Major General Shahmurad Olimov is the son and grandson of the Bukhara emirs. Gold of the Emir of Bukhara, different history Alimkhan: the number of true features is “2”

SON and GRANDSON

The son of the Emir of Bukhara, Said Alim Khan, Major General Shakhmurad Olimov (if you determine nationality by your father, then it is Mangyt, a Mongolian tribe, your father traced his ancestry to Genghis Khan). After the defeat of the Bukhara Emirate and the emir’s flight to Afghanistan, he was brought up in Soviet Russia, went to study in Germany as a teenager, and spoke German. It was not possible to find the date of birth and death anywhere, approximately 1910. He studied at the military school and at the Military Engineering Academy named after. Kuibysheva. He wrote a letter of renunciation from his father around 1929-1930, which is understandable, since Said Alim Khan remained an opponent of Soviet power and welcomed Hitler’s invasion.

Shakhmurad Olimov, a WWII participant, lost his leg after being wounded, taught at the Kuibyshev Academy, and rose to the rank of major general. He died in Moscow; the exact date of death has not yet been established.

GRANDFATHER

Emir of Bukhara Seyid-Abdul-Ahad Khan

Most Crimeans will respond in the same way to the words “Emir of Bukhara”: this is from the famous book by Leonid Solovyov about the eternal wanderer and mocker Khoja Nasreddin! That's right, but the writer sculpted the image of a greedy and cruel ruler from an entire dynasty of rulers of Bukhara, but what were the last of them really like? Historians, having heard the same question, will certainly clarify which emir was meant, and with the name Seyid-Abdul-Ahad Khan they will immediately respond: well, he was a worthy man, famous for his generosity and kindness. And how much he loved Crimea and how much he did for it...

The Incredible Ruler

For almost a decade and a half in a row, from the end of the 19th century, newspapers of the peninsula with enviable consistency noted the Emir of Bukhara in their correspondence. Either they wrote about his next arrival on the South Bank, then the emir’s name appeared on the list of honorary members of various charitable societies, then in a note about helping the poor, fire victims or starving people there was a mention of the generous donation of the noble ruler of Bukhara.

Seyid Abdul-Ahad Khan ascended the Bukhara throne very young, he was 26 years old, and his reign began unexpectedly for both his subjects and courtiers, accustomed to the iron hand of the previous ruler. The new emir abolished torture, abolished slavery and terrible underground prisons, narrowed the range of death penalties - and by that time there were many of them, many were long and painful. It was from this moment that money literally poured into Bukhara: many Russian industrialists became interested in deposits of copper, iron, and gold. The new ruler supported the development of banks, built a railway and telegraph. For conservative Asia, unresponsive to everything new, everything that the Emir of Bukhara did seemed incredible.

Stars over the peninsula

Unlike many of his predecessors, the Emir of Bukhara was easy-going, often visited Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tiflis, Kyiv, Odessa, and then ended up in Crimea and since 1893 spent every summer in Yalta. He also visited Sevastopol and Bakhchisarai.

This is how Crimean newspapers described Seyid-Abdul-Ahad Khan: “The emir is above average height, looks no more than 45 years old. Very well built. Has a pleasant chesty baritone voice; Large black eyes shine from under his snow-white turban, and his chin is adorned with a small, bushy beard. Good rider. He has extraordinary physical strength..."

The Emir of Bukhara loved to reward even for minor services or just a person he liked. It is not surprising that when he began to regularly visit Yalta, many prominent citizens were able to flash the “Golden Star of Bukhara” orders, which the emir generously distributed. One of the most curious stories associated with such an award occurred in the Yusupov family. They often visited the Emir of Bukhara in Yalta, and he came to them several times in Koreiz. During one of these visits, a representative of the younger generation, Felix Yusupov, decided to demonstrate a Parisian novelty for practical jokes: cigars were served on a platter, and when the emir and his retinue began to light them, the tobacco suddenly caught fire and... began shooting firework stars. The scandal was terrible - not only because the distinguished guest found himself in a funny position, but at first both the guests and the family, who did not know about the prank, decided that an attempt had been made on the life of the ruler of Bukhara. But a few days later, the Emir of Bukhara himself celebrated the reconciliation with Yusupov Jr.... by awarding him an order with diamonds and rubies.

The ruler of Bukhara often visited Livadia when the imperial family came there, as well as in Suuk-Su, with Olga Mikhailovna Solovyova. This place of magical beauty (now it is part of the Artek children's camp) simply captivated the Emir of Bukhara. He even wanted to buy it and offered the owner 4 million rubles for the dacha - huge money at that time, but Olga Solovyova did not agree to part with Suuk-Su.

It is not surprising that, having fallen in love with the southern coast of Crimea, the Emir of Bukhara decided to build his own palace here. He managed to buy a plot of land in Yalta, where a garden was laid out and a magnificent building was built (later it became one of the buildings of a sanatorium for sailors of the Black Sea Fleet). It is interesting that at first it was planned to give the order for construction to the famous Nikolai Krasnov, thanks to whom the South Bank was decorated with many architectural pearls. The collections of the Alupka Palace Museum preserve two sketches and estimates for them, made by Krasnov for the Emir of Bukhara. One is an Italian villa, the second is an oriental palace with lancet windows and oriental ornaments. But either the Bukhara ruler did not like both options, or he wanted to support the city architect of Yalta Tarasov, whom he knew well, but the latter began to build the palace. The building with domes, towers and gazebos really decorated Yalta; the emir himself called the estate “Dilkiso”, which means “charming”.

The palace survived both its illustrious ruler and the chaos of the Civil War, in which many estates did not survive; the Nazis burned it during the retreat in 1944, but still this memory of the Emir of Bukhara in Yalta was preserved.

