BUKHARAN JEWS

History
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Collection of Articles
Edited by Chana Tolmas
Israel
2006
J
1, 1"\ I

Giora Fuzailov The System of Succession in: the Bukharan Rabbinate 1790-1917
65. " ... a lion lays on it." See Tractate Shavuot, p.22a and Rashi's
comn1entary.
66. The king's seal, a very important authorization.
67. The Sephardi Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Ya'akov Shaul Elyashar.
68. Safed, 1870. He served for a number of years as rabbi of
Bukhara and was an emissary of the community to a number of other
communities.
69. I do not know who he was.
) 70. Son of Rabbi Pinhas "ha-katan", the leader of the community.
71. One of the sages of the yeshivah.
72. Rabbi Hizkiyah's brother and son of Rabbi Yizhak Ha-Cohen
Rabin. Leader of the Bukharan Jewish community. He was murdered
by the Bolsheviks in 1920.
73. Zion ben Rabbi Pinhas "ha-katan" .

74. One of the wealthy members of the community. He.built the
"palace" in the Bukharan quarter at the beginning of the 20th century.
See Fuzailov, Mi-bukhara, p. 350.
}

r
'

110

Reprinted with pettnission from SHVUT 6 (22) 1997 pp. 57-78.

Studies in Russian and East European Jewish History and Culture.
Tel Aviv University. Diaspora Research Institute.
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Ben-Gurion Research Center .
Reprinted with some changes and additions
(
Introduction
The history of the Bukharan Jews who were con-
verted to Islam (the Chalah) remains almost unknown till
today. Although many publications on the history ofBuk-
haran Jews devoted a few lines to Jewish converts to
most of their authors, lacking a sufficient number
of only mention the problem and attempt
to detennme the tune frame of the conversions. Yet, there
are several works of limited scientific interest on the prob-
lem. I. Babakhanov
1
briefly reported about the history of
the Chalah on the basis of oral reports and described their
rites. The same issues were discussed in greater
detatl by p. in her monograph on the history of
Bukhara, whtch descnbed the methods used in converting
Bukharan Jews to Islam and areas in the city of Bukhara
where the Chalah lived. M. Zand' s article presented evi-
Ill

)
..
Albert Kaganovich The Muslim Jews- Cbalab In Central Asia 1865-1917
dence about the areas of the Bukhara emirate and its capi-
tal Bukhara in which the Chalah had settled, and reported
data about their mid-nineteenth-century population.
3
The almost complete absence of sources on the his-
tory of Muslim Jews in Central Asia it impossible
to fortn a complete picture of the conversion of Central
Asian Jews to Islam and their subsequent legal status and
social circumstances. But the documents of the Tsarist pe-
riod discovered by the present author in the Central A.rchive
of Uzbekistan allow us to trace a specific period in the his-
tory of the Chalah.
1. The Chalah before the Russian conquest .
of Central Asia
Jews settled in Central Asia even before it was con-
quered by the Arabs. With the advent of Islam, the so-
called "laws of Caliph Omar II" (717-720 C.E.)
4
were
extended to apply to the Jews. According to re-
strictive laws, which remained valid in Central Asia for
over one thousand years, Jews were obligated to wear
special clothes to distinguish them from .the t:Auslims;
Jewish homes and shops had to be lower In height than
those of their Muslim neighbors; and Jews had to pay a
poll tax (jizya) from the time they reached the age of
thirteen. In addition, Jews were not allowed to have
more than one synagogue per town, ride on horseback
in town own bath houses, sell wine or strong liquor to
' 0
the Muslims, or testify in court against Muslims, even
0 h 0 .c. 5
In t eir 1avor.
Furthern1ore, Central Asian Jews were subject to
severe punishments, including death, for violating any
of these laws. Evidence by several Muslims was suffi-
cient for the accusation against a Jew to be considered
112
..
Albert Kaganovich
The Muslim Jews- Cbalab In Central Asia 1865-1917
valid.
6
Nevertheless, before the punishment (especially
the death penalty) was put into effect, the accused
Bukharan Jews was offered the choice of converting to
Islam a.r;td thus absolute pardon.
7
Promoting the
conversiOn of an mfidel to Islam was considered a deed
that found in the eyes of God and merited great re-
and prms_e from fellow Muslims; indeed, it was valued
so highly that It dill_linished the sin ofperjury.8
. Bukharan Jewish literature and oral tradition con-
tam some. examples of great courage and spiritual
strength displayed by Jews who were convicted and
because they refused to convert.
9
At the same
time, some Jews facing the death penalty or
other pumshments were forced to convert.
10
There were
also of voluntary conversion to Islam due to the
seventy of the restrictive legislation and the enticement
of lavish promises.
11
The Muslim "missionaries" pre-
ferred to achieve conversion to Islam of those Jews who
were prominent in the community by non-threatening
12 Th" .
means. Is amed the promoters higher honors
the Muslims, on the one hand, while creating a
VIVId propaganda tool that could be used to influence
the res_t of the Community. The conversion to Islam was
by the Muslim judge, kazi. Every new convert
was _giVen a Muslim robe and a turban which non-
Mushms were not allowed to wear. A Muslim supervisor
was attached to every new convert; his duty was to advise
the new convert about religious matters and to make sure
that he was religious rites correctly. 13
In certam cases, the converts' families were also
declared to be converts to Islam;
14
in others, however,
husbands had to divorce their wives and were sub-
sequently separated from their families and evicted
113

