Author Description

This is an in-depth study of the people of Bukhara and their relations with settled peoples and nomads, from Muscovy to China, and Iran to India. By using lesserknown, or hitherto untapped sources, it corrects long-held misapprehensions fostered by historians of hostile states and champions of the Timurid dynasty. Far from being afraid of their powerful Safawid and Mughal counterparts, the Uzbeg rulers of Bukhara caused them much apprehension and even influenced their foreign policies. 'Abbas I concluded a humiliating peace with Turkey because he wanted to recover Khurasan from 'Abdallah II, Akbar could not risk leaving Punjab during 'Abdallah's reign, Safawid and Mughal attempts at conquering the khanate failed dismally. The book deals fully with dynastic, internal and external problems, trade routes, coinage policies and the khans' attempts to encourage trade.