Bukharian Culture

Each culture has many interesting and unique traditions. I was born in Uzbekistan and people from my

culture call themselves Bukharian Jews. Like many cultures, ours also has an interesting history. The

Bukharan Jews trace their ancestry to the Israelites who never came back from the Bablonian captivity

after exile in the 7th century BCE In Central Asia, they survived for centuries subject to many

conquering influences. The community was essentially cut off from the rest of the Jewish wrold for more

than 2,000 years and managed to survive in the face of countless odds. They are considered one of the

oldest ethno-religious groups of Central Asia and over the years they have developed their own distinct

culture. Most Bukharan Jews lived in Uzekistan and Tajikistan, while a small number lived in Russia,

Kazakhstan, Trukmenistan, Afghanistan and some other parts of the former Soviet Union. In

Uzbekistan, the largest concentrations were in Samarkand, Tashkent (the capital), Bukhara, and

Kokand

Bukharan Jews used Persian language to communicate among themselves and later developed

"Bukhori", a distinct dialect of the Tajiki-Persian language with certain linguistic traces of Hebrew. This

language provided easier communication with their neighboring communities and was used for all

cultural and educational life among the Jews. It was used widely until the area was "russified" by the

Russians and the dissemination of "religious" information was halted. Almost all Bukharan Jews today

speak Russian.

Bukharians lived among Muslims, with whom