Relations between Muslims and the Russian government have long been a source of tension and never more so than today. This penetrating examination of the conflict between the central authority of the Russian Empire and its Muslim regions before, during and immediately after the Russian Revolution, illuminates this important relationship. It is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the complex dynamic between Islam and the State. This definitive history of the politics and administration of the state of Bukhara and its highly organized religious life is a source of many insights. It is also a superlative study of a Muslim reform movement in the context of Muslim modernism in other societies. Islam and the Russian Empire fills an important gap in our understanding of the Muslim question in the former Soviet Union and its influence on Russia?s relations with other Muslim countries.