Who will get the gold of the Emir of Bukhara? Where did the gold of the Bukhara Emir Alimkhan go? History Where did the gold of the Bukhara emirates go?

17.05.2020

Left: Nozim Dzhumaev (Maxim Bukharsky) and Tokhtar Tuleshov

Using the influence of high-ranking officials from the law enforcement agencies of Uzbekistan, the criminal authority Nozim Dzhumaev commits especially serious crimes even while in prison. Nozim Dzhumaev is better known under the nickname Maxim of Bukhara, as he is, according to some sources, a native of Bukhara. However, this may be a "legend", since according to other information, Nozim Dzhumaev was born in Turkmenistan in Chardzhou.

According to sources, he was recruited by special services back in the 90s, when he was serving his first term in one of the colonies. In general, Nozim Dzhumaev was convicted three times, in the period 1994-2002. Moreover, under rather serious articles - the murder of a person, extortion and robbery.

Among the prisoners, Nozim Dzhumaev became famous under a different nickname. He was called the Number One Executioner, as he committed crimes against prisoners convicted of religious beliefs and opponents of President Karimov's regime. In addition, Maxim Bukharsky cracks down on imprisoned entrepreneurs on the instructions of their competitors.

Close ties with representatives of the Karimov authorities allowed him to open almost any cell of any GUIN colony. Dzhumaev especially often visited colony 64/21 in Bekabad, he could freely enter the Jaslyk colony. The Tashkent prison is also available to him. It is easy for him to kill a person, inflict grievous bodily harm on him or sexually abuse him. There is evidence that Dzhumaev hits the prisoner's head against the walls of the cell until he loses consciousness, and then kicks the kidneys and liver, causing irreparable damage to the victim's health. His cruelty and unscrupulousness attracted the special attention of the SNB operatives, who took him under their protection.

Bukhara businessmen paid tribute to him. For example, a restaurant in Bukhara was presented to him by the Muzaffar Fayz furniture company. He has been involved in racketeering and extortion since the 90s of the last century.

Nozim Djumaev's victims were also entrepreneurs whose capital attracted the attention of high-ranking officials or the daughters of Islam Karimov. He and members of his criminal group force many entrepreneurs to give up their property in favor of third parties under the threat of reprisals against loved ones or sexual violence. In Uzbekistan, investigations into such types of crimes are practically not carried out, the victims are found guilty.

For a long time, the brothers Khayot and Javdat Sharifkhojaevs remained his patrons. Khayot Sharifkhodzhaev at that time served as deputy chairman of the National Security Service of Uzbekistan with the rank of general. Later, in 2015, Khayot Sharifkhodzhaev himself ended up in a pre-trial detention center on suspicion of corruption.

And Nozim was detained in February 2015 for the purchase and possession of narcotic or psychotropic drugs. According to sources, Nozim Dzhumaev was found to have half a kilogram of narcotic drugs. Other sources say that Nozim Dzhumaev was arrested after being specially recalled from Moscow to Tashkent last year and involved in the interrogation of SNB officers. According to sources, Nozim Dzhumaev was specifically "removed from view" because he became involved in the secrets of the National Security Service.

Nozim Dzhumaev ensured the “unleashing of tongues” and the speedy writing of confessions by the SNB during interrogations. Prior to that, Nozim Dzhumaev permanently resided in Moscow.

Relatives of former SNB officers imprisoned in the Bekabad prison had to pay a lot of money to keep Nozim Dzhumaev away from the convicts. According to sources, Nozim Djumaev made a significant contribution to the conviction of 12 former employees of the National Security Service in illegal business, corruption and embezzlement of public funds.

After 12 employees of the National Security Service were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment, in December last year, Nozim Dzhumaev himself ended up in prison. Sources who know Nozim Dzhumaev say that his arrest is not related to "half a kilo of drugs."

- Nozim Dzhumaev, a well-known authority in the criminal world, is the owner of the Blue Domes restaurant in Bukhara. It is impossible to believe that the executor of punishments on the orders of the National Security Service could carry half a kilogram of drugs with him. Nozim Dzhumaev joined the big secrets, so they covered him up. I believe that the National Security Service is behind the arrest of Nozim Dzhumaev,” the source said.

The commercial enterprise "Blue Kupala" in the city of Bukhara, received by Nazim Dzhumaev, through a raider seizure

Sources independent of each other spoke about Nozim Dzhumaev's close ties with the National Security Service. According to these sources, Nozim Dzhumaev was supervised by a certain Sergienko from the side of the National Security Service.

Sharifkhodzhaevs

It is worth noting that the brothers Hayot and Javdat Sharifkhojaev, who previously held influential positions in the Uzbek special services and turned Dzhumaev into their service, participated in the process of confiscating the property of the eldest daughter of the President of Uzbekistan, Gulnara Karimova, who at the end of 2013 unexpectedly fell out of favor with her father. Karimova's business in Uzbekistan was closed, people close to her were arrested, and some managed to leave the country.

Later, in her interviews with Western publications and on her page on the social network Twitter, she named the names of Uzbek high-ranking officials, among whom were the names of the Sharifkhodzhaev brothers, who, in her opinion, were taking away business and were also embezzling state funds.

Sources draw attention to the fact that the affairs of those officials whose names were mentioned by Gulnara Karimova "are not going well." In mid-July 2015, by decision of the Uzbek authorities in the Tashkent region, expensive real estate objects owned by high-ranking officials of the country, in particular, the brothers Khayot and Javdat Sharifkhodzhaev, who were blacklisted by the government, were demolished.

According to the source, the situation involving the Sharifkhodzhaev brothers can also be assessed as a victory for a group led by another SNB general, Shukhrat Gulomov. Recently, two groups led by generals Sharifkhodzhaev and Gulomov have been fighting for leadership in the SNB.

Sharifkhodzhaev's group was allegedly patronized by Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyaev, while Shukhrat Gulomov was a supporter of Gulnara Karimova.

Javdat Sharifkhojaev, former head of the Department for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime, Colonel of the National Security Service of Uzbekistan. He is accused of illegal business, corruption and embezzlement of public funds. At the end of 2014, at a closed meeting of the Military Court of Uzbekistan, Javdat Sharifkhojaev was sentenced to 4 years in prison. He is serving his sentence in the 64/21 strict regime penitentiary facility for former employees of security structures in the Bekabad district of the Tashkent region.

For some time, the executioner Nozim Dzhumaev was patronized by the eldest daughter of dictator Islam Karimov, Gulnara Karimova, through the head of the Zeromax company, Miradil Dzhalalov. Nozim Dzhumaev and Miradil Dzhalalov are old friends, they even served their sentences in the same cell.

Nozim Dzhumaev has not traveled outside of Central Asia and the CIS under his own name recently. Not so long ago, he was in Urumqi (China) on business of the Abusakhi company, which is headed by Timur Tillaev, the husband of Islam Karimov's youngest daughter, Lola Karimova. He often visited Russia - with Russian oligarchs of Bukhara origin - and in Kazakhstan.

The well-known Shymkent businessman Tokhtar Tuleshov, with the help of the same Maxim Bukharsky, became the owner of several commercial facilities in Uzbekistan - the Shobyt hotel, a paint and varnish factory and the Lyazzat confectionery factory. And also became one of the major shareholders of Uzpromstroy Bank.

