles. He consulted with community organizer Moshe Kahan and suggested that they present

2071-546: A wingspan over 20 cm. Unusual small reptiles, Longisquama with long scales, and Sharovipteryx , which glided using a membrane stretched between their paws, were also found here. The climate of this valley is dry and continental, being mostly a cool arid climate ( Köppen BWk ) or a cool semi-arid climate ( BSk ) in less shielded areas. In March the temperature reaches 20 °C (68 °F), and then rapidly rises to 35 °C (95 °F) in June, July and August. During

2180-524: Is Babur , heir to Timur and famous conqueror and founder of the Mughal dynasty in Medieval India . Islamic proselytizers from the Fergana Valley such as al-Firghani الفرغاني, al-Andijani الأندجاني, al-Namangani النمنگاني, al-Khojandi الخوجندي spread Islam into parts of present-day Russia, China, and India. The Fergana valley was ruled by a series of Muslim states in the medieval period. For much of this period local and southwestern rulers divided

2289-585: Is Bnei Israel. Bukharan Jews used Bukharian or Bukhori , a Judeo-Persian language most similar to the Tajik and Dari dialect of Farsi, with linguistic elements of Hebrew , to communicate among themselves. This language was used for all cultural and educational life among the Jews. It was used widely until Central Asia was " Russified " by the Soviet Union and the dissemination of "religious" information

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2398-532: Is a landlocked country located between Central Asia and South Asia, the Jews who lived in Afghanistan are sometimes considered to be the same as Bukharan Jews, though some Jews from Afghanistan identify solely as "Afghan Jews." With the Kazakh famine of 1930–1933 , a significant number of Bukharan Jews crossed the border into the Kingdom of Afghanistan as part of the wider famine-related refugee crisis; leaders of

2507-520: Is characterized by block subsidence , originally to depths estimated at 6 to 7 kilometres (3.7 to 4.3 mi), largely filled with sediments that range in age as far back as the Permian-Triassic boundary . Some of the sediments are marine carbonates and clays . The faults are upthrusts and overthrusts. Anticlines associated with these faults form traps for petroleum and natural gas , which has been discovered in 52 small fields . In

2616-597: Is cotton, although the Daewoo plant in Andizhan sends cars all over Uzbekistan. Bukharan Jews Bukharan Jews , in modern times called Bukharian Jews , are the Mizrahi Jewish sub-group of Central Asia that traditionally spoke Bukharian , a Judeo-Persian language most similar to the Tajik dialect of Farsi . Their name comes from the former Muslim-Uzbek polity Emirate of Bukhara which once had

2725-512: Is deposited alongside their courses, more especially alongside the Syr Darya where it cuts its way through the Khujand - Ajar ridge and forms the valley. This expanse of quicksand , covering an area of 1,900 km (750 sq mi), under the influence of south-west winds, encroaches upon the agricultural districts. The central part of the geological depression that forms the valley

2834-672: Is now northern India and Pakistan, driving east through Fergana. Kushan power also consolidated long-distance trade, linking Central Asia to both Han dynasty China and the Roman Empire in Europe. The Kushans ruled the area as part of their larger empire until the 3rd century AD, when the Zoroastrian Persian Sassanid Empire invaded Kushan territory from the southwest. Fergana remained under shifting local and Transoxian rulers thereafter. For periods in

2943-542: Is of Persian origin. The valley has been set foot on by various peoples. The Fergana Valley is an intermountain depression in Central Asia, between the mountain systems of the Tien Shan in the north and the Alay in the south. The valley is approximately 300 kilometres (190 mi) long and up to 70 kilometres (43 mi) wide, forming an area covering 22,000 square kilometres (8,500 sq mi). Its position makes it

3052-937: The Han-Dayuan war , installing a king there. Later the Han set up the Protectorate of the Western Regions The Kushan Empire formed from the same Yuezhi who had conquered the Hellenistic Fergana. The Kushan spread out in the 1st century AD from the Yuezhi confederation in the territories of ancient Bactria on either side of the middle course of the Oxus River or Amu Darya in what is now northern Afghanistan, and southern Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The Kushan conquered most of what

3161-740: The Hellenistic Greco-Bactrian Kingdom . The Greek city of Alexandria on the Oxus was apparently burnt to the ground by the Yuezhi around 145 BC. Pushed by these twin forces, the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom reoriented itself around lands in what is now Afghanistan, while the new invaders were partially assimilated into the Hellenistic culture left in Fergana Valley. According to the Han dynasty Records of

