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THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN BUKHARA AT THE END OF THE
19TH CENTURY
Zebiniso Abdullatifovna Khasanova
Khujand State University , Head of the Department of Philosophy,
Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, Associate Professor ,
Shukhrat Salaydinovich Bozorov
SamSIFL, Department of Humanities and Information Technologies, , Associate Professor,
Abstract:
This article analyzes the education system in the Bukhara Emirate at the end of the
19th century. It discusses the structure of schools and madrasas, curricula, the activities of
teachers, and the role of education in society. The article also examines the initiatives of
reformist intellectuals in the field of education and their contributions to the development of
modern science. Based on historical sources, the article reveals the differences between
traditional and modern educational approaches at the end of the 19th century.
Keywords:
Bukhara, 19th century, education system, madrasa, school, reform, Jadidism,
traditional education, curriculum, science and education.
At the end of the 19th century, the development of culture among the indigenous
population of Bukhara was considered crucial. When examining the level of culture, troubling
conditions are evident. The education process in schools and madrasas was organized in such a
way that young people spent 20-25 years learning only religious subjects and Arabic grammar,
deprived of the opportunity to engage in other subjects. Moreover, secular subjects that had
been taught in previous centuries were also removed from the curriculum. The Manghit dynasty
inflicted a serious blow to the education system. Zealous court officials, in an excessively
conservative mood, obstructed any new ideas by all available and unavailable means. Despite
the numerous buildings intended for schools and madrasas in Bukhara, according to Ahmad
Danesh, “the madrasa rooms had turned into storage places for straw carried by donkeys and
grain warehouses for bakers.”
According to the historian Sodiqkhodja Gulshani, the author of Shahona Tarikh
(“History of Humayun”), there were 199 active madrasas in Bukhara at that time, constructed
from stone, with many classes containing up to 50,000 students. Abduraouf Fitrat, in his Story
of a Hindu Traveler (Narrative of the Indian Traveler), mentions that there were about 200
madrasas in Bukhara and lists the names of 72 of them. Muhammadjon Baljovani states that
there were nearly 400 madrasas, mausoleums, and study rooms (corikhonalar) in Bukhara, and
1
Ахмади Дониш. Рисола ё мухтасаре аз таърихи салтанати хонадони Мангития (Исторический трактат
или коротко об истории царствования мангитской династии). - Душанбе: Сарват, 1992.- 8 с.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
ISSN: 2692-5206, Impact Factor: 12,23
American Academic publishers, volume 05, issue 04,2025
Journal:
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page 1017
he tries to recall the names of the most famous ones from his knowledge. The above-mentioned
scholar lists more than 78 madrasas
In Bukhara schools, Arabic, logic, and rhetoric were taught. Mathematics and literature
were not mandatory, and individuals could independently learn these subjects if they wished.
Tajik language was not taught at all. Curricula and textbooks remained unchanged. Graduates
of elementary schools could end up illiterate. In madrasas, with the help of an assistant teacher,
books like Avamil and Qofiya were studied. This process lasted three years. After that, students
worked with more experienced teachers, studying books such as Sharh-i Mulla (the book of
Abdurahman Jomiy) and a logic book called Shamsiya. This period lasted five years. Following
that, they studied commentaries on the book Shamsiya, which lasted another year. In the
following four years, they studied the commentary on Nasafi’s Aqaid (theology). In the next
two years, they studied Takhzib (logic and metaphysics). In the final two years, they focused on
Hikmatul Ayan (a philosophy book), and the final two years were dedicated to the study of
Mulla Jalol (a theological book), thus completing the madrasa education. The teaching system
and the textbooks remained unchanged for four or five hundred years, dating back to the
Timurid period. It is known that for learning any language, two years would suffice if the
lessons were organized properly.
However, Bukhara students spent 8 years in madrasas, learning only a few easy Arabic
terms and the rules for pronouncing them correctly. Students would sit in rows before the
teacher, and if the number of students was large and the room small, they would be squeezed
together. Each group had a preacher who would read out sections from the book being studied.
For instance, Jomiy’s works were also explained in this way. His works were not taught
separately but had been forgotten in textbooks written four hundred years ago, and no one had
made an effort to correct this error. Nonetheless, among the graduates of Bukhara madrasas,
there were educated individuals. According to Sadriddin Aini, such people were “like rare
plants in the desert”
.These individuals did not engage in theological debates but strived to gain
knowledge with perseverance. However, even these educated individuals often returned to the
madrasa environment and aspired to become teachers in a madrasa, gathering numerous
students, leading discussions, and striving for fame as a prominent teacher. Among their
students, there were those who could not understand the substance of the lectures or debates.
