ALEXANDER BURNES’ TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA

 This thesis examines Alexander Burnes’ Travels into Bokhara as an  important nineteenth-century travel narrative and historical source on Central Asia.  Published in 1834, the work records Burnes’ journey from India through Afghanistan  and the territories north of the Hindu Kush to Bukhara, followed by his return through  the Caspian region and Persia. The article analyzes the circumstances in which the  journey was undertaken, the structure and thematic range of the book, and Burnes’ observations concerning Bukhara, Afghanistan, the Oxus region, trade routes, political  institutions, social life, geography, and intercultural relations.