The Russian Imperial Political Agency in Bukhara in the System of National Policy of the Russian Empire at the End of the 19th Century

After 1873, the Emirate of Bukhara became a Russian protectorate. Its territory effectively became a buffer zone for the Russian Empire, separating it from Afghanistan. In 1885, to better monitor and promote imperial interests in the region, the Russian Imperial Political Agency in Bukhara (RIPA) was established as a structure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The agent was appointed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and served as the official representative of the Russian government in Bukhara, through whom all contacts with the Bukharan government on a wide range of issues were conducted. The agency was simultaneously subordinate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Turkestan Governor-General. The political agency began operations in January 1886. Between 1917 and 1920, the political agency in Bukhara was transformed into a residency. The history of the political agency remains a little-studied topic. In Soviet historiography, the agency was often treated as an ordinary instrument of imperial control. However, archival documents tell us that the Political Agency in Bukhara played an important role in the system of national policy of the Russian Empire in Central Asia.