The emir played out his last months of power here, in the palace, north of Bukhara, while the Red Army gained control of the city and its people.He spent his time spying on his harem through secret peepholes.The contents are a mixture; Russian samovars, a German fireplace, Chinese vases...There were about 400 bored women in the harem. In 1920 M N Roy, an Indian communist leader there, decreed a mass divorce and allowed Red Army troops in to take their pick under strict vigilance. After first behaving like scared rabbits, the women were glad to be courted by virile young men - an improvement on sharing the favours of a senile man.