Albert Kaganovich The Muslim Jews-Chalah In Central Asia 1865-1917
from the Jewish neighborhoods.
15
The conversion of
Jews to Islam probably continued throughout the period
of Muslim dominion over Central Asia with the conver-
sion rate increasing during periods of intensified reli-
gious fanaticism among the Muslims.
16
Along with their
observance of Muslim rites, some of the new converts
also continued to practice, secretly and over long peri-
ods of time, the rituals prescribed by Judaism, even
though this, as well as formal conversion to Judaism
were punishable by death. Nevertheless, the ties of the
new converts' children with Judaism were becoming
. h . 17
weaker wtt every new generatton.
The Muslims distrusted and despised the new con-
verts and called them Chalah (half-made), an epithet
which the former Jews perceived as an insult.
18
It was
also adopted by the Bukharan Jews, although they
treated the converts with more sympathy and under-
standing. Secret links were often maintained between
the Bukharan Jews and the Chalah.
19
Distrust and con-
tempt on the part of the Muslims and the converts' sepa-
ration from other Jews resulted in the isolation of the
Chalah. They tried to live together in the same quarters,
observe the religious rites together, conclude marriages
20
among themselves, etc.
Often the new converts, in their attempt to circum-
vent the supervision and fearing denunciations on the
part of their Muslim neighbors, lived apart from, but
near the Jewish neighborhoods. Thus, for example, in
Bukhara itself, the urban center with the highest con-
centration of Chalah, five to seven blocks of new con-
verts, were formed around the areas of the Jewish set-
tlement.21 Such concentrations of Chalah in these blocks
prevented their assimilation with the Muslim popula-
114
Albert Kaganovich
The Muslim Jews- Chalah In Central Asia 1865-1917
tion. On the other hand, in those towns and cities of
Central Asia, where there were no Jewish neighbor-
hoods (most urban centers), the converts obviously did
not build their own isolated blocks and settled, as a rule,
among Muslims. In these cases, their complete break
with Judaism occurred much sooner.
Converts to Islam lived in numerous Central Asian
cities and towns. N. Muraviov, who traveled in Turkestan
in 1819-1820, r e ~ o r t e finding Jews who had converted to
Islam in Khiva.
2
According to Bartold's theory, the con-
version of the Jews of Khiva to Islam "must have taken
place a sufficiently long time ago, for, otherwise, the de-
scendants of the involuntary proselytes would have returned
to their own faith after the arrival of the Russians".
23
However, as indicated in the message sent by
Samarkand Jews to Vienna and published in 1891,
about 100 families of Khiva had converted to Islam by
the end of the eighteenth century.
24
Thus, at the tiil)e of
Muraviov's visit to Khiva, members of the first genera-
ti on of the converts would still have been alive. The
Russian army, which occupied Khiva in 1873, found
Chalah of the second and third generations only. The
time that had . elapsed since the conversion was not
especially long, and t ~ e Khiva Chalah could still have
returned to Judaism. But, since, Russia allowed the con-
quered khanate to retain its sovereignty, the Khiva Cha-
lah could not openly return to their former religion.
Apostasy was punishable by death, so they faced the
same threat as the Chalah of Bukhara. An almost com-
plete absence of Jews in Khiva evidently promoted
rapid assimilation of the converts.
25
The majority of the Chalah in the Bukhara emirate
had been converted to Islam in the late eighteenth and
115
Albert The Muslim Jews- Chalah In Central Asia 1865-1917
early nineteenth centuries.
26
According to an estimate
made by J. Wolf, who visited Central Asia in 1832, the
Chalah in the city of Bukhara alone numbered about
3 00 families.
27
By the end of the eighteenth century ( ac-
cording to my calculation based on credible supposition
of Soviet orientalist Olga Sukhareva) the Chala resided
in the city of Bukhara in the following quarters: Araban
- about 30 houses; Chor korvonsaray - about 3 houses;
Eshoni pir - about 50 houses; Khoji Amon-boi - about
10 houses; Mekhtar shafe' - about 40 houses;
Mir-Mas'ud- about 17 houses.
28
About 150 houses
were in the city of Bukhara. According to Russian geog-
rapher and physician Ivan Iavorskiy, who researched the
Bukharan emirate in the end of the eighteenth century,
ten souls average resided in a house in the city of
Bukhara.
29
Therefore in the place there were 1,500
Chala in this time. However, it's not excluded that
Chala lived in other quarters of Bukhara also. For
example, Faizulah Khojaev, who was a premier of Buk-
haran republic in 1920-1924 and after that a premier of
Uzbekistan republic (1925-193 7), until 1917 resided in
house which ones apparently belonged to a Chala. It fol-
lows from the fact that from this house located in the quar-
ter Gozi 'on conducted to Jewish quarter Amirabod an un-
derground course, near to gate Namazgah of the city.
30
Groups of converts also lived in other urban centers
of the emirate: Karatag, Katta-Kurgan, Samarkand, and
Shakhrisiabz.
31
The total number of Chalah in the Buk-
hara emirate on the eve of the Russian conquest was
estimated by M. Zand to be 2,000.
32
Chalah also lived in
the urban areas of the Kokand khanate: Andizhan, Kho-
jent, Kokand, and Marghelan.
33
116
Albert Kaganovich
The Muslim Jews- Chalah In Central Asia 1865-1917
2. The Chalah and the Russian administration
in the second half of the nineteenth century
The Russian conquest of Central Asia lasted from
1853 to 1884. As a result, the Bukhara emirate and the
Khiva and Kokand khanates became politically dependent
on the Russian Empire and lost a considerable part of the
territories. The Turkestan Governor-Generalship, also re-
ferred to in Russia as Turkestan, or Turkestanskii krai (the
Turkestan province), was fornted in these territories. The
Kokand khanate was abolished in 1876 during the course
of an uprising suppressed by the Russian army, and its
territory was included in Turkestan Govet?or-
Generalship. By the early twentteth century, the terrttory
of the Governor-Generalship included the oblasts (prov-
inces) of Syr-Darya, Samarkand, Fergana,
(Seven Rivers), and Zakaspiiskaia (Trans-Casptan).
Although the Bukhara emirate and the Kokand khanate
became vassal states, this had no effect on the status of the
Bukharan Jews, who remained subjects of these states.
Attempts at forced conversion, as well as voluntary
conversions continued. As a rule the governs-general of
Turkestan who supervised the khanate administrations
through a' specially created apparatus,
34
did not proyide
specific protection for Jewish subjects. At the same ttme,
high-ranking khanate bureaucrats were aware of the Czar-
ist administration's negative attitude toward the forced
conversion of Jews to Islam.
35
This may have been the .
reason why the number of cases in which open coercion
was used to convert Jews to Islam began to decline.
Nevertheless, reports exist about youngsters who
kidnapped and converted, as well as those who gave tn to
persuasion, threats and promises.
117
Albert Kaganovich The Muslim Jews- Chalah In Central Asia 1865-1917
For instance, in 1871, David Yagudyev, twelve or
thirteen years old at the time, was forcibly converted in
the Kokand Khanate.
36
In 1874-75, Murad-bek, the pro-
vincial governor of Marghelan in the Kokand Khanate
ordered the tax collector to supply Mullah Musulmankul
Iahudi with food and clothes for Jewish boys converted to
Islam.
37
Mullah Iahudi, their religious mentor, was a Cha-
lah himself, as his name indicates.
In Bukhara, at about the end of the 1870s, an eight-
year-old boy, Benjamin Maman, was kidnapped and con-
verted to Islam. Seven years elapsed before he managed to
escape and return to his parents, who then sent him to
Samarkand.
38
Cases of conversion were recorded in later years as
well. In 1907, fifteen-year-old David Barakov was con-
verted in Bukhara. After his conversion, Barakov and two
other Jewish youngsters lived in the house of a Muslim
who was their religious mentor.
39
Khanate officials also tried to convert Jews accused of
crimes. In 1890, two Bukharan Jews were arrested by the
Mirshab (police chief) of Bukhara and accused of adultery
with Muslim women. According to Bukharan law, they
could either be executed or imprisoned for life, at the
emir's direction. One of the accused agreed to convert and
was pardoned, while the other, David Iskhakov, refused
and was thrown into the underground prison, the terrible
zindan.
40
The Muslim Jews who were permanent residents of
the territories incorporated into the Turkestan Governor-
General received Russian citizenship and thus were able to
return to Judaism. The Turkestan administration placed no
obstacles in the path of Chalah who wished to return to the
faith of their ancestors. Thus, in the cotrrse of the Russian
118
Albert Kaganovich The Muslim Jews - Chalah In Central Asia 1865-1917
conquest of Central Asia, the Chalah of the most impor-
tant Jewish center, Samarkand, which was annexed by
Russia, were given official pern1ission to return to Juda-
ism by A. Abramov, the first military governor of the
province. Among them were also the Jews forcibly con-
verted to Islam in the course of the Muslim uprising
against the Russian army.
41
After the establishment of the Turkestan Governor-
Generalship, the Chalah residing in the Bukhara emirate
who nurtured the hope of returning to the faith of their
ancestors attempted to do so by becoming Russian sub-
jects. Jewish immigrants, however, were unwanted in
Russia; therefore, official requests for Russian citizenship
by Chalah who wanted to return to Judaism were usually
rejected by the govemors-general.
42
When making deter-
minations in such cases, the administration, which consid-
ered the Chalah as Jews, applied the law of 1866. Under
this law, which dealt with the Jewish s u j e ~ t s of the Cen-
tral Asian States that had come under Russian dominance,
only rich Jews capable of joining merchant guilds I or II
and paying the required fees could be granted Russian
citizenship. However, even in such cases the final decision
was in the hands of the govemor-general.
43
The case of Aron Kandin could be considered an
exception. In 1868, hard times befell the Jewish commu-
nity of Bukhara. After his defeat by Russia, the emir was
required to pay half a million rubles; he ordered the Jew-
ish community of Bukhara to raise a quarter of this sum,
even though the Jewish population of the city was only
one-tenth that the Muslims, who had to pay a considerably
smaller amount.
44
The heavy tax caused intense strife
within the community, which resulted in the denunciation
of Kandin, the community elder.
45
The Bukharan authori-
119
Albert Kaganovich The Muslim Jews- Chalab In Central Asia 1865-1917
ties arrested him and accused him of rendering to the Rus-
sians. His property was confiscated and he was sentenced
to death. On the eve of his execution, Kandin was offered
the chance to save his life by converting to Islam.
46
One
year later, Kandin told a prisoner, Gamliel Beninson, that
he had "avoided death by converting and by paying 3 400
golden tilli" (13,600 rubles).
47
'
Wishing to make use of Kandin' s commercial talents
'
as well as his knowledge of economics, the emir made
him a high official. However, to prevent him from escap-
ing, the emir placed him under virtual house arrest in his
palace.
48
Evidently, the accusation that Kandin had con-
nections with the Russians was not unfounded, since even
when he was under guard, he risked his life to transmit
very important secret data to Russia.
49
Aron' s younger wife and her children were converted
to Islam along with him, while his elder wife and her
grown-up children managed to flee to Samarkand, which
had been captured by the Russians.
50
Yet Kandin did not feel comfortable with his new
religion. He established contacts with the Jewish commu-
nity in Bukhara and sought an opportunity to flee the
emirate. In 1882, when Henry Lansdell, an English tra-
veler, visited Bukhara, local Jews asked him to intercede
with the emir on behalf of Kandin. But later on, they
abandoned the idea, fearing that intervention might aggra-
vate his situation.
51
After Emir Muzafar's death in 1885
'
the throne passed to his fourth son, Abdullakhan, who
enjoyed Russian support. Having apparently concluded
that, under the new emir the Russian authorities would be
more likely to give him asylum, Kandin somehow man-
aged to transmit his request to the Czar. The fact that he
had rendered some services to the Russian administration
120
lbert Kaganovich
The Muslim Jews- Chalah In Central Asia 1865-1917
and was punished for it helped him: In or 888, .czar
Alexander III granted Kandin Russian citizenship. This
was followed by Aron's "escape" from Bukhara to Russta,
52
undoubtedly, sanctioned by the young emtr. . .
In April 1889 Aron Kandin was granted permtsston
' . 53 hi
to join merchant guild II m Moscow. To t s
status in Moscow a Bukharan Jew needed spectal mter-
vention by the authorities. Kandin, however, di.d
not remain in Moscow for long. The uproar caused by hts
escape soon died down in 1 .he to
Asia where he was reuntted wtth hts elder wtfe, children
and bouJrt a house in Samarkand
and joined merchant guild II. Although he was well-
connected and had vast commercial experience, he was
apparently unable to calmly his trad: because
he was possibly tormented by his feehngs gmlt as-
senting to convert to Islam and for adhenng to It for
twenty years. He went to Jerusalem to atone for his sin
and died there in 1909.
55
Some of the Chalah who were Bukharan subjects
moved to the territories under the jurisdiction of the Turk-
estan Governor-Generalship even though they did not
have official permission. For a long time they remained in
Turkestan unhampered. In their new .the
Chalah returned to Judaism, performed Jewtsh ntes With-
out fear and concluded marriages with Bukharan Jews.
the number of Chalah moving to Turkestan
grew considerably in 1892-1899,
56
but this was cut
short by the adoption in 1900 of a law that permitted Buk-
haran Jews who were not Russian subjects to reside only
in the border areas of Turkestan and only on condition that
they join merchant guilds I or II.
121


