The rise of the Bukhara Khanate under Abdullah Khan II

Abdullah Khan II was born in 1534, the son of Iskandar Khan, the governor of Miyonqol. The Juybari shaykhs near Bukhara — Muhammad Islam and his descendants — gave him great support; they had wide influence and lands, and also served as Shaykh al-Islam in Bukhara. From 1556 he subdued Karmana, Shahrisabz and Bukhara, then Samarkand, Tashkent and Fergana by force; at first his father Iskandar Khan stood as khan, and only in 1583 was Abdullah Khan II formally proclaimed khan. By the end of the 16th century his state joined Transoxiana, Khwarazm and eastern Khorasan, and in Russia it was called “Great Bukhara”. This unification was achieved by harsh measures: he did not spare sultans who opposed the centre, even relatives, and yet he could not agree with his own son Abdulmumin over the throne. When he died in 1598, Abdulmumin was killed the same year, Shah Abbas seized Khorasan, Khwarazm became independent, and in 1601 the Shaybanid dynasty ended.