Tuleshov is also the owner and head of the large holding company Darkhan, which includes a glass factory, the South Kazakhstan Agrarian Union, the Shymkent Pictures film studio and a number of other enterprises. There are branches of this holding in Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Note that it also became known that Tuleshov used the services of criminal authorities for a reason. He financed both - Nozim Dzhumaev and Gafur Rakhimov. There is also evidence that Tokhtar Tuleshov himself is the leader of a bandit group that filmed the torture and torture of people on photos and videos. And the investigation of journalists showed that, at the direction of Tuleshov, the bandit link of his organized criminal group committed a number of murders, kidnappings and beatings of people.

Tokhtar Tuleshov is suspected of financing a transnational criminal community. His closest connections were also established. Among them was the one killed in 2013, as well as the thief in law, crime boss Ilyas Sultanov (Ilyas).

In the course of a journalistic investigation, irrefutable documentary evidence was obtained of regular transfers of large amounts of money from Tuleshov to these persons with the help and direct participation of Gafur Rakhimov and Nozim Dzhumaev.

In addition, the investigation established that Tuleshov and a number of his accomplices were preparing for a violent seizure of power, including organizing hotbeds of social tension, riots and protests on the territory of Kazakhstan. As it became known, high-ranking accomplices of businessman Tuleshov planned to head the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Detention of accomplices

As the KNB informed in early June last year, a number of Tuleshov's accomplices were detained. Among them: former First Deputy Prosecutor General of the Republic of Kazakhstan, former member of the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan, State Councilor of Justice of the second class Ilyas Bakhtybaev, former head of the South Kazakhstan Department of Internal Affairs, Major General Hibratulla Doskaliyev, former First Deputy Head of the South Kazakhstan Department of Internal Affairs, Police Colonel Saken Aitbekov , commanders of military units 35748 and 55652 of the regional command "South" of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Kazakhstan, colonels Bekzat Zhumin and Kairat Pernebaev, respectively.

The investigation found that Bakhtybaev and Doskaliyev were aware of Tuleshov's plans to prepare for a violent seizure of power and fully supported them. After the coup d'état, they were supposed to take the positions of the chairman of the Supreme Court and the minister of the interior, respectively.

Other accomplices - the commanders of military units Zhumin and Pernebaev - provided Tuleshov with combat aircraft, military equipment and military personnel with standard weapons for illegal monetary rewards to participate in a private military sports event, which he organized and held in August 2015 in the South Kazakhstan region.

"Saken Aitbekov is accused of malfeasance, which he committed on the direct instructions of Tuleshov," a KNB spokesman said. Tokhtar Tuleshov held large-scale military sports events last year to demonstrate the seriousness of his intentions.

Serious intentions

To demonstrate to his accomplices the seriousness of his intentions and his organizational skills, in August 2015 Tuleshov, under the guise of celebrating his father's birthday, held large-scale military sports events in the South Kazakhstan region, in which he managed to involve servicemen with standard weapons, heavy military equipment and three combat aircraft of military units Regional Command "South" of the Ministry of Defense.

At the special invitation of Tuleshov to this event representatives of foreign private military companies arrived, the so-called "mercenaries", who demonstrated the skills of eliminating and protecting a protected person from attack.

Tuleshov's birthday

It is not surprising that the footage of the celebration of Tokhtar Tuleshov’s birthday, which appeared in 2010 on YouTube, where Gafur Rakhimov, who arrived in a Rolls-Royce with Shymkent numbers X001AA, becomes the main guest of the Kazakh businessman, fell into the field of view of specialized publications both in the West and in Russia.

By the way, apparently, the scandalous shootings were made in 2009. At the same time, it cannot be ruled out that they were made by order of law enforcement agencies of Kazakhstan, who closely followed the celebrations in Shymkent, having their grudge against Gafur Rakhimov and Tokhtar Tuleshov associated with him. Indirectly, this is indicated by the fact that in December 2009, the police, with the help of special forces units, unexpectedly for Tuleshov himself, tried to find weapons at the main shareholder of Shymkentpivo LLP.

Frequent guest of Russia

Probably, this conflict with Kazakh law enforcement officers made Tokhtar Tuleshov visit Russia more and more often. True, he did not get into the field of view of the Russian and Kazakh press, and he was not listed among the experts or representatives of any organization. Even despite the fact that in his biography he indicated that he was also the chairman of two expert councils under the State Duma of the Russian Federation, he was an adviser to the supreme ataman of the Union of Cossack public associations of the Republic of Kazakhstan and was related to the "Russian community" of Kazakhstan.

By a strange coincidence, the search engines of all these organizations, without exception, when typing his last name in the corresponding line, give a zero result.

It is also impossible to find his articles as a correspondent for the journal Asymmetric Threats and Conflicts of Low Intensity. By the way, according to the information of the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Communications, information technologies and mass communications, this magazine was officially registered only on November 7, 2013. Although there are separate references to it both in 2008 and 2009.

Tuleshov expert

Be that as it may, but after the scandalous chronicle of 2009-2010, the first mention of Tokhtar Tuleshov appears only in February 2012. In his LiveJournal blog, a certain Oleg Zenor, probably an international journalist, describes a meeting in St. Petersburg with his "old acquaintance" from Kazakhstan - Tokhtar Dzhusipovich Tuleshov. An extensive interview with Tuleshov also appears here, in which he shares his thoughts on the situation in the Republic of Kazakhstan, explaining the reason for his appearance in the State Duma Russian Federation as an expert.

Tuleshov is especially concerned about the tendency observed in Kazakhstan to allegedly artificially oust Everyday life Russian language (quote): “For example, some regional officials violate the law “On Languages in the Republic of Kazakhstan” locally by hiring people who do not speak two languages or deliberately ignore the Russian language. As a result, we get a situation where an elderly person who, due to his age, will not learn official language, getting into these institutions, cannot receive qualified assistance or cannot receive the information of interest, since everything is stated only in the Kazakh language.

And what will happen if such a person, for the same reasons, does not receive qualified assistance in a medical institution or rescue services? Such actions grossly violate the constitutional rights of citizens and directly violate the language policy pursued by the President.”

After the publication of the material about the "Petersburg meeting", the appearance of Tuleshov as an expert in various Russian publications becomes, albeit relatively, but regular. So in 2013, together with the director of the Center for the Analysis of Terrorist Threats and Low-Intensity Conflicts Ramil Latypov (by the way, declared persona non grata in Azerbaijan), he became a participant in the Panorama program dedicated to the situation in Afghanistan on the Rusiya Yaum TV channel.

A little later, his book “Eurasian Integration. Building the future. In it, in particular, he writes: “Only incompetent people can assert that the Eurasian space can flourish in its current fragmented state. Economic and cultural self-isolation is a completely inadequate response to the challenge of globalization.” Probably, at the same time, Tokhtar Tuleshov also took part in the operation to free the hostages in Libya, for which in August 2015 he was awarded the Peacemaker Order, which was presented to him by one of the leaders of the Russian division of the International Police Center (Interpol), Police Colonel General Vyacheslav Pavlov. Leading Russian mass media give wide coverage of this event.

