Central power and state administration in the Emirate

Amir Haydar (1800–1826) broke the resistance of several provinces and subordinated them to the centre, which increased state land and the number of tenant farmers. Even so, calm was not achieved: the struggle with Shahrisabz and Miyonqol went on, there was war with the Kokand Khanate over Ura-Tepa, and in 1806 a Khiva army attacked and was repulsed on the Amu Darya. In 1804 a revolt broke out in Merv, where his brother Dinnasirbek was governor; while it was being put down, the Sultanbandi dam that watered the oasis is said to have been destroyed, and the people, left without water, moved away. In 1821 heavy taxes and mobilisation led to a revolt in Miyonqol, and the amir had to make concessions. Amir Nasrullah (1826–1860) sought to unite the begliks into a single state: the struggle for Shahrisabz and Kitob lasted 30 years, and they were subdued in 1856. Under him a cult of the amir’s person and an atmosphere of fear grew. In 1842 the emirate took Kokand, but that same year an uprising restored Kokand’s independence; in 1843 a war over Khujand and Ura-Tepa followed, in which Bukhara had the upper hand.