Bukharan Jews
Bukharan Jews (Bukharian: יהודיאני בוכארא/яҳудиёни Бухоро, Yahudiyoni Bukhoro; Hebrew: יְהוּדֵי־בּוּכָרָה, Yehudey Bukhara), in modern times called Bukharian Jews (Bukharian: יהודי בוכרה/яҳудиёни бухорӣ, Yahudiyoni Bukhorī; Hebrew: יְהוּדִים־בּוּכָרִים, Yehudim Bukharim), are the Mizrahi Jewish sub-group of Central Asia that historically spoke Bukharian, a Judeo-Tajik[4][3][5] dialect of the Tajik language, in turn a variety of the Persian language. Their name comes from the former Central Asian Emirate of Bukhara (now primarily Uzbekistan), which once had a sizable Jewish population. Bukharan Jews are of Persian-Jewish ancestry, though they are considered one of the oldest ethno-religious groups of Central Asia and over the centuries developed their own distinct culture.[3][6][4]
Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the great majority have immigrated to Israel or the United States while others have immigrated to Europe or Australia.
Name and language[edit]
The Bukharan Jews originally called themselves Bnei Israel, which relates specifically to the Israelites of Assyrian captivity. The term Bukharan was coined by European travellers who visited Central Asia around the 16th century. Since most of the Jewish community at the time lived under the Emirate of Bukhara, they came to be known as Bukharan Jews. The name by which the community called itself is "Bnei Isro'il".[7]
Bukharan Jews used Bukharian or Bukhori, a Jewish dialect of the Tajik language (in turn a variety of Farsi) with linguistic elements of Hebrew, to communicate among themselves.[3] This language was used for all cultural and educational life among the Jews. It was used widely until Central Asia was "Russified" by the Soviet Union and the dissemination of "religious" information was halted. The elderly Bukharian generation used Bukhori as their primary language but largely speak Russian (sometimes with a slight Bukharian accent). The younger generation use Russian as their primary language, but often do understand or speak Bukharian.
The first primary written account of Jews in Central Asia dates to the beginning of the 4th century CE. It is recalled in the Talmud by Rabbi Shmuel bar Bisna, a member of the Talmudic academy in Pumbeditha, who traveled to Margiana (present-day Merv in Turkmenistan).[8] The presence of Jewish communities in Merv is also proven by Jewish writings on ossuaries from the 5th and 6th centuries, uncovered between 1954 and 1956.[9]
Genetics[edit]
A 2013 genetic study of multiple Jewish groups, including Bukharan Jews, found that Bukharan Jews clustered closely with Jewish communities from the Middle East and the Caucasus such as Iranian Jews, Mountain Jews, Georgian Jews, Kurdish Jews and Iraqi Jews, and did not cluster with their neighbours.[80]
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