Cities of the Emirate. Domestic and foreign trade

Cities in the emirate were pillars of power, centres of trade and crafts, and hearths of learning. Bukhara was the capital of the khanate from 1533 and then of the emirate (until 1920); it had hundreds of mosques, many madrasas and caravanserais, and students came from Khiva, Kokand, Hisar and the Muslim lands of Russia. Samarkand had fallen into decline under the Ashtarkhanids because of wars and nomad raids; Muhammad Rahim tried to restore it, and Amir Shahmurad, by bringing in people from other cities, rebuilt it from about 1780, so that by the early 19th century its population reached 25–30 thousand. Crafts included textiles (Bukhara alacha, bo‘z, chit, Samarkand velvet), blacksmithing, jewellery, pottery, woodwork and leatherwork; the bazaar was both an economic and a public centre. After the 16th century the declining importance of the Great Silk Road hurt trade, so ordinary crafts and farm produce dominated the home market. Foreign trade continued with India, Afghanistan, Iran and China, and in 1804 a compound of Bukharan merchants was set up in Orenburg, widening trade with Russia.