Albert Kaganovich The Muslim Jews- Chalah In Central Asia 1865-1917
The Jewish subjects ofBukhara who had been granted
the right to settle anywhere in Turkestan and had gained
entrance to the Empire now enjoyed the same rights as the
Bukharan Jews who had been granted Russian citizenship.
But, according to the law, which was to become valid as
of early 1906,
57
those Jews who were unable to pay the
high membership fees charged by the merchant guilds
would be deported to Bukhara. And soon after its promul-
gation, the Turkestan authorities began to strictly control
the Bukharan citizens' rights to enter Russia, as well as
the issuing of residence pern1its for Jews who were
foreign subjects. At that time, it was discovered that
groups of Chalah were living in the urban areas of Turke-
stan without residence permits.
58
Officially, they were to
be deported to Bukhara where, as Chalah who had re-
turned to Judaism, they could face the death penalty.
Under these circumstances, the Tashkent group of
Chalah applied to the Military Governor of Syr-Darya
province, N. I. Korolkov, whose jurisdiction included the
city of Tashkent, requesting that an investigation be or-
dered to establish the date of their settlement in the city
and to cancel their deportation to Bukhara. Mainly the
second generation Chalah, closely related through fam-
ily ties, maintained that they had already settled in
Tashkent in 1866 (see Appendix).
59
In this way, the
Chalah Jews of Tashkent hoped to be designated as in-
digenous inhabitants of the province, which would give
them the right of free residence and the right to acquire
real estate in Turkestan.
However, the hopes of the Chalah Jews were not
realized. Although the territories later included in the Syr-
Darya province were officially annexed by Russia accord-
ing to a treaty concluded with the emir of Bukhara in
122
Albert Kaganovich The Muslim Jews- Chalah In Central Asia 1865-1917
1868, the city of Tashkent had already been conquered by
the Russians in 1865. Thus, according to the explanation
given by the Minister of War, which was brought to the
attention of the Governor-General of Turkestan in July
1891 , only those Jews who had settled in these territories
prior to the arrival of the Russian army could be recog-
nized as indigenous.
60
Hence, no investigation regarding the date of the set-
tlement of the Chalah Jews in Tashkent was carried out by
the local administration; however, the deportation of the
Tashkent group of forn1er Chalah was temporarily post-
poned. Korolkov sent a message to his political agent in
Bukhara asking him to gather information on the Tashkent
Chalah. The agent's answer was received in November
1 90 1. According to his report, the Chalah in question left
Bukhara some 35 to 40 years before and he confirmed that
those who had returned to Judaism would indeed be put to
death in the emirate.
61
In July 1902, Korolkov,
62
whose anti-Jewish policies
were well-known, sent the Chalah's petition for considera-
tion to the Governor-General of Turkestan, N. Ivanov,
with an accompanying letter in which he stated that "the
law contained no instructions that would allow any excep-
tions to be made for the benefit of those who had no resi-
dence rights in the province, including such cases as the
one cited above. "
63
After familiarizing himself with the Cha-
lah's petition, Ivanov gave orders, by means of a secret
memorandum, to compile a list of all Chalah residing in the
province and added special instructions that the information
be collected without fanfare, and that "great care should be
taken not to include "Non-Chalah Jews in the list."
64
123