However, Tokhtar Tuleshov does not forget about patronage. Few people know that in June 2015 a businessman from Shymkent became one of the sponsors of large-scale events of the Year of Russia in Monaco. With his assistance and participation, the book Les Grimaldi et la mer Noire ("Grimaldi and the Black Sea") saw the light, on which a scientific conference was held. Thanks to Tuleshov, the residents of Monte Carlo were able to watch an exclusive performance by the stars of the Bolshoi Ballet.

Detention

It is not surprising that the detention of Tokhtar Tuleshov in Shymkent, during which weapons, drugs, and some literature were found, was followed almost instantly by the Western and Russian media. Reuters was one of the first to react to the event, emphasizing that the businessman from Kazakhstan is known for his close ties with Russia. The message of the British news agency was immediately picked up by Deutsche Welle, Kommersant, and even Voice of America.

At the same time, unlike other publications, the Americans did not confine themselves to stating a fact, but suggested (which had not been noticed before) that the arrest of a businessman could seriously complicate relations between Moscow and Astana.

However, how further events will develop will become clear very soon. According to Article 128 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Kazakhstan, detention on suspicion of committing a crime can last for 72 hours, after which the suspect must either be charged, or released on bail, or even close the case. In any case, it can be stated that the high-profile detention of Tuleshov should have been authorized directly from Astana. Although, judging by the comments that appeared with the same content in several Kazakhstani publications at once, people who are closely associated with the Uzbek-Russian businessman Gafur Rakhimov are allegedly behind this detention.

Family

In conclusion, a few words about the children of Tokhtar Tuleshov, who were mentioned in his statement by the director of the Center for the Analysis of Terrorist Threats and Low-Intensity Conflicts Ramil Latypov. The editors managed to find out the names of only 7 out of 13, bearing the middle name Tokhtarovich. In addition to his two daughters Sevil and Daniel, whose videos have already been watched by hundreds of thousands of people on the Internet, Tokhtar Tuleshov has sons Arman, Arsen, Bakhytzhan, Kanat and Tolegen. The latter is known for being CEO Shymkentpivo LLP, as well as his participation in drag racing through the streets of Shymkent driving a Bentley Continental GT car in August 2010. On the same car, only white color, noted in the comments to street races, moved around Shymkent and Sevil.

From MBAND to Timati

It must be admitted that Tokhtar Tuleshov is a caring father for his children. And it doesn't seem like he's denied them anything. A considerable number of people have already watched the video from the ArtGroup KZ studio, where you can see how big the birthday of his eldest daughter Sevil was celebrated. The fragment of the video from the celebration of the birthday of the youngest of the Tokhtarovichs - Daniel, which appeared on the Internet on February 2, organized based on John Tolkien's book "The Lord of the Rings", impressed everyone without exception with its scale.

It is curious that, according to information from Russian concert agencies, for the performance of the now fashionable MBAND group, produced by Konstantin Meladze, the customer will have to pay an amount of 15 thousand euros. At the same time, the price of participation of a popular boy band in corporate parties and birthday parties can double.

The remoteness from the capital cities, the duration of the journey from the airport to the venue of the celebrations, and the absence of five-star hotels nearby are also taken into account. However, the MBAND group is one of the "budget" performers of the Russian show business. For the performance of the Ukrainian pop star Ivan Dorn, they ask from 20 to 40 thousand dollars. Whereas in 10 minutes of appearance at the festival known not only in the countries of the former Soviet Union, but also abroad of the singer Timati - no less than 25 thousand euros.

Assets of Tokhtar Tuleshov

It is not difficult to guess that a constant source of income is needed to hold celebrations of this kind. There is no point in guessing about the proceeds from the illegal business of Tokhtar Tuleshov, which the law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Kazakhstan are talking about, let's just pay attention to the assets that the detained businessman owns relatively openly.

The most famous of the enterprises is one of the largest brewing companies in the country - Shymkentpivo LLP, in which Tokhtar Tuleshov is not only the founder, but since 2002, he has served as chairman of the board of directors for several years.

There is no information about the shareholders and the composition of the Board of Directors of Shymkentpivo LLP anywhere. According to the Russian holding Finam, in October 2006, Shymkentpivo LLP buys out 42.3% of the shares of Marvel Juice, the largest producer of fruit juices and carbonated drinks in Uzbekistan, increasing its share to 50% in December of the same year. Marvel Juice, which sells its products under the Tip Top brand, has production facilities in Namangan and Andijan with an approximate local market share of 20-25%. Since 2006, information about the change of ownership of Marvel Juise has not appeared in the press.

Factory Shymkentpivo

In December 2014, the Kazakh media reported that since 2007, Tokhtar Tuleshov has also been the owner of Holding-Darkhan LLP, which today is better known as Darkhan Group LLP and, being the exclusive distributor of Shymkentpivo, has branches not only in all major cities Kazakhstan, but also in the capital of Uzbekistan - Tashkent. An interesting detail: reference business portals of Kokshetau and Ust-Kamenogorsk report that the trading and wholesale company Darkhan Group LLP is also engaged in the construction of residential and office buildings.

Sentence

On November 7, 2016, the court put an end to the case of the owner of the Shymkent brewery, Tokhtar Tuleshov, who was found guilty of attempting to organize a coup d'état in Kazakhstan.

The process took place in a specialized inter-district military court for criminal cases in Astana. The case was considered behind closed doors due to the presence in the materials of information related to state secrets, but journalists were called to the announcement of the verdict.

In addition to the businessman, there were 24 more people in the dock. Among them are the son of an entrepreneur Tulegen Tuleshov, former First Deputy Prosecutor General of Kazakhstan, former member of the Constitutional Council Ilyas Bakhtybaev, former head of the Department of Internal Affairs of the South Kazakhstan region Hibratulla Doskaliyev, police colonel Saken Aitbekov and colonel Bekzat Zhumin.

Tokhtar Tuleshov was detained earlier this year during a special operation in Shymkent. In June, the ROK National Security Committee reported that it was taking steps to prepare for a violent takeover of power.

According to the KNB, the businessman planned to destabilize the situation in the country by creating hotbeds of tension, organizing protests and riots. Against this background, he planned to create a so-called "alternative government" and change the structure of the current government, the committee said.

At the end of April, rallies were held in a number of regions of Kazakhstan, the participants of which opposed the amendments to the Land Code, which increase the maximum lease period for agricultural land by foreigners from 10 to 25 years. According to the KNB, Tuleshov initiated and financed some protests against these changes. The protests were supposed to take place a little earlier, but due to the detention of Tuleshov, the organizers of the protests independently adjusted the timing. According to the special services, Tuleshov, already in the pre-trial detention center, tried to take advantage of the current situation in the country and organize mass riots in the city of Saryagash in the South Kazakhstan region in May 2016.

According to the KNB, Tuleshov was suspected of financing a transnational criminal community, as well as creating and leading a gang. This gang committed murders, abductions, tortures, robbery, deliberate destruction of other people's property, and more at the direction of Tuleshov.

The department noted that Tuleshov spent huge amounts of money on the needs and maintenance of his criminal group, which “together with a passion for a bohemian lifestyle, led to the formation of large debts both to second-tier banks and to the leaders of the transnational criminal community “Brotherly Circle”. The total amount of debts amounted to more than 200 million dollars. It was during this period that Tuleshov had the idea of a violent takeover of the country.

