Khiva

Khiva Xiva / Хива
Walls of Itchan Kala
Khiva Location in Uzbekistan
Coordinates: 41°23′N 60°22′E
Country	Uzbekistan
Province	Xorazm Province

Khiva (Uzbek: Xiva / Хива; Persian: خیوه / Khiveh‎; Russian: Хива; alternative or historical names include Khorasam, Khoresm, Khwarezm, Khwarizm, Khwarazm, Chorezm, and Persian: خوارزم‎) is a city of approximately 50,000 people located in Xorazm Province, Uzbekistan. It is the former capital of Khwarezmia and the Khanate of Khiva. Itchan Kala in Khiva was the first site in Uzbekistan to be inscribed in the World Heritage List (1991).

Etymology

The name Khiva is a Turkic garbling followed by a breakup and an abbreviation of the land's original Iranic name, Khwarazm (from Khwara+zem, "low land": it being the delta of the Amu Darya). First it was garbled into "khivarezem" (in accordance with Turkic phonetic conventions of such Iranic terms). Then, unaware of the original meaning of the compound name, it was broken up into meaningless Khiva+rezem, before retaining only the first part: Khiva.

• As the above is undocumented it should be added that another commonly known story describes the more probable story that, "It is said that Sim [Shem-from whence the word Semitic is derived], after the flood, he found himself wandering in the desert alone. Having fallen asleep, he dreamt of 300 burning torches. On waking up, he was pleased with this omen, he founded the city with outlines in the form of a ship mapped out according to the placement of the torches, about which he had dreamt. Then Sim dug the 'Kheyvak' well, the water from which had a surprising taste. It is possible to see this well in Ichan-Kala (an internal town of Khiva City) even today."

History

The painter Vasily Vereshchagin was present at the taking of Khiva by Russian forces.

For further history of Khiva and the Khanate of Khiva, see: Khwarezmia

In the early part of its history, the inhabitants of the area were from Iranian stock and spoke an Eastern Iranian language called Khwarezmian. Subsequently the Iranic ruling class was replaced by Turks in the 10th century A.D, and the region gradually tuned into an area with a majority of Turkic speakers.

The city of Khiva was first recorded by Muslim travellers in the 10th century, although archaeologists assert that the city has existed since the 6th century. By the early 17th century, Khiva had become the capital of the Khanate of Khiva, ruled by a branch of the Astrakhans, a Genghisid dynasty.

In 1873, Russian General Von Kaufman launched an attack on the city, which fell on 28 May 1873. Although the Russian Empire now controlled the Khanate, it nominally allowed Khiva to remain as a quasi-independent protectorate.

Following the Bolshevik seizure of power after the October Revolution, a short lived Khorezm People's Soviet Republic was created out of the territory of the old Khanate of Khiva, before its incorporation into the USSR in 1924, with the city of Khiva becoming part of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic.

Sights

Panorama view of Khiva (Uzbekistan)

Khiva is split into two parts. The outer town, called Dichan Kala, was formerly protected by a wall with 11 gates. The inner town, or Itchan Kala, is encircled by brick walls, whose foundations are believed to have been laid in the 10th century. Present-day crenellated walls date back to the late 17th century and attain the height of 10 meters.

The large blue tower in the central city square was supposed to be a minaret, but the Khan died and the succeeding Khan did not complete it; perhaps he realized that if completed, the minaret would overlook his harem and the muezzin would be able to see the Khan's wives. Construction was thus halted and the minaret remains unfinished to this day.

The old town retains more than 50 historic monuments and 250 old houses, mostly dating from the 18th or the 19th centuries. Djuma Mosque, for instance, was established in the 10th century and rebuilt in 1788-89, although its celebrated hypostyle hall still retains 112 columns taken from ancient structures.

It also is the site of the Sheikh Mukhtar-Vali Complex, a mausoleum nominated for World Heritage status in 1996.

Sister cities

• Nishapur, Iran

See also

• Khwarezmia
• Al-Khwarizmi
• Kumhar
• Trolleybuses in Urgench

References

Publications

• Campaigning on the Oxus, and the Fall of Khiva, MacGahan, (London, 1874).
• A Ride to Khiva, Frederick Burnaby, (OUP, 1997. First published 1876).
• Russian Central Asia, Lansdell, (London, 1885).
• A travers l'Asie Centrale, Moser, (Paris, 1886).
• Russia against India, Colquhoun, (New York, 1900).
• Khiva, in Russian, S. Goulichambaroff, (Askhabad, 1913).
• A Carpet Ride to Khiva, C. A. Alexander, (London, 2010).
• Journey to Khiva, Philip Glazebrook, A Writer's Search for Central Asia, (London, 1992).

External links

• Images and travel impressiones along the Silk Road - Khiva