Bukhara and the Muslims of Russia Brill’s Inner Asian Library Editors Michael R. Drompp Devin DeWeese VOLUME 26 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/bial Bukhara and the Muslims of Russia Sufism, Education, and the Paradox of Islamic Prestige By Allen J. Frank LEIDEN • BOSTON 2012 Cover illustration: A tombstone of the Ming Bashkirs with the mausoleum of Husayn-Bek Turkistani in the background, near Chishmy, Bashkortostan, 1994. Photo by ‑Allen J. Frank. Library of Congress Cataloging‑in‑Publication Data Frank, Allen J., 1964‑ Bukhara and the Muslims of Russia : Sufism, education, and the paradox of islamic prestige / By Allen J. Frank. p. cm. — (Brill’s inner Asian library ; v. 26) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978‑90‑04‑23288‑4 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978‑90‑04‑23490‑1 (e‑book) 1. Islam—Russia (Federation) 2. Muslims—Russia (Federation) 3. Sufism—Russia (Federation) I. Title. BP63.R8F73 2012 305.6’9709587—dc23 2012025551 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill‑typeface. ISSN 1566‑7162 ISBN 978 90 04 23288 4 (hardback) ISBN 978 90 04 23490 1 (e‑book) Copyright 2012 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers and Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper. contents v CONTENTS Acknowledgements. vii Introduction . 1 Islamic Manuscripts. 8 One. Sources . 11 The Tarikh-i Barangawi . 15 The Work’s Author. 16 Contents and Structure. 20 The Sources of the Tarikh-i Barangawi . 25 Two. The Religious and Social Foundations of Bukharan Prestige. 27 Sufi Tradition and Holy Cities in Central Asia. 29 Bukharan Communities in Imperial Russia: Official Privilege and Exalted Status. 43 Bukharan Fashion among Muslims in Russia . 64 Three. “Bulghar” Institutions in Bukhara. 77 “Bulghar” Saints and Legendary Scholars in Central Asia . 77 The Tatar and Bashkir Presence in Bukhara. 80 Resident “Bulghar” Scholars and Sufis in Central Asia . 86 Four. The Student Experience I . 95 The Journey There . 98 Arrival and Lodging. 99 Instructors. 102 Study Outside of Bukhara . 107 Students as Teachers. 109 Sufi Shaykhs and Their Murids. 110 Jalal ad‑Din al‑Khiyabani . 113 Ishan‑i Pir ʿAbd al‑Karim ash‑Shahrisabzi al‑Balkhi . 117 Other Sufi Figures. 119 Curriculum . 120 Manuscripts and Literary Activity. 125 vi contents Five. The Student Experience II . 131 Daily Life and Finances . 131 Health. 137 Pilgrimage and Travel . 138 Language Issues and Relations with Bukharans . 142 “Bokharis” in Russia. 147 Six. The Decline of Bukharan Prestige in Russia . 151 The Economic and Political Eclipse of Central Asia . 151 Reformist Critics: Qursawi, Fayzkhanov, and Marjani. 155 Jadid Critiques of Bukhara. 160 Arab Critics of Bukhara and Tatar Reformists. 170 Bukharan Decline in Question . 174 From Islamic Reformism to Cultural Revolution . 180 Full Circle: Bukhara as a Rationalist Symbol in Soviet and Post‑Soviet Islam . 185 Conclusion. 191 Bibliography . 195 Index . 205 acknowledgements vii ACKNOWLEDgEMENTS It is my pleasure to be able to thank Dilyara Usmanova for her gracious assistance while visiting Kazan in 2006, as well as Marsel’ Akhmetzianov, who generously provided me access to the Tarikh-i Barangawi at that time. Al’frid Bustanov brought to my attention and kindly made available a number of important sources. I would also like to thank Devin DeWeese for his interest in the manuscript. Finally, I am especially grateful to Joe Randall and Rob Szpak for their insightful and supportive comments. viii acknowledgements CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDgEMENTS VII INTRODuCTION MuSLIMS IN RuSSIA AND THE PARADOx OF BuKHARA 1 Islamic Manuscripts 8 CHAPTER ONE 11 SOuRCES 11 The Tarikh‑i Barangawi 15 The Work’s Author 16 Contents and Structure 20 The Sources of the Tarikh‑i Barangawi 25 CHAPTER TWO 27 THE RELIgIOuS AND SOCIAL FOuNDATIONS OF BuKHARAN PRESTIgE 27 Sufi Tradition and Holy Cities in Central Asia 29 Bukharan Communities in Imperial Russia: Official Privilege and Exalted Status 43 Bukharan Fashion among Muslims in Russia 64 CHAPTER THREE 77 “BuLgHAR” INSTITuTIONS IN BuKHARA 77 “Bulghar” Saints and Legendary Scholars in Central Asia 77 The Tatar and Bashkir Presence in Bukhara 80 Resident “Bulghar” Scholars and Sufis in Central Asia 86 CHAPTER FOuR 95 THE STuDENT ExPERIENCE I 95 The Journey There 98 Arrival and Lodging 99 Instructors 102 Study Outside of Bukhara 107 Students as Teachers 109 Sufi Shaykhs and Their Murids 110 Jalal ad‑Din al‑Khiyabani 113 Ishan‑i Pir ʿAbd al‑Karim ash‑Shahrisabzi al‑Balkhi 117 Other Sufi Figures 119 Curriculum 120 Manuscripts and Literary Activity 125 CHAPTER FIVE 131 THE STuDENT ExPERIENCE II 131 