![]() Jewish students with their teacher in Bukhara, 1910 | |
Total population | |
---|---|
320,000 (est.) | |
Regions with significant populations | |
![]() | 160,000 |
![]() | 120,000 80,000 |
![]() | 15,000 |
![]() | 3,000–3,500 |
![]() | 2,000 |
![]() | 1,500 150[1][2] |
![]() | 1,500 |
![]() | 1,000 |
Languages | |
Traditionally Bukharian (Judeo-Tajik),[3] Russian, Hebrew (Israel), English (United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia) and German (Austria and Germany), Uzbek (Uzbekistan) | |
Religion | |
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Related ethnic groups | |
Iranian Jews, Afghan Jews, Mashhadi Jews, Mountain Jews, Georgian Jews, Iraqi Jews, Mizrahi Jews, Soviet Jews, Kaifeng Jews |
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Jews and Judaism |
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Bukharan Jews (Bukharian: יהודיאני בוכארא/яҳудиёни Бухоро, Yahudiyoni Bukhoro; Hebrew: יְהוּדֵי־בּוּכָרָה, Yehudey Bukhara), in modern times called Bukharian Jews (Bukharian: יהודי בוכרה/яҳудиёни бухорӣ, Yahudiyoni Bukhorī; Hebrew: יְהוּדִים־בּוּכָרִים, Yehudim Bukharim), are the Mizrahi Jewish sub-group of Iranic ethnicity that historically spoke Bukharian, a Judeo-Persian[4][3][5] dialect of the Tajik language, in turn a variety of the Persian language. Their name comes from the former Central Asian Emirate of Bukhara (now primarily Uzbekistan), which once had a sizable Jewish population. Bukharan Jews are of Persian-Jewish ancestry, though they are considered one of the oldest ethno-religious groups of Central Asia and over the centuries developed their own distinct customs.[3][6][4]
Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the great majority have immigrated to Israel or the United States, with smaller groups immigrating to Europe or Australia.
Bukharan Jews spoke a dialect of Tajik referred to as Bukhori or Judeo-Tajik, which is still used by Bukharan Jews today.
The term 'the Jewish dialect of Tajik' is often used interchangeably with such terms as Judeo-Tadzhik, Judeo-Tajik, Bukhori, Bukhari, Bukharic, Bukharan, Bukharian, and Bukharit (Cooper 2012:284) in the literature.