Abduraouf Fitrat, a representative of the Jadid movement, describes some famous
teachers in madrasas, particularly the chief judge Mir Burkhoniddin, as follows: “The most
surprising thing,” he writes, “was his complete illiteracy and incompetence as a judge, despite
being in charge of enforcing Muslim customs. However, he never missed a day of teaching in
the madrasa.” The teachers and students in the madrasa consisted of four to five teachers and
their regular attendees who attempted to use the lectures for their own ulterior motives. The
lecturer would begin reading a passage from the book, and immediately, the speaker (the chief
judge) would interrupt, discussing the passage and beginning debate with the teachers. This
debate would be joined by the madrasa students, and as a result, real disorder would begin in
2
Мукаммадалй ибни Мухдммадсайиди Балцувонй. Таърихи нофей (Полезная история).- Душанбе:
Ирфон, 1994. -13 с. Перс. яз.
3
Айни С. Бухара. (Воспоминания). В.2-х кн.- Душанбе: Ирфон,1980.-кн.1.-143 с.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
ISSN: 2692-5206, Impact Factor: 12,23
American Academic publishers, volume 05, issue 04,2025
Journal:
https://www.academicpublishers.org/journals/index.php/ijai
page 1018
the classroom, and the lesson would end. Danesh describes a real debate in a madrasa where the
participants would try to prove their correctness without listening to each other, resulting in the
students failing to gain the necessary information.
Sharifjon Makhdum Sadri Ziyo, in his treatise The List of Madrasa Names in Sacred
Bukhara, lists 204 madrasas in detail, providing information about the number of rooms in each
madrasa, their location in the city, and during which Amir’s reign they were built. According to
the Hungarian traveler and researcher Armeni Vamberi, who wrote A Journey through Central
Asia, “Many eager young people filled the numerous madrasas, but without the necessary
information, they would acquire high levels of ignorance and duplicity
”.
Sadriddin Aini, who had firsthand experience with the Bukhara school system, reflected
on his own experiences and conveyed the opinions of Ahmad Danesh, criticizing the
educational situation. He expressed that “commentaries and interpretations had become so
excessive that the essential lessons never even reached the students. Over the course of 18-20
years of studying, students would spend their time studying only a few books like
‘Introduction,’ ‘Advice,’ and ‘Mulla’s Commentaries’ without ever engaging in subjects like
mathematics, geometry, history, or medicine, which had disappeared from the curriculum.”
In primary schools, boys were admitted at the age of 5-6, while girls could only attend private
schools where female teachers taught religious subjects. Girls were not required to finish
madrasas. Although official Islam and the Qur’an did not oppose women’s education, religious
scholars and even some scholars opposed girls attending schools. Both Ahmad Danesh and
Sadriddin Aini had their early education in girls’ schools. Later, they attended schools for boys,
where a single teacher simultaneously taught students of various ages, and children from poor
families had no opportunity to study in such schools. There was no official timetable for
lessons.Most students memorized texts without understanding their meaning. The teaching
method in Bukhara schools extinguished students’ desire to learn, and despite years of
education, many students did not gain the necessary knowledge.
References:
1.
Ахмади Дониш. Рисола ё мухтасаре аз таърихи салтанати хонадони Мангития
(Исторический трактат или коротко об истории царствования мангитской династии). -
Душанбе: Сарват, 1992.- 8 с.
2.
Айни С. Бухара. (Воспоминания). В.2-х кн.- Душанбе: Ирфон,1980.-кн.1.- 139 с.
3.
Мукаммадалй ибни Мухдммадсайиди Балцувонй. Таърихи нофей (Полезная
история).- Душанбе: Ирфон, 1994. -13 с. Перс. яз.
4.
Рацабов 3. Ш. Маорифпарвар Ахмади Дониш (Просветитель Ахмад Дониш).-
Душанбе: Ирфон, 1964.-46 с.
4
Рацабов 3. Ш. Маорифпарвар Ахмади Дониш (Просветитель Ахмад Дониш).- Душанбе: Ирфон, 1964.-46
с.
