Tarabi, Mahmud

Died 1238. The leader of a major antifeudal uprising of peasants and artisans against the Mongol administration and local elite in Bukhara in 1238.

Tarabi was an artisan from Tarab, a village near Bukhara. He and his followers marched to the city and, joined by local workers and peasants from nearby villages, seized power. After proclaiming himself caliph, Tarabi expelled most of the city’s clergy, aristocrats, and officials and executed some of those left behind. However, the feudal lords and Mongol commanders who had fled Bukhara returned to attack the insurgents. The Mongol army was routed by Tarabi’s forces, but Tarabi himself and his closest aide, Shamsiddin Mahbubi, were killed in battle. Thereafter, the movement was ruthlessly crushed by the Mongol conquerors.