Street named after Seyid-Abdul-Ahad Khan

Having become a seasonal resident of Yalta, Seyid-Abdul-Ahad Khan immediately became interested in the social life of the city: he was a member of the “Society for Helping Underprivileged Pupils and Pupils of Yalta Gymnasiums”, donated money to the “Society for Helping Poor Tatars of the South Bank”, was interested in preserving the antiquities of Crimea, visited several times participant of livestock exhibitions. The fact is that his high position did not prevent the Emir of Bukhara from being an expert in sheep breeding; his herds of karakul sheep were the best in his homeland; he personally traded karakul, supplying about a third of the product to the world market.

In 1910, with his own money, he built a city free hospital for incoming patients. It was a very generous gift to the city; the large two-story house housed laboratories, rooms for employees, surgical and gynecological rooms, and a reception room for one hundred people. On the eve of the opening of the hospital, he once again paid a visit to the family of Nicholas II in Livadia to ask for the highest permission to name the hospital after Tsarevich Alexei. The Emir of Bukhara for many years was a kind of symbol of generosity for Yalta; for his services to the city he was elected an honorary citizen and even one of the streets was named after him.

By the way, many other cities, not only in Crimea, had something to thank the Emir of Bukhara for - in St. Petersburg, for example, he built the Cathedral Mosque, which cost him half a million rubles.

Emir of Bukhara Seyid Abdul-Ahad Khan at the ceremony of laying the foundation of a mosque in St. Petersburg on February 3, 1910. Next to the emir is the head of the Muslim clergy, Akhun G. Bayazitov. Based on a photograph by K. Bull.

Cathedral Mosque in St. Petersburg (modern view)

During the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, Seyid Abdul Ahad Khan donated a million gold rubles for the construction of a warship, which was called the Emir of Bukhara.

The life of this ship was turbulent, but short-lived: during the revolution, the crew went over to the side of the Bolsheviks, then fought in the Caspian Sea (by that time it was renamed “Yakov Sverdlov”) and in 1925 was cut into metal.

Last of the dynasty

Emir of Bukhara Seyid-Abdul-Ahad Khan visited Crimea for the last time shortly before his death; he passed away in December 1910: a long kidney disease, which tormented him in recent years, nevertheless put an end to his interesting and active life . The Niva magazine for 1911 published an obituary and a telegram to the Russian emperor from the new emir of Bukhara, Mir-Alim, one of the sons of the deceased. He thanks for the condolences “on the death of my parent and the signs of all-merciful favor shown to me” and promises to follow the path of his father’s endeavors.

Alas, several years of the reign of the last emir of Bukhara were not the best for his state: the mechanisms of many innovations launched by his father were already spinning by inertia. And the ruler himself was not very inclined to provide patronage to progress and science. There is little evidence from his contemporaries about the years of his reign, and they do not paint him from the best side: they remember laziness and indifference, as well as an excessive craving for earthly pleasures. Rumor attributed to him a harem of 350 concubines, who were brought from all over the country.

The Library of the US Congress houses a collection of color photographs by the famous photographer Prokudin-Gorsky: in the early 1900s, he traveled all over Russia, from the Far East to Central Asia, to capture his empire on glass photographic plates. Among these photographs there is also a ceremonial portrait of Mir-Alim, the emir of Bukhara, in a silk blue robe with flowers, a saber, and a gold belt.

Mir Alim

The face has paternal features, but without the subtlety and spirituality that the former ruler had. He does not yet know that he will become the last of the emirs of Bukhara and will spend most of his life in exile, will live by the mercy of the Afghan emir and will die in a foreign country. He will still have time to ask that the following words be carved on the gravestone:

An emir without a homeland is pitiful

and insignificant

A beggar who died in his homeland -

truly an emir.

Maybe he then remembered his father, who left a good memory of himself not only in his homeland.

FATHER

Emir of Bukhara SAYID AMIR ALIM KHAN

Seyyid Mir Muhammad Alim Khan was the last emir of Bukhara, who ruled until the capture of Bukhara by the Red Army on September 2, 1920, a representative of the Uzbek dynasty of the Turkic Mangyt family.

Although Bukhara had the status of a vassal state of the Russian Empire, Alim Khan led the internal affairs of his state as an absolute monarch.

In January 1893, when Mir-Alim was thirteen years old, he and his father arrived in St. Petersburg, where he was assigned to study at the elite imperial higher military educational institution - the Nikolaev Cadet Corps.

Emperor Alexander III approved Mir-Alim as heir to the throne and personally determined the program of his education, promising Adullahad Khan that his son would be educated in accordance with the norms of Islam. Mir-Alim studied in St. Petersburg until the summer of 1896 under the supervision of Osman Beg guard and personal tutor Colonel Demin.

In 1896, he returned, having received confirmation in Russia of his status as Crown Prince of Bukhara.

Two years later he took the post of governor of Nassef, remaining in it for twelve years. He governed the northern province of Carmina for the next two years, until his father's death in 1910. In 1910, Emperor Nicholas II bestowed the title of Highness on the khan. In 1911 he was promoted to Major General in the Retinue of His Imperial Majesty.

Sayyid Alim Khan took the throne of his father on December 4, 1910. The very next year after ascending the throne, Alim Khan received from Emperor Nicholas II the rank of major general in the tsarist army and the court rank of aide-de-camp, and at the end of 1915 he was promoted to Lieutenant General and Adjutant General. In September 1916 he was awarded one of the highest Russian awards - the Order of Alexander Nevsky. He owned property in Russia: dachas-palaces in Crimea, Kislovodsk, Zheleznovodsk, houses in St. Petersburg. On March 11, 1913, at the Russian Foreign Ministry, and on June 14, 1914, at a meeting of the Russian State Duma, the issue of reforming the administrative structure of the Bukhara Khanate and its annexation to Russia was raised. However, Nicholas II rejected these proposals.

