page_title: Khanate of Khiva
section_title: After 1500
hierarchical_section_title: Khanate of Khiva / History / After 1500
context_page_description: The Khanate of Khiva was an Uzbek state that existed in the historical region of Khwarezm in Central Asia from 1511 to 1920, except for a period of Afsharid occupation by Nadir Shah between 1740 and 1746. Centred in the irrigated plains of the lower Amu Darya, south of the Aral Sea, with the capital in the city of Khiva, the country was ruled by an Uzbek Turkic tribe, the Khongirads, who came from Astrakhan. It covered present western Uzbekistan, southwestern Kazakhstan and much of Turkmenistan before Russian arrival at the second half of the 19th century. The country's population consisted mainly of Uzbeks and Turkmens.
  In 1873, the Khanate of Khiva was much reduced in size and became a Russian protectorate. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Khiva had a revolution too, and in 1920 the Khanate was replaced by the Khorezm People's Soviet Republic. In 1924, the area was formally incorporated into the Soviet Union and today is largely a part of Karakalpakstan and Xorazm Province in Uzbekistan.
context_section_description: After the capital was moved to Khiva, Khwarezm came to be called the Khanate of Khiva (the state had always referred to itself as Khwarezm, the Khanate of Khiva as a name was popularized by Russian historians in honor of its capital, Khiva). Some time around 1600 the Daryalik or west branch of the Oxus dried up causing the capital to be moved south to Khiva from Konye-Urgench. Although based in the Oxus delta the Khanate usually controlled most of what is now Turkmenistan. The population consisted of agriculturalists along the river, the so-called Sarts, and nomads or semi-nomads away from the river. The settled area was aristocratic with peasants bound to the land. There were many Persian slaves who had been captured by the Turkmen and a few Russian slaves. Before and during this period the settled area was increasingly infiltrated by Uzbeks from the north, their Turkic dialects evolving into what is now the Uzbek language while the original Iranian Khwarezmian language died out.  Ethnically the population was Uzbek along the river and Turkmen in the nomad area. The swampy area of the lower delta was increasingly Karakalpak and there were Kazakh nomads on the northern border. The Turkmen nomads paid taxes to the Khan and were a large part of his army but often revolted. Since the heart of the Khanate was surrounded by semi-desert the only easy military approach was along the Oxus. This led to many wars with the Khanate of Bukhara further up the river (1538–40, 1593, 1655, 1656, 1662, 1684, 1689, 1694, 1806, and others).
  Before 1505 Khwarezm was nominally dependent on the Timurid Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqara who was based in Khurasan.  From 1488 Muhammad Shaybani built a large but brief empire in southern central Asia, taking Khwarezm in 1505. At nearly the same time Shah Ismail I was building a powerful Shiite state in Persia. The two necessarily clashed and in 1510 Muhammad was killed and Khwarezm soon occupied. The Shah's religion provoked resistance and in 1511 his garrison was expelled and power passed to the Uzbek Ilbars who founded the long-lived Arabshahid dynasty.
  Circa 1540 and circa 1593 the khans were driven out by the Bukharans. In both cases they fled to Persia and soon returned. In 1558 Anthony Jenkinson visited Old Urgench and was not impressed. Following Arap Munhammad (1602–23), who moved the capital to Khiva, there was a period of disorder, including an invasion by the Kalmyks, who left laden with plunder. Disorder was ended by Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur (1643–63) who twice defeated the Kalmyks and wrote a history of central Asia. His son Anusha (1663–85) presided over a period of urban growth until he was deposed and blinded. From 1695 Khiva was for some years a vassal of Bukhara which appointed two khans. Shir Gazi Khan (1714–27), who was killed by Persian and Russian slaves, is said to have been the last proper Arabshahid. Khan Ilbars (1728–40) was a Kazakh who unwisely killed some Persian ambassadors.  In a repeat of the Shah Ismail story, Nadir Shah conquered Khiva, beheaded Ilbars and freed some 12-20,000 Persian slaves. Next year the Persian garrison was slaughtered, but the rebellion was quickly suppressed. Persian pretensions ended with Nadir's murder in 1747. After 1746 the Kongrat tribe became increasingly powerful and appointed puppet khans. Their power was formalized as the Kongrat dynasty by Iltuzar Khan in 1804. Khiva flourished under Muhammad Rahim Khan (1806–25) and Allah Quli Khan (1825–40) and then declined.  After Muhammad Amin Khan was killed trying to re-take Merv there was a long Turkmen rebellion (1855–67). In the first two years of the rebellion either, two or three Khans were killed by the Turkmen.
caption: A 1903 Polish map showing Khiva (Chiwa, in Polish) within the much reduced borders the Khanate had during 1874-1920
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