Albert Kaganovich The Muslim Jews- Chalab In Central Asia 1865-1917
This list, compiled in the autumn of 1902, include
29 Jewish Chalah families who resided in the thre
so-called "indigenous" provinces of Turkestan.
65
The data was rechecked on orders from the Governor
General of Turkestan in February, 1903, and, based on thi
information; a final list of Chalah Jews was compiled.
They were given permission to reside in Turkestan, bu
they were also warned that they would never be granted
the rights of indigenous residents and "would be deporte
if they committed any unseemly act." At the same time, i
was announced that any Chalah who attempted to ente
Turkestan would be considered a Jew, would not b
granted a residence Jlermit, and would consequently b
deported to Bukhara.
Thus, in Russian Turkestan the term Chalah was offi.
cially used to designate Jews who converted to Islam but
later returned to Judaism. Moreover, the Turkestan
administration did not consider them as Muslim subject
of Bukhara in possession of residence permits in Turke-
. stan, but rather as Jewish refugees from Bukhara who
would be put to death if they returned. In order to avoid
taking responsibility for the probable execution of th
Chalah, the Turkestan authorities gave them the right to
remain in Turkestan, but refused to grant them Russian
citizenship. In 1907, this local administrative policy
gained the support of the War Ministry, as well as the
Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Internal Affairs.
67
In 1908 another name was added to the list of Chalah
Jews living in Tashkent: Rafail Barakov, a 15-year-old
youngster, who had .escaped from Bukhara to Tashkent
where he remained for some time.
68
He was taken in by
Rabbi Shlomo Tazher, spiritual leader of the Bukharan
Jews of Tashkent, who converted Barakov back to Juda-
124
A I bert Kaganovich The Muslim Jews- Cbalab In Central Asia 1865-1917
ism. Consequently, (according to a report sent to the Gov-
rnor-General of Turkestan by the political agent in Buk-
hara) the fugitive was n danger of being executed in Buk-
hara if he returned there.
69
The Minister of Foreign Affairs
nnd the War Minister approved the Governor-General's
request and granted Barakov a residence permit in Tur-
kestan.70
In 1910, the law of 1900 finally took effect after sev-
~ ral delays, and, subsequently, several hundred Bukharan
.Jews who were not Russian subjects received orders to
leave Turkestan. Among this group were some Chalah
Jews. Worried about their fate, A. Kirsner, the state-
appointed Ashkenazi Rabbi of Tashkent, sent cables to
P. Stolypin, Minister of Internal Affairs, and A. Samsonov,
the Governor-General of Turkestan, who was in St. Pe-
tersburg at the time.
71
In response, the Governor-General
gave orders to postpone the deportation of the Chalah Jews
until the issue of their fate could be resolved.
72
In October 1910, a decision about the fate of the Cha-
lah Jews was made by the War Ministry: they were to be
exiled to the frontier towns of Turkestan - Petro-
1\leksandrovsk, Samarkand, Katta-Kurgan, Old Marghe-
lan, Kokand, and Osh - which were designated as places
of residence for Bukharan Jews who were non-Russian
subjects admitted to merchant guilds I or II.
73
However,
the obscurely worded memorandum by the General Staff
was interpreted incorrectly by A. Samsonov; in his
instructions to the provincial Military Governors, he made
permission for the Chalah to remain in Turkestan depend-
ent on their joining merchant i l s I or II in one of the
six border towns of Turkestan.
Fearing deportation, some of the Chalah joined mer-
chant guilds.
75
The majority, however, being unable to pay

125
Albert Kaganovich The Muslim Jews-Chalah In Central Asia 1865-1917
guild I and II fees, once again faced the threat of deporta-
tion to the emirate. It was only due to the dilatory func-
tioning of the Turkestan bureaucratic machinery that the
Chalah Jews were not deported to Bukhara. Consequently,
it was only in April 1911 that the Chalah of Tashkent re-
ceived travel documents that enabled them to go to
Samarkand and Kokand.
76
They remained in these border
towns for two years before the Turkestan authorities
ordered them, on the basis of Samsonov' s memorandum
of October 30, 1910, to leave the territory of Turkestan.
77
In 1913, the Russian press came out in defense of the
Chalah. The newspaper Russkaia molva wrote: "The local
administration is now deporting these Chalah because they
had obviously moved to the region only after its occupa-
tion by the Russians. Meanwhile, if they do retwn to Buk-
hara, they may be executed there as apostates."
78
Report-
ing from Tashkent on the pending deportation of Bukha-
ran Jews to the emirate, the Russkoe slovo correspon-
dent wrote: " ... Many of them are threatened with death
if they return since many of them had been converted to
Islam by force centuries ago and, when Turkestan was
annexed by Russia, they hastened to return to Judaism
[an act] which, according to Muslim laws, is punishable
by death."
79
This report was reprinted by Birzhevye
vedomosti and by Rassvet.
80
These reports did not go unnoticed. The War Ministry
sent newspaper articles about the Chalah to the Governor-
General of Turkestan together with instructions to post-
pone the deportation of the Chalah to Bukhara.
81
As can
be seen from the urgent memorandum sent by Governor-
General Samsonov to the Military Governors of the
Syr-Darya, Samarkand, Fergana, and Semirechenskaia
oblasts, he admitted that his previous orders of October
126
Albert Kaganovich The Muslim Jews- Chalah In Central Asia 1865-1917
30, 1910, had been incorrect and gave new instructions to
allow the Chalah Jews to reside in the border towns of Turk-
estan without the obligation of joining merchant guilds.
82
On the eve of the October revolution of 1917, Bukha-
ran Chalah Jews resided in only two border towns of
Turkestan, Kokand and Samarkand, and numbered a total
of 160. (See the table below.)
83
Table: Chalah population in Turkestanskiy krai
(1902-1917)
Place 1902 1910 1917
., I
"T
'
Samarkand 53 64 110
Dzhizak 6
.
- -
Total, Samarkand oblast 59 64 110
Tashkent 28 35 -