The beginning of his reign was promising: he announced that he did not accept gifts, and categorically forbade officials and officials from taking bribes from the people and using taxes for personal purposes. However, over time the situation changed. As a result of intrigues, supporters of reforms lost and were exiled to Moscow and Kazan , and Alim Khan continued to rule in the traditional style, strengthening the dynasty.

Among the famous people who were surrounded by the emir until the spring of 1917 was one of the first Uzbek generals of the Tsarist army of Russia, Mir Haydar Mirbadalev.

With the money of the Emir of Bukhara, the St. Petersburg Cathedral Mosque and the House of the Emir of Bukhara were built in St. Petersburg.

Kamennoostrovsky Avenue, building 44b is known as the House of the Emir of Bukhara

Built in 1913 according to the design of S. S. Krichinsky for the Emir of Bukhara Seid-Mir-Alim Khan. It consists of a front building, two courtyards and side wings connecting them. The façade is lined with natural stone. On the side of the avenue it is lined with yellowish-white Shishim marble, mined near Zlatoust.

House of the Emir of Bukhara (yard)

Until mid-March 1917, this house housed the 1st reserve machine-gun regiment of the Petrograd garrison, which actively participated in the February Revolution. S.S. Krichinsky lived in the quarter. 4 of this house in 1917-1923.

House architect Stepan Krichinsky

On December 30, 1915, Alim Khan was promoted to lieutenant general in the Terek Cossack Army and appointed adjutant general.

The seizure of power in Russia by the Bolsheviks in 1917 allowed Alim Khan to declare full sovereignty and annul the 1873 treaty on the protectorate of Russia. On March 23, 1918, Alim Khan signed a peace treaty with the RSFSR. However, realizing the military threat of the Bolsheviks, he began to intensively strengthen the Bukhara army. For this purpose, Russian and Turkish officers with combat experience were brought in. Infantry and cavalry regiments were formed from Turkish and Afghan “volunteers”. Alim Khan carried out two military mobilizations and authorized the production of bladed weapons and ammunition. By August 1920, the emirate's army numbered up to 60 thousand soldiers, including 15 thousand infantry, 35 thousand cavalry, 55 guns, and several dozen machine guns. Nevertheless, as a result of the Bukhara “revolution”, ensured by the invasion of the Emirate by Soviet troops of the Turkfront under the command of Frunze, the emir’s army was defeated. On September 2, 1920, units of the Red Army of the RSFSR occupied Bukhara and Sayyid Alim Khan was overthrown from the throne. The Bukhara People's Soviet Republic (1920-1924) was proclaimed on the territory of Bukhara.

From September 1920 to February 1921, Alim Khan was on the territory of Eastern Bukhara, trying to organize a counter-offensive against the Soviets. Sayyid Alim Khan managed to gather significant military forces in the regions of Kulyab, Gissar and Dushanbe. In mid-November 1920, his troops moved west and occupied Baysun, Derbend and Sherabad. By the end of 1920 beginning of 1921. the number of Sayyid Alim Khan's military forces reached 10 thousand people. Ibrahim Beg's troops, based in the Lokai region, joined Alim Khan's army.

Based on an agreement between the Bukhara Republic and the RSFSR, a special Gissar military expedition was organized against Alim Khan, as a result of which his forces were defeated and he was forced to flee to Afghanistan.

At first Alim Khan stopped in Khanabad, and in May 1921 he arrived in Kabul. The Emir of Afghanistan, who had an agreement with the RSFSR, assigned Alim Khan the status of an honorary prisoner with an annual allocation of funds for his maintenance.

In exile, he traded in astrakhan fur, supported the Basmachi movement, and in his old age he was almost blind; his bank accounts were blocked at the insistence of the USSR authorities.

He was awarded the Orders of St. Alexander Nevsky and St. Vladimir (in the above color photograph, the star of this order with the motto “Benefit, Honor and Glory” is clearly visible on the Emir’s robe).

Seyyid Alim Khan, 1911, color photograph by S. M. Prokudin-Gorsky

Numerous offspring (about 300 people) are scattered all over the world: they live in the USA, Turkey, Germany, Afghanistan and other countries.

His three sons remained on Soviet territory. Two of them, Sultanmurad and Rahim, were later killed, and the third, Shahmurad, publicly renounced his father in 1929.adopted the surname Olimov. Served in the Red Army, participated in Great Patriotic War(where he lost his leg), in the 1960s he taught atMilitary Academy.

SON and GRANDSON

GRANDFATHER

Emir of Bukhara Seyid-Abdul-Ahad Khan

The Incredible Ruler

Stars over the peninsula

Street named after Seyid-Abdul-Ahad Khan

Cathedral Mosque in St. Petersburg (modern view)

During the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, Seyid Abdul Ahad Khan donated a million gold rubles for the construction of a warship, which was called the Emir of Bukhara.

Last of the dynasty

Mir Alim

An emir without a homeland is pitiful

and insignificant

A beggar who died in his homeland -

truly an emir.

Maybe he then remembered his father, who left a good memory of himself not only in his homeland.

FATHER

Emir of Bukhara SAYID AMIR ALIM KHAN

Although Bukhara had the status of a vassal state of the Russian Empire, Alim Khan led the internal affairs of his state as an absolute monarch.

In 1896, he returned, having received confirmation in Russia of his status as Crown Prince of Bukhara.

Among the famous people who were surrounded by the emir until the spring of 1917 was one of the first Uzbek generals of the Tsarist army of Russia, Mir Haydar Mirbadalev.

With the money of the Emir of Bukhara, the St. Petersburg Cathedral Mosque and the House of the Emir of Bukhara were built in St. Petersburg.

Kamennoostrovsky Avenue, building 44b is known as the House of the Emir of Bukhara

House of the Emir of Bukhara (yard)

House architect Stepan Krichinsky

On December 30, 1915, Alim Khan was promoted to lieutenant general in the Terek Cossack Army and appointed adjutant general.

In exile, he traded in astrakhan fur, supported the Basmachi movement, and in his old age he was almost blind; his bank accounts were blocked at the insistence of the USSR authorities.

