JBO'C's Historical Reference

Khiva Turkmenistan

A 1911 account:

KHIVA

>: Asia, Central, J 2). It is bounded by the Aral Sea on the north, Russian Turkestan and Bokhara on the east, and the Russian Transcaspian Province on the south and west. Its area is estimated at about 26,000 square miles. With the exception of the portion adjoining the Amu, which flows along the eastern border, the country is occupied by sandy desert interspersed with a number of small oases. The territory depends for its water entirely on the Amu, from which a number of canals extend into the interior and are used for irrigation. The climate, although unpleasant, is healthful. The heat in the summer is very great, and the winters are short but severe. The rainfall is scanty, and during the autumn great quantities of sand are blown by the wind from the surrounding desert. In the portions of the country accessible to irrigation rice, wheat, and other cereals, cotton, melons, and fruit are cultivated. Domestic animals include horses, camels, and sheep; wild animals, the jackal, the wolf, and the fox. Agriculture and the raising of live stock are the chief occupations of the natives, who are partly nomadic. Khiva is governed by a khan whose rule is hereditary and restrained in its absolutism by Russia. 'The foreign relations of the khanate

have been under the practical control of Russia since 1873. The population of Khiva is estimated at 800,000, including 400,000 nomads. The inhabitants belong to the Mongolian and Aryan races and are composed mainly of Uzbegs, Karakalpaks, Turkomans, and Kirghizes. The Uzbegs are the ruling race and are engaged chiefly in agriculture. The Sarts and Tajiks, supposed by some to be the original settlers of the country, inhabit the cities, where they engage in trade and handicraft. The chief towns are Khiva (q.v.), the capital; New Urgenj; Kip- tchak; and Kungrad.

History. Khiva in ancient times and in the early Middle Ages formed part successively of the kingdoms of Bactria, Parthia, and Persia, and of the caliphate. The modern Khanate of Khiva is a fragment of the independent kingdom known in history under the three different names of Chorasmia, Khwaresm, and Urgenj, which rose into power at the close of the eleventh . century under a Seljuk dynasty and conquered and held in subjection Persia and Afghanistan. This kingdom controlled the Oxus or Amu, the most important river of Central Asia. It was swept into his great dragnet of conquest by Genghis Khan in 1221, and in 1372 it came into the hands of Timur. Timur's descendants were subdued in 1511 by Shahy Beg (called Sheibani Khan by Western writers), chief of the Uzbek, a Turkish tribe, and his suceessors have ruled over Khiva to the present time. Ever since the seventeenth century, when its wealth excited the cupidity of the first Cossack raiders into Central Asia, the Russian government recognized the importance of Khiva and as a pretext for attempts at conquest complained that the Khivans fostered rebellion among the Kirghiz subjects of the Czar and plundered their caravans. In 1717 Peter the Great endeavored to conquer Khiva, but was defeated, and in 1839 the attempt was renewed by the Czar Nicholas I, but with no better success. With the advance of Russia in Central Asia, and the establishment of Russian power in the Transcaspian country, a cordon was slowly drawn about Khiva, and in 1873 a great effort was made to crush it. Three Russian columns advanced on Khiva from the Caspian, from Orenburg, and from Tashkent. The second and third, under Generals Verekin and Kaufmann, entered the city in May and June. The Khan agreed to pay a war indemnity of about $11,000,000 (which is gradually being liquidated by the payment of yearly installments), and to cede to Bokhara the Khivan possessions on the right bank of the Amu. Shortly afterward, however, these possessions controlling the mouth of the Amu were incorporated with Russian territory, and now form the Russian District of Amu. Khiva, on the left bank, retains its autonomy nominally; but with Russia as a heavy creditor and established in full control of the surrounding country, it is practically a vassal state. In 1910 Seyid Asfendiar Khan (?1871- ) succeeded his father, Seyid Mohamed Rahim Khan, as reigning sovereign.