In case of successful implementation of his plans, the businessman hoped to eliminate the problem of returning a large bank debt through a controlled administrative resource and thereby preserve the economic well-being of his family and business, the KNB added.

To realize his plan, Tuleshov began to improve his own image and recognition abroad. According to the documentary evidence of the KNB, starting from 2012, he sought membership in public organizations in various ways (the International Union of Journalists, the Union of Cossack Public Associations and others).

The court found Tuleshov guilty of organizing torture, murder, kidnapping, illegal imprisonment, creating and leading a transnational criminal community, creating and leading a criminal organization, as well as creating, leading an extremist group or participating in its activities. Among the crimes in which Tuleshov was found guilty were the financing of the activities of a criminal group, actions aimed at the forcible seizure of power, illegal treatment of drugs, illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation or carrying of weapons, ammunition, explosives and explosive devices.

The businessman's son, Tulegen Tuleshov, was found guilty of obstructing the administration of justice and pre-trial investigation, as well as illegal handling of narcotic drugs without the intent to sell them. He received five years probation.

Colonel Bekzat Zhumin, who is involved in the case, was found guilty of taking a bribe, he was sentenced to 4 years in prison in a penal colony. An accomplice of the businessman, a former member of the Constitutional Council, Ilyas Bakhtybaev, was sentenced to seven years in prison in a strict regime colony. The court also deprived him of the rank of state counselor of justice of the second class and decided to submit a proposal to the head of state on the deprivation of his state awards. Another accomplice - the former head of the Department of Internal Affairs of the South Kazakhstan region, Hibratulla Doskaliyev, was sentenced to five years in prison in a strict regime colony with confiscation of property.

Confiscation

The court also ruled to confiscate Tokhtar Tuleshov's property, which included one camel, two camels and 30 heads of horses (11 of which are thoroughbred), for state revenue.

A businessman will have to say goodbye not only to freedom, but also to land plots, as well as a whole fleet of vehicles. Among them are several dozen Mitsubishi, Toyota Land Cruiser, Bentley, Chevrolet, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche Cayenne, Toyota Camry, Volkswagen Passat, Infiniti, Rolls-Royce and Lexus cars. The court turned the money on the accounts of four women, who, according to Kazakh media, were Tuleshov's wives, into state revenue. More than 180 gold jewelry - brooches, necklaces, rings, bracelets - will be given to the state. About 10 private houses in Shymkent and two residential houses are also subject to confiscation.

SON and GRANDSON

The son of the Emir of Bukhara Said-Alim-Khan, Major-General Shakhmurad Olimov (if you define nationality by his father, then - Mangyt, a Mongolian tribe, his father was descended from Genghis Khan). After the defeat of the Emirate of Bukhara and the flight of the emir to Afghanistan, he was brought up in Soviet Russia, as a teenager went to study in Germany, owned German. Nowhere was it possible to find the date of birth and death, approximately - 1910. Studied at the military academy and Military Engineering Academy them. Kuibyshev. He wrote a letter of renunciation from his father around 1929-1930, which is quite understandable, since Said Alim Khan remained an opponent Soviet power and welcomed Hitler's invasion.

Shakhmurad Olimov - a participant in the Second World War, lost his leg after being wounded, taught at the Kuibyshev Academy, rose to the rank of major general. Died in Moscow exact date death has not yet been determined.

GRANDFATHER

Emir of Bukhara Seid-Abdul-Ahad Khan

Most Crimeans will respond to the words “Emir of Bukhara” in the same way: 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 a whole dynasty of rulers of Bukhara, and what were the last of them really like? Historians, having heard the same question, will certainly clarify which particular emir was meant, and with the name of Seid-Abdul-Ahad-khan they will immediately respond: what a worthy man he was, famous for his generosity and kindness. And how much he loved Crimea and how much he did for him ...

Incredible Ruler

Almost a decade and a half in a row, with late XIX century, the newspapers of the peninsula with enviable constancy noted in their correspondence the Emir of Bukhara. Either they wrote about his next arrival to the South Shore, then the name of the emir appeared in the list of honorary members of various charitable societies, then in a note about helping the poor, fire victims or starving, there was a mention of a generous donation from the ruler of noble Bukhara.

Seid-Abdul-Ahad-khan ascended the throne of Bukhara very young, he was 26 years old, and his reign began unexpectedly for both subjects and courtiers, accustomed to the iron hand of the previous ruler. The new emir abolished torture, abolished slavery and terrible underground prisons-zindans, narrowed down the range of executions - and by that time there were quite a few 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 railway, telegraph. For a conservative and little responsive to everything new in Asia, 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, he often traveled to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tiflis, Kiev, Odessa, and then ended up in the Crimea and from 1893 spent every summer in Yalta. He also visited Sevastopol and Bakhchisarai.

This is how the Crimean newspapers described Seyid-Abdul-Ahad-Khan: “The Emir is taller than average, he looks no more than 45 years old. Very well built. Has a pleasant chest baritone voice; big black eyes shine from under his snow-white turban, and his chin is decorated with a small full beard. Good rider. Possesses extraordinary physical strength ... ".

The Emir of Bukhara was very fond of rewarding even for minor services or just a person he liked. It is not surprising that when he regularly began to run into Yalta, many prominent citizens were able to sparkle with the orders of the Golden Star of Bukhara, which the emir generously handed out. 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 visited 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 pranks: cigars were served on a dish, and when the emir and his retinue began to smoke them, the tobacco suddenly caught fire and ... began to shoot firework stars. The scandal was terrible - not only because the honored guest was in a ridiculous position, at first, both the guests and the family, who did not know about the draw, decided that an attempt had been made on the ruler of Bukhara. But a few days later, the Emir of Bukhara himself celebrated reconciliation with Yusupov Jr. ... awarding him with 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 Solovieva. This place of magical beauty (now it is part of the children's camp "Artek"), the Emir of Bukhara was simply subdued. He even wanted to buy it and offered the hostess 4 million rubles for the dacha - huge money for those times, 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 in Yalta, where a garden was laid out and a magnificent building was built (later it became one of the buildings of the sanatorium for sailors Black Sea Fleet). Interestingly, at first it was planned to give an order for construction to the famous Nikolai Krasnov, thanks to whom the South Coast was decorated with many architectural gems. In the funds of the Alupka Palace-Museum, two sketches and estimates for them, made by Krasnov for the Emir of Bukhara, have been preserved. 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 pavilions really adorned Yalta, the emir himself called the estate "Dilkiso", which means "charming" in translation.

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

Street named after Seid-Abdul-Ahad Khan

Becoming a seasonal resident of Yalta, Seid-Abdul-Ahad Khan immediately became interested social life cities: he was a member of the "Society for Assistance to Inadequate Pupils and Pupils of Yalta Gymnasiums", donated money to the "Society for Assistance to Poor Tatars of the South Coast", was interested in preserving the antiquities of the Crimea, several times was a participant in livestock exhibitions. The fact is that the high position did not prevent the emir of Bukhara from being an expert in sheep breeding, his herds of astrakhan sheep were the best in his homeland, he personally traded astrakhan, supplying about a third of the products to the world market.