Seyyid Alim Khan, 1911, color photograph by S. M. Prokudin-Gorsky

Numerous offspring (about 300 people) are scattered all over the world: they live in the USA, Turkey, Germany, Afghanistan and other countries.

Seyyid Alim Khan - Biography Seyyid Mir Muhammad Alim Khan (Uzb. Said Mir Muhammad Olimxon; January 3, 1880 - May 5, 1944) - the last emir of Bukhara, who ruled before the capture of Bukhara by the Red Army on September 2, 1920, a representative of the Uzbek dynasty of the Turkic Mangyt clan . Although Bukhara had the status of a vassal state of the Russian Empire, Alim Khan led the internal affairs of his state as an absolute monarch. At the age of thirteen, Alim Khan was sent by his father Abdulahad Khan to St. Petersburg for three years to study the science of government and military affairs. In 1896, he returned, having received confirmation in Russia of his status as Crown Prince of Bukhara. Two years later he took the post of governor of Nassef, remaining in it for twelve years. He governed the northern province of Carmina for the next two years, until his father's death in 1910. In 1910, Emperor Nicholas II bestowed the title of Highness on the khan. In 1911 he was promoted to Major General in the Retinue of His Imperial Majesty. Ascended to the throne in 1910. The beginning of his reign was promising: he announced that he did not accept gifts, and categorically forbade officials and officials from taking bribes from the people and using taxes for personal purposes. However, over time the situation changed. As a result of the intrigues, the reform supporters lost and were exiled to Moscow and Kazan, and Alim Khan continued to rule in the traditional style, strengthening the dynasty. Among the famous people who were surrounded by the emir until the spring of 1917 was one of the first Uzbek generals of the Tsarist army of Russia, Mir Haydar Mirbadalev. With the money of the Emir of Bukhara, the St. Petersburg Cathedral Mosque and the House of the Emir of Bukhara were built in St. Petersburg. On December 30, 1915, he was promoted to lieutenant general in the Terek Cossack Army and appointed adjutant general. When the Red Army occupied Bukhara, he fled to the east of the Bukhara Emirate and then to Afghanistan. In exile, he traded in astrakhan fur, supported the Basmachi movement, and in his old age he was almost blind; his bank accounts were blocked at the insistence of the USSR authorities. Died in Kabul. He was awarded the Orders of St. Alexander Nevsky and St. Vladimir (in the above color photograph, the star of this order with the motto “Benefit, Honor and Glory” is clearly visible on the Emir’s robe). Numerous offspring (about 300 people) are scattered all over the world: they live in the USA, Turkey, Germany, Afghanistan and other countries. One of the sons of the Bukhara emir, Shakhmurad (adopted the surname Olimov), renounced his father in 1929. He served in the Red Army, participated in the Great Patriotic War (in which he lost his leg), and taught at the Frunze Military Academy in the 1960s.

the last emir of the Bukhara Emirate, Seyyid Mir Muhammad Alim Khan

The Kherson Museum refused to sell a unique saber, even for 100 thousand dollars. A Damascus steel saber with a hilt and a silver scabbard, decorated with the most skillful engraving of Kubachi jewelers, was made back in the nineteenth century personally for the Emir of Bukhara, Seyid Khan.

Gold of the Emir of Bukhara

An amazing document was discovered by scientists - professor of historical sciences N. Nazarshoev and associate professor of historical sciences A. Gafurov - while working in the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History (former archive of the CPSU Central Committee). The inventory, printed on a typewriter, containing 48 sheets, listed the material assets of the Bukhara emir.

Emir of Bukhara Mir-Seyid-Abdul-Ahad surrounded by Russian officers

The Emir of Bukhara and his retinue in Moscow in 1896. Photo from the State Historical Museum.

Almost every year, articles by writers, publicists, scientists and simply history buffs appear in the media and on the Internet, in which they express hypotheses and assumptions about the whereabouts of the gold of the Mangyt dynasty. This topic has been relevant since the overthrow of the last Bukhara emir, Said Mir Alimkhan. Moreover, the authors of the articles try, as a rule, to attribute as much wealth as possible to the emir. But everyone, as a rule, writes that before his flight from Bukhara, he took out in advance 10 tons of gold worth 150 million Russian rubles at that time, which today is equivalent to 70 million US dollars.

Order of Noble Bukhara, gold; 2 - the same order of the lowest degree, silver (GIM); 3 - gold badge of the same order (?); 4-5 - Order of the Crown of the State of Bukhara; 6-8 - medals for zeal and merit (6 - gold; 7-8 - silver and bronze, from the collection of the State Historical Museum).

All this treasure was allegedly hidden somewhere in the caves of the Gissar ridge. At the same time, according to one version, Said Alimkhan got rid of unnecessary witnesses according to the classic scenario: the drivers who knew about the valuable cargo were destroyed by the emir's confidant, Dervish Davron, and his henchmen. Then the latter were killed by the Emir’s personal bodyguard Karapush and his guards, and soon Karapush himself, who reported to the Emir about the successful completion of the operation and initiated his Serene Highness into the secrets of the burial of the treasure, was strangled that same night in the palace’s bedchamber by the Emir’s personal executioner. The guards also disappeared - they were also killed.

In the 20-30s. groups of armed horsemen, numbering tens or even hundreds of people, entered the territory of Tajikistan in order to search for treasure. However, all these attacks were in vain. The search for the treasure continued illegally in subsequent years. But the treasure was never discovered.

So there was still a treasure walled up in the Gissar ridge? Having asked this question, the authors of this article decided to conduct their own investigation. And we started by searching for archival documents that could lift the veil of secrecy.

In the course of our work in the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History (former archive of the CPSU Central Committee), we discovered an interesting document. Printed on a typewriter, with a volume of 48 sheets, it described the material assets of the Bukhara emir.

