Conversion of Jews to Islam in Pre-Revolutionary Central Asia
The paper is devoted to the problem of relations between Jews and Muslims in Central Asia. The author notes that in spite of their plight Jews played an appreciable role in the economic life of regional khanates. Jews dominated in manufacture and trade in silk, and some of them were engaged in usury forbidden by Islam. They were wealthy enough to lend money to Moslems, including gover-nors of local khanates. The result of the long coexistence of Jews with dominant Muslim population was that some of them were converted to Islam. Such Jews were referred to as chala. With the arrival of Russia to the region, chala began to return to their original faith. The authorities of Russian Turkestan were accepting of it and granted Jews many rights and freedoms. However, though they did not get any special preferences, the trend of Jews converting to Islam remained. The author concludes that part of Jews converted to Islam for selfish reasons.