Turkestan (town) 6 7 -
Total, Syr-Darya oblast 34 42 -
Andizhan 24 21 -
Kokand - 2 50
Namangan 6 3
-
Total, Fergana oblast 30 26 50
'
Total, Turkestan 123 132 160

provance '
'
127




Albert Kaganovich
The Muslim Jews- Chalab In Central Asia 1865-1917
After the October revolution, numerous Chalah Jew
residing as foreign subjects in what was forn1erly th
Governor-Generalship of Turkestan took advantage of th
opportunity offered by the declaration of national equality
and accepted Soviet citizenship.
84
Conclusion
The Central Asian Jews converted to Islam who se-
cretly continued to perform Jewish rites felt oppressed by
their double life (see Appendix). It was the only Russian
conquest of Central Asia that made the return to Judaism
possible for the Chalah residing in the territories annexed
by Russia and for several dozen Chalah families from
Bukhara, who had managed to escape to Russian Turke-
stan .
The Russian authorities treated the Chalah in th
same manner as they did the Bukharan Jews. Prior to
1910, the Chalah who had secretly emigrated from Buk
hara, as well as the Jews who were Bukharan subjects,
wee allowed remaining in Russian territory, although this
was an exception to the law regarding Jewish immigrants.
After 1910, however, these Chalah, as well as the Jews
who were Bukharan subjects, began to be evicted from the
cities of Turkestan. Tragedy was averted only through the
intervention of the Russian press and consequent fears on
the part of the Russian administration that the execution of
the Chalah in Bukhara received no support from the Rus-
sian administration, although it controlled the activities of
the emirate. Forced conversions of Jews to Islam contin-
ued in Bukhara while all Chalah requests for Russian citi-
zenship were turned down by the authorities.
As a result of the long time Muslim domination of
Bukhara, the Chalah who lived there gradually lost all
128
Albert Kaganovich The Muslim Jews- Chalah In Central Asia 1865-1917
connection with Judaism. It is known that, after the con-
quest of the Bukhara emirate by the Red Army in 1920,
rnany Chalah did not return to Judaism.
85
APPENDIX
To: His Excellency the Military Governor-General of
the Syr-Darya oblast.
From: Ai-Bibbish and her sons Abraham and Moses
lskhakov and her brothers Mirza, Iosif and Ibragim Iaku-
bov, all inhabitants of Tashkent.
Petition
No longer capable of concealing our distress and suf-
ferings, we, having shed our last tears in prayer to the
Most High Creator, have made up our minds to entrust our
destiny to the hands of Your Excellency, and bow our
heads before you waiting for our fate to be decided.
You may be familiar, Your Excellency, with the
words "Thank God, I am a Muslim," which are fatal for
Bukharan Jews. Every Jew guilty of any insignificant of-
fense dreads these words in the event that the Muslims
present see him as guilty, according to them, of even the
slightest insult to their religion. In this case, there is only
one way out: either the offender is brought to Kushbegi
who, on the basis of evidence from three Muslims present,
will sentence the offender to immediate death by hanging,
or the crowd gathered on the occasion will require the ac-
cused to pronounce in front of them the words "Thank
God, I am a Muslim," and thus redeem himself. When a
person becomes a Muslim in this way, his entire family is
proclaimed converted to Islam and is attached to a mullah
for training in the faith and rites.
129

Albert Kaganovich The Muslim Jews- Chalah In Central Asia 1865-1911
The Jews converted to Islam in this way received th
initially jocular, but later on fixed epithet of Chalah which
means "halves;" that is half-Jews and half-Muslims.
Almost all Chalah are outwardly Muslims, but Jew
in their hearts. As a matter of fact, nothing else could b
expected from the semi-savage fanatic. The Chalah fre
quent mosques, pretending to be praying and in general do
whatever is expected of a Muslim since their neighbor
are watching. But once they have bolted the doors of their
own homes, they honor the Shabbat, keeping this th
strictest of secrets, they pray under cover of darkness to
Jehovah, their unique God, begging him for forgivenes
for their involuntary sin. But woe unto those who do so
should somebody learn about it and betray them: the apos-
tates, and their entire farpilies, will be immediately exe-
cuted by hanging; in earlier times, they used to be thrown
down from a high tower and their bodies given to the dogs
to devour.
This life naturally brought about a situation in which
the Chalah lived together, in separate quarters, and con-
cluded marriages only among themselves, for no real
Muslim and certainly no Jew w,ould give their daughters
to them. The forn1er, since they strongly distrust the reli-
gious f l i n g ~ of the Chalah and the latter, well anyone
would understand why.
Thus the Chalah are leading a miserable life. Half
alive and half dead, they live under the eternal sword of
Damocles, fearing that at any tum they might be put to
death for apostasy from the faith they were forced to ac-
cept, usually without any guilt on their part. Not everyone
has sufficient stamina to bear this hellish life. Those who
could not stand it had only one choice: run away from the
precincts of the Bukhara khanate. Before Turkestan was
. 130
'
Albert Kaganovich The Muslim Jews- Chalah In Central Asia 1865-1917
conquered by the Russians there was nowhere to go. Mus-
lims were everywhere, and the Chalah used to run away to
where they were not known. But then the army of the
powerful White Czar appeared on the horizon of savage
Asia. Less than a year had passed, and the subjugated
Muslims could breathe with more freedom, having known
the Greatness of the New Ruler surrounded with the halo
of humanity, truth, law, and religious tolerance. it is
superfluous to say that the Bukharan Jews, too, breathed a
breath of freedom. Is there anyone among the inhabitants
of this region who is unaware of what it means to be a
HJew" in Bukhara even now, after the Russian Monarch
brought light with his powerful arm and sowed the seeds
of truth and good in the home of his neighbor? Is there any
use in trying to prove this, to convince anyone that the
Bukharan Jew is sincere and truthful without limit in his
prayers for the Russian Czar?
Conquered Turkestan has become the best and the
only shelter for the Chalah fugitives!
Your Excellency! All of us mentioned in the attached
list are Chalah who escaped from Bukhara in 1866. All of
us, except the women and David Y agudyev, are among
the 36 Jews listed i n ~ dossier in the Provincial Governing
Board for deportation to Bukhara as Bukharan subjects.
We all escaped from Bukhara and hid ourselves in Tash-
kent even before it was occupied by the Russian troops,
and when the lists of Jews were being compiled we did
not dare to present ourselves. Our fear, that of the "Chalah
fugitives,'' killed all sense and reason in us. We were hid-
ing in our holes and trembling with fear for our lives.
A year passed, and then another, and we saw and under-
stood what the Russians were, and we started breathing
the same air as other people.
131
Albert Kaganovich The Muslim Jews-Chalah In Central Asia 1865-1917
Now, when we are supposed to be taken back to Buk-
hara where on the very first day of our arrival we are
' . .
threatened with death on orders of the Musltm fanattcs, we
have no other choice but to apply to Your Excellency and
tell you of our bitter fate. Take any long-time Jewish resi-
dent of Tashkent to the synagogue, and he, uttering the
name of Jehovah in front of the Holy Ark, will swear on
all His Holiness that all of us settled here before the occu-
pation of the region by the Russian troops. And not only
Jews, but many long-time Muslim residents will testify to
the fact that they knew the older people among us since
before the occupation of the region, and our younger ones
were already born here. Your kind heart cannot help being
moved at the thought that six families with their innocent
children will be doomed to death in Bukhara.
We implore Your Excellency to issue orders, in con-
nection with. our specific situation, to carry out an investi-
gation about the time of our settlement here and ~ b o u t t ~ e
honest, hard-working lives we have been leadtng. Thts
small exception from the general rule is a question of life
and death for us.
September 28, 1901
Source: The petition by the Yakubovs-Iskhakovs, the
Chalah from Tashkent, is kept in the Central State Archive
ofUzbekistait .(TsGAUz), F. 1, Op. 13, D. 212, pp. 50-51;
see also the copy of this letter in the same Archive, F. 1 7,
Op. 1, D. 10437, pp. 1-2.

