_History._--Bokhara was known to the ancients under the name of Sogdiana. It was too far removed to the east ever to be brought under the dominion of Rome, but it has shared deeply in all the various and bloody revolutions of Asia. The foundation of the capital is ascribed to Efrasiab, the great Persian hero. After the conquests of Alexander the Great Sogdiana formed part of the empire of the Seleucidae, and shared the fortunes of the rather better-known Bactria. Somewhat later the nomad Yue-chi began to move into the valley of the Oxus from the east, and gradually became a settled territorial power in Bactria and Sogdiana, and the dominions of their king, Kadphises I. (who is believed to have come to the throne about A.D. 45), extended from Bokhara to the Indus. The district, however, was reconquered by Persia under the Sassanian dynasty, and we hear of Nestorian Christians at Samarkand, at any rate in the 6th century. Islam was introduced shortly after the Arab conquest of Persia (640-642) and speedily became the dominant faith. In the early centuries of Mahommedan rule Sogdiana was one of the most celebrated and flourishing districts of central Asia. It was called Sughd, and contained the two great cities of Samarkand and Bokhara, of which the former was generally the seat of government, while the latter had a high reputation as a seat of religion and learning. During the early middle ages this legion was also known as Ma wara 'l Nahr or Ma-vera-un-nahr, the meaning of which is given in the alternative classical title of Transoxiana. Malik Shah, third of the Seljuk dynasty of Persia, passed the Oxus about the end of the 11th century, and subdued the whole country watered by that river and the Jaxartes. In 1216 Bokhara was again subdued by Mahommed Shah Khwarizm, but his conquest was wrested from him by Jenghiz Khan in 1220. The country was wasted by the fury of this savage conqueror, but recovered something of its former prosperity under Ogdai Khan, his son, whose disposition was humane and benevolent. His posterity kept possession till 1369, when Timur or Tamerlane bore down everything before him, and established his capital at Samarkand, which with Bokhara regained for a time its former splendour. Babar, the fifth in descent from Timur, was originally prince of Ferghana, but conquered Samarkand and northern India, where he founded the Mogul (Mughal) empire. His descendants ruled in the country until about 1500, when it was overrun by the Uzbeg Tatars, under Abulkhair or Ebulkheir Khan, the founder of the Shaibani dynasty, with which the history of Bokhara properly commences. The most remarkable representative of this family was Abdullah Khan (1556-1598), who greatly extended the limits of his kingdom by the conquest of Badakshan, Herat and Meshhed, and increased its prosperity by the public works which he authorized. Before the close of the century, however, the dynasty was