Importance of the kingdom of Bokhara.
The importance of Bokhara does not arise from the extent of its territories, but the position in which they stand. The fame which it enjoys as a kingdom is to be traced to the days of the Chaghtyes. It then included all Mawur ool Nuhr, or the country between the rivers Oxus and Jaxartes, extended to Kharasm and the Caspian, and far into Khorasan. That age of splendour has long since passed; but the favourable site of the capital still invests it with a great influence among the natives of Transoxiana. Situated between the richest regions of Europe and Asia, and in a tract surrounded by steppes and deserts, Bokhara becomes the resting place of the merchant and the traveller, and the centre of an extensive commerce. Viewed either in a military or political light, its situation is commanding, and in the highest degree valuable. Blessed with an exuberance of the productions of the soil, in a land of barrenness it arrests the attention of remote and neighbouring nations. In former times, it attracted the cupidity of the Greeks and the Arabian Caliphs. It was overrun by the hordes of the North; and from it, as a base, the renowned Timour led his legions victorious to the remote countries of Asia. In modern days, it has received ambassadors from the emperors of China and Russia, the Sultan of Constantinople, and the monarchs of Persia and Cabool. It likewise holds a supremacy among the surrounding Uzbek nations, who look up to it as the capital of their tribe, and render a voluntary, though nominal, homage to the ruler.
Power and character of the King.
The King of Bokhara rules, as in other Asiatic nations, a sovereign despot; nevertheless, he is controlled in every action by the authority of the Moollahs, or priests. This arises from no inability on his own part to assert his power, but from the constitution of the monarchy, which is exclusively based on the laws of the Koran, here more strictly enforced perhaps than in any other Mahommedan country. The reigning King of Bokhara, Nussier oollah, or, as he is styled, Buhadoor Khan, is a young man of twenty-seven years of age. He takes the title of Ameer ool Moomuneen, or Commander of the Faithful, and is always addressed by the name of Huzrut; which is only used by the Mahommedans of Toorkistan in speaking of their prophets. The name of King is seldom mentioned in official documents; that of Ameer is preferred, which without the affix of “ool Momuneen,” was the title by which Timour and his successors were designated, down to the days of Baber. It has a religious signification, which particularly unites it to the King of Bokhara. He looks upon himself as one of the heads of the Mahommedan religion. A respect is, nevertheless, paid to the Sultan of Constantinople, as he is here styled the Caliph of Rome; and the King of Bokhara is proud to hold the title of his bow-bearer.
The reigning King succeeded to the throne seven years since. He is naturally just and liberal, and very strict in the observances of religion. He appears, indeed, to be gradually sinking into the bigoted habits of his father; which the nature of his government renders it difficult to avoid. On his accession he divested himself of all his own and his father’s wealth; which has gained him a high reputation among his countrymen. In all his acts he is guided by the law; and the people pretend that his private expenses are defrayed from the capitation tax; which he exacts from Jews and Hindoos, since it would be sinful to so appropriate the money of true believers. He is of an ambitious and warlike disposition, and employs his revenues in the conciliation of his army; to whom he has endeared himself by profuse largesses.
The Koosh Begee, or Vizier.
His minister, the Koosh Begee, possesses great influence over him; and, though chiefly indebted to him for his throne, the King entertains no dread of his power. He never leaves the citadel till his Vizier is present to take charge of it. His Majesty will not receive his food at any other hands but those of his minister. This person is of an advanced age; upwards of sixty. He is an Uzbek, of the tribe of Mungut, possessed of talent and acquirements; and unremitting in his attentions to business. He also trades to a great extent, and is fond of money, but strictly just in levying the taxes on commerce. The high office of Vizier may be considered hereditary in his family: his father enjoyed it; his brothers hold two of the governments; and his sons, of whom he has thirteen, are employed in different districts or provinces. He has fixed on one of these as his successor. There is a great mixture of cunning in the minister’s character; but he is a liberal-minded man, and favourably disposed to Europeans, and, in particular, the English. The whole wealth and power of the kingdom is at his command; since he receives the revenues, and is able to sway the priesthood, to whom he is ever respectful and conciliatory.
Political condition of the Uzbeks.
Nothing is more remarkable to a traveller in Toorkistan than the entire want of chiefs, or Sirdars, among the people, as in India and Cabool. Here there are no great men, no Khans, or nobles, and no one of consequence, but the court and the priesthood. The whole of the governments are either held by slaves or dependents of the minister; and every town and village is ruled by the Moollahs or Khwajus, the descendants of the first Caliphs. As the base of the government of Bokhara is the Koran, and the whole community are, or desire to be, considered spiritual, it will fully account for the exception in favour of the church. That engine and the state go heart in hand in Toorkistan, and give mutual support to each other. There is no shadow of popular government; but still, there is no evidence of discontent under such a system of rule, though people could not be more thoroughly enslaved than the Uzbeks. We must attribute this universal contentment of the community to the protection which is derived from a strict enforcement of the laws of the Koran. That book, at best, appears but a poor Magna Charta; yet it fixes on a settled basis the principles of jurisprudence; which, no doubt, leads the people to consider the clergy as their best protection against the ambitious power of the government. Their rigid adherence to the written law entitles these doctors to the share of gratitude which they enjoy. No measures of state are ever entered upon without their sanction; and a great portion of the revenues are alienated for the support of the national religion and the colleges which teach it. The surplus revenues of the capital are even divided after this manner; and the whole plan of administration bears a nearer resemblance to a hierarchy than any other government. If a murder be committed; if a robbery occur; if a dispute arise on any subject, it is immediately referred to the priesthood, since the King does not take upon himself to judge of the merits of a case without them. I am assured that this system has existed at Bokhara from the earliest ages of Mahommedanism, and is not coeval with the invasion of the Uzbeks, though it was more firmly established in the reign of the last King, Hyder Shah, who held his creed in bigoted veneration. Whatever may be the opinions entertained of the religion of Mahommed, it is productive of great advantages in the administration of a kingdom, when its laws are rigidly enforced. The police of the city and kingdom of Bokhara is strict and efficient: the largest bales of goods, as I have already stated, are left in open stalls at night without danger, and the roads of the country are free from either robbers or thieves. The uncompromising manner in which offenders are treated, and the summary justice inflicted upon them, instil a salutary terror into the minds of the ill-disposed. The most trivial offences are punished with death: fines, and imprisonment in horrid dungeons, are also employed, but more rarely. The laws of Mahommed are as much enforced as they ever were under his own eye; and the legislation that united the wandering Arabs of the desert has been transferred, without a single improvement or alteration, to a people differing in manners, habits, and languages, and considerably advanced in some points of civilisation.
Revenues of Bokhara.