3270-531: The Holocaust , large migrations of Ashkenazi Jewish refugees from the European regions of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe came to various countries in Central Asia. Bukharan and Ashkenazi Jews largely remained separate from one another, and intermarriage between the two was practically non-existent. Bukharan Jews ranged from religious to traditional, and clustered together (particular those who lived in

3379-686: The Kara Darya which flows northwest to join the Naryn to form the Syr Darya in the Ferghana Valley. Highway M41 goes south over the mountains from Osh to the Tajik border. At Sary-Tash a branch goes east to the Chinese border crossing at Irkeshtam . The other main road goes west through the flat country to Batken Region. The Osh Region is divided administratively into seven districts: Kara-Suu , Nookat and Özgön are cities of district significance. There are no urban-type settlements in

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3488-652: The Khanate of Kokand , Kokand was capital of a territory stretching over modern eastern Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, southern Kazakhstan and all of Kyrgyzstan . Fergana was a province of Russian Turkestan , formed in 1876 out of the former khanate of Kokand . It was bounded by the provinces of Syr-darya in the North and Northwest, Samarkand in the West, and Zhetysu in the Northeast, by Chinese Turkestan ( Kashgaria ) in

3597-707: The Kyrgyz–Uzbek border in the direction of Andijan . Ferghana Valley Fergana Valley is a valley in Central Asia , lying mostly in eastern Uzbekistan , extending into southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan . Encompassing three former Soviet Republics , the valley is ethnically diverse and relations among the countries are tense. Ethnic enclaves of Uzbeks in Kyrgyz sovereign territory, restricted right of movement, lack of agreement about border demarcation and disputes over access to family members and places of economic activity contribute to tension at

3706-570: The Shia branch of Islam, while Central Asia retained their allegiance to the Sunni branch of Islam. Due to the hostile relationship between the neighboring states because of this, the links between the Jews of the area were severed, and the Jewish community was divided into two similar but separate communities. From here, a distinct point of origin of the ethnonym and cultural identity of "Bukharan Jews" began to take formation. A similar event happened in

3815-584: The Timurid Empire , Jewish weavers and dyers contributed greatly to his effort to rebuild Central Asia following Genghis Khan and the Mongol invasions . In the centuries following Timur's demise, Jews came to dominate the region’s textile and dye industry. Until the start of the 16th century, the Jews of Iran and Central Asia constituted one community. However, during the Safavid dynasty , Iran adopted

3924-622: The Yuezhi from the east and the Sakas Scythians from the south. After 155 BC, the Yuezhi were pushed into Fergana by the alliance of the powerful Xiongnu and the neighboring Wusun from the north and east, invaded urban civilization of the Dayuan , eventually settling on the northern bank of the Oxus in the region of Transoxiana in modern-day Tajikistan and Uzbekistan , just north of

4033-458: The 18th century, Bukharan Jews continued to face considerable discrimination and persecution. Jewish centers were closed down, and the Muslims of the region forced conversion of over one-third of Bukharan Jews, under a threat of torture and agonizing execution. These Jews who forcibly converted were known as Chala 's, an Uzbek term meaning "neither this nor that." On top of this, isolation from

4142-535: The 19th century, a considerable trade carried on with Russia: raw cotton, raw silk , tobacco, hides, sheepskins, fruit and cotton and leather goods were exported, and manufactured wares, textiles, tea and sugar were imported and in part re-exported to Kashgaria and Bokhara. The total trade of Fergana reached an annual value of nearly £3.5 million in 1911. Nowadays it suffers from the same depression that affects all trade that either originates in or has to pass through Uzbekistan. The only significant international export

4251-578: The 2009 census. In 2009, 40% of all Kyrgyzstan's Uzbeks lived in Osh Region. According to the 2009 Census, the ethnic composition of the Osh Region (resident population) was: Kyrgyzstan's only exclave within Uzbekistan is administratively part of Osh Region (Kara-Suu District). This is the tiny village of Barak (population 627) in the Fergana valley, located on the road from Osh (Kyrgyzstan) to Xoʻjaobod (Uzbekistan) about 4 km north-west from

4360-726: The 4th and 5th centuries, the Sassanid Empire directly controlled Transoxiana and Fergana, led by the conquests of Shapur II and Khosrau I against the Kushans and the Hephthalite Empire . Sassanid rule of Fergana was interrupted by the Hepthalites , possibly Turkic. Hepthalite rule was ended by the Gokturks in mid of 6th century. The Turkic Khaganates ruled it until the first quarter of 8th century when it