So…

December 22, 1920, i.e. almost four months after the emir was overthrown, members of the State Commission for the Accounting of Valuables of the Bukhara People's Soviet Republic (BPSR) Khairulla Mukhitdinov and Khol-Khoja Suleymankhodjaev took the valuables belonging to Bukhara emir.

After the delivery of the valuable cargo, the State Commission drew up the corresponding Act in two copies, one of which was transferred to the Commissariat of Finance of the Turkestan Republic, and the second to the Nazirat of Finance of the BNSR.

The valuables that were indicated in the Act had 1193 serial numbers (No. 743 is repeated twice), packed in chests and bags. When opened, they turned out to be filled with precious stones, money, gold, silver, copper, and clothing. Of all this treasure, we will list only what, in our opinion, is of undoubted interest.

Precious stones were represented by diamonds, diamonds, pearls, and coral. Of these: 53 large diamonds (weight not specified), 39 large diamonds (138 carats), more than 400 medium-sized diamonds (450 carats), 500 smaller-than-average diamonds (410 carats), small diamonds (43 carats). Total precious stones: 1041 carats, excluding 53 large diamonds.

Most of the precious stones are inlaid into gold items: 1 sultan with diamonds and pearls, 4 crowns, 3 pairs of earrings, 8 brooches, 26 rings, 26 ladies' watches, 37 orders, 11 bracelets, 53 cigarette cases, 14 belts with plaques, 7 stars (with 5 large and medium diamonds and 30 small ones), 43 women's mirrors, the Order of the White Eagle with 13 diamonds, a breast portrait of Alimkhan Garden with 10 large and 20 small diamonds, a plaque with 59 diamonds, the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle with 20 diamonds, 2 orders Vladimir I degree with 20 diamonds and two attachments with 10 diamonds, 5 Orders of Stanislav I degree with 13 diamonds, Order of Alexander Nevsky with diamonds, Danish Cross with 14 diamonds, Serbian Eagle with 5 diamonds, badge “For 25 years of service” with 6 diamonds, 3 silver Persian stars with diamonds, 18 silver checkers with stones and enamel, silver buckle with 21 diamonds.

In addition, there were jewelry made of coral beads with a total weight of 12 pounds (1 lb. = 0.409 kg), pearl beads framed in gold - 35 lbs.

Gold is presented in the form of various decorations - 14 poods (1p. = 16 kg), placers - 10 poods and 4 pounds. scrap with a total weight of 4p. and 2 f., 262 bars - 12p. and 15 f., Russian coins of various denominations totaling 247,600 rubles, Bukhara coins totaling 10,036 rubles, foreign coins (1 f.). In general, the mass of gold in jewelry, placers, scrap, bars, coins, and orders amounted to 688.424 kg.

Silver is presented in the form of various items and kitchen utensils: vases, boxes, bratins, samovars, trays, buckets, jugs, teapots, cup holders, glasses, plates, coffee pots, decanters, tablespoons, dessert and teaspoons, forks, knives. As well as a music box, various women's jewelry with stones (it is not specified which ones: precious or not), table calendars, a spyglass, Bukhara orders and medals, saucers, figurines, candlesticks, bowlers, bracelets, plaques, cigarette cases, gargles, watches floor clocks, table clocks, a chessboard with figures, tureens, milk jugs, glasses, cups, albums, mugs, sugar bowls, women's headdresses, rings with stones, scabbards, necklaces, most of which were covered with enamel of different colors, horse harnesses with plaques.

But most of the silver was presented in the form of bars and coins in 632 chests and 2364 bags with a total weight of 6417 items and 8 pounds, which corresponds to about 102.7 tons.

Paper money was packed in 26 chests: Russian Nikolaevsky for a total amount of 2,010,111 rubles, Russian Kerensky - 923,450 rubles, Bukhara - 4,579,980 till.

180 large chests contained manufactory: 63 fur-lined robes, 46 cloth robes, 105 silk, 92 velvet, 300 brocade, 568 paper, 14 different fur skins, 1 coat with a collar, 10 carpets, 8 felts, 13 rugs ... yubeteek, 660 pairs of shoes.

Copper money and tableware were packed in 8 chests, with a total weight of 33 items and 12 pounds.

There is an annex to the Act, according to which all gold products and precious stones have undergone expert evaluation to determine their quality and weight. The appraisal was given by jeweler Danilson. However, interestingly, the weight of precious stones, gold and silver determined by Danilson is underestimated compared to that given in the Act itself.

We also made our calculations. According to our data, according to the Act and at today's exchange rate, the price of Emir's gold (1 troy ounce, or 31.1 grams = $ 832), if converted completely into scrap (688, 424 kg), is more than 18 million US dollars. For all the silver, if it was also converted into scrap (102.7 tons), on world markets today they could fetch over 51 million dollars (1 gram = $2). For 1041 carats of diamonds at Sotheby's or Christie's trade auctions you can get about 34 million dollars (1 carat = $32.5 thousand).

In general, the cost of this part of the Mangit treasury alone is about 103 million dollars, which exceeds the calculations of the searchers for the emir’s treasure by at least a third.

However, we are powerless to estimate the value of 53 large diamonds (weight not specified), coral and pearl beads with a total weight of more than 19.2 kg.

As for diamonds, they are the hardest, most beautiful and expensive stone of all precious stones. Among the four “highest” stones (diamond, sapphire, emerald, ruby) it comes first. Diamonds have always been incredibly highly valued not only for their beauty and rarity, but also for the mystical properties they supposedly possessed. The most expensive diamonds have indicators of 1/1, that is, no color, no defects. From antiquity the name for such stones came from “diamonds of pure water”, because... to distinguish a natural crystal from a fake, it was thrown into clean water, and it was lost in it. Consequently, in our opinion, only the diamonds of the Bukhara emir could surpass all other treasury values in their value.

