“Popular History of Bukharian Jews” was recently published, with a support of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress. The authors, Ilya Dvorkin and Markel Fazylov, have covered a rich history of Bukharian Jews for almost 2600 years:  from the Persian Empire period (6th century B.C.) through the Bukhara Khanate foundation (16th century) to Russian Empire (19-20th centuries), including the Soviet period.

The purpose of the book is to present the history of Bukharian Jews in a comprehensible and lively manner. The book refers to little-known pages of history. Of particular interest is investigation of Jewish communities in the Central Asia settlements. Through thoughts and memories of particular people, the reader can see the changes in the authorities’ policy towards the Jews, and the effect it had on their legal and economic state. Important to note, the history of Bukharian Jews is shown in a book not only on the basis of statistics and archival documents.

Along with the opinions of scientists and travelers, the book contains reasonings and judgments of the Bukharian Jews themselves, which is extremely important for a deep understanding of nation’s culture and ethnography.