Religion

Imam al-Bukhari, born in Bukhara in 810, compiled the Sahih — the hadith collection Sunni Muslims regard as the most authoritative book after the Qur'an. Al-Tirmidhi, from Termez, produced another of the six canonical collections. Al-Maturidi, from a village near Samarkand, founded one of the two main schools of Sunni theology. And Bahauddin Naqshband, buried outside Bukhara, gave his name to the Naqshbandi Sufi order, which spread from here across Asia and beyond. All four shrines remain active places of visit.

Islam arrived in the eighth century into a religiously crowded landscape. Zoroastrianism was long established in Khwarezm and Sogdiana. Termez in the south was a significant Buddhist centre — the monastery ruins at Fayaz-Tepa and Kara-Tepa are still being excavated. Nestorian Christian and Manichaean communities used the same trade roads. Bukharan Jews have lived here for well over a millennium, with a distinct dialect and liturgy. Today the constitution separates religion from the state, and Russian Orthodox, Jewish, Catholic and other communities maintain places of worship.