In 1910, with his own money, he built a city free hospital for visiting patients. It was a very generous gift to the city, in a large two-story house there were laboratories, rooms for employees, surgical and gynecological rooms, a reception room for a 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 the highest permission to name the hospital after Tsarevich Alexei. For many years, the Emir of Bukhara 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 the 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 celebration 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. Photograph by K. Bull.

Cathedral mosque in St. Petersburg (modern view)

During the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, Seid-Abdul-Ahad-Khan donated one 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 the Crimea for the last time shortly before his death, he died in December 1910: a long kidney disease, which in last years tormented him, 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 the most merciful goodwill shown to me” and promises to follow the path of his father’s undertakings.

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 spinning by inertia. And the ruler himself was not very inclined to patronize progress and the sciences. In general, few testimonies of contemporaries have been preserved about the years of his reign, and they do not draw him with better side: commemorate laziness and indifference, as well as excessive craving for earthly pleasures. Rumor attributed to him a harem of 350 concubines, who were brought from all over the country.

The US Library of Congress has a collection of color photographs by the famous photographer Prokudin-Gorsky: in the early 1900s, he traveled all over Russia, from Far East before 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 blue silk robe with flowers, with a saber, and a golden belt.

Mir-Alim

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

Emir without a homeland is pathetic

and insignificant

A beggar who died at home -

truly emir.

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

FATHER

Emir of Bukhara SAYID AMIR ALIM-KHAN

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

Although Bukhara had the status of a vassal state Russian Empire, Alim Khan led internal affairs 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 appointed to study at the elite imperial higher military educational institution - the Nikolaev Cadet Corps.

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

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

Two years later, he took the post of governor of Nasef, having stayed in it for twelve years. He ruled the northern province of Carmina for the next two years, until the death of his father in 1910. In 1910, Emperor Nicholas II granted the Khan the title of Highness. In 1911 he was promoted to the retinue of His Imperial Majesty major general.

Sayyid Alim Khan took the throne of his father on December 4, 1910. The very next year after accession to the throne, Alim Khan received from Emperor Nicholas II the rank of major general of 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 the 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 State Duma of Russia, 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 the reign was promising: he announced that he did not accept gifts, and categorically forbade officials and officials to take bribes from the people and use taxes for personal gain. However, over time, the situation has changed. As a result of intrigues, the reformists lost and were sent 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 Khaidar Mirbadalev.

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

Kamennoostrovsky prospect, house 44b is known as the House of the Emir of Bukhara

It was built in 1913 according to the project of S. S. Krichinsky for the emir of Bukhara Seid-Mir-Alim-khan. It consists of a facade building, two courtyards and side wings connecting them. The facade 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 (courtyard)

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

House architect Stepan Krichinsky

On December 30, 1915, Alim Khan was promoted to lieutenant general in Terek to the 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, Russian and Turkish officers who had combat experience were involved. Turkish and Afghan "volunteers" formed infantry and cavalry regiments. Alim Khan made two military mobilizations, authorized the production of edged weapons and cartridges. By August 1920, the emirate's army numbered up to 60,000 fighters, including 15,000 infantry, 35,000 cavalry, 55 guns, and several dozen machine guns. Nevertheless, as a result of the Bukhara "revolution", ensured by the invasion of the Soviet troops of the Turkfront under the command of Frunze into the Emirate, 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 counteroffensive 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 advanced to the west and occupied Baysun, Derbend and Sherabad. By the end of 1920 beginning of 1921. the military forces of Sayyid Alim Khan reached 10 thousand people. The detachments of Ibrahim-bek, based in the Lokay region, joined the army of Alim Khan.

On the basis of 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 astrakhan fur, supported the Basmachi, almost went blind in old age, 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 given color photograph on the emir's robe, the star of this order with the motto "Benefit, honor and glory" is clearly visible).

Seyid Alim Khan, 1911, color photography S. M. Prokudin-Gorsky

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

Three of his sons remained on Soviet territory. Two of them, Sultanmurad and Rakhim, 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 (on which he lost his leg), in the 1960s he taught atmilitary academy.

Penjikent is an ancient city located in the mountains of Tajikistan. Very close - Bukhara, not far - the border with Kyrgyzstan, a stone's throw - the desert of Turkmenistan. All these lands until 1920 were part of the Emirate of Bukhara. In the bottomless cellars of Ark, the fortress reigning over the city, innumerable riches have accumulated over hundreds of years. Each of the three million subjects of the emir 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. During the year, more than thirty million gold tilpas entered the underground vaults of the Bukhara fortress. And the expenses of the emirate for 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, hard times came for the emirate. The 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 over Bukhara. And once even a four-engine "Ilya Muromets" flew in - the Red Army was approaching. It was necessary not only to carry away the legs, but also to export the wealth accumulated by the Mangyt dynasty ...

DESCENDANT OF THE OLD GENUS

The first time I met Masoud was in Panjakent almost twenty years ago. He was engaged in excavations of the ancient settlement here. From him I learned what was the further fate of the Bukhara treasures...
- Emir Sid Alimkhan had a trusted person - dervish Davron. Once he was brought to the palace at night so that extra eyes would not see. In the chambers of the lord, besides the lord himself, the dervish met one more person - the Emir's bodyguard, Colonel Tksobo Kalapush. Nizametdin, the head of the emir's artillery, was also there. But his emir hid in the next room. Unseen, he heard the entire conversation.
Decided how to save the treasure. There was so much gold that a caravan would need 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 the prices of that time.
Where to drive the caravan? To Kashgar? There is an English consulate, which was led by an old acquaintance of the emir - the consul Mr. Esserton. But the dervish Davron had already visited Kashgar, and the news he brought was disappointing. The Emir's letter simply frightened the consul. What is the English Consulate in Kashgar? A small house in a shady garden on the outskirts of Urumqi. All his guards are 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, general instability. To accept a caravan with gold under such conditions means to bring misfortune to your quiet abode.
Esserton was a professional diplomat and made, as it seemed to him, a wise decision: let the authorities think and decide. In Delhi, to the palace of the Viceroy of India, a cipher outlining the situation left.
But there were also officials in Delhi. And they also perfectly understood all the risk and all the responsibility associated with such a case. 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? We will have to pay the entire cost of the lost 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 to the emir a letter 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 whether to send the caravan to Iran or Afghanistan. It was dangerous to go with such a caravan to Iran, to Mashhad - the situation in Transcaspia remained tense. They made a different decision. In the first ten days of September 1920, at night, a caravan of several hundred horses and camels loaded with the treasures of Bukhara, water and food supplies moved south. The guards were emir's guards, commanded by Taxobo Kalapush. Dervish Davron rode next to him, stirrup in stirrup.
At the town of Guzar, we turned sharply to the left and, at Langar itself, we plunged 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 their accompanying drovers, went deep into one of the mountain crevices. Davron and two more dervishes rode ahead.
A day has passed since the departure of Davron and his companions, then the second. Alarmed, Kalapush picked up his men and followed the trail of the caravan. Having traveled several kilometers along a narrow winding cleft, the horsemen found several corpses. These were the riders. And after some time they stumbled upon Davron himself and two of his companions. All three were wounded. Davron told what happened. One of the drivers found out that he was in saddlebags and packs, and informed 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 packs of gold in an inconspicuous cave. Kalapush examined her and was pleased. Trusting no one, the emir's bodyguard blocked the entrance to the cave with stones and drove the horses and camels back into the valley.
The dervishes had their wounds bandaged and put on horseback. 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 on 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 stayed there forever. Faithful Kalapush carried out the emir's secret order: no one should know the secrets of the treasure.
"You know so well what happened in these parts eighty years ago," I told Massoud. - Where?
- I myself am from these places. And Davron was one of my ancestors. This story has been passed down in our family from generation to generation. As a boy, I heard it and then swore to myself that I would find this treasure, although it brought so much misfortune to our family.