Is it even possible to appreciate gold jewelry with precious stones, because they all have great artistic value. What is the Russian Order of St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called worth? In 2006, at the Sotheby's auction, 428 thousand dollars were given for this order. Or a one-of-a-kind breast portrait of Said Alimkhan, framed by 10 large and 20 small diamonds.

And so all this valuable cargo from Bukhara was delivered to Tashkent. And he, without a doubt, was part of the treasury of Said Alimkhan. However, these data do not answer the question: is this the emir’s complete fortune or only part of it? The fact is that the entire treasury of the Bukhara Emirate consisted, according to various estimates, of 30-35 million till, which corresponded to approximately 90-105 million Russian rubles. And adventure lovers estimate 10 tons of gold at the 1920 exchange rate at 150 million Russian rubles. It turns out that they overestimated the emir’s condition by 1.5 times. Why this discrepancy?

Let's try to understand this issue. Returning to the beginning of our story, we know that, according to some authors, the emir took out and hid his entire treasury in the mountains - 10 tons of gold. Could he have done this, involving a couple of dozen people for this operation. I think not. Firstly, to transport such a cargo you need at least a hundred horses, not counting the cavalry guards. And this is already a whole caravan. He could not have traveled even a short distance unnoticed, not to mention the fact that the cargo was hidden in the spurs of the Gissar Mountains.

Secondly, having returned to Bukhara, the emir, having destroyed all the witnesses, for some reason did not tell his loved ones about where the treasure was hidden. But he had to do this in case of overthrow or even worse - murder. After all, his sons were supposed to replace him on the throne, and they needed the sovereign’s treasury. The Emir could not help but understand this.

Thirdly, having fled to Gissar after the overthrow, the emir began to recruit the local population into the army. But he did not have enough funds to fully arm everyone. To do this, he imposed additional taxes on the inhabitants of Eastern Bukhara, but managed to arm only a third of his new army.

Fourthly, Alimkhan did not give up hope for help from abroad. Thus, in a letter to the King of Great Britain on October 12, 1920, he wrote that he hoped for the support of His Majesty and expected help from him in the amount of 100 thousand pounds sterling, 20 thousand guns with ammunition, 30 guns with shells, 10 airplanes and 2 thousand British soldiers. -Indian army. However, England, which did not want to go into direct aggravation with the Bolsheviks, fearing that they might continue their offensive and establish Soviet power in Afghanistan, did not provide assistance to the emir.

Fifthly, Said Alimkhan did not try, as some imagine, to transport his supposedly hidden gold reserves in the Gissar Mountains to Afghanistan, because he did not trust any of his kurbashi, not even Enver Pasha and Ibrahimbek. In addition, even if the emir entrusted them with this mission, it was doomed to failure, since such a caravan could not be carried unnoticed through Soviet territory, and moreover, transported through Pyanj. To do this, it was necessary to prepare a large-scale military operation. But, as history has shown, the emir had neither the strength nor the means to implement it.

Sixthly, if the emir still had hidden treasures, he could have tried to take them out in the 20s and 30s with the help of foreign countries and international organizations. But even in this case, he did not make a single attempt. Several intercepted letters from Said Alimkhan addressed to foreign political figures are known, but in none of them does he mention the presence of a gold cache.

Seventh, the lack of cash did not allow the Bukhara emir to provide material assistance to his kurbashi. Thus, after the detention of the Supreme Kurbashi Ibrahimbek on the territory of Tajikistan, during interrogation on July 5, 1931 in Tashkent, he admitted with undisguised indignation that in December 1930 he wrote to Emir Alimkhan: “Seven years (meaning the period 1920-1926 - author .) on your order, I fought against the Soviet government with my own means and forces, constantly receiving all kinds of promises for help, but I never saw their fulfillment.”

Thus, all of the above leads to the idea that the emir’s gold weighing 10 tons, as we think, did not exist. At the same time, Said Alimkhan, of course, had his own treasury, which he managed to remove from Bukhara. It is no coincidence that during his flight from Bukhara, he was accompanied by guards of at least a thousand people. However, as you know, you can’t carry much on horses. The emir could not attract camels for this purpose, since they, although they can carry loads, are very slow-moving. And the emir needed a mobile group so that in case of pursuit he would not have to abandon the caravan. The financial assets and jewelry he exported, it seems, amounted to 15-20 percent of the total treasury, Said Alimkhan needed for the most necessary expenses: allowances for the guards, purchases of weapons, maintenance of his administrative apparatus and the newly recruited harem, etc.

In addition, one should not discount the argument that the emir did not think of leaving Bukhara for a long time and was waiting for an opportunity to take revenge for the defeat. It is no coincidence that in Eastern Bukhara he declared mobilization and submitted a memorandum to the League of Nations about a forced declaration of war on the Bolsheviks.

But time worked against Said Alimkhan. The Bolsheviks, having taken power in Bukhara, also seized most of the remaining treasury of the Mangit dynasty. These treasures were transferred to the People's Commissariat of Finance of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

We were unable to trace the further fate of the treasury of the Bukhara emir, delivered to Tashkent. However, it is not difficult to guess that the jewelry was soon sent to Moscow. The civil war in Russia was still ongoing, and in order to supply the Red Army with everything necessary, the treasures of the Bukhara emir came in very handy. For this purpose, precious stones were removed from gold jewelry, and the latter were melted down into metal. Thus, things that were of high artistic and historical value were lost forever. Although some rare specimens may have been “lost” during transportation, and are now stored in some collections, the owners of which, as a rule, remain incognito for personal safety reasons.