Bibliography. Khanikov, "Les documents sur le khanat de Khiva," in Bulletin de la 80- ciete Geographique (Paris, 1873), with bibliography; MacGahan, Campaigning on the Oxus, and the Fall of Khiva (London, 1874) ; Lans- dell, Russian Central Asia (ib., 1885) ; Moser, A trovers I'Asie Central (Paris, 1886) ; Colqu- houn, Russia against India (New York, 1900) ;

From The New International Encyclopaedia edited by Daniel Coit Gilman, Harry Thurston Peck, Frank Moore Colby 1911

From my Notes on SpongoBongo

• The Khanate of Khiva was also known as Kwarezm

• As Kwarezm it ruled Persian and central Asia until it started a war with Cingis Qan.

• 1218/1219: "Shah Mohammed of Khwarezm, which was an empire encompassing Afghanistan, present-day Persia, and Turkestan, that is the area between the Aral Sea and the Caspian, secretly ordered the murder of a caravan of Mongol merchants sent by Chingis Khan to the city of Otrar. Chingis Khan responded by sending an envoy, giving Mohammed the choice between handing Otrar's governor Inalchuq over to the Mongols, or accepting war. This envoy was put to death, and war was declared." Mongol history and chronology from ancient times

• 1219: Mongols defeat 400,00 man Khwarezm army but fail to capture the Khwarezm Shah. Mongol history and chronology from ancient times

• "A military offensive against Khiva was launched in the spring of 1873 from several directions, under the governor-general von Kaufman. Khiva was captured in 29 may and the khan, Sayid Muhammad Rahim II, surrender." Khanate of Khiva 1511-1920

• "A peace treaty signed on 12 August 1873 established the status of the Khanate as a Russian protectorate. The Khan declared himself the "obedient servant" of the Russian emperor, and all territories of the Khanate on the right bank of the Amu Darya River were annexed to Russia. The subjugation of the Khanate had little effect on the internal affairs of the country , in which Russia interfered only in order to put down several Turkmen " Khanate of Khiva 1511-1920

• "On May 8, 1873 the Orenburg Column marched into the city of Kungrad, the most important settlement in the northern part of the khanate. Muhammad Rahim's forces had abandoned the town only hours before." Hinson, The Fall of Khiva.

• 1873 - "The armed forces of Khiva were in such a state of antiquity that the most effective fighting force fielded by the khanate were the semi-nomadic Yomud Turcomen, who were vassals to Muhammad Rahim." Hinson, The Fall of Khiva.

• 1873 - When General Kauffman approached Khiva Muhammad Rahim had fled to the Yomud Turcomen. Hinson, The Fall of Khiva.

• "A peace treaty was finally signed on August 12, 1873. Blocked by his government from annexing the khanate, Kaufman managed to force the Khan to cede all of his lands north of the Amu Darya to the conquerors. Furthermore, the Russians obtained the right of residence, the right to trade tax-free in Khiva, and an indemnity of 202 million rubles to be paid over a twenty year period." Hinson, The Fall of Khiva.

• "On July 7, Major General Golovachev was sent into Yomud territory, located west of Khiva, with eight infantry companies, eight sotnias of Cossacks, a battery each of guns and rockets, and two mitrailleuses which had been dragged to Khiva by the Tashkent Column. The savagery with which the Yomud Turcomen were punished over the next two weeks came from the Governor-General himself. In his orders to Golovachev, Kaufman stated that the general was to give over the Yomud settlements, and their families, to complete destruction. If the soldiery met any resistance at all, the troops were to "exterminate" the opposition. The resulting slaughter spared neither age nor sex as the Russians, and especially the Cossacks, "rushed about like madmen"." Hinson, The Fall of Khiva.

• Late 1873 "Short of money for the return to Tashkent, Kaufman ordered the other Turcomen tribes in Khivan territory to pay their shares of the fine, some 301,000 rubles. Becoming somewhat more reasonable, he allowed them to pay half the sum in camels and the other half in either coin or gold or silver jewelry and other objects. They were given from July 21 to August 2 to pay. The punishment of the Yomuds had its desired effect on the other Turcomen bands. At the deadline, some 92,000 rubles had been collected, and as there was evidence of intent to pay, Kaufman allowed an indefinite extension to the payment deadline. To insure full payment, he took 26 hostages from among the families of Turcomen notables." Hinson, The Fall of Khiva.

• After the fall of Khiva the Russian army slaughtered Yomud Turkmen tribe in 1873.Ogata Resource Treasure-trove