FATE TREASURE

As an archaeologist, I could search without arousing suspicion in anyone,” Massoud continued. I'll tell you what happened next...
On the fourth day the caravan returned to Bukhara. In Karaulbazar, the tired riders were joyfully greeted by topchubashi 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 the horses were saddled only by the soldiers of the emir's artillery commander. All of Kalapush's companions - except for himself - were killed.
Emir graciously met his bodyguard. He asked in detail about the road, about how they found a secret place, how they hid the treasure and masked the cache. The ruler was especially interested in whether there were any living witnesses left. “No,” answered Kalapush, “now on earth only two know the secret: the master and I. But Vladyka has no doubts about my fidelity…”
Of course, the emir had no doubt... that the secret known to the two was not half a secret. And on the same night, Kalapush, caressed 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 mentioned his former bodyguard. Now Nizametdin, the chief of artillery, galloped next to the emir.
A day later, somewhere in the steppe, a shot rang out from the Emir's retinue. Topchubashi collapsed to the ground. There was no one left, except the former ruler of sacred Bukhara, who would know something about the caravan with gold.
With a detachment of a hundred sabers, he crossed the border into Afghanistan. Of the entire multi-million dollar treasure, he had only two horses, loaded with saddlebags with gold bars and precious stones.
Years passed. The emir lived in Kabul, but the treasure left behind by Panj kept him awake. Throughout the twenties, Basmachi gangs penetrated the territory of Central Asia almost every month. Many of them rushed to the area where the treasure was hidden. But the Basmachi were not lucky. After destroying crops and killing several activists, they returned to Afghanistan. However, the emir did not calm down. In 1930, a gang of Ibrahim-bek 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 the defeated Ibrahim-bek gang continued to search for the treasure. Someone decided that 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 the relatives of Kalapush lived, was burned, all its inhabitants were massacred.
“Davron was a relative of my grandfather,” Masud admitted to me recently. I learned the whole story from him. And now there are people who are interested in my searches. At first (I was younger then and more naive) a certain Timur Pulatov from Bukhara rubbed around me. He climbed out of his skin, trying to help in my search. And he ended up stealing several schemes of already passed routes and fled with them, oddly enough, to Moscow. I recently 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. The main thing, of course, I keep in my head. After all, the area where the treasure is hidden occupies only 100 square kilometers. For two decades I have studied it in great detail.
- Did you find it?
Massoud is mysteriously silent. Then he says:
- You know, ten tons of gold is hard to find, but it was hard to hide it. There was little time left for this. Deeply hidden. So - sensitive devices will detect. And I already have them. Only times are turbulent. It was in those places that gangs of pseudo-Wahhabis nested. It's dangerous to go there now...
This man went through a difficult life, obsessed with his passion. He almost succeeded, but at the very threshold he is forced to stop. Only I'm sure - not for long. And in order not to let my friend down, I do not mention his name in my correspondence.

The Kherson Museum refused to sell the unique saber, even for $100,000. 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 ...

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

Emir of Bukhara and his retinue in Moscow in 1896. Photograph of the State Historical Museum.

Almost every year, articles by writers, publicists, scientists and just history buffs appear in the media and on the Internet, in which they express hypotheses and assumptions about the location of the gold of the Mangyt dynasty. This topic has been relevant since the overthrow of the last Emir of Bukhara, Said Mir Alimkhan. Moreover, the authors of the articles try, as a rule, to ascribe as much wealth as possible to the emir. But everyone, as a rule, writes that before his flight from Bukhara, he took out 10 tons of gold in advance in the amount of 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 diligence and merit (6 - gold; 7-8 - silver and bronze, from the collection of the State Historical Museum).

All this treasure is said to have been hidden somewhere in the caves of the Gissar Range. At the same time, according to one version, Said Alimkhan got rid of unnecessary witnesses according to the classical scenario: the drovers 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 personal bodyguard of the emir Karapush with guards, and soon Karapush himself, who reported to the emir on the successful completion of the operation and dedicated the treasure to the secrets of the burial of the treasure, was strangled the same night in the bedchamber of the palace by the personal executioner of the emir. The guardsmen also disappeared - they were also killed.

In 20-30s. groups of armed horsemen, numbering tens or even hundreds of people, penetrated 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 found.

So there was still a treasure immured in the Gissar Range? Having asked this question, the authors of this article decided to conduct their own investigation. And we started with the search 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 (the former archive of the Central Committee of the CPSU), we discovered an interesting document. Printed on a typewriter, with a volume of 48 sheets, it described the material values 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 Socio-Political History (the former archive of the Central Committee of the CPSU). The inventory, printed on a typewriter, with a volume of 48 sheets, listed the material values of the Emir of Bukhara.
The Kherson Museum refused to sell the unique saber, even for 100 thousand dollars. The Damascus steel saber with a hilt and a silver scabbard, decorated with the most skillful engraving of Kubachi jewelers, was made in the nineteenth century personally for the Emir of Bukhara Seyid Khan.

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

Emir of Bukhara and his retinue in Moscow in 1896. Photograph of the State Historical Museum.

So…

December 22, 1920, i.e. almost four months after the emir was overthrown, members of the State Commission for Accounting for the Values of the Bukhara People's Soviet Republic (BNSR) Khairulla Mukhitdinov and Khol-Khodja Suleymankhojaev were taken by train to Tashkent and deposited in People's Commissariat finances of the Turkestan ASSR, valuables belonging to the Emir of Bukhara.

After delivery of valuable cargo 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. At autopsy, they were clogged with precious stones, money, gold, silver, copper, clothing. Of all this treasure, we will list only what, in our opinion, is of undoubted interest.

Fig.3. 1 - 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 diligence and merit (6 - gold; 7-8 - silver and bronze, from the collection of the State Historical Museum).

Precious stones were represented by diamonds, diamonds, pearls, 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 medium-sized diamonds (410 carats), small diamonds (43 carats). Total gems: 1041 carats, excluding 53 large diamonds.

Most precious stones are encrusted in 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, Order of the White Eagle with 13 diamonds, pectoral portrait of Sad Alimkhan with 10 large and 20 small diamonds, plaque with 59 diamonds, Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called with 20 diamonds, 2 orders Vladimir I degree with 20 diamonds and two trailers with 10 diamonds, 5 orders of Stanislav I degree with 13 diamonds, the Order of Alexander Nevsky with diamonds, the Danish Cross with 14 diamonds, the Serbian Eagle with 5 diamonds, the 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. \u003d 0.409 kg), pearl beads framed in gold - 35 lbs.

