Ubaydullah Khan II

Ubaydullah Khan II (1675-1711) was the seventh khan of Bukhara of the Ashtarkhanid dynasty; he ascended the throne in 1702 as the son and successor of Subhan Quli Khan and ruled until his killing.¹ The Russian article explains that modern historians call him "Ubaydullah II" to avoid confusion with the Shaybanid Ubaydullah Khan (r. 1533-1540), and the two men are not to be conflated.¹

His reign was marked by a fierce struggle between the great Uzbek tribes and the khans for power in Bukhara: he strove for absolutism and tried to push the tribal nobility out of government and concentrate it in the hands of low-born men appointed by and dependent on him, and his elevation of Turaquli-biy as supreme qushbegi caused particular discontent; his whole reign passed in continuous wars with rebellious vassals.¹ In Balkh Muhammad Muqim declared himself independent of Bukhara before his ataliq Mahmud-biy killed him in 1706 and proclaimed himself khan; an independent Samarkand khanate and an independent Shahrisabz domain also arose in these years, and in Fergana the Ming dynasty founded the Kokand Khanate in 1710.¹

Economic crisis, an empty treasury and declining trade forced the khan to a monetary reform in 1708, but it was carried out carelessly and without thought: new coins were issued containing no more than 9 percent silver, several times less than before the reform, and a forced exchange rate was imposed, producing a monetary crisis and popular discontent.¹ About two years before his death he laid out a great charbagh garden west of Bukhara near the Talipach gate, called Khanabad, with a palace, fruit and ornamental trees and flowers and a high wall; it was where he most loved to spend his time.¹ The known historians of his reign were Abdurrahman-i Tali and Mir Muhammad Amin-i Bukhari.¹

His attempt to limit the landholdings of the religious organisations and to tax the powerful Juybari khojas produced a conspiracy against him in which the head of his guard, Javshan, took part; he was killed in 1711 and his palace was plundered.¹ His body was buried in the mazar of Sheikh Bahauddin Naqshband, beside his father Subhan Quli Khan, and his brother Abu'l-Fayz Khan (r. 1711-1747) was raised to the throne.¹