Muhammad Umar Khan was the Khan of

Kokand Kokand ( ) is a city in Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan, at the southwestern edge of the Fergana Valley. Administratively, Kokand is a district-level city, that includes the urban-type settlement Muqimiy. The population of Kokand was ap ...

from until his subsequent illness and death in . He studied at a

madrassa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary education or higher learning. ...

after completing his primary education before seizing power from his brother Alim Khan. His poetry written under the pen name "Amir" touched on subjects spanning from

humanism Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and Agency (philosophy), agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The me ...

, culture, and enlightenment in diwans covering twelve genres. His teenage son Muhammad Ali Khan was given the title of Khan after his death.

Family

Umar was the son of the Khan Narbuta Bey who reigned from 1774 to 1798. Umar took the title of Khan from his brother Alim Khan with the help of several co-conspirators. In 1810 Umar and his companions spread a rumor in Tashkent that Alim had been killed and took on the title of Khan. Alim, hearing of the rumors on a military mission, returned to Kokand immediately, only to be ambushed by the Umar faction with Kambar Mirza shooting Alim. Umar's wife Mohlaroyim took an active role in the social life of Kokand as a patron of the arts of sciences and wrote under the pen name of Nodira. His teenage son Muhammad Ali Khan was his official successor to the title Khan of Kokand.

Foreign Policy

Umar continued his predecessor's legacy of expanding the Khanate, but to a lesser extent. In 1816 the city of

Turkestan Turkestan,; ; ; ; also spelled Turkistan, is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and East Turkestan (Xinjiang). The region is located in the northwest of modern day China and to the northwest of its ...

was annexed from the

Emirate of Bukhara The Emirate of Bukhara (, ) was a Muslims, Muslim-Uzbeks, Uzbek polity in Central Asia that existed from 1785 to 1920 in what is now Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. It occupied the land between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rive ...

. Whilst visiting the tomb of Khoja Akhmet Yassawi he declared himself to be the

Amir al-Mu'minin () or Commander of the Faithful is a Muslims, Muslim title designating the supreme leader of an Ummah, Islamic community. Name Although etymology, etymologically () is equivalent to English "commander", the wide variety of its historical an ...

, Leader of the Faithful.Ishankhanov S. K., Catalog of coins of Kokand XVIII-XIX centuries. Tashkent, 1976, p.5 Ura-Tube was annexed by Kokand in 1817 and fortresses were constructed on the banks of the

Syr Darya The Syr Darya ( ),; ; ; ; ; /. historically known as the Jaxartes ( , ), is a river in Central Asia. The name, which is Persian language, Persian, literally means ''Syr Sea'' or ''Syr River''. It originates in the Tian Shan, Tian Shan Mountain ...

river in

Zhanakorgan Zhanakorgan (, ''Jañaqorğan'') is an urban-type settlement and the administrative center of Zhanakorgan District in Kyzylorda Region of Kazakhstan. This may be to 'Yani Kurgan' (new tumulus) captured in 1861 during the Russian conquest of Turkest ...

, Julek, Kamish Kurgan,

Kyzylorda Kyzylorda ( , formerly known as Kzyl-Orda (), Ak-Mechet (Ак-Мечеть), Perovsk (Перовск), and Fort-Perovsky (Форт-Перовский), is a city in south-central Kazakhstan, capital of Kyzylorda Region and former capital of the ...

, and Kushkurgan to provide for safe caravan trade with

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. However, one of his diplomats sent to Russian was shot by a Russian soldier and another died of illness. Diplomatic and trade relations were maintained with the Emirate of Bukhara,

Khanate of Khiva The Khanate of Khiva (, , uz-Latn-Cyrl, Xiva xonligi, Хива хонлиги, , ) was a Central Asian polity that existed in the historical region of Khwarazm, Khorezm from 1511 to 1920, except for a period of Afsharid Iran, Afsharid occupat ...

and

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

; the embassy in Istanbul was established in 1819.

Domestic Policy

Umar Khan attempted to imitate

Tamerlane Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol tradition, Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timuri ...

by encouraging study in the fields of science, literature and the development of agriculture.

Cemeteries A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many dead people are buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ) implies th ...

, mosques, and

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

s were built in the cities of

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

, Turkestan,

Shymkent Shymkent (, ; ) is a city in southern Kazakhstan, located near the border with Uzbekistan. It holds the status of a city of republican significance, one of only three cities in Kazakhstan with this distinction, alongside Almaty and Astana. As of ...

, Sayram, and

Taraz Taraz ( ; also historically known as Talas) is a city and the administrative center of Jambyl Region in Kazakhstan, located on the Talas (river), Talas (Taraz) River in the south of the country near the border with Kyrgyzstan. It had a populatio ...

.History of Uzbekistan. Tashkent, 1993, p.207 The clergy were given a substantial amount of power and

sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

was used to justify suppressing political dissent.

References

{{Authority control Khans of Kokand 19th-century monarchs in Asia People from Kokand 1780s births 1822 deaths