Emirate of Bukhara The Emirate of Bukhara ( ; ) was a Central Asia n state that existed from 1785 to 1920 . It occupied the land between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers , known formerly as Transoxiana . Its core territory was the land along the lower Zarafshan River , and its urban centres were the ancient cities of Samarkand and the emirate ' s capital , Bukhara . It was contemporaneous with the Khanate of Khiva to the west , in Khwarezm , and the Khanate of Kokand to the east , in Fergana . It is now within the boundaries of Uzbekistan . History . The Emirate of Bukhara was officially created in 1785 , upon the assumption of rulership by the Manghit emir , Shah Murad . Over the course of the 18th century , the emirs had slowly gained effective control of the Khanate of Bukhara , from their position as " ataliq " . By the 1740s , when the khanate was conquered by Nadir Shah of Persia , it was clear that the emirs held the real power . In 1747 after Nadir Shah ' s death , the ataliq Muhammad Rahim Bi murdered Abulfayz Khan and his son , ending the Janid dynasty . From then on the emirs allowed puppet khans to rule until , following the death of Abu l - Ghazi Khan , Shah Murad assumed the throne openly . Fitzroy Maclean recounts in " Eastern Approaches " how Charles Stoddart and Arthur Conolly were executed by Nasrullah Khan in the context of The Great Game , and how Joseph Wolff , known as the Eccentric Missionary , escaped their fate when he came looking for them in 1845 . He was wearing his full canonical costume , which caused the Emir to burst out laughing , and " Dr . Wolff was eventually suffered to leave Bokhara , greatly to the surprise of the populace , who were not accustomed to such clemency . " . In 1868 the emirate lost a war with Imperial Russia , which had colonial aspirations in the region . Russia annexed much of the emirate ' s territory , including the important city of Samarkand . In 1873 the remainder became a Russian protectorate , and was soon surrounded by the Governorate - General of Turkestan . Reformists within the Emirate had found the conservative emir , Mohammed Alim Khan , unwilling to loosen his grip on power , and had turned to the Russian Bolshevik revolution aries for military assistance . The Red Army launched an unsuccessful assault in March 1920 , and then a successful one in September of the same year . The Emirate of Bukhara was conquered by the Bolsheviks and replaced with the Bukharan People ' s Soviet Republic . Today the territory of the defunct emirate lies mostly in Uzbekistan , with parts in Tajikistan , Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan . It was also included present northern Afghanistan between 1793 and 1850 . Family . The emir ' s daughter Shukria Raad Alimi worked as a broadcaster in Radio Afghanistan . Shukria Raad left Afghanistan with her family three months after Soviet troops invaded the country in December 1979 . With her husband , also a journalist , and two children she fled to Pakistan , and then through Germany to the United States . In 1982 she did join the VOA , and has worked as a broadcaster for VOA ' s Dari Service , editor , program host and producer ever since . Culture . Located along important trading routes , Bukhara enjoyed a rich cultural mixture , including Uzbeks , Persian ( Tajiks ) , and Jewish influences . The city of Bukhara has a rich history of Persian ( Tajik ) architecture and literature , traditions that were continued into the Emirate Period . Prominent artists of the period include the poet Kiromi Bukhoroi , the calligrapher Mirza Abd al - Aziz Bukhari and the scholar Rahmat - Allah Bukhari . Throughout this period , the madrasahs of the region were renowned .