Khiva, Khanate Of
The khanate of Khiva was a state centered in the basin of the Amu Dar'ya River in Central Asia from the early sixteenth century until 1920. Khiva was a successor state of the ancient and powerful state of Khorezm, founded by two descendants of Genghis Khan. The Uzbek chieftains Ilbars and Balbars conquered Khorezm, the land south of the Aral Sea and west of the Syr Dar'ya River, plus part of Khurasan, in 1511.
During much of Khiva's early history it was embroiled in wars between its own Uzbek and Turkmen populations and with its neighbors, Iran, Bukhara, and Turkmen nomads. At the same time the khanate government went through much change. Originally the khanate was a loose confederation of independent holdings all nominally owing allegiance to a great khan. By the early seventeenth century the confederation had been replaced by a system of powerful regional governors, or inaqs, who vied to control the khan. These inaqs were drawn from a powerful aristocratic class of Uzbek families, of whom the Qongrat and Manghits were the most powerful.
Khiva was handed a series of blows in the mid- eighteenth century as the khanate of Aral seceded in the northeast and Nadir Shah of Iran conquered the nation in 1740. In 1747 Iranian domination gave way to near anarchy as wars between the Qongrat and Manghit tribes, the khanate of Aral, and other Uzbek and Turkmen tribes tore the nation apart. The khanate hit a low point in 1767 when Yomut Turkmens captured the city of Khiva.
Muhammad Amin Inaq, a member of the Qongrat tribe, reconquered Khiva from the Yomut Turkmens and established his authority over the khan. During the reigns of Muhammad Amin's successors, Eltuzer and Muhammad Rahim, the Qongrat dynasty was established as Eltuzer deposed the khan and declared himself khan in 1804. Muhammad Rahim reunited Khiva by conquering the Aral khanate and breaking the power of the other Uzbek tribes.
Khiva was soon drawn into a fatal confrontation with Russia. The two clashed as early as 1839. In 1873 an overwhelming Russian force invaded Khiva. The resulting treaty made Khiva a protectorate of the Russian empire and stripped it of some territory but left Khiva's internal affairs intact. The Russian Revolution of 1917 sparked a short-lived seizure of power by Junaid Khan. Bolshevik and Khivan forces overthrew him in 1919 and abolished the khanate in 1920.
Further Reading
Becker, Seymour. (1968) Russia's Protectorates in Central Asia: Bukhara and Khiva, 1865–1924. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
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