132
Albert Kaganovich l'he Muslim Jews-Cbalah In Central Asia 1865-1917
NOTES
1
I. Babakhanov, "K voprosu o proiskhozhdenii evreev-
musulman v Bukhare" (On the origin of Jewish converts to Islam in
Bukhara), Sovetskaia etnografiia, no. 3, 1951, pp. 162-163.
2
0. Sukhareva, Bukhara 19 - nachala 20 veka (Bukhara in the
19th-early 20th centuries), Moscow, 1966, pp. 172-178.
3
M. Zand, "Yahadut bukhara u-kibush asia ha-tikhona be-yadei
ha-rusim" (The Jews of Bukhara and the occupation of Central Asia
by the Russians), Pe 'amim, no. 35, 1988, pp. 46-83
4
M. Zand, "Bukharan Jews," Encyclopedia lranica, vol. 4. ,
London - New York, 1990, p. 532.
5
M. Abramov, Bukharskie evrei v Samarkande (Bukharan Jews
in Samarkand), Sarnarkand, 1993, pp. 5-7; Z Amitin-Shapiro, Ocherk
pravovogo byta sredneaziatskikh evreev (An outline of the legal status
of the Central Asian Jews), Tashkent-Samarkand, I 931, pp. 1 0-12; V.
Krestovskii, "Otdelnye fragmenty iz dnevnika V. Krestovskogo,
napisannye v Bukhare" (Some fragments from V. Krestovskii's diary
written in Bukhara), Nedelnaia khronika Voskhoda, no. 27, 1884, p.
761; A. Olsufiev and V. Panaev, Po Zakaspiiskoi voennoi zheleznoi
doroge (A journey on the Trans-Caspian Military Railway), St.
Pegersburg, 1899, pp. 166-168; Sukhareva, Bukhara, pp. 172-173.
6
See, for example, the Appendix to the present article; Suk-
hareva, Bukhara, p. 174.
7
Babakhanov, "K voprosu," p. 162; Sukhareva, Bukhara, p. 174;
N. Khanykov, Opisanie Bukharskogo khanstva (A description of the
Bukharan khanate), St. Petersburg, 1843, p. 73; Krestovskii (p. 761)
reiterated Khanykov's statements almost word for word.
8
Sukhareva, Bukhara, p. 173.
9
The resolute stand taken by Bukharan Jews sentenced to death
is described in the poem "Khudaidat". (written in the early nineteenth
century). See "Bukhara," Evreiskaia entsiklopediia (The Jewish ency-
clopedia), vol. ~ St. Petersburg, 1908-19 I 3, pp. 1 I 9-120.
133

Albert Kaganovich The Muslim Jews- Chalah In Central Asia 1865-1917
According to a Bukharan Jewish legend, a Rabbi Amnon was
quartered after refusing to convert (1. Zarubin, Ocherk razgovornogo
Tazyka samarkandskikh evreev (An outline of the vernacular of the
Samarkand Jews), Leningrad, 1928, pp. 178-180.
Oral tradition has preserved a story about a group of prominent
Bukharan Jews who were thrown out of a minaret in the early nine-
teenth century for refusing to convert to Islam. For various interpreta-
tions of this event, see Ia. Levchenko. "Evrei sredneaziatskiku okrain''
(The Jews of the Central Asian border areas), Evreiskaia zhizn, no.
14-15, 1916, pp. 58-59; S. Vaisenberg, "Evrei v Turkestane" (Jews in
Turkestan), Evreiskaia slarina, issue 5, 1912, p. 403; A. Neumark,
"Erez hakedem," (Ancient land), Ha-as if, 1889, p. 71; I. Pinhasi ,
"'Yehudei bukhara," (The Bukharan Jews), Yehudei bukhara ve-ha-
yehudim ha-harariyim. Shnei kibuzim be-darom brit ha-moezot (The
Bukharan and the mountain Jews. Two groups in the south of the So-
viet Union), Jerusalem, 1973, pp. 39-41.
10
Tsentralnyi gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Uzbekistana (Central State
Archive of Uzbekistan (hereafter: TsGAUz), 1st fond I (hereafter: F.),
Op. 29, D. 1297, pp. 2-2v.; F. 17, Op. I, D. 9687, p. 4v.; Levchenko,
Evrei, p. 59. Khanykov (p. 73) and Krestovskii (p. 761 ), who visited
Bukhara in the nineteenth century, maintained that Bukharan Jews
always agreed to convert. This claim, however, contradicts the evidence
cited in the previous note and in the text that follows.
11
A certain Muslim footwear merchant, Hodji Khakimi Kafsh-
furush, who used all sorts of extravagant promises, persuaded four
Jews to convert to Islam, thus obtaining four shop assistants who were
completely dependent on him (Sukhareva, Bukhara, p. 176). Evi-
dently, however, this same rich Bukharan citizen, Mirza Khakim
Kafsh-furush [referred to in the text in this manner although the cor-
rect version (in Tajik) is kafsh-furush (footwear trader)] was named as
the person who forced three youngsters to convert to Islam by threats
and deception in the story told by one of them after his escape, when
he was interrogated by the police commissioner of the Russian Quar-
134
Albert Kaganovich The Muslim Jews-Chalah In Central Asia 1865-1917
ter of Tashkent in 1908 (TsGAUz, F. I, Op. 13, D. 212, p. 262). In
Sukhareva's story the word "Hodji," which means "'honorable," is a
polite form of address widely used in Central Asia.
12
On the attempts to convert communal leaders see note 9 and
the Kandin case below. Other prominent converts were David Shira, a
wealthy textile merchant, and Borukh Kalkhok, a famous singer (Suk-
hareva, Bukhara, p. 175). According to oral tradition, a community
rabbi, Mulla Haim, the rabbi of Bukhara, voluntarily converted to
Islam (Levchenko, Evrei, p. 60). According to Neumark ("Erez ha-
kedem,'' p. 74) the rabbi was Mulla Shain who remained a Muslim for
forty years. Although Neumark did not give the name of the emir, the
conversion apparently occurred during the reign of emir Shah Murad
( 1785-1800) who was called Amir Ma'sum (the sinless emir) because
of his devotion to Islam (V. Bartold, lstoriT.a kulturnoT zhizni Turke-
stana (History of cultural life in Turkestan), Sochineniia (Collected
works), vol. 2, part I, Moscow, 1963, pp. 279-281 ).

Sukhareva, Bukhara, pp. 175, 177; Appendix.

