Bukhara in the context of "700s (decade)"

Sahih al-Bukhari (Arabic: صحيح البخاري, romanized: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī) is the first hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam. Compiled by Islamic scholar al-Bukhari (d. 870) in the musannaf format, the work is valued by Sunni Muslims, alongside Sahih Muslim, as the most authentic after the Qur'an.

Al-Bukhari organized the book mostly in the Hijaz at the Sacred Mosque of Mecca and the Prophet's Mosque of Medina and completed the work in Bukhara around 846 (232 AH). The work was examined by his teachers Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ali ibn al-Madini, Yahya ibn Ma'in and others.

The Khanate of Bukhara was an Uzbek monarchy in Central Asia from 1501 to 1785, founded by the Shaybanid dynasty, a branch of the Abu'l-Khayrids. Muhammad Shaybani, grandson of the steppe ruler Abu'l Khayr Khan, conquered the major cities of Mawarannahr (Transoxiana) — Balkh, Bukhara, Samarkand, and Tashkent — and established his rule in the region. In its earliest years, the Khanate was alternately governed from each of these cities before Abdullah Khan II (r. 1557–1598) established Bukhara as its permanent capital by 1562.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Khanate was ruled by the Janid dynasty (also referred to as Ashtarkhanids or Toqay Timurids). They were the last Chingissid dynasty to rule Bukhara. In 1740, it was conquered by Nader Shah, the Shah of Iran. After his death in 1747, the Khanate was controlled by the non-Chingissid descendants of the Uzbek emir Khudayar Bi, through the prime ministerial position of ataliq. In 1785, his descendant, Shah Murad, formalized the family's dynastic rule (Manghit dynasty), and the Khanate became the Emirate of Bukhara. The Manghits were non-Chingissid and took the Islamic title of emir instead of khan since their legitimacy was not based on descent from Genghis Khan.

Khorasan (Middle Persian: 𐬒𐬊𐬭𐬀𐬯𐬀𐬥, romanized: Xwarāsān; Persian: خراسان, Iranian Persian [xoɾɒːˈsɒːn] ) is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West and Central Asia that encompasses western and northern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, the eastern halves of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, and portions of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

The extent of the region referred to as Khorasan varied over time. In its stricter historical sense, it comprised the present territories of northeastern Iran, parts of Afghanistan and southern parts of Central Asia, extending as far as the Amu Darya (Oxus) river. However, the name has often been used in a loose sense to include a wider region that included most of Transoxiana (encompassing Bukhara and Samarqand in present-day Uzbekistan), extended westward to the Caspian coast and to the Dasht-e Kavir southward to Sistan, and eastward to the Pamir Mountains. Greater Khorasan is today sometimes used to distinguish the larger historical region from the former Khorasan Province of Iran (1906–2004), which roughly encompassed the western portion of the historical Greater Khorasan.

The various states and civilizations in Iran (Persia) have had numerous capital cities and royal centers throughout history.

• Ahar; Pishkinid dynasty
• Anshan; pre-Achaemenid era
• Ardabil; early Safavid era, Sajid
• Asaak; Parthian era royal center
• Astara; Ispahbads of Gilan
• Alamut Castle; Nizari Ismaili state
• Amol; Ziyarid, Alavid, Marashis, Dabuyid, Bavandid, Chalavi, (Parthian Empire climate capital)
• Babylon; Achaemenid era
• Baghdad; caliphates, Jalayerid, Buyid
• Balkh; in legend, the governmental center of the Kayanian dynasty
• Bardsir; Banu Ilyas
• Basra; Jalayerid
• Bukhara; Samanid era
• Ctesiphon; Parthian, Sasanian era
• Damavand; Masmughans of Damavand
• Dinavar; Hasanwayhids
• Diyarbakır; Aq Qoyunlu
• Fuman; Dabuyid
• Farim (Perim); Bavandid
• Firozkoh; Ghurid
• Firuzkuh; Chalavi
• Shahr-e Qumis (Hecatompylos); Parthian era
• Ghazna; Ghurid, Khwarazmid, Ghaznavid
• Gor (Firuzabad); Sasanian era
• Gorgan (Astarabad); Ziyarid, Alavids
• Herat; Ghurid, Kartids, Timurid Empire
• Hulwan; Annazids
• Ij (Ig); Shabankara
• Isfahan; Ziyarid dynasty, Kakuyid Emirate, Injuid dynasty, Seljuk era, Safavid era
• Istakhr; Sasanian era
• Izeh (Idaj); Hazaraspids
• Ecbatana (later Hamadan); Median Empire, Achaemenid era, Eldiguzids, Seljuks (Greater and Iraq Seljuks)
• Kerman; Muzaffarid, Qutlugh-Khanids
• Khorramabad; Khorshidi dynasty
• Kunya Urgench; early Khwarezmid era
• Lafur; Qarinvand dynasty
• Lankaran; Talysh Khanate
• Lahijan; Karkiya dynasty
• Maragheh; Ilkhanid, Ahmadilis, Sajid
• Mashhad; Afsharid
• Merv; capital during al-Mamun's caliphate, and Taherid era, Seljuk Empire
• Mosul; winter capital during Qara Qoyunlu
• Nakhchivan; Eldiguzids
• Nishapur; Ilkhanid, Seljuq, Taherid eras
• Nisa, Turkmenistan; periodical capital of the Parthian era
• Pasargadae; Achaemenid
• Persepolis; Achaemenid ceremonial capital
• Rey (Rhagae); Median, Ziyarid, Buyid, Seljuk Empire
• Rudbar; Justanids
• Qazvin; early Safavid era
• Sabzevar; Sarbadars
• Samarkand; Samanid, Khwarazmid, Timurid era
• Shiraz; Buyid dynasty, Injuid dynasty, Muzaffarid dynasty, Salghurid dynasty, Zand dynasty
• Soltaniyeh; Ilkhanid
• Susa; Achaemenid, Parthian era
• Tabriz; Ilkhanid, Khwarezmid, Rawadid, Chupanid, Jalayerid, Eldiguzids, Kara Koyunlu, Aq Qoyunlu, early Safavid era
• Tarom; Sallarid
• Sari; Qajar, Dabuyid, Alavid, Bavandid, Marashis
• Yazd; Kakuyid, Atabegs of Yazd
• Zaranj; Saffarid Empire, Mihrabanid, Nasrid
• Tehran; Qajar era, Pahlavi era, Islamic Republic of Iran 1796–present

