James Pickett’ Polymaths of Islam is a credible account about the ulama and the Turkic nobility of Bukhara. Pickett investigates Sufi biographical dictionaries, jungs (on law, medicine, literature), fatwas, hagiographies, and tazkiras in libraries and archives using Arabic, Persian, and Turkic languages. Russian and Indian sources supplement his finds. His focus is on legitimacy contested in the dual fulcrum of power wielded by the Turkic elite and the ulama. Should the ultimate arbiter of power in the Emirate be the upholder of the Shari'a or the conqueror?

Pickett argues that the dynamics of the Persianate world must be assessed within an Islamic context rather than by the current -isms (nationalism, socialism, atheism, Islamism, and modernism). Consequently, he cobbles together fragments of knowledge taking source in centuries of knowledge sedimentation in Bukhara. Through insight from these sources, he shows how the ulama established a flexible dynasty and contended with the amirs. It was paramount for the ulama to prevent the unpredictable, inflexible, and irreverent amirs from expanding their hegemony at the expense of the Shari'a. The Turkic military elites’ lack of ability to organize society and their lack of knowledge about judicial affairs provided fertile ground for the ulama to expand their influence and wield their power. This unorthodox interdependence, Pickett argues, must be understood within its own parameters.

Pickett visualizes an Islamicate Weltanschauung that uses the Arabic language as a lingua franca. Within it, he places a Persian and a Turkic cosmopolis. Within the Weltanschauung, linguistic borrowings are from the bottom up, rarely the reverse. Cultural contributions are evenly spread, while rank and power dynamics are cosmopolis specific and distributed hierarchically. The power of the ulama rests on the pen. That of the Turkic nobles rests on military might.

Picket considers Bukhara the center of the Persianate cosmopolis and focuses on it and the activities therein, especially those related to the ulama and their rivals, the Turkic nobility. He investigates the two populations separately. Entrance into the world of the ulama, and the possibility of being mentioned in tazkiras, begins with taking core courses in logic, theology, and rhetoric taught in Arabic. Further advancement is through taking electives in literature, law, philosophy, medicine, and Sufism. Those who fail become preachers, maddahs, and calligraphers. Sufism, entailing knowledge of the tariqa, ranks high in the hierarchy consisting of shaykh al-Islam, qazi-i kalan, qazi, muhtasib, mufti, mudarris, mirza, as well as tabib, qalandar, and occultist.

Pickett argues that the ulama wore many hats; therefore, the decisions they made must be viewed in the context of natural human behavior rather than in terms of scholastic categorization. For example, he says, it is not unusual for mystics to talk about wine and Beloved, or for muftis to be debauch in one venue while issuing harsh fatwas on sodomy, or acts in which they themselves participate, in another venue.

In contrast, the Turkic nobility receive private instruction, mostly from the ulama. As military men, rarely involved in scholarship, they are distinguished by lineage and family status. Their security within the military and their promotion in rank are at the discretion of the amir.

At the end, the two groups that had started their separate journeys after Nadir Shah's conquest of Central Asia (1747) vie for power. One has established Manghit rule for the Turkic aristocracy, the other has created a dynastic line to uphold and protect the Shari'a. The conflict itself is not new. The Turkic nobility claims legitimacy through bloodline and the right of conquest, the ulama claim legitimacy through knowledge of the Shari'a and ability to organize the affairs of the state. The Turkic nobility, unable to tackle Arabic texts, depends on the ulama. It supports the ulama while, discreetly, keeps them under its thumb. The ulama justify their acquiescence by not allowing the sovereign question their total guardianship of the Shari'a.

Pickett also deals with the encounter of the two groups with Bukhara's colonizers. He concludes that the Russians, and later the Soviets, allowed the flexible ulama to continue their duties as popular judges (narodnye sudy), but wiped out the Turkic nobility altogether.

Pickett's study is systematic and meticulous. Perhaps a better balance between the ulama's Bukhara and the Samanids’ Bukhara, in which the likes of al-Biruni served, would make frequent references to the past legacy more meaningful. Similarly, a comprehensive discussion of the Turkic core contributors, like the qushbegi and ra'is, would better support the discussion of how effectively, within the Persianate cosmopolis, the amirs’ officials undermined the power of the ulama.