4469-581: The Bukharan Jews viewed Tsarist Russia rule: "The Jew, who in Europe has lived for centuries in enmity with the Christian, welcomes him here with a shining gaze (…) and is delighted to be able to wave a greeting to him. He proudly regards him as his new friend, his protector. In his proximity, he looks down on the Mohammedan with contempt." Dubbed the "Golden Age" for Bukharan Jews, from 1876 to 1916 they were no longer restricted in their autonomy and had

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4578-452: The Chinese as unusual in features, with a sophisticated urban civilization, similar to that of the Bactrians and Parthians : "The Son of Heaven on hearing all this reasoned thus: Fergana (Dayuan) and the possessions of Bactria and Parthia are large countries, full of rare things, with a population living in fixed abodes and given to occupations somewhat identical with those of the Chinese people, but with weak armies, and placing great value on

4687-489: The East, and by Bukhara and Afghanistan in the South. Its southern limits, in the Pamirs , were fixed by an Anglo-Russian commission in 1885, from Zorkul (Victoria Lake) to the Chinese frontier; and Khignan , Roshan and Wakhan were assigned to Afghanistan in exchange for part of Darvaz (on the left bank of the Panj ), which was given to Bukhara . The area amounted to some 53,000 km (20,463 sq mi), of which 17,600 km (6,795 sq mi) are in

4796-469: The Grand Historian or Shiji , based on the travels of Zhang Qian and published around 126 BC, the region of Fergana is presented as the country of the Dayuan (Ta-Yuan), possibly descendants of Greeks colonists (Dayuan may be a transliteration of "Great Ionians"). The area was renowned for its Heavenly Horses , which the Chinese tried to obtain from the Dayuan with little success until they waged war against them in 104 BC. The Dayuan were identified by

4905-554: The Great founded the city of Alexandria Eschate "The Furthest", probably renaming Cyropolis. This was in the southwestern part of the Fergana Valley, on the southern bank of the river Syr Darya (ancient Jaxartes), at the location of the modern city of Khujand , in the state of Tajikistan . Supplemented by Alexander's veterans, it was later ruled by Seleucids before secession of Bactria. The Hellenistic settlements, such as Alexandria Eschate, serve as vibrant examples of cultural and artistic exchanges that occurred following Alexander

5014-500: The Great , which became part of the Persian Empire . In the opinion of some scholars, Jews settled in Central Asia in the sixth century, but it is certain that during the eighth to ninth centuries they lived in Central Asian cities such as Balkh , Khwarezm , Samarkand , and Merv . At that time, and until approximately the sixteenth century, Bukharan Jews formed a homogeneous group with the Jews of Iran and Afghanistan. The first primary written account of Jews in Central Asia dates to

5123-402: The Great's conquests. Among the artifacts that highlight this fusion is the Ferghana horse sculpture from the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, dating back to around 4 to 1 BCE. The Ferghana horse sculpture, a ceremonial gilt bronze finial from the 4th-1st century BCE, exemplifies the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom's artistic synthesis of Greek and Scythian influences. Capturing a horse in the suspension phase of

5232-405: The Greco-Bactrian king Euthydemus extended his control to Sogdiana. There are indications that from Alexandria Eschate the Greco-Bactrians may have led expeditions as far as Kashgar and Ürümqi in Chinese Turkestan , leading to the first known contacts between China and the West around 220 BC. Several statuettes and representations of Greek soldiers have been found north of the Tian Shan , on

5341-434: The Jewish Quarters), while most Ashkenazi Jews living in Central Asia were secular, and assimilated into the general populace. However, Bukharan Jewry had good relations with the Chabad-Lubavitch , beginning from the end of the 19th century with the arrival of Rabbi Shlomo Leib Eliezrov, a student of Rabbi Sholom Dovber Schneersohn . Rabbi Eliezrov accepted a temporary rabbinical position in Uzbekistan and helped organize

5450-443: The Jewish men would be ritually slapped in the face by Muslim authorities. Despite these prohibitions and humiliations, the Jews were able to achieve financial success primarily as merchants and established lucrative trade businesses. Towards the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century, the Jewish quarter, Mahalla, was established in the town of Bukhara. The Jews were forbidden to reside outside its boundaries. During