14
Ibid.
15
Khanykov, Opisanie, p. 73; Krestovskii, Otdelnye fragmenty,
p. 761.
J() Vaisenberg (Evrei v Turkestane," pp. 393-394) and L. Kantor
(Tuzen1nye evrei v Uzbekistane (Indigenous Jews in Uzbekistan),
Tashkent-Samarkand, 1929, p. 6) report that many Jews had even
been coanpelled to convert to Islam during the conquests of Genghiz
Khan and Tamerlane.
17
Sukhareva, Bukhara, pp. 174-177; TsGAUz, F. 17, Op. 1,
D. I 0437, p. 7.
tK On this epithet, see Zand, Yahadut, p. 53; on the perception,
see Babakhanov\ HK voprosu\" p. 162; Bukhara, p. 177.
The tern1 Chalah was also used in Central Asia to denote the offspring
of 1nixed rnarriages. For example, the term "challa-kazak" was used
during the first quarter of the twentieth century to designate the off-
spring of anixed Kazakh-Uzbek marriages (both sides being Muslims)
135
,
Albert Kaganovich The Muslim Jews- Chalah In Central Asia 1865-1917
as well of other mixed marriages. See I. Zarubin, "Spisok narodnostei
Turkestanskogo kraia" (List of ethnic groups of Turkestan), Trudy
komissii po izucheniiu plemennogo sostava naseleniia Rossii i sopre-
delnykh stran (Transactions of the commission for the study of the
ethnic composition of Russia and neighboring countries), issue 9,
Leningrad, 1925, p. 12.
19
M. Eshel, Galeriya - dmuyot she/ rashei yahadut bukhara
(Gallery: the leaders of Bukharan Jewry), Jaffa, 1965, pp. 43, 59, 75;
Zand, Yahadut, p. 66.
20
Babakhanov, "K voprosu," p. 163.
21
Sukhareva, Bukhara, p. 178; Zand, Yahadut, pp. 53-55.
22
Bartold, Istoriia, pp. 219, 374.
23
Ibid., p. 374.
24
G.Fuzailov, Yahadut bukhara. Gdoleah u-manhigeah (Bukha-
ran Jewry: spiritual and secular leaders), Jerusalem, 1993, p. 40.
25
According to General Grigorii Gens of Orenburg, there were
apparently 200 Jews residing in Khiva in the 1820s and 1830s (Zand,
Yahadut, p. 53). But by the last third of the nineteenth century the
Jewish converts ofKhiva had become so interrnixed with the Muslims
that they could not be distinguished from them. See J. Wolff, Narra-
tive of a Mission to Bokhara in the years 1843-1845. 5th edition,
London, 1846, p. 317; N. Obruchev (compiler), VoennostatisticheskiT
sbornik (Military statistical handbook), issue 3, St. Petersburg, 1868,
p. 91; H. Lansdell, Russian Central Asia, vol. 2, Boston, 1885, p. 269;
Neumark, "Erez ha-kedem," p. 72.
26
Zand, Yahadut, p. 53.
27
J. Wolf, Researches and Missionary Labourers among Jews,
Mohammedans, and Other Sects, London, 1835, p. 198.
28
0. Sukhareva, Kvartal'naia obshchina pozdnefeodalnogo
goroda Bukhary (Quarterly community of late-feudal city Bukhara),
Moscow, 1976, pp. 74-80, 82, 93.
I
136
Albert Kaganovich The Muslim Jews- Chalah In Central Asia 1865-1917
29
I. Iavorskiy, Opyt meditsinskoi i geograficheskoi statistiki
Turkestana (The essay of medical and geographical statistics of Turk-
estan), part 1, St. Peterburg, 1889, p. 331.
3
F. Khojaev, Izbrannye trudy (Selected works), vol. 2, Tash-
kent, 1970, p. 108. The house Faizulah Khojaev inherited from his
father, merchant wholesaler of astrakhan. The possibility of his Jewish
origin can not be ruled out.
31
On Samarkand and Karatag, see Vaisenberg ("Evrei v Turke-
stane," p. 394); on Katta-Kurgan, see Kantor, Tuzemnye evrei, p. 6; on
Shakhrisiabz, see TsGA U z, F. 17, Op. 1, D. 9687, p. 4 v.
32
Zand, Yahadut, p. 53.
33
Andizhan: In about 1853, Ilia Liakliakov's family converted to
Islam in Andizhan. See Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine
(TsGAUz), F. 1004, Op. 1, D. 100, p. 44 (from the archive of .N.M.
Friedman, deputy of the State Duma); a copy of the relevant file is
kept in the Central Archive of the Jewish People in Jerusalem,
HM/7953. Kokand: According to Lansdell, 4 to 5 Jews were con-
verted to Islam in Kokand in the last years of the khanate's existence
(the (Lansdell, vol. 1, Russian Central Asia, p. 521.) On
Khojent, see Vaisenberg ("Evrei v Turkestane," pp. 393-394); Kantor,
Tuzemnye evrei, p. 6; M. Levinskii, "K istorii evreev Srednei Azii"
(On the history of the Jews in Central Asia), Evreiskaia star ina, 1928,
vol. 12, p. 315. On Marghelan, see below.
34
At first, the activities of the Central Asian khanates were con-
trolled by a diplomatic official. In 1886, the Russian Imperial Political
Agency (Rossiiskoe imperatorskoe politicheskoe agenstvo) was estab-
lished in order to achieve more control over the activities of the Buk-
haran administration. Its head, the political agent, was subordinate to
the Governor-General of Turkestan and the Ministry of Foreign Af-
fairs. See N. Abdurakhimova, "Vysshii biurokraticheskii organ
tsarizma v Turkestane" (Czarism's highest bureaucratic body in Turk-
estan), Obshchestvennye nauki v Uzbekistane, no. 11, 1988, p. 36.
137
Albert Kaganovich The Muslim Jews- Chalah In Central Asia 1865-1917
35
This negative attitude can be seen, for example, in the Gover-
nor-General's correspondence with the Bukhara government concern-
ing the case of D. lskhakov, a Bukharan subject. See TsGAUz, F. I .
Op. 29, D. 1297, pp. 1-6.
36
TsGAUz, F. 17, Op. 1, D. 10437, p. 29.
37
A. Troitskaia, Katalog archivov kokandskikh khanov 19 veka
(Catalogue of Archive of the khans of Kokand in the 19th century)
Moscow, 1968, p. 391.
38
N. Tazher, To/dot yehudei bukhara be-Bukhara u-be-lsrael
(History of Bukharan Jews in Bukhara and in Israel), Tel Aviv, 197
p. 65.
39
TsGAUz, F. 1, Op. 13, D. 212, p. 262.
40
Ibid, Op. 29, D. 1297, pp. 1-6. According to the petition b)'
Iskhakov' s wife, Miriam, David had been falsely accused.
41
Eshel, Galeria, p. 77; Sh. Asherov, Mi-Samarkand ad Petal!
Tikvah (From Samarkand to Petah Tikvah), Tel Aviv, 1977, pp. II .
16.
42
For an example a request of the Russian citizenship made by a
Chalah and turned down because he was unable to join a merchant
guild, see TsGAUz, F. 17, Op. 1, D. 9687, pp. 4v-5.
43
M. Mysh, Dopolnenie k tretiemu izdaniTu .. Rukovodstva A
russ kim zakonam o evreTakh" (Supplement to the third edition of tht.
Instructions concerning the Russian laws on Jews), St. Petersburg,
1904, p. 19.
44
D. Hacham, "Orenburg," Ha-magid, January 13 .. 1869, no. 2,
p. 2. This event was also reported in some St. Petersburg
in 1868. For further reference, see Z.L. Amitin-Shapiro, Ocherki sotsial
isticheskogo stroitelstva sredi sredneaziatskikh evreev (An outline of so-
cialist construction among the Jews in Central Asia), Tashkent, 1933,
p. 131.

