Foreign policy of the Emirate of Bukhara

In foreign policy the Manghit amirs aimed at leadership among the Uzbek states of Central Asia, wanted a firm foothold in Khorasan, developed trade with Russia and other countries, and tried to guarantee Muslims’ pilgrimage via Astrakhan. In the late 18th century the envoy Ernazarbiy visited Russia twice and obtained a cathedral mosque at Astrakhan and a guarantee of passage for pilgrims; Catherine II gave funds for a madrasa in Bukhara, called the Ernazarbiy madrasa. In 1797 Shahmurad sent Polvonquli qurchi with a proposal for joint action against Iran, but Russia did not agree. Under Nasrullah envoys raised the questions of lower duties, mining specialists and sale of weapons; in 1858 the embassy of Colonel Ignatyev was the emirate’s last embassy as an independent state. In the early 19th century Great Britain, to extend its influence through India, sent the expeditions of Moorcroft (1825) and Burnes (1832), and in 1839 military action began against Afghanistan; Russia, after losing the Crimean War, felt keenly the strategic importance of Central Asia, and this rivalry prepared the ground for the region’s later conquest.