5559-404: The Jewish religion resumed after stopping due to World War II. After Joseph Stalin 's attempt to turn the newly founded state of Israel into a socialist country failed, an anti-Israel, anti-Zionist and antisemitic campaign launched against Soviet Jews. Several religious and prominent Bukharan Jews were arrested and sentenced to 25 years on charges of "Zionist propagation." Even those who uttered

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5668-410: The Jews of Eastern Europe , Tsarist Russia was largely favorable towards the Jews living there, due to years of trade relations with the Bukharan Jews, and they were viewed as potential allies in the region to act as interpreters with the local authorities. As a Russian official explained in 1866: "Whatever we know of the interior of Bukhara we are chiefly indebted for its Jewish inhabitants..... Upon

5777-448: The Maimon clan eventually won the struggle for religious authority over the native Bukharans, and Bukharan Jewry forcefully switched to Sephardi customs. The supporters of the Maimon clan, in the conflict, credit Maimon with causing a revival of Jewish practice among Bukharan Jews which they claim was in danger of dying out. However, there is evidence that there were Torah scholars present upon his arrival to Bukhara, but because they followed

5886-400: The Muslim majority, with the 1967 war leading to a rise in Jewish patriotism . The Soviet Union forbade Jews to make aliyah to Israel, though these restrictions loosened in the 1970s and were dropped in the 1980s. After the Russian conquest of Central Asia, a small amount of Ashkenazi Jews emigrated from Eastern Europe and the European part of Russia to Turkestan. After World War II and

5995-444: The Pamirs. Not all the inhabitants of the area were happy with this state of affairs. In 1898 Muhammed Ali Khalfa proclaimed a jihad against the Russians. However, after about 20 Russians had been killed, Khalfa was captured and executed. When the 1905 Revolution spread across the Russian Empire, some Jadids were active in the Fergana Valley. When the Tsarist regime extended the military draft to include Muslims , this led to

6104-499: The Persian rite their practices were aggressively rejected as incorrect by Maimon. Maimon's great-grandson Shimon Hakham continued his great-grandfather's work as a Rabbi, and in 1870 opened the Talmid Hakham yeshiva in Bukhara, where religious law was promoted. At that time Bukharan Jews were getting only a general education, which mostly consisted of religious laws, reading, writing and some math. Even though they studied Torah , many Bukharan Jews did not speak fluent Hebrew. Only

6213-428: The Soviet era) " People's Artist of the Soviet Union ". Many succeeded in the world of sport, with several Bukharan Jews in Uzbekistan becoming renowned boxers and winning many medals for the country. Beginning from 1872, Bukharan Jews began to move into the region of Ottoman Palestine , motivated by religious convictions and the desire to return to their ancestral homeland. The land on which they settled in Jerusalem

6322-445: The area, along with most of central Asia as fiefs from the Golden Horde of the Mongol Empire. The Fergana became part of a larger Turco-Mongol empire. This Mongolian nomadic confederation known as Barlas , were remnants of the original Mongol army of Genghis Khan . After the Mongol conquest of Central Asia, the Barlas settled in Turkistan (which then became also known as Moghulistan - "Land of Mongols") and intermingled to

6431-417: The beginning of the 4th century CE. It is recalled in the Talmud by Rabbi Shmuel bar Bisna, a member of the Talmudic academy in Pumbeditha , who traveled to Margiana (present-day Merv in Turkmenistan ). The presence of Jewish communities in Merv is also proven by Jewish writings on ossuaries from the 5th and 6th centuries, uncovered between 1954 and 1956. In the 14th century under the rule of Timur in

6540-415: The borders. Located in an arid region, the Fergana valley owes its fertility to two rivers, the Naryn and the Kara Darya , which run from the east, joining near Namangan , forming the Syr Darya river . The valley's history stretches back over 2,300 years, when Alexander the Great founded Alexandria Eschate at its southwestern end. Chinese chroniclers date its towns to more than 2,100 years ago, as

6649-413: The city by Abdallah, the governor of Khurasan. By the time of Ahmad's death in 864 or 865, he was the ruler of most of Transoxiana , Bukhara and Khwarazm . Samarkand and Fergana went to his son, Nasr I of Samanid , leading to a series of Samanid dynasty Muslim rulers of the valley. During demise of Samanids in 10th century, Fergana Valley was conquered by Karakhanids . Eastern part of Fergana later

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6758-492: The communities petitioned Jewish communities in Europe and the United States for support. In total, some 60,000 refugees had fled from the Soviet Union and reached Afghanistan. In 1935, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that "ghetto rules" had been imposed on Afghan Jews, requiring them to wear particular clothes, requiring Jewish women to stay outside markets, requiring all Jews to live within certain distances from mosques and banning Jews from riding horses. In 1935,

