Chala

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Bucharian Jews around 1890

The term Tschala (translated: Neither one nor the other ) denoted Bucharian Jews in Central Asia who converted to Islam in the 18th and 19th centuries .

Historical context

Jewish tombs have been documented in the region as early as the fifth century AD. The Jews were tolerated under Islamic rule, but suffered from state discrimination. They paid higher taxes than Muslims, were not allowed to ride horses, had to bow to Muslims, and were not allowed to wear silk. In addition, there was constant pressure to convert to Islam, which was partly built up with violence against the Jewish minority. In the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century, this resulted in a mass conversion of Jews to Islam.

Reasons for conversion

In addition to religious and economic pressure, criminal law factors also played a role: Jews sentenced to death escaped punishment by converting to Islam.

Social status

The Muslim population of the region was suspicious of the new social and religious group and expressed this in the name Tschala , which expresses doubts about the honesty of the conversion. The Chala lived in their own districts on the outskirts of the Jewish districts and mostly married one another. The acceptance of the chala by the authorities was often only possible through bribery , as many chala openly continued their Jewish faith.

Russian rule

Even before the emirate of Bukhara was conquered by the Russian Empire in 1865/1868, many chalas had officially converted to Judaism again. Under Russian rule they were officially allowed to do so.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. The Bucharian Jews - how did they get to Central Asia? In: Novastan German. August 24, 2016, accessed on January 20, 2019 (German).
  2. Thomas Kunze: Central Asia - portrait of a region . 1st edition. Ch.links, Berlin 2018.
  3. The other Jews | NZZ . October 25, 2002, ISSN  0376-6829 ( nzz.ch [accessed January 20, 2019]).