The siege of Bukhara took place in February 1220, during the Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire. Genghis Khan, ruler of the Mongol Empire, had launched a multi-pronged assault on the Khwarazmian Empire ruled by Shah Muhammad II. While the Shah planned to defend his major cities individually, the Mongols laid siege to the border town of Otrar, and struck further into Khwarazmia.

The city of Bukhara was a major centre of trade and culture in the Khwarazmian Empire, but was located far from the border with the Mongol Empire, and so the Shah had allocated fewer than 20,000 soldiers to defend it. A Mongol force, estimated to number between 30,000 and 50,000 men and commanded by Genghis himself, traversed the Kyzylkum Desert, previously considered impassable for large armies. Bukhara's defenders were caught by surprise and, after a failed sortie, the outer city surrendered within three days on 10 February. Khwarazmian loyalists continued to defend the citadel for less than two weeks, before it was breached and taken.

The siege of Samarkand took place in March 1220 after Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongol Empire, had launched a multi-pronged invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire, ruled by Shah Muhammad II. The Mongols had laid siege to the border town of Otrar, but finding its defences obdurate, a large force commanded by Genghis and his youngest son Tolui detached from the vanguard and set off southwards, towards Transoxiana.

Samarkand was the Shah's capital and the pivot of his defence — the city's garrison was large and its battlements were one of the strongest in the empire. Genghis, however, managed to isolate it by capturing and destroying Bukhara in a surprise manoeuvre, and then laying waste to the nearby Transoxianan towns. After repelling relief forces, the Mongol army, now reinforced after the capture of Otrar, ambushed and massacred a sortie by the town's defenders. The citizens of the city soon surrendered at the instigation of the Muslim clergy; most were however enslaved or conscripted in traditional Mongol fashion.

Islam in Central Asia has existed since the beginning of Islamic history. Non-denominational and Sunni branch of Islam is the most widely practiced religion in Central Asia. Shiism of Imami and Ismaili denominations predominating in the Pamir plateau and the western Tian Shan mountains (almost exclusively Ismailis), while boasting to a large minority population in the Zarafshan river valley, from Samarkand to Bukhara (almost exclusively Imamis). Islam came to Central Asia in the early part of the 8th century as part of the Muslim conquest of the region. Many well-known Islamic scientists and philosophers came from Central Asia, and several major Muslim empires, including the Timurid Empire and the Mughal Empire, originated in Central Asia. In the 20th century, severe restrictions on religious practice were enacted by the Soviet Union in Soviet Central Asia and the People's Republic of China in Xinjiang.

Abū Ḥafṣ Qutayba ibn Abī Ṣāliḥ Muslim ibn ʿAmr al-Bāhilī (Arabic: أبو حفص قتيبة بن أبي صالح مسلم بن عمرو الباهلي; 669–715/6) was an Arab commander of the Umayyad Caliphate who became governor of Khurasan and distinguished himself in the conquest of Transoxiana during the reign of al-Walid I (705–715). A capable soldier and administrator, he consolidated Muslim rule in the area and expanded the Caliphate's border to include most of Transoxiana. From 705 to c. 710, he consolidated Muslim control over the native principalities of Tokharistan and conquered the principality of Bukhara, while in 710–712 he conquered Khwarizm and completed the conquest of Sogdiana with the capture of Samarkand. The latter opened the road to the Jaxartes valley, and during the last years of his life Qutayba led annual campaigns there, extending Muslim control up to the Fergana Valley and parts of Chinese Turkestan.

To increase his strained manpower, Qutayba initiated the wide-scale levy of native Khurasani and Transoxianian soldiers who fought alongside the Arab Muslim troops. Following Walid's death, Qutayba, insecure of his position under the new regime, rebelled but failed to secure the support of his army, and was killed. Most of his conquests in Transoxiana were lost in the years after his death; only in the 740s was the Muslim position restored to the line reached by Qutayba, and only after the Battle of Talas in 751 did the region come solidly under Muslim control.

Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm al-Juʿfī al-Bukhārī (Arabic: أبو عبد الله محمد بن إسماعيل بن إبرهيم الجعفي البخاري; 21 July 810 – 1 September 870) was a 9th-century Muslim muhaddith who is widely regarded as the most important hadith scholar in the history of Sunni Islam. Al-Bukhari's extant works include the hadith collection Sahih al-Bukhari, al-Tarikh al-Kabir, and al-Adab al-Mufrad.

Born in Bukhara in present-day Uzbekistan, Al-Bukhari began learning hadith at a young age. He travelled across the Abbasid Caliphate and learned under several influential contemporary scholars. Bukhari memorized thousands of hadith narrations, compiling the Sahih al-Bukhari in 846. He spent the rest of his life teaching the hadith he had collected. Towards the end of his life, Bukhari faced claims the Quran was created, and was exiled from Nishapur. Subsequently, he moved to Khartank, near Samarkand.