Bukharan Jewish in Uzbekistan


Population
Main Language
Largest Religion
Ethnic Religions (Judaism)
Christian
Evangelical
Progress
Progress Gauge

Introduction

Bukharan Jewish are an indigenous group within Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. They are known as "Bukharan" because they settled primarily in Bukhara, Uzbekistan but they prefer to be known as "Israel" or "Yahudi." They claim descent from the ten tribes of Israel who were exiled to Persia in the fifth century. They speak Bokhara, a Jewish dialect of Tajik.


Ministry Obstacles

Because they are virtually unknown, identifying them is the major obstacle to reaching them. They cannot be reached if they cannot be found.


Prayer Focus

Pray that Messianic Jewish would reach out to them with the gospel.
Pray these Jewish would become interested in both the Old and New Testaments.
Pray that the Gentile church would adopt the Bukharic-speaking Jewish for prayer and outreach.
Pray that God would establish Bukharic congregations.
Music is the language of the heart. Pray for Christ’s ambassadors to learn the culture and musical style and write beautiful worship music.
Pray for a soon-coming fellowship among them that will multiply throughout Uzbekistan.


Scripture Prayers for the Jewish, Bukharan in Uzbekistan.


Profile Source:   Joshua Project  

People Name General Jewish, Bukharan
People Name in Country Jewish, Bukharan
Natural Name Bukharan Jewish
Pronunciation boo-HAR-ik JOO-ish
Alternate Names
Population this Country 500
Population all Countries 142,000
Total Countries 3
Indigenous No
Progress Scale 1
Unreached Yes
Frontier People Group Yes
GSEC 1  (per PeopleGroups.org)
Pioneer Workers Needed 1
PeopleID3 12348
ROP3 Code 104244
Country Uzbekistan
Region Asia, Central
Continent Asia
10/40 Window Yes
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank 25  (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking)
Location in Country Various areas. Buxoro is cultural center.   Source:  Ethnologue 2016
Country Uzbekistan
Region Asia, Central
Continent Asia
10/40 Window Yes
National Bible Society Website
Persecution Rank 25  (Open Doors top 50 rank, 1 = highest persecution ranking)
Location in Country Various areas. Buxoro is cultural center..   Source:  Ethnologue 2016
Primary Religion: Ethnic Religions (Judaism)
Major Religion Percent
Buddhism
0.00 %
Christianity  (Evangelical 0.00 %)
0.00 %
Ethnic Religions
90.00 %
Hinduism
0.00 %
Islam
0.00 %
Non-Religious
10.00 %
Other / Small
0.00 %
Unknown
0.00 %

Primary Language:  Bukharic

Bible Translation Status  (Years)
Bible-Portions Yes  (2024)
Bible-New Testament No
Bible-Complete No
Possible Print Bibles
Amazon
World Bibles
Forum Bible Agencies
National Bible Societies
World Bible Finder
Virtual Storehouse
Resource Type Resource Name Source
Audio Recordings Audio Bible teaching Global Recordings Network
Film / Video Jesus Film: view in Bukharic Jesus Film Project
General Scripture Earth Gospel resources links Scripture Earth
Photo Source Copyrighted © 2025  Rini Kools - Shutterstock  All rights reserved.  Used with permission
Map Source Bryan Nicholson / cartoMission  
Profile Source Joshua Project 
Data Sources Data is compiled from various sources. Learn more.