Penjikent is an ancient city located in the mountains of Tajikistan. Very close is Bukhara, not far away is the border with Kyrgyzstan, and the deserts of Turkmenistan are just a stone's throw away. All these lands were part of the Bukhara Emirate until 1920. In the bottomless cellars of the Ark, the fortress that reigns over the city, innumerable riches have accumulated over hundreds of years. Each of the emir's three million subjects had to pay taxes to the treasury. But most of the gold came to the treasury from the emir’s mines on the banks of the Zeravshan. Over the course of a year, over thirty million gold tilpas entered the underground vaults of the Bukhara fortress. And the emirate’s expenses during the same period amounted to only three million - mainly for the army and the purchase of weapons. The difference remained in the emir's treasury.
In August 1920, the emirate fell on hard times. Events in Russia stirred up the masses. An uprising was being prepared. Reconnaissance airplanes with red stars on their wings appeared more and more often in the sky above Bukhara. And one day even a four-engine Ilya Muromets arrived - the Red Army was approaching. It was necessary not only to get away, but also to take out the wealth accumulated by the Mangyt dynasty...

DESCENDANT OF AN OLD FAMILY

The first time I met Masud was in Penjikent almost twenty years ago. He was engaged in excavations of an ancient settlement here. From him I learned what the further fate of the Bukhara treasures was...
— Emir Sid Alimkhan had a trusted person - dervish Davron. One day he was brought to the palace at night so that prying eyes would not see. In the chambers of the ruler, in addition to the ruler himself, the dervish met one more person - the emir's bodyguard, Colonel Txobo Kalapush. The head of the emir's artillery, Topchibashi Nizametdin, was also there. But the emir hid it in the next room. Invisible, he heard the entire conversation.
We decided how to save the treasures. There was so much gold that the caravan would have needed about a hundred pack horses, each of which could carry khurjins with five pounds of gold each. The total value of the emir's property exceeded 150 million gold rubles at prices of that time.
Where should we take the caravan? To Kashgar? There is an English consulate there, headed by an old acquaintance of the emir, consul Mr. Esserton. But Dervish Davron had already visited Kashgar, and the news he brought was disappointing. The emir's letter simply frightened the consul. What is the British Consulate in Kashgar? A small house in a shady garden on the outskirts of Urumqi. His entire guard is a British flag and several sepoys armed with rifles. And all around are gangs of bandits terrorizing Kashgar, an uprising in Xinjiang, a war in Turkestan, and general instability. Accepting a caravan with gold under such conditions means bringing misfortune to your quiet abode.
Esserton was a professional diplomat and made what seemed to him a wise decision: let his superiors think and decide. In Delhi, to the palace of the Viceroy of India, an encrypted message was sent outlining the situation.
But there were also officials in Delhi. And they also perfectly understood all the risk and responsibility associated with such a thing. If they agree, it will turn out that the British government guarantees the safety of the emir's treasury. What if the bandits get it? The entire cost of what was lost will have to be paid to the emir at the expense of the British Empire. No, the Viceroy of India could not take such a risk. Therefore, the English consul wrote a letter to the emir, composed in the most refined terms. In it, he swore ardent friendship and wished all the best, only at the end - with great regret - he noticed that he would not be able to accept and keep the treasury of the ruler of Bukhara.
Now those gathered in the palace that night had to decide where to send the caravan - to Iran or to Afghanistan. It was dangerous to go with such a caravan to Iran, to Mashhad - the situation in the Trans-Caspian region remained tense. We made a different decision. In the first ten days of September 1920, at night, a caravan of several hundred horses and camels, loaded with treasures of Bukhara, supplies of water and food, moved south. The guards were the emir's guards, commanded by Taksobo Kalapush. Next to him, stirrup to stirrup, rode the dervish Davron.
Near the city of Guzar we turned sharply to the left and near Langar we went deep into the foothills of the Pamirs.
The caravan split up. Armed guards led by Kalapush, pack animals with supplies and water remained in the valley. Camels and horses, loaded with gold, and the drivers accompanying them, plunged into one of the mountain crevices. Davron and two other dervishes rode ahead.
A day passed since the departure of Davron and his companions, then another. Alarmed Kalapush raised his people and followed the trail of the caravan. After walking several kilometers along a narrow, winding crevice, the riders discovered several corpses. These were the drivers. And after some time they came across Davron himself and his two companions. All three were wounded. Davron told what happened. One of the drivers found out what was in the saddlebags and packs and told his comrades. They decided to kill Davron and his companions and take possession of the treasure. There was a fight, but Davron and his friends managed to fight back. Despite their wounds, they hid the bags of gold in an inconspicuous cave. Kalapush examined her and was pleased. Not trusting anyone, the emir's bodyguard himself blocked the entrance to the cave with stones and drove the horses and camels back to the valley.
The Dervishes' wounds were bandaged and mounted on horses. Now only they and Kalapush knew where the emir’s valuables were hidden. When the mountains were left behind, Davron felt very bad and wanted to go to his native village - it was almost along the road. Kalapush generously agreed, but in the morning, when the hour of prayer came, the three figures did not rise from the ground. Davron and his dervish friends remained there forever. Faithful Kalapush fulfilled the emir's secret order: no one should know the secrets of the treasure.
“You know so well what happened in these places eighty years ago,” I said to Masud. - Where?
- I'm from these places myself. And Davron was one of my ancestors. This story has been passed down from generation to generation in our family. As a boy, I heard it and then swore to myself that I would find this treasure, even though it brought so much misfortune to our family.