45
Sukhareva, Bukhara, pp. Eshel, Galeria, p. 40.
138
Albert Kaganovich The Muslim Jews- Chalah In Central Asia 1865-1917
46
Moskva, no. 35, 1868 (cited by Amitin-Shapiro, Ocherki,
p. 131 ); Eshel, Galeria, pp. 40-42; Sukhareva, Bukhara, p. 176; Lans-
dell, Russian Central Asia, vol. 2, p. 109.
47
Gamliel Beninson, a merchant from Borisov, Minsk gubemiia,
who had been traveling in Bukhara, was arrested and sent to Samar-
kand where he was questioned by the local administration (TsGAUz,
F. 1, Op. 29, D. 20, p. 8).
48
Sukhareva, Bukhara, p. 176; Lansdell, Russian Central Asia,
vol. 2, p. I 09; Eshel, Galeria, p. 42.
49
In 1869 Kandin informed the Russians, through Beninson,
about the emir's attempts to organize an anti-Russian coalition, his
spies in Samarkand, the preparations of the emir's army for a new
war, and the attitudes of the Bukharan population (TsGAUz, F. 1,
Op. 29, D. 8, p. 1 0).
5
Kandin 's elder wife avoided being converted to Islam (Suk-
hareva, Bukhara, p. 176). His sons, Amin Aronov Kandinov and Ie-
huda Aronov Kandinov, were included in the list of Bukharan Jews in
Samarkand who were granted Russian citizenship because they had
been living in the city when it was captured by the Russians in May-
June, 1868 (TsGAUz, F. 1, Op. 27. D. 542, p. 64v). For additional
references to the Kandinov brothers, see Ibid, Op. 17, D. 848, p. 201 ;
Levinskii, "K istorii evreev," p. 324); TsGAUz, F. 1, Op. 27, D. 542,
p. 64v.
51
Lansdell, Russian Central Asia, vol. 2, p. 109.
52
Despite the fact that Bukhara was completely dependent on
Russia politically, it was unlikely that Alexander III would have
risked a diplomatic scandal because of a Jew, even one who had ren-
dered a valuable service to Russia.
53
TsGAUz,F.1,0p. 11,D. 7,p.142.
54
Ibid, Op. 17, D. 809, p. 74; Ibid, Op. 11 , D. 7, p. 142 .
55
Eshel, Galeria, p. 43.
139
Albert Kaganovich The Mustim Jews-Chalah In Central Asia 1865-1917
56
According to the 1909 list of Chalah residing in Samarkand,
the majority of them, 11 families, moved to the Turkestan in 1892
to 1899.
51
E. Vainshtein, Deistvuzushchee zakonodatelstvo o .evrezakh
(The current laws regarding Jews), Kiev, 1911, p. 192.
58
TsGAUz, F, 1, Op. 13, D. 212, p. 48.
59
On the family connections of these Chalah, see TsGAUz,
F. 17, Op. I, D. 10437, p. 29.
60
Ia. Gimpelson (compiler), Zakony o evrezakh (The Laws on
Jews), vol. I, St. Petersburg, I914, pp. 186-87; TsGAUz, F. I7, Op. 1,
D. 14994, p. 1.
6 1
Ibid, D. 10437, p. 7.
62
During his tenure as Military Governor of the Fergana oblast
(1888-1893), Korolkov deported many Bukharan Jews to Bukhara
(TsGAUz, F. 19, Op. 1, D. 12728, pp. 154-160). After he was ap-
pointed Military Governor of the Syr-Darya province (1893-1905), he
intensified his anti-Jewish activities even more. In 1895 at a session of
the Turkestan Governor-General' s Council where the majority of the
officials spoke in favor of the extending of the Bukharan Jews' rights
in Turkestan, Korolkov's dissenting opinion was registered in the
Council's journal; he pointed to the domination of Bukharan Jews in
Turkestan and demanded restrictions on their rights {Ibid, F. 717, Op.
I, D. 10, pp .. 64I-654). He reiterated this opinion in his reports to the
Governor-General in 1897 (Ibid., F. 17, Op. 1, D. 31119, p. 30 and
Ibid, F. 1, Op. 4, D. 294, p. 22) and 1899 (Ibid. , F. 17, Op. I D.
31134, pp. 7-8). In 1905, Korolkov was appointed head of the Turke-
stan Commission charged with revising the existing laws on Jews; the
Commission's conclusions characterized Jews negatively and recom-
mended that the their resettlement in Turkestan be prevented (Ibid. , D.
10460, pp. 7-9v.).
63
Ibid, F. 1, Op. 13, D. 212, pp. 48-48v.
64
Ibid., p. 55.
65
Ibid., pp. 109-109v.
140
Albert Kaganovich The Muslim Jews- In Central Asia 1865-1917
66
Ibid, F. I, Op. 13, D. 212, p. 248.
67
Ibid., p. 238; Op. 17, D. 849, p. 60.
68
Ibid, Op. 13, D. 212, p. 262.
69
Ibid., p. 264.
70
Ibid., p. 266.
71
Ibid, Op. 17, D. 849, p. 45.
72
Ibid., p. 59.
73
Ibid., p. 166; D. 811, p. 256.
74
Ibid, F. 1, Op. 17, D. 849, p. 168; llbid, D. 811, p. 257.
75
In May 1913 Chalah Abdurakhman Rubinov was given a resi-
dence perrnit for Samarkand upon joirning a merchant guild. See
Amitin-Shapiro, Ocherki, p. 44.
76 T
sGAUz, F. 17, Op. 1, D. 11362, 14-16v.
77
Ibid, D. 1211, p. 8.
78
Russkaia molva, no. 148, May 15,.. 1913, p. 6
79
See the newspaper clipping: TsGAUz, F. 1, Op. 17, D. 936,
p. 272.
80
Birzhevye vedomostsi, October 1913; Rassvet {The Rus-
sian Zionist_ publication), no. 44, Novembter 1, 1913, p. 40.
81
TsGAUz, F. 1, Op. 17, D. 936, p. 272; ibid, F. 22, Op. 1, D.
1211, pp. 7-7v.
82
Ibid, F. 1, Op. 17, D. 812, p. 162; ibid, F .. 19, Op. 2, D. 264, p. 4.
83 h
For t e 1902 and 1910 data, see TsGAUz, F. 1, Op. 4,
D. 1451; Op. 13, D. 212, p. 109v; D. 55.t:4,p. 205; Op. 17 D. 849, pp.
75-78, 141, F. 17, Op. 1, D. 10437, p. 29t; ibid, D. 11260, pp. 68-68v;
ibid, F. 19, Op. 1, D. 15235, p. 87; ibid, :IF.21, Op. 1, D. 618, pp. 1-7.
For the 1917 data and related topics, see TsGAUz, F. 1, Op. 17,
D. 1074, p. 37; ibid, F. 17, Op. 1, D. 1 1362, pp. 14-16v; ibid, F. 1,
Op. 13, D. 212. p. 109; ibid, Op. 17, D. 849, p. 41.
84
For the document granting citizemship of the Russian Republic
to eight Chalah families in Samarkand in 1918, see TsGAUz, F. 1,
Op. 17. D. 1074, p. 41.
85
Pinhasi, Y ehudei bukhara, p. 13.
141