By then, Bukharan Jews had dubbed their Judeo-Persian language "Bukharian" or Bukhori, itself most similar to the Tajik and Dari dialect of Farsi, with linguistic elements of Hebrew and Aramaic to communicate among themselves.

The younger generation today either born outside Central Asia or who left as children generally use Russian as their secondary language, but sometimes do understand or speak Bukhori.

According to one legend, Bukharan Jews are exiles from the tribes of Naphtali and Issachar during the Assyrian captivity, basing this assumption on a reading of "Habor" at II Kings 17:6 as a reference to Bukhara.

Cyrus granted all the Jews citizenship and allowed them to return to Israel, but a significant portion of the population chose to remain in Mesopotamia, later spreading to all parts of the Persian Empire.

"[21] In the 14th century under the rule of Timur in the Timurid Empire, Jewish weavers and dyers contributed greatly to his effort to rebuild Central Asia following Genghis Khan and the Mongol invasions.

[24] Over the centuries, whether it was to escape political turmoil, persecution, or to pursue economic opportunities, Jews from Iran and Central Asia would frequently migrate to each other's communities.

When Joseph Stalin and Soviet authorities established their hold over the borders in Central Asia in the mid 1930s (which resulted in a drastic deterioration of living conditions for the Bukharan Jews) a significant number migrated to Iran or Afghanistan.

Jewish centers were closed down, and the Muslims of the region forced conversion on a significant number of Jews (over one-third, according to one estimate), under a threat of torture and agonizing execution.

In the early 1860s, Arminius Vambery, a Hungarian-Jewish traveler, visited the emirate disguised as a Sunni dervish, writing in his journals that the Jews of Bukhara "live in utmost oppression, being despised by everyone.

"[35] In 1793, a missionary kabbalist named Rabbi Yosef Maimon, who was a Sephardic Jew originally from Tetuan, Morocco, travelled to Bukhara to collect/solicit money from Jewish patrons.

[50] Beginning from 1872, Bukharan Jews began to move into the region of Ottoman Palestine, motivated by religious convictions and the desire to return to their ancestral homeland.

[58] Between 1953 and 1963, Rabbi Bernard M. Casper was working as Dean for Student Affairs at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and during this period he became deeply concerned about the impoverished Quarter.

[59] After his appointment as Chief Rabbi in South Africa he set up a special fund for the Quarter's improvement and this was tied with Prime Minister Menachem Begin's urban revitalization program, Project Renewal.

[59] The quarter borders Tel Arza on the west, the Shmuel HaNavi neighborhood on the north, Arzei HaBira on the east, and Geula on the south.

Stalin's decision to end Lenin's New Economic Policy and initiate the First five-year plan in the late 1920s resulted in a drastic deterioration of living conditions for the Bukharan Jews.

[62] In 1950 the "Black Years of Soviet Jewry" began where suppression of the Jewish religion resumed after stopping due to World War II.

After Joseph Stalin's attempt to turn the newly founded state of Israel into a socialist country failed, an anti-Israel, anti-Zionist and antisemitic campaign launched against Soviet Jews.

During World War II, large migrations of Ashkenazi Jewish refugees from the European regions of the Soviet Union headed eastward to various republics in Central Asia.

[68] The Bukharan Jewish communities helped contribute to the resettlement of these refugees, housing families in their homes and assisted them with finding jobs until they settled in to their new surroundings.

[74] Rabbi Eliezrov accepted a temporary rabbinical position in Uzbekistan and helped organize the provision of kosher meat in surrounding cities where Jews lived.

[75] There were also numerous Jews from other Eastern countries such as Iraq, Yemen, Syria, and Morocco who migrated into Central Asia (by way of the Silk Road), and were absorbed into the Bukharan Jewish community.

The resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan (such as the Fergana massacre and the 1990 Dushanbe riots) prompted an increase in the level of emigration of Jews.

[67] In early 2006, the still active Dushanbe Synagogue in Tajikistan as well as the city's mikveh (ritual bath), kosher butcher, and Jewish schools were demolished by the government (without compensation to the community) to make room for the new Palace of Nations.

After an international outcry, the government of Tajikistan announced a reversal of its decision and publicly claimed that it would permit the synagogue to be rebuilt on its current site.

"[citation needed] Senator Joseph Lieberman intoned, "God said to Abraham, 'You'll be an eternal people'… and now we see that the State of Israel lives, and this historic [Bukharan] community, which was cut off from the Jewish world for centuries in Central Asia and suffered oppression during the Soviet Union, is alive and well in America.

"[92] Bukharan Jews had their own dress code, similar to but also different from other cultures (mainly Turco-Mongol) living in Central Asia, which they were wore as their daily attire until the Soviet Union, though was still worn during communal events.

[94] The Bukharan Jews have a distinct musical tradition called shashmaqam, which is an ensemble of stringed instruments, infused with Central Asian rhythms, and a considerable klezmer influence as well as Muslim melodies, and even Spanish chords.

The crowd was dense, and in a short time two singers appeared; the “primo,” a delicate, modest-looking man, who blushed at the eagerness with which his arrival was awaited, whilst the “secondo” was a brazen-faced fellow, who carried his head on one side, as if courting attention, and with the assurance that he should have it.

A few small differences were the Chuppah being a prayer shawl that was held by members of the family, unlike it being hung on four poles as is widely practiced today in Jewish weddings.

[113][114] Among non-Jewish populations, Bukharan Jews also form a cluster with other West Asian people including Kurds, Iranians, Armenians, Assyrians, and Levantine Arabs.