Daily Life and Finances 131 Health 137 Pilgrimage and Travel 138 Language Issues and Relations with Bukharans 142 “Bokharis” in Russia 147 CHAPTER SIx 151 THE DECLINE OF BuKHARAN PRESTIgE IN RuSSIA 151 The Economic and Political Eclipse of Central Asia 151 Reformist Critics: Qursawi, Fayzkhanov, and Marjani 155 Jadid Critiques of Bukhara 160 Arab Critics of Bukhara and Tatar Reformists 170 Bukharan Decline in Question 174 From Islamic Reformism to Cultural Revolution 180 Full Circle: Bukhara as a Rationalist Symbol in Soviet and Post‑Soviet Islam 185 CONCLuSION 191 BIBLIOgRAPHy 195 Abbreviations 195 Manuscripts 195 Publications 195 INDEx 205 Muslims in Russia and the Paradox of Bukhara 1 INTRODuCTION MuSLIMS IN RuSSIA AND THE PARADOx OF BuKHARA “Bokhara donne le ton à tout le Turkestân.” Jean Potocki, Voyage dans les Steps d’Astrakhan et du Caucase I, (Paris, 1829) The city of Bukhara, known in much of the Islamic world by its Persian epithet Bukhara-yi sharif (Bukhara the Noble), is today an internationally renowned urban historical monument. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, famed not least for its ancient architecture. In tourist guides it is identified as a “Silk Road” city, and its past glory is commonly credited to the free exchange of goods that the Silk Road supposedly symbolizes. This secular‑ ized and popular image partially stems from Enlightenment assumptions about Central Asian history, in which the Silk Road has become a historical precursor for modern commercial exchange. Similarly, in the modern Islamic world, especially in religious contexts, Bukhara is known above all as the home of the great hadith scholar Imam Ismaʿil Bukhari. While not exactly secularized, Bukhara’s image among modern Muslims bears the strong imprint of the Islamic reformism and rationalism that came to so thoroughly dominate Muslim religious thought over the course of the 20th century, and that shares many features with Enlightenment thought, not least a rationalist outlook. Imam Bukhari himself has come to symbolize, among other things, this sort of rationalism. Particularly for Muslims outside of Central Asia this modern reformist image of the city has largely (but not completely) displaced Bukhara’s older image as a sacred city of Islam, sanctified by its Sufis and their tombs.1 Beginning in the medieval era, and through the 20th century, Bukhara and its environs were renowned among Muslims for its holy places, based on the reputation as the abode of great Sufi shaykhs, and the site of innumer‑ able shrines and saint’s tombs. This sacred reputation extended far beyond Central Asia proper, and was especially evident in Russia. As Muslim com‑ munities in the Volga‑Ural region and Siberia embarked on their own in‑ digenous religious, economic, and political revival over the course of the 1 For a discussion of the continuity of Bukhara’s sacred status among Muslims in inde‑ pendent Uzbekistan cf. Maria Elisabeth Louw, Everyday Islam in Post Soviet Central Asia, (London & New york, 2007), especially chapters Three and Four. 2 Introduction eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Bukhara became an important symbol to be invoked and imitated. Historically among Muslims in Eastern Russia (that is, Tatars and Bashkirs in modern parlance) Bukhara’s religious significance derived above all from the city’s Sufi associations as an abode of saints and a source of sanctity, rather than from the more restricted intellectual associations that emerged later. Bukhara was not the only such holy city in Central Asia. In Tatar and Bashkir sources we can also identify urgench, Samarqand, Sayram, Farab, and Turkistan as cities enjoying similar reputations. Central Asians accorded the same sort of status to many more cities, particularly in the Ferghana Valley, Kashgaria and Northern Afghanistan.2 Central Asia’s strong association with Hanafi jurisprudence further contributed to its reputation for sanctity among Muslims in Russia and elsewhere. How‑ ever, a number of related events occurring both within Bukhara and out‑ side of it resulted in the gradual amplification of Bukhara’s sacred status in the Islamic world at large, and especially in Russia where its religious prestige became closely associated with the growth of its economic sig‑ nificance. First of all, among these events we can point to the revival of the Naqshbandiya Sufi order in India beginning in the seventeenth century. The broad expansion of the Naqshbandiya-Mujaddidiya and Khalidiya orders throughout the Islamic world, and especially in India, the Ottoman Empire, Russia, and in Central Asia itself, amplified Bukhara’s interna‑ tional prestige as a holy city.