Along the Silk Road

Abstract This chapter examines the history of the Jewish communities in the territory of present-day Uzbekistan dating back to the fifth century. Due to their mobility and occupations as traders, artisans, and merchants, Jews arrived from Persia and settled in trade centers such as Merv, Khwarasan, and Samarkand. Most information on Bukharian Jewish communities is not from the communities themselves but from Talmudic sources and memoirs of foreign travelers. When the Mongols invaded in the thirteenth century, some Bukharian Jewish communities moved to regions with less strict Muslim laws, while others converted to Islam but continued to practice Judaism secretly. The conquest of Central Asia by the Russian Empire in the 1870s supported the status quo between Jews and Muslims. The main change came with the Bolshevik Revolution and its anti-religious policy. Today, small communities of Bukharian Jews can be found in all Central Asian states and in Israel, Europe, and the United States.