ON THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF BOKHARA.
What I have to impart in this chapter on the ancient history of Bokhara is taken out of a Persian MS., brought by the late Sir Alexander Burnes from Bokhara, which bears the name of "Tarikhi Narshakhi," the history of Narshakhi. The author, Mehemmed ben Djafer el Narshakhi, wrote this highly interesting work in Bokhara, in the year of the Hegirah, 332, under the government of Emir Hamid the Samanide, in Arabic. Later, in the year 522, it was translated into Persian, and augmented by quotations from a not less interesting work, Khazain ul Ulum, "The Treasures of Wisdom," which Ebul Hassan wrote at Nishapur. In consideration of its historical value it is well worth the trouble (in a quite literal translation) to give the whole. The distinguished orientalist, Monsieur de Khanikoff, has already done this, and it will very probably be put before the scientific world. We have here only selected that which is suitable to the outline of our sketches, and for this reason given an extract in a free translation, since this is less fatiguing to the majority of readers, and more acceptable.
Bokhara, i.e., its Environs.
On the site of modern Bokhara there must have been in ancient days a morass, which arose from the yearly flooding of the river that comes from Samarkand. In summer, from the melting of the snow in the existing mountains in the neighbourhood, this was much augmented. This morass was dried up at a later period, and the fertile soil soon attracted settlers from all sides. From these colonists a prince was chosen, by name Aberzi, for their ruler. Bokhara itself existed not then. There were simply numerous villages, of which Beykem or Beykend (the village of the ruler) was the largest. Tyranny soon dispersed this little colony. A part of it drew back to northern Turkestan, founded the town Djemuket,[33] and soon enjoyed a flourishing condition. Later they returned to the assistance of their brethren whom they had left behind. Then Prince Shir Kishver, "Lion of the Land," conquered the bad Aberzi, put him in a sack full of thorns, and turned him round and round until he died. Bokhara gradually flourished again. Shir Kishver ruled for twenty years, and contributed much to the success of the colony, and his followers pursued the same path, and the whole neighbourhood was soon peopled and covered with villages. In what epoch the chronology of this place falls, is hard to conjecture. It were a vain effort to attempt to penetrate the table of the oldest history of Bokhara. We prefer rather to give the interesting data of the MSS. on that neighbourhood, and to begin with Bokhara, which from ancient days was an important spot.