Celebration of Nowruz in Bukhara and Samarkand in Ritual Practice and Social Discourses (the Second Half of the 19th to Early 20th Centuries)

Nowruz celebrations in Bukhara and Samarkand during the late 19th to early 20th centuries exhibited distinct cultural practices influenced by political shifts, particularly Russia's annexation of the region. In Bukhara, Emir Muzaffar introduced large-scale official Nowruz festivities to bolster the Manghit dynasty's legitimacy, sparking debates among Islamic intellectuals over its alignment with tradition. Conversely, Samarkand's celebrations integrated agricultural and pastoral elements, legitimized through mosque prayers and visits to sacred sites, but diminished in scale post-annexation due to the absence of official sponsorship. The study, based on archival sources, memoirs, and Imperial Russian history, contrasts these two forms of Nowruz—official and folk—to highlight how political transformations reshaped ritual practices and social discourses across the Zerafshan Valley.

Malikov, A. M. (2020). Celebration of Nowruz in Bukhara and Samarkand in Ritual Practice and Social Discourses (the Second Half of the 19th to Early 20th Centuries). Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia, 48(2), 122–129. https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2020.48.2.122-129