6867-426: The community owned only two copies of the Holy Scripture, and even then, they only had the first three books of the Pentateuch". Prior to Maimon's arrival, the native Jews of Bukhara followed the Persian religious tradition. Maimon staunchly demanded that the native Jews of Bukhara adopt Sephardic traditions. Many of the native Jews were opposed to this and the community split into two factions. The followers of

6976-420: The community still attempted to preserve their traditions while displaying loyalty to the new government. During this time, both Jews and Muslims suffering from the anti-religious policies the Soviets imposed on Central Asia, which aimed to break the power of their religious institutions and eventually replace religious belief with atheism. In 1950 the "Black Years of Soviet Jewry" began where suppression of

7085-403: The community) to make room for the new Palace of Nations . After an international outcry, the government of Tajikistan announced a reversal of its decision and publicly claimed that it would permit the synagogue to be rebuilt on its current site. However, in mid-2008, the government of Tajikistan destroyed the whole synagogue and started construction of the Palace of Nations. The Dushanbe synagogue

7194-460: The country. The resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan (such as the Fergana massacre and the 1990 Dushanbe riots ) prompted an increase in the level of emigration of Jews. According to various Bukharan Jews, the Uzbek and Tajik locals would come to Jewish homes and would often say things in line with "Go back to where you came from. You don't belong here." Because of this, they also found it difficult to sell their homes at

7303-456: The doorstep to China, and are today on display in the Xinjiang museum at Urumqi (Boardman). Of the Greco-Bactrians, the Greek historian Strabo too writes that: they extended their empire even as far as the Seres (Chinese) and the Phryni . The Fergana area, called Dayuan by the Chinese, remained an integral part of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom until after the time of Demetrius I of Bactria (c. 120 BC), when confronted with invasions by

7412-414: The dormant agencies with concrete evidence of what could be done. Using a private discretionary fund, he initiated development of several pilot projects, among them a free loan fund, a dental clinic and a hearing center whose successes spurred the municipality back on track. The quarter borders Tel Arza on the west, the Shmuel HaNavi neighborhood on the north, Arzei HaBira on the east, and Geula on

7521-421: The establishment of independent republics, borders have been strongly enforced, though the impact of the new international borders was minor until 1998–2000. Uzbekistan regularly closes its borders with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, strangling trade and causing immense difficulties for those who live in the region. People in the Tajikistan city of Khujand traveling to the Tajik capital of Dushanbe , unable to take

7630-435: The fertile abundance of Fergana, as well as the possibility of purchasing further high-quality silk manufactured in Margilan . The most famous export from the region were the 'blood-sweating' Heavenly Horses which captured the imagination of the Chinese during the Han dynasty, but in fact these were almost certainly bred on the Steppe, either west of Bukhara or north of Tashkent , and merely brought to Fergana for sale. In

7739-415: The five months following April precipitation is rare, but increases in frequency starting in October. Snow and frost, down to −20 °C (−4 °F), occurs in December and January. Fergana, on the route to Tarim Basin from the west, remained at the boundaries of a number of classical era empires. As early as 500 BC, the western sections of the Fergana Valley formed part of the Sogdiana region, which

7848-402: The great majority have immigrated to Israel or the United States , with others immigrating to Europe or Australia . The term Bukharan was coined by European travelers who visited Central Asia around the 16th century. Since most of the Jewish community at the time lived under the Khanate of Bukhara , they came to be known as Bukharan Jews. The name by which the community called itself

7957-514: The horse's power and celestial nature, reflecting the cultural reverence for horses and the era's craftsmanship. Integrating elements of movement and triumph, this sculpture connects deeply to ancient narratives of success and achievement, offering insights into the historical and artistic context of its time. After 250 BC, the city probably remained in contact with the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom centered on Bactria , especially when

8066-449: The late 1920s resulted in a drastic deterioration of living conditions for the Bukharan Jews. By the time Soviet authorities established their hold over the borders in Central Asia in the mid 1930s, many tens of thousands of households from Central Asia had crossed the border into Iran and Afghanistan, amongst them some 4,000 Bukharan Jews who were heading towards Mandatory Palestine . Soviet doctrines, ideology and nationalities policy had