Gold is presented in the form of various decorations - 14 pounds (1p. \u003d 16 kg), placers - 10 pounds and 4 f. scrap with a total weight of 4p. and 2 f., 262 ingots - 12p. and 15 f., Russian coins of various denominations for a total of 247,600 rubles, Bukhara coins for a total of 10,036 rubles, foreign coins (1 f.). In general, the mass of gold in jewelry, placers, scrap, ingots, coins, orders amounted to 688, 424 kg.

Silver is presented in the form of various items and kitchen utensils: vases, caskets, brothers, samovars, trays, buckets, jugs, teapots, glass 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 whether they are precious or not), table calendars, a spyglass, Bukhara orders and medals, saucers, figurines, candlesticks, bowlers, bracelets, plaques, cigarette cases, rinsers, watches floor clocks, table clocks, a chessboard with figures, tureens, milk jugs, glasses, cups, albums, mugs, sugar bowls, women's hats, rings with stones, scabbards, necklaces, most of which were covered with enamel of different colors, horse harnesses with plaques.

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

Paper money was packed in 26 chests: Russian Nikolaev for a total of 2010,111 rubles, Russian Kerensky - 923,450 rubles, Bukhara - 4,579,980 till.

Manufactory was located in 180 large chests: 63 fur robes, 46 cloth robes, 105 silk, 92 velvet, 300 brocade, 568 paper, 14 different fur skins, 1 coat with a collar, 10 carpets, 8 felt mats, 13 rugs , 47 pieces of cloth, 2897 pieces of silk, 52 pieces of velvet, 74 pieces of brocade, 78 pieces of wool, 1156 pieces of paper material, 415 turbans, 596 different blankets, 278 trousers, 1004 shirts, 436 tablecloths, 1228 scarves, 746 skullcaps, 660 pair of shoes.

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

There is an appendix to the Act, according to which all gold items and precious stones passed expert assessment to determine their quality and weight. The estimate was given by the jeweler Danilson. However, interestingly, the weight of the gems, gold and silver identified by Danilson is an underestimate compared to that given in the Act itself.

We also did 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 it is completely converted into scrap (688, 424 kg), is more than 18 million US dollars. For all silver, if it is also converted into scrap (102.7 tons), over 51 million dollars could be given on world markets today (1 gram = $2). For 1,041 carats of diamonds at Sotheby's or Christie's trading auctions, you can get about 34 million dollars (1 carat = $32.5 thousand).

In general, the cost of only this part of the treasury of the Mangits' treasures in total is about 103 million dollars, which is at least a third more than the calculations of the searchers for the emir's treasure.

However, we are powerless to estimate the cost 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 most expensive of all gems. In the four "highest" stones (diamond, sapphire, emerald, ruby), he is in first place. Diamonds have always been insanely highly valued not only for their beauty and rarity, but also for the mystical properties that they supposedly possessed. The most expensive diamonds are 1/1, that is, no color, no defects. From ancient times, the name for such stones "diamonds of pure water" came from. 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 Emir of Bukhara in their value could surpass all other values of the treasury.

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

And all this valuable cargo from Bukhara was delivered to Tashkent. And he, no doubt, was part of the treasury of Said Alimkhan. However, these data do not answer the question: is this the full state of the emir or only a part of it? The fact is that the entire treasury of the Emirate of Bukhara 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 rate of 1920 at 150 million Russian rubles. It turns out that they overestimated the state of the emir by 1.5 times. Why such a 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 in the mountains his entire treasury - 10 tons of gold. Could he do it, involving a couple of dozen people for this operation. It seems not. Firstly, in order to take out such a load, at least a hundred horses are needed, not counting the cavalry guards. And this is a whole caravan. Unnoticed, he could not have gone a short distance, not to mention the fact that the cargo was hidden in the spurs of the Hissar mountains.

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

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

Fourthly, Alimkhan did not leave hope for help from abroad. So, 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 was waiting for help from him in the amount of 100 thousand pounds sterling, 20 thousand rifles with ammunition, 30 guns with shells, 10 airplanes and 2 thousand British soldiers. -Indian army. However, England, which did not want to go to a direct aggravation with the Bolsheviks, fearing that they could continue their offensive and establish Soviet power in Afghanistan, did not begin to assist the emir.

Fifthly, Said Alimkhan did not try, as some people think, to smuggle 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 would be doomed to failure, since such a caravan could not be imperceptibly passed through Soviet territory, moreover, it could not be transported through the Pyanj. To do this, it was necessary to prepare a large-scale military operation. But for its implementation, as history has shown, the emir had neither the strength nor the means.

Sixth, if the emir still had treasures hidden, then in the 20-30s he could try to take them out with the help of foreign countries and international organizations. But in this case, he made no attempt. There are several intercepted letters of Said Alimkhan addressed to foreign politicians, but in none of them does he mention the presence of a gold cache.

Seventh, the lack of cash did not allow the Emir of Bukhara to provide material assistance to his kurbashi. So, after the Supreme Kurbashi Ibrahimbek was detained on the territory of Tajikistan, during interrogation on July 5, 1931 in Tashkent, with undisguised indignation, he admitted that in December 1930 he wrote to Emir Alimkhan: “Seven years (meaning the period 1920-1926 - author .) on your orders, I fought against the Soviet government with my own means and forces, constantly receiving all sorts of promises of help, but I did not wait for their fulfillment.

Thus, all of the above leads to the conclusion 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 take out of Bukhara. After all, it is no coincidence that during the flight from Bukhara, he was accompanied by guardsmen numbering at least a thousand people. However, as you know, you can’t take much on horseback. The emir could not attract camels for this purpose, since, although they are lifting, they are very slow-moving. And the emir needed a mobile group so that in case of a chase he would not have to leave the caravan. The financial resources and jewelry exported by him, I think, this is 15-20 percent of the total part of the treasury, Said Alimkhan needed for the most necessary expenses: monetary allowance 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. After all, it is no coincidence that in Eastern Bukhara he announced mobilization and applied with a memorandum to the League of Nations on the 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 for Finance of the Turkestan ASSR.

We failed to trace the further fate of the treasury of the Emir of Bukhara, delivered to Tashkent. However, it is not difficult to guess that the jewels were soon sent to Moscow. Civil War in Russia was still going on, and in order to supply the Red Army with everything necessary, the treasures of the Emir of Bukhara came in very handy. To do this, precious stones were removed from gold jewelry, and the latter were melted into metal. Thus, things that were of high artistic and historical value were lost forever. Although some rare copies could have been "lost" during transportation, and are now stored in some collections, the owners of which, for personal security, usually remain incognito.

TREASURES OF THE EMIR OF BUKHARA

Penjikent is an ancient city located in the mountains of Tajikistan. Bukhara is very close, not far away is the border with Kyrgyzstan, and the deserts of Turkmenistan are within easy reach. All these lands until 1920 were part of the Emirate of Bukhara. In the bottomless cellars of Ark, the fortress that reigns over the city, innumerable riches have accumulated over hundreds of years. Each of the three million subjects of the emir 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. During the year, more than thirty million gold tilpas entered the underground vaults of the Bukhara fortress. And the expenses of the emirate for 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, hard times came for the emirate. The 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 over Bukhara. And once even a four-engine Ilya Muromets flew in - the Red Army was approaching. It was necessary not only to carry off the legs, but also to take out the wealth accumulated by the Mangyt dynasty ...

