The Naqshbandiyya Order is a Sufi order founded by Khwaja Baha’ addin Muhammad Naqshband Bukharayi (718–791 H/1318–1389), which is an offshoot of the tariqa Khwajagan. Therefore, the origins of this mystical brotherhood should be sought in the views of Khwaja Yusuf Hamadani (440–535 H/1048–1140) and Khwaja ‘Abd al-Khaliq Ghijduvani (d. 575 H/1180). Despite the great chronological distance, Khwaja Baha’ ad-din Naqshband considered himself a direct disciple of Khwaja ‘Abd al-Khaliq Ghijduvani.

After Khwaja Baha’ ad-din Muhammad, the Naqshbandiyya became widespread in Transoxiana and Khorasan in a short period of time, and his predecessors Khwaja ‘Ala’ ad-din ‘Attar (d. 802 H/1400), Muhammad Parsa (d. 822 H/1420) and Ya’qub Charkhi (d. 851 H/1447), performed the duties of Murshids and played an important role in popularizing this tariqa, so that after the appearance of Khwaja ‘Ubaydallah Ahrar (806–895 H/1404–1489), the most influential sheikh of the Timurid period, this tariqa gained even greater influence and fame.

The teaching of this Sufi order is based on complete submission to the norms of Shari‘a, following the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, distancing from innovations and constancy in worship, and therefore aroused respect even among opponents of Sufism and traditionalists (ahl al-hadith).

This article aims to outline the principles and foundations of the Naqshbandiyya and give an overview of its meditative practices (muraqaba), thereby presenting the reader with a consistent presentation of the principles of spiritual selfimprovement (suluk) of this tariqa.

This article is devoted to the study of the relationship between the Naqshbandiyya and trade activities in the Timurid era (771 — 913 H/1370 — 1507). An appeal to the ideological principles of this tariqa will clarify the intellectual factors that laid the foundations for the economic activity of its followers. These factors can be divided into four concepts - solitude in society (khalvat dar anjuman), hidden dhikr (dhikr-i khafi), service (khizmat) and work. The presence of the doctrine regulating economic activity in the Naqshbandi order had three important consequences: firstly, the widespread dissemination of this tariqa among peasants and artisans as the most important productive forces; secondly, the support of the tariqa by Timur and his successors; thirdly, the development of a positive attitude towards wealth and power. These consequences allowed the Naqshbandis to get productive forces and political support at their disposal. Thus, the leaders of the tariqa managed to expand their spiritual and material influence in Transoxiana and Khorasan.

The territory of Transoxiana was the cradle of the Timurid state, the patrimony and center of the Khvajagan tariqa, the intersection point of various trade routes and was considered one of the key centers of the Great Silk Road. This situation, coupled with the previously mentioned factors, contributed to the activity of the Naqshbandis in the field of trade during this period.

The large-scale trade activity of the Naqshbandis during this period had an important impact on this tariqa in three directions. Firstly, Naqshbandiyya spread throughout the Great Silk Road, in Central Asia and East Turkestan up to the borders of China. Secondly, it endowed the Naqshbandiyya leaders with wealth, affluence and influence, whereas previously the desire for a wordly life was something unprecedented for Sufi Tariqas, which in the XVI century led to the beginning to disputes and discussions around the connection between tariqa and economic activity. The third consequence was the tragic impact that this activity had on the leaders of the Naqshbandiyya tariqa in the last quarter of the XV — first half of the XVI century, that is, on the Ahrar clan. As a result of the growth of economic influence and close ties with the Timurid state, they inevitably had an impact on the final outcome of this state. The study of the connection between the Naqshbandi Tariqa and trade in the Timurid era from the very beginning to the end is a concrete historical consideration of the important question of what was the connection between the economy and the Tariqa in the history of Iran.

The formation of the Naqshbandiyya order should be attributed to the era of Khwaja Yusuf Hamadani and his successors, who called themselves as Khwajagan. Naqshbandiyya should be considered as the successor of Khwajagan order. Naqshbandiyya owes its popularity to the teachings and activities of Khwadji Baha’ ad-Din Muhammad Naqshband Bukhari. Khwaja Baha’ ad-Din Naqshband gave the Khwajagan a brand new life and established new rules in its cult, which, of course, was descended from the ancient traditions of the Khorasanian and Transoxianian Sufism. Naqshband’s teachings opened the way for his pupils to new, so this ancient tariqah is quite reasonably named after Baha’ ad-Din himself. The rich handwritten heritage left by the formers of the Naqshbandiyya and their predecessors is written in Persian. For this reason, Naqshbandiyyah accepted Persian terminology and used it even in texts composed in Turkic languages, Arabic and Urdu. In this article, we briefly review the treatises of two key figures of the Khwajagan order — Khwaji Yusuf Hamadani and Khwaji ‘Abd al-Khaliq Gijduvani, and then we will proceed to consider the written heritage of Khwaja Baha’ al-Din Naqshband and his circle.

The object of this article is the collection of Persian handwritten books of Sufi content stored in the funds of the Eastern Sector of the Lobachevsky Scientific Library of Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University and some results of their scientific cataloging. Unfortunately, this rich written heritage remains largely inaccessible to scientists and readers. We have identified 117 lists of Persian manuscripts on Sufism and hagiographic Sufi literature, brief information about which is included in the inventory books. Thus, it can be stated that this section is the most significant in the considered part of the collection. For the most part, these copies contain works known in the scientific literature, although not all of them have been equally studied and used by researchers. In general, the copies date from a wide chronological framework — from the XIII to the beginning of the XX century. Their geography, indicating the place of correspondence, is significant — Kazan, Baghdad, Kabul, Central Asia, Bukhara, Istanbul.

This article is devoted to the confessional situation in Tashkent and history of the political police (OGPU Eastern Department) formation in the first decade after the October Revolution. The paper deals with the problems of constructing different ideological groups known in the scientific literature as «Jadids» and «Kadimists». These conditional categories were substantial for establishing the loyalty boundaries to the Soviet regime among the ulama. In the analysis, paid special attention to the reforms that were associated with the ulama participation. During the study, it was determine that the political police took control over the Mahkama-yi shar‘iyya organization created by the ulama, and then changed its status to the temporary Muslims central spiritual administration of Turkestan. Besides that, the ulama began to act alike official intermediaries responsible for the sovietization and modernization of the region. The alliance of the OGPU Eastern Department with the ulama was the key to the rooting of the Soviet political system. However, the close monitoring of the political police over the ulama did not mean that they were completely subordinate to the Soviet regime and shared the program of Bolshevik modernization. The ulama tried to promote themselves as independent actors and personal comprehending of cultural and political transformations.