8175-496: The late 1980s to the late 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union and foundation of the independent Republic of Uzbekistan in 1991, most of the remaining Bukharan Jews left Central Asia for the United States , Israel , Europe , or Australia in the last mass emigration of Bukharan Jews from their resident lands. Some left due to economic instability, while others left fearing growth of nationalistic policies in

8284-629: The middle of the 18th century with the Jews of Afghanistan, which saw the creation of the Afghani kingdom, ruled by the Durrani dynasty , while the Emirate of Bukhara was ruled by the Manghud dynasty. Due to the hostile relationship between the two dynasties, the ties between the Jews of Afghanistan and Bukharan Jews were split into two similar but separate communities. Over the centuries, whether it

8393-515: The more direct route through Uzbekistan, have to cross a high mountain pass between the two cities instead, along a terrible road. Communications between the Kyrgyzstan cities of Bishkek and Osh pass through difficult mountainous country. Ethnic tensions also flared into riots in 1990 , most notably in the town of Uzgen , near Osh. There has been no further ethnic violence, and things appeared to have quieted down for several years. However,

8502-592: The neighborhood also became one of the centers of the Zionist movement with many of its leaders and philosophers living there. Between 1953 and 1963, Rabbi Bernard M. Casper was working as Dean for Student Affairs at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem , and during this period he became deeply concerned about the impoverished Quarter. After his appointment as Chief Rabbi in South Africa he set up

8611-432: The organizers of the quarter where Bukharan homes, synagogues, schools, libraries, and a bath house were established. The Bukharan Quarter was one of the most affluent sections of the city, populated by Bukharan Jewish merchants and religious scholars supported primarily by various trading activities such as cotton , gemstones , and tea from Central Asia . After World War I and the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution , however,

8720-651: The ouster of Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev in April 2010. In June 2010, about 200 people have been reported to be killed during clashes in Osh and Jalal-Abad , and 2000 more were injured. Between 100,000 and 300,000 refugees, predominantly of Uzbek ethnic origin, attempted to flee to Uzbekistan, causing a major humanitarian crisis. The area has also been subject to informal radicalization. In Tsarist times, out of some 1,200,000 ha (3,000,000 acres) of cultivated land, about two thirds were under constant irrigation and

8829-672: The principal products of the domestic or cottage industries. This was not greatly added to in Soviet times, when industrialisation was concentrated in the cities of Samarkand and Bukhara . Historically the Fergana Valley was an important staging-post on the Silk Road for goods and people traveling from China to the Middle East and Europe. After crossing the passes from Kashgar in Xinjiang, traders would have found welcome relief in

8938-603: The provision of kosher meat in surrounding cities where Jews lived. Over the decades, other emissaries from Chabad would come to support the Bukharan community as well. Some Jews from other Eastern countries such as Iraq , Yemen , Syria , and Morocco migrated into Central Asia (by way of the Silk Road ), and were absorbed into the Bukharan Jewish community. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, there were approximately 50,000 Bukharan Jews in Central Asia. In

9047-533: The quarter fell into decline as overseas sources of income were cut off and residents were left with just their homes in Jerusalem, forcing them to subdivide and rent out rooms to bring in income. From being lauded as one of the most beautiful neighborhoods of Jerusalem, the Bukharian Quarter earned the opposite sobriquet, of being one of the poorest neighborhoods of Jerusalem. In the 1920s and 1930s,

9156-575: The region was known to the Greeks as Cyropolis , named after Cyrus the Great. The Sogdian Rock or Rock of Ariamazes, a fortress in Sogdiana, was captured in 327 BC by the forces of Alexander the Great ; after an extended campaign putting down Sogdian resistance and founding military outposts manned by his Greek veterans, Alexander united Sogdiana with Bactria into one satrapy . In 329 BC, Alexander

9265-463: The region. The resident population of Osh Region, according to the Population and Housing Census of 2009, was 1,104,248. Of these, 87,824 people live in urban areas, and 1,016,424 in rural ones. The official population estimate for the beginning of 2021 was 1,391,649. The largest ethnic minority group in Osh Region is Uzbeks , forming 28% of the regional population (308,688 people) according to

9374-528: The remaining third under partial irrigation. The soil was considered by the authors of the article in the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition to be admirably cultivated, the principal crops having been cotton, wheat , rice , barley , maize , millet , lucerne , tobacco , vegetables and fruit. Gardening was conducted with a high degree of skill and success. Large numbers of horses, cattle and sheep were kept, and