FATE OF TREASURE

“As an archaeologist, I could carry out the search without arousing anyone’s suspicions,” continued Masud. - I'll tell you what happened then...
On the fourth day the caravan returned to Bukhara. In Karaulbazar, the tired horsemen were joyfully greeted by the topchibashi Nieametdin and his warriors. After pilaf and green tea, we went to bed in order to arrive early in sacred Bukhara. However, in the morning only the soldiers of the commander of the emir's artillery saddled the horses. All of Kalapush's companions - except himself - were killed.
The emir graciously greeted his bodyguard. He asked in detail about the road, how they found the secret place, how they hid the treasure and camouflaged the cache. The ruler was especially interested in whether there were any living witnesses. “No,” answered Kalapush, “now only two people on earth know the secret: the ruler and me. But the lord does not doubt my loyalty..."
Of course, the emir had no doubt... that the secret known to the two was not half a secret. And that same night, Kalapush, who had been kindly treated by the emir, was strangled by the palace executioner.
Only two days had passed since the day of his death, horses began to be saddled in the palace stables - the emir decided to flee. No one even remembered his former bodyguard. Now the chief of artillery, Nizametdin, was galloping next to the emir.
A day later, somewhere in the steppe, a shot was heard from the emir’s retinue. Topchibashi collapsed to the ground. There was no one left except the former ruler of sacred Bukhara who knew anything about the caravan with gold.
With a detachment of a hundred sabers, he crossed the border into Afghanistan. Of the entire multimillion-dollar treasure, he only had two horses left, loaded with saddlebags with gold bars and precious stones.
Years passed. The emir lived in Kabul, but the treasure left behind Pyanj did not let him sleep. Throughout the twenties, almost every month Basmach gangs penetrated into the territory of Central Asia. Many of them rushed to the area where the treasure was hidden. But the Basmachis were unlucky. After destroying crops and killing several activists, they returned to Afghanistan. However, the emir did not calm down. In 1930, Ibrahim Beg's gang crossed the border. He had five hundred sabers with him. But, captured, he was executed, his severed head was sent in 1931 to Moscow, to the Cheka.
The surviving members of Ibrahim Beg's defeated gang continued to search for the treasure. Someone decided that the relatives of Davron or Kalapush should know the secret place. And they began to die. After torture, almost all of Davron's brothers and sisters were killed. The village where Kalapush’s relatives lived was burned, and all its inhabitants were slaughtered.
“Davron was a relative of my grandfather,” Masud recently admitted to me. “I learned this whole story from him.” And now there are people interested in my search. At first (I was younger and more naive then), a certain Timur Pulatov from Bukhara rubbed around me. He went out of his way to try to help in my search. And he ended up stealing several diagrams of already completed routes and ran away with them, oddly enough, to Moscow. Recently I met him on the street. You know this company that sits on the sidewalks in oriental robes, begging for alms. So their leader is Pulatov, nicknamed “Donkey Count”...
After the theft, I began to divide my circuits into several parts and hide them in different places. Of course, I keep the main thing in mind. After all, the area where the treasure is hidden occupies only 100 square kilometers. Over the course of two decades, I studied it in detail.
- And found it?..
Masoud is mysteriously silent. Then he says:
- You know, ten tons of gold is difficult to find, but it was also difficult to hide it. There was little time left for this. Shallowly hidden. This means that sensitive devices will detect it. And I already have them. But now is a turbulent time. It's dangerous to go there now...
This man, obsessed with his passion, went through a difficult life. He almost achieved success, but at the very threshold he was forced to stop. Only I am sure - not for long.

Coronation: , Kokand Predecessor: Narbuta-biy Successor: Umar Khan Birth: 1774 ( 1774 )
Kokand Death: 1809 ( 1809 )
Kokand Genus: mingi Father: Narbuta-biy Children: Shahrukh, Ibrahim Beg, Murad Beg

Domestic policy

Alimkhan was a decisive ruler and commander. At the beginning of his reign, he waged a fierce struggle against potential contenders for power in the state.

Alim Beg was the first representative of the Ming dynasty to take the title of khan. Since 1805, in all official documents the state has been called the Khanate of Kokand. In 1806, he issued silver coins with an inscription containing the title of “khan”. Full-fledged coinage made it possible to restore order in the financial and tax systems.

Military reform

At the head of a huge army, the khan approached the shore of Chirchik through Kurama and organized a hunt for tigers, which were found in abundance. Then he entered Tashkent and indulged in idleness for several days. A few days later, the khan ordered his military commanders Iriskuliby and Dzhumabai kaytak to raid the Kazakhs who were roaming far in the steppe. The Kokand people attacked the Kazakhs for no apparent reason, killings and robberies began, taking many Kazakhs into captivity. However, some of the Kazakhs migrated to remote areas in advance and thereby avoided theft of property and death. Since this punitive action was taken in winter, many Kokand warriors froze their hands and feet due to the severe cold that year. Fermentation began in the army, dissatisfied people appeared.

Umarbek, the younger brother of the Kokand Khan, took advantage of this circumstance. He convinced the potentate that the military leaders deliberately did not pursue the Kazakhs and gave them the opportunity to escape. And he achieved what he wanted, since the khan ordered a second move against the Kazakhs. However, the military leaders refused to carry out the order, as they decided to leave the khan and return to Kokand. This group was led by Iriskuliby and Dzhumabay Kaytak. Umarbek also went over to their side.

Under the khan, only high-ranking officials and nobility were in Tashkent, while the army stood on the banks of the Chirchik. A group hostile to the khan, led by Umarbek, left him at night, arrived at the military camp and announced that the Kokand khan had been killed. This news caused panic and confusion among the soldiers; they broke camp and headed to Kokand. Upon arrival in the capital, Umarbek seized power and declared himself khan.

Having learned about the departure of the army and emirs led by Umar Khan, the abandoned khan convened a council to discuss further actions. After a long meeting, it was decided to leave part of the loyal troops in Tashkent, and head to Kokand. Already on the way, Alimkhan appointed his son Shahrukhkhan as governor of Tashkent and sent him back. The khan himself, after a long march, was killed near Kokand by people loyal to Umar Khan.

Notes

Literature

History of Central Asia. Moscow: Eurolinz. Russian panorama, 2003
History of Uzbekistan. T.3. Tashkent, 1993.

Categories:

Personalities in alphabetical order
Crowned in Kokand
Born in 1774
Born in Kokand
Died in 1809
Died in Kokand
History of Kokand
History of Uzbekistan
Khanate of Kokand
Mingi
Murdered monarchs

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