Alim Khan, Emir of Bukhara
Digichromatography picture made by the Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii, 1917.
Defeated by Russia in 1866, the Central-Asian emirate of Bukhara had become a Russian protectorate. During the Great War, in April 1917, the emir pronounced the independence of Bukhara. He joined Germany and fought against the Russian troops merely to gain freedom. In 1920, after a prolonged battle with Bolshevik forces, the emir was driven into Afghanistan. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the area became part of Uzbekistan.
Click on the picture to see the next one in this Color Photographs series, or click here to go back to the summary page.