9483-543: The rest of the Jewish world reached a point where the Jews of Bukhara began to lack knowledge and practice of their Jewish religion. By the middle of the 18th century, practically all Bukharan Jews lived in the Bukharan Emirate . In the early 1860s, Arminius Vambery , a Hungarian-Jewish traveler, visited the emirate disguised as a Sunni dervish , writing in his journals that the Jews of Bukhara "live in utmost oppression, being despised by everyone." In 1793,

9592-565: The rich produce of China" ( Book of the Later Han ). Agricultural activities of the Dayuan reported by Zhang Qian included cultivation of grain and grapes for wine-making. The area of Fergana was thus the theater of the first major interaction between an urbanized culture speaking Indo-European languages and the Chinese civilization, which led to the opening up the Silk Road from the 1st century BC onwards. The Han later captured Dayuan in

9701-439: The same rights as their Muslim neighbors. Dozens of Bukharan Jews held prestigious jobs in medicine, law, and government, and many of them prospered. Many Bukharan Jews became successful and well-respected actors, artists, dancers, musicians, singers, film producers, and sportsmen. Several Bukharan entertainers became artists of merit and gained the title "People's Artist of Uzbekistan", "People's Artist of Tajikistan", and even (in

9810-525: The south of the valley, in the spurs of the Turkestan ridge, there is the Madygen fossil locality , in which more than 15 thousand fossils of Triassic plants ( Ginkgoales , cycads , ferns , Neocalamitaceae ) and animals ( insects , crustaceans , fishes , amphibians ) were discovered. The most numerous are insect fossils which include the large Gigatitan from the extinct order Titanoptera with

9919-602: The south. Today, most of the residents are Haredi Jews . Following the Soviet capture of Bukhara and the creation of the Soviet Social Republics of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan , synagogues were destroyed or closed down, and were replaced by Soviet institutions. Consequently many Bukharan Jews fled to the West . Stalin's decision to end Lenin's New Economic Policy and initiate the First five-year plan in

10028-647: The throne. During the 8th century, Fergana was the location of fierce rivalry between Tang dynasty China and the expansion of Muslim power. The Umayyads waged several wars against the Sogdian and Turkic population. They were defeated by the Turgesh who came dominated the Ferghana Valley until their defeat by Tang in 750. At the same time, the Abbasids defeated the Umayyads and sent their forces to Central Asia. This

10137-523: The traditional phrase said by Jews on the Passover holiday, "Next Year in Jerusalem" , were subject to arrests. These arrests were all part of the Soviet anti-cosmopolitan campaign , where antisemitism was often disguised under the banner of anti-Zionism . After the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, and later the Six-Day Arab–Israeli War of 1967, antisemitism intensified amongst

10246-474: The tribes of Naphtali and Issachar during the Assyrian captivity , basing this assumption on a reading of "Habor" at II Kings 17:6 as a reference to Bukhara. However, modern day scholarship associate this telling with European myths, where stories about the " Ten Lost Tribes " had been propagated in Europe. Historians associate their establishment in the region following the conquest of Babylonia by Cyrus

10355-598: The valley into a series of small states. From the 16th century, the Shaybanid dynasty of the Khanate of Bukhara ruled Fergana, replaced by the Janid dynasty of Bukhara in 1599. In 1709 Shaybanid emir Shahrukh of the Minglar Uzbeks declared independence from the Khanate of Bukhara , establishing a state in the eastern part of the Fergana Valley. He built a citadel to be his capital in the small town of Kokand . As

10464-405: The valley is a religiously conservative region which was particularly hard-hit by President Karimov 's secularization legislation in Uzbekistan, together with his decision to close the borders with Kyrgyzstan in 2003. This devastated the local economy by preventing the importation of cheap Chinese consumer goods. The deposition of Askar Akayev in Kyrgyzstan in April 2005, coupled with the arrest of

10573-536: The whole the Jews of Bukhara are much shrewder than their oppressive masters, and able to converse on subjects of which a genuine Bokharan has no idea." In spring of 1868, Russian authorities relied on Jewish support when their armies attacked the Emirate of Bukhara, as young Jewish men acted as scouts for the Russians and brought food and drinks to the Russian troops. An 1884 report by Vasily Radlov described how

10682-516: Was Tajikistan's only synagogue, and the community were therefore left without a center or a place to pray. In 2009, the Tajik government reestablished the synagogue in a different location for the small Jewish community. As of the 2010 census, there are 36 Jews left in Tajikistan. All but two are Ashkenazi Jews, while the others are Bukharan. On January 15, 2021, Jura Abaev, the last Jew in the city of Khujand , Tajikistan died. As Afghanistan

