Bukhara [monastery?], (in) Bukhara, Buxoro Viloyati, UZ

Raw data

“Buddhism which gradually stopped its spread in parts of Transoxiana during the end of the Sassanid Dynasty, for a long time preserved its strongholds in Bukhara, Balkh, Qandehar and Kabul. […D]uring the time of Noshakhi, the chronicler of the History of Bukhara (who died in the year 348 A.H. [= circa 959 C.E. - Alnaseej 2013]), Bukhara possessed a market which was known as the idol worshipers district, where idols were sold to customers[5]. This enraged the Muslims who put the town on fire which burnt for three days and razed it to the ground because until that time Buddhism was the official religion of the citizens of Bukhara. According to Noshakhi many of the idol temples in Bukhara and Bikand and other cities were plundered and burnt by Hojjaj's army[6].” - Mostafavi (n.d.)

Hojjaj's army - most likely a reference to the Muslims commanded by
"Sahih of Moslem-Ibn-Hojjaj Neishaboury, Sahih of Bokhary from Bokhara" - http://www.rahehagh.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61:the-end-of-times-battle&catid=8:1388-12-12-16-38-06&Itemid=11
[who was, most likely same as Qatib bin Muslim aka Bukhar-Khudat Kuteiba (738-753 CE) - tmciolek]

“Kuteiba [Kuteiba ibn Muslim, Arab vice regent of Khorasan in 705-715 - http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=8348 ]retained the local dynasty in Bukhara, and enthroned Takhshada the Bukhar-Khudat who adopted Islam. However, the increasing popularity of the new religion [= Islam] dated from the period when Ashras b. Abdulla as-Sulami was appointed vice-regent in Khorasan (727-729). He promised not to tax Muslims, causing a mass conversion of the Soghdians to Islam. Because of this, tax income nearly ceased coming into the coffers. Ashras had to establish the previous practice of levying taxes, which caused the Soghdian uprising in 728. They returned to their previous religion [chiefly Zoroastrianism, but also Buddhism - tmciolek], called upon the Turks for help, and regained almost the whole of Soghd, including the Bukhara oasis. The Arabs managed to recapture Bukhara a year later.
In 747, the anti-Omeyads, a powerful movement headed by Abu Muslim, was formed. This movement won a victory in 749 that established a new dynasty — the Abbasids — that rose to power in the Caliphate. Almost at once, as soon as the new dynasty was founded, Shariq b. Shaikh al-Makhri, supported by the Alids (i.e., the descendants of Ali, the fourth "righteous" caliph), rose up against the Abbasids. He gained the support of 300,000 partisans, and the Bukhara citizens generally supported him.
Abu Muslim sent a powerful army against Shariq [b. Shaikh al-Makhri] under the command of Ziyad b. Salikh [a ruler of Bukhara and Samarkand] assisted by Bukhar-Khudat Kuteiba [= Kutaiba (738-753 AD), a ruler of Bukhara - http://www.advantour.com/uzbekistan/bukhara/history/005.htm] and some of the Bukhara aristocracy. They besieged Bukhara for more than a month. Finally, the city was set on fire; it burnt for three days, and prisoners of war were hung on the city gates. Despite taking an active part in suppressing the uprising, Bukhar-Khudat Kuteiba was accused and, consequently, found guilty of renouncing Islam. He was executed by Abu Muslim's order.” - http://www.advantour.com/uzbekistan/bukhara/history/006.htm

“Mukhammad Narshakhi writes that "of the different names of the city, Bukhoro was the most well-known". Therefore, both the region and the city had the same name. Academician V.V. Bartold [Vasily Vladimirovich Bartold 1869-1930 (aka Wilhelm Bartold) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Bartold ] explains the origin of the word "Bukhara" from the Sanskrit word vi-hara or "temple". However, we think that this name is derived from the Soghdian word Bugoro which means "God's fascination". This interpretation, undoubtedly, is congenial to the nature of the ancient Bukhara that Narshakhi describes.” - http://www.advantour.com/uzbekistan/bukhara/history/003.htm

“The first reference to Bukhara in a written document seems to be the term Buho (or Poe-ho), mentioned by the Chinese writer Suan-Tsiang [ven.xuanzang] around 630 A.D. The name also occurs on drachma coins of the Persian ruler Varahran V (42 1-439 A.D.) minted in the Bukhara region and apparently dating from the late fifth century, as well as on the so-called Kopchikov dish, which dates from the late sixth or early seventh century, according to paleographic evidence. In the opinion of a number of scholars who have studied the twelfth-century writings of Djuveyni, the name Bukhara is derived from the Sanskrit word vihara, meaning "Buddhist temple." However, another theory is that the name comes from the Soghdian word buxarak, meaning "a happy place." And this theory is most likely to be the truth Numi, Maumi, or Numidjikat, another name for the city found in Chinese and Arabic historical records, comes (in V.A. Livshits's opinion) from the Soghdian word Namich, which means "glorious, famous." - http://www.advantour.com/uzbekistan/bukhara/history/004.htm
Input by: tmciolek, Apr 06, 2013

Final data (and their sources)

Last updated: 15 Sep 2013

Lat/Long coordinates' accuracy:
The monastery in question is assumed to be situated actually no farther than 2 km from the point defined by the coordinates below.

Location of Bukhara monastery?, UZ.

General location of the Bukhara monastery?, UZ.
Lat 39.77342 Long 64.411769
Mapping & images: Falling Rain Genomics (http://www.fallingrain.com), 2013.


Google Map link:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=39.77342+64.411769+(Approx.%20loc.%20of%20the%20Bukhara%20monastery?,%20UZ)&ll=39.77342,64.411769&spn=05.0,05.0&t=k&hl=en


Final data - explanatory notes

1. Monastery's name

  • Bukhara monastery?

2. Monastery's modern country & province

  • Uzbekistan:Buxoro Viloyati

3. Monastery's alternative/historical names

  • [missing data]

4. Monastery's lat/long coordinates

  • Approx. Lat 39.77342 Long 64.411769 - based on visual identification of a street in the old Bukhara city, close to Maghoki Attar, in maps/satellite imagery and Panoramio photographs, maps.google.com - tmciolek, 06 Apr 2013.

5. Other known nearby Buddhist monasteries


6. Modern name of the known nearest city, town, or village


7. The settlement's alternative/historical names


8. The settlement's coordinates


9. Monastery's major Buddhist tradition

  • [missing data]

10. Monastery's Buddhist sub-tradition

  • [missing data]

11. Date-early

  • [missing data]

12. Date-intermediate

  • [missing data]

13. Date-late

  • MBM chrono-tag: 0700-32p 0733-66p - tmciolek 06 Apr 2013
  • 0700-32p 0733-66p dated-l

14. Details of contacts with other monasteries

  • [missing data]

15. Type of evidence regarding the monastery

  • Archaeological, historical accounts

16. Additional notes

  • [missing data] (incl. details of the size of the monastic population)
  • The 5th century destruction of the monastery notwithstanding Buddhism was still widely practiced by the Bukhara's residents in the first half of the 900s CE - Mostafavi (n.d.)

17. Corrections & addenda to this page were kindly provided by

  • [missing data]

18. Known monks and nuns associated with this monastery


19. Available Printed Literature

  • [bibliographical details of the Book/Article 1]
  • [bibliographical details of the Book/Article 2]
  • [bibliographical details of the Book/Article 3]

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