DESCENDANT OF THE OLD GENUS

The first time I met Masoud was in Panjakent almost twenty years ago. He was engaged in excavations of the ancient settlement here. From him I learned what was the further fate of the Bukhara treasures ...
- Emir Sid Alimkhan had a trusted person - dervish Davron. Once he was brought to the palace at night so that extra eyes would not see. In the chambers of the ruler, besides the lord himself, the dervish met another person - the emir's bodyguard, Colonel Tksobo Kalapush. Nizametdin, the head of the emir's artillery, was also there. But his emir hid in the next room. Unseen, he heard the entire conversation.
Decided how to save the treasure. There was so much gold that a caravan would need 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 the prices of that time.
Where to drive the caravan? To Kashgar? There is an English consulate, which was led by an old acquaintance of the emir - the consul Mr. Esserton. But the dervish Davron had already visited Kashgar, and the news he brought was disappointing. The Emir's letter simply frightened the consul. What is the English Consulate in Kashgar? A small house in a shady garden on the outskirts of Urumqi. All his guards are the 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, general instability. To accept a caravan of gold under such conditions means to bring misfortune to your quiet abode.
Esserton was a professional diplomat and made, as it seemed to him, a wise decision: let the authorities think and decide. In Delhi, to the palace of the Viceroy of India, a cipher outlining the situation left.
But there were also officials in Delhi. And they also perfectly understood all the risk and all the responsibility associated with such a case. 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? We will have to pay the entire cost of the lost 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 to the emir a letter 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 whether 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 Transcaspia remained tense. They made a different decision. In the first ten days of September 1920, at night, a caravan of several hundred horses and camels loaded with the treasures of Bukhara, water and food supplies moved south. The guards were emir's guards, commanded by Taxobo Kalapush. Dervish Davron rode next to him, stirrup in stirrup.
At the town of Guzar, we turned sharply to the left and, at Langar itself, we plunged 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 their accompanying drovers, went deep into one of the mountain crevices. Davron and two more dervishes rode ahead.
A day has passed since the departure of Davron and his companions, then the second. Alarmed, Kalapush picked up his men and followed the trail of the caravan. Having traveled several kilometers along a narrow winding cleft, the horsemen found several corpses. These were the riders. And after some time they stumbled upon Davron himself and two of his companions. All three were wounded. Davron told what happened. One of the drivers found out that he was in saddlebags and packs, and informed 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 packs of gold in an inconspicuous cave. Kalapush examined her and was pleased. Trusting no one, the emir's bodyguard blocked the entrance to the cave with stones and drove the horses and camels back into the valley.
The dervishes had their wounds bandaged and put on horseback. 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 on 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 stayed there forever. Faithful Kalapush carried out the emir's secret order: no one should know the secrets of the treasure.
“You know so well what happened in these parts eighty years ago,” I told Massoud. - Where?
“I am from these places. And Davron was one of my ancestors. This story has been passed down in our family from generation to generation. As a boy, I heard it and then swore to myself that I would find this treasure, although it brought so much misfortune to our family.

FATE TREASURE

“As an archaeologist, I could search without arousing anyone's suspicions,” Massoud continued. I'll tell you what happened next...
On the fourth day the caravan returned to Bukhara. In Karaulbazar, the tired riders were joyfully greeted by topchubashi 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 the horses were saddled only by the soldiers of the emir's artillery commander. All of Calapush's companions - except for himself - were killed.
Emir graciously met his bodyguard. He asked in detail about the road, about how they found a secret place, how they hid the treasure and masked the cache. The ruler was especially interested in whether there were any living witnesses left. “No,” answered Kalapush, “now on earth only two know the secret: the master and I. But Vladyka has no doubts about my fidelity…”
Of course, the emir did not doubt ... that the secret known to two was not half a secret. And on the same night, Kalapush, caressed 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 mentioned his former bodyguard. Now Nizametdin, the chief of artillery, rode next to the emir.
A day later, somewhere in the steppe, a shot rang out from the Emir's retinue. Topchubashi collapsed to the ground. There was no one left, except the former ruler of sacred Bukhara, who would know something about the caravan with gold.
With a detachment of a hundred sabers, he crossed the border into Afghanistan. Of the entire multi-million dollar treasure, he had only two horses, loaded with saddlebags with gold bars and precious stones.
Years passed. The emir lived in Kabul, but the treasure left behind by Panj kept him awake. Throughout the twenties, Basmachi gangs penetrated the territory of Central Asia almost every month. Many of them rushed to the area where the treasure was hidden. But the Basmachi were not lucky. After destroying crops and killing several activists, they returned to Afghanistan. However, the emir did not calm down. In 1930, a gang of Ibrahim-bek 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 the defeated Ibrahim-bek gang continued to search for the treasure. Someone decided that 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 the relatives of Kalapush lived, was burned, all its inhabitants were massacred.
“Davron was a relative of my grandfather,” Masud admitted to me recently. I learned the whole story from him. And now there are people who are interested in my searches. At first (I was younger then and more naive) a certain Timur Pulatov from Bukhara rubbed around me. He climbed out of his skin, trying to help in my search. And he ended up stealing several schemes of already passed routes and fled with them, oddly enough, to Moscow. I recently 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. The main thing, of course, I keep in my head. After all, the area where the treasure is hidden occupies only 100 square kilometers. For two decades I have studied it in great detail.
- Did you find it?
Massoud is mysteriously silent. Then he says:
“You know, ten tons of gold is hard to find, but it was also hard to hide it. There was little time left for this. Deeply hidden. This means that sensitive devices will detect. And I already have them. Only times are turbulent. It's dangerous to go there now...
This man went through a difficult life, obsessed with his passion. He almost succeeded, but at the very threshold he is forced to stop. Only I'm sure - not for long.

Nikolai Plisko.Penjikent - Moscow.
"Labor-7", No. 242/23.12.1999.

Kherson Museum refused to sell a unique saber, even for 100 thousand dollars

The renewal of the exposition for the 120th anniversary of the Kherson Museum of Local Lore ended with a surprise for scientists. Having seized the moment when collective excursions were not planned, a tall man crossed the threshold of the museum. He leisurely walked around all the halls, got to the exhibition of weapons of all times and peoples, and really stuck his eyes to one of the glass shelves. For a while, the visitor, who turned out to be a wealthy Ukrainian collector, stared at the blade behind the glass. And then he said bluntly to the stunned caretaker: "I'm buying this saber for a hundred thousand dollars."
The museum, of course, always needs money. However, his employees flatly refused the generous offer. And not at all because the subject of bargaining was more expensive (although in fact it is so). It’s just that the mysterious blade managed to be in the hands of the eastern ruler and immediately the legendary outstanding military leaders, and in its history there was a place for both exploits and crimes.

As it turned out, the rarity that attracted the collector came to Kherson straight from ... Central Asia. 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 Abdul-Ahad Khan (Here the author is mistaken, we are talking about the son of Abdul-Ahad Khan - Alim Khan e.