10791-516: Was employed to design the neighborhood. The streets were three times wider than even major thoroughfares in Jerusalem at the time, and spacious mansions were built with large courtyards. The homes were designed with neo-Gothic windows, European tiled roofs, neo-Moorish arches and Italian marble. Facades were decorated with Jewish motifs such as the Star of David and Hebrew inscriptions. Rabbi Shimon Hakham and Rabbi Shlomo Moussaieff were some of

10900-424: Was halted, as the Soviet Union wanted Russian as the dominant language in the region. During the Soviet era, the two main languages spoken by Bukharan Jews were Bukhori and Russian. The younger generation today either born outside Central Asia or who left as children use Russian as their secondary language, but sometimes do understand or speak Bukharian . According to one legend, Bukharan Jews are exiles from

11009-675: Was instrumental in the assimilation of the Timurid elite to the Perso-Islamic courtly culture. Heir to one of these confederations, Timur , founder of the Timurid dynasty , added the valley to a newly consolidated empire in the late 14th century, ruling the area from Samarkand . Located on the Northern Silk Road , the Fergana played a significant part in the flowering of medieval Central Asian Islam. Its most famous son

11118-512: Was leading to the Battle of Talas in 751, which resulted in a victory for the Abbasids and the disengagement of China from Central Asia. Two antecedent battles in 715 and 717 had seen the Chinese prevail over Arab forces. A series of Arab, Persian, and later Turkic Muslim rulers reigned over the Fergana. The Samanid Empire , rising from the Arab Muslim conquest of Persia , pushed into what

11227-426: Was made a part of it. This blocked the valley's natural outlet and the routes to Samarkand and Bukhara, but none of these borders was of any great significance so long as Soviet rule lasted. The whole region was part of a single economy geared to cotton production on a massive scale, and the overarching political structures meant that crossing borders was not a problem. With the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 and

11336-552: Was named the Bukharan Quarter (Sh'hunat HaBucharim) and still exists today. In 1890, seven members of the Bukharan Jewish community formed the Hovevei Zion Association of the Jewish communities of Bukhara, Samarkand and Tashkent . In 1891, the association bought land and drew up a charter stating that the new quarter would be built in the style of Europe's major cities. Architect Conrad Schick

11445-634: Was ruled from further west and owed fealty to the Achaemenid Empire at the time of Darius the Great . The independent and warlike Sogdiana formed a border region insulating the Achaemenid Persians from the nomadic Scythians to the north and east. It was forcibly settled by exiled Greeks from the Anatolian coast, who had rebelled or otherwise given Persia trouble. Eventually, it had a significant Greek community. The capital of

11554-736: Was subjugated by the Tang dynasty The Kingdom of Ferghana was ruled by the Ikhshids , who submitted as vassal to the Chinese Tang between 659 and 790. It was attacked by the Tibetan Empire in 715. The Umayyad Caliphate in 715 deposed the ruler, and installed a new king Alutar on the throne. The Chinese sent 10,000 troops under Zhang Xiaosong to Ferghana. He defeated Alutar and the Arab occupation force at Namangan and reinstalled Ikhshid on

11663-504: Was then called Greater Khorasan , including Transoxiana and the Fergana Valley from the West. In 819, Ahmad ibn Asad —son of Asad ibn Saman —was granted authority over the city of Fergana by Caliph Al-Ma'mun 's governor of Khorasan , Ghassan ibn 'Abbad, as a reward for his support against the rebel Rafi' ibn Laith . Following the death of his brother Nuh , who ruled in Samarkand, Ahmad and another brother Yahya were given rule over

11772-512: Was to escape political turmoil, persecution, or to purse economic opportunities, Jews from Iran and Central Asia would frequently migrate to each other's communities. In the Khanate of Bukhara, Bukharan Jews lived under the status of Dhimmi , and experienced persecution from the Muslim majority. They were forced to wear clothing that identified them as Jews, such a yellow patch , a hat called

11881-511: Was under suzerenaity of Karakhitays . Karakhanid rule lasted till 1212, when Khwarezmshahs conquered the western part of the valley. Genghis Khan invaded Transoxiana and Fergana in 1219 during his conquest of Khwarazm . Before his death in 1227, he assigned the lands of Western Central Asia to his second son Chagatai , and this region became known as the Chagatai Khanate . But it was not long before Transoxian Turkic leaders ruled

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