Narshaki’s History of Bukhara

Excerpts from Richard Frye’s chapter on Narkashi’s history of Bukhara from Central Asian Monuments in the Carrie books collection at the University of Kansas.

The history was orginally written in Arabic by Abu Bakr Muhammad b. Ja’far Narshaki from Narshak village near Bukhara in the mid-tenth century and presented to the Samanid ruler. The text then was translated into Persian, was condensed, and had additional events added as the years went on.

On the source of the city’s name:

Although the origin of the name of the city is not explained in the chapter on the names of Bukhara, Narshaki does give traditions about the merits of the city which, however, are found in other sources as well. There are two suggestions about the name of the city. One is Bukhara is derived from an unattested Bactrian word for vihara or Buddhist monastery bohoro (written boioro), since Bactria was the home of Iranian Buddhism. Another theory has the name derived from Sogdian (Christian) fwq’r, meaning ‘fortunate, blessed’ which corresponds to Narshaki’s appellative fakhire ‘glorious, distinguished.’ In this regard, it should be mentioned that Bukhara never became a Buddhist center as did Bactria, although the inhabitants of the oasis probably were as tolerant of Buddhism as they were of other religions.

On the Shi’ite uprising against the city’s rulers:

Likewise, the account of the Shi’ite uprising in Bukhara at the fall of the Umayyads, and its suppression at the order of Abu Muslim is detailed and reveals the support given to the Abbasids by the local ruler of Bukhara against the Shi’ites who probably represented the lower classes in the city. From Narshaki’s book one may infer that the local aristocracy supported the Islamic government, first in Damascus then in Bagdad, upholding order against the lower classes who seem to have been prone to join dissident Shi’ite and heretical movements. On several occasions Turks are mentioned as supporting the rebels or heretics, which indicates both an infiltration into the countryside of Turkish nomads as well as their opposition to the local government. The migration of Turkish tribes southward which began in pre-Islamic times probably continued in the Islamic period on a small scale untilthe fall of the Samanids when large groups of Turks spread into the Near East. The process was greatly accelerated under the Seljuks and then the Mongols.

And then there’s this fascinating passage on the early Islamic history of Central Asia:

The main value of the book, however, lies in the bits of scattered information related to Bukhara from the Arab conquests into the tenth century of our era. Items of interest include the statement that new converts to Islam did not have to learn Arabic but made their prostrations to commands in Sogdian, and they read the Quran in Persian! This remark may be a throwback from a later reference to interlinear Persian translations of the Quran, or it possibly might refer to early translation of part of the Quran into Persian by missionaries seeking to convert. It is not inconceivable that translations of parts of the Quran were made into Persian, or even into Sogdian soon after the Arab conquests in Central Asia and posibly first here rather than in Iran proper. The statement that Qutaiba bribed the people of Bukhara to come to the Friday prayers is also not unexpected and a welcome source regarding conversions to Islam. In short, the text of Narshaki contains many nuggets of information of interest to various specialists; it is indeed a unique source, especially for the early Islamic history of Central Asia.

This post was written by...

Nathan Hamm – author of 2974 posts on Registan.net.

Nathan is the Founding Editor and Publisher of Registan.net, which he launched in 2003. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan 2000-2001 and received his MA in Central Asian Studies from the University of Washington in 2007. Since 2007, he has worked full-time as an analyst, consulting with private and government clients on Central Asian affairs, specializing in how socio-cultural and political factors shape risks and opportunities and how organizations can adjust their strategic and operational plans to account for these variables. Nathan is currently seeking research, analysis, and consulting opportunities. He can be contacted via Twitter or email.

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