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By the time of the transition under the protectorate of Russia, the Bukhara Khanate occupied about 200 thousand km 2 and had up to 3 thousand inhabitants. The Uzbeks who inhabited it mainly lived in the valleys of the rivers Zarafshan, Kashka-Darya, Surkhan-Darya; Tajiks lived in the mountainous regions of Darvaz, Karategin, Baldzhuan and Kulyab; Turkmens - in the regions of Chardzhou, Karshi, Kerki and along the right bank of the Amu-Darya River.

Since 1868, being under the protectorate of Russia, the Bukhara Khanate retained the traditional administrative-territorial division. It included bekstvo-vilayets: Kermininsky, Chardzhuisky, Ziyautda, Nurata, Khatyrcha, Kitabsky, Shakhrisabzsky, Chirakchinsky, Yakkabagsky, Guzarsky, Baysunsky, Karateginsky, Denausky, Gissarsky, Darvazsky, Baldzhuansky, Shugnano-Rushansky, Kulyabsky, Kurgantepa, Kabadiansky, Shirabadsky, Kelifsky, Kerkinsky, Burdalyksky, Kabaklynsky, Karshi and Narazymsky. Bukhara and its suburban lands constituted an independent administrative unit. The emir of Bukhara ruled the khanate, relying on the Muslim clergy, landed aristocracy and merchants. He was considered the supreme commander of the army, which consisted of sarbaz (soldiers).

The head of the state administration of Bukhara was the first minister of the khanate - kush-begi. He had all administrative and administrative power. He controlled the work of the financial authorities, watched the collection of kharaj and zaket. Kush-begs were subordinate to divan-begs, who were in charge of collecting kharaj - land tax, and zyakatchi-kalon, who collected tax from livestock. An important item of state income was aminana - duty on exported goods. A special item of income for the Bukhara service nobility was peshkash - gifts in the form of gifts. The emir also practiced the sale of posts - beks, amlyakdars, kazis and rais. The beks ruled the vilayets, were appointed and replaced at the suggestion of the kush-begi. Amlyakdars headed tumens - administrative-taxable units; they were also appointed and removed by the emir on the recommendation of kush-begi.

In the Khanate of Bukhara, 90% of the population were rural residents 74 . They formed the backbone of the emir's army, divided into infantry, cavalry and artillery. At the head of the cavalry and artillerymen was topchi-bashi - the head of artillery. The protection of order in the cities was carried out by mirshabs - policemen. Soldiers received a salary of one tilly, with this meager money they needed to be fed and clothed. In order to somehow support their families, the soldiers were allowed to engage in agriculture and petty trade.

As a result of the new protectorate treaty concluded in September 1873, the Khanate of Bukhara, although it fell under stricter control of the empire than before, retained many benefits and privileges. The appointed special representative of Russia did not have the authority to interfere in the internal affairs of the khanate, he had only the right to control the foreign policy, military and foreign trade position of the khanate.

The head of the Bukhara Khanate was still the emir, whose property was not separated from the state, which gave him great advantages. The cumbersome apparatus of state administration has also been preserved.

The supreme administrative power in the Khanate of Bukhara remained in the hands of the Kush Begi, who managed all economic and civil affairs. He was subordinated to the junior kush-begi, who was in charge of the financial part, and the officials - sofa-begs, who were at the head of the regions.

The supreme commander - the military topchi-bashi - was at the same time the head of the garrison of the capital. The main branches of the Bukhara army were cavalry and irregular detachments of nukers - service people. In peacetime, they were exempt from taxes, and in wartime they had to serve in full armor, with a warhorse. The army was divided into hundreds, dozens. The commanders of the hundreds received for their service from the emir tankho - land estates, while the lower ranks received from the state during the war period only horses, grain for food, clothes and small sums of money. Under the emir, there was always a military detachment of cavalry and infantry.

In the XIX - early XX century. in connection with railway construction and active migration of the population from European Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, settlements of the European type and small towns appeared in the Bukhara Khanate: New Bukhara, Chardzhui, Termez and Kerki. These settlements had an independent system of administrative control. They had the "Regulations on the management of the Turkestan general government" in 1867. The Bukhara authorities had no right to interfere in their internal affairs. All officials of these settlements were appointed by the Turkestan governor-general.

According to the "Rules on the management, economy and improvement of settlements near the railway stations of Chardzhui and Novaya Bukhara" dated June 23, 1888, the Russian representative used the same administrative power in these settlements as the military governors. In New Bukhara, the post of head of the city was introduced, whose powers extended to Russian citizens of the city of Old Bukhara and villages along the railway between Farab and Kattakurgan stations. Chardzhui, Termez and Kerki were ruled by Russian chiefs, who had equal rights with the district chiefs of the Turkestan Governor-General 75

The military garrisons stationed in the Bukhara Khanate also had a special status. The troops were located near the city of Kerki and in the border fortification of Termez. They controlled the Afghan border. On the border line from the city of Kerki to Darvaz, there were posts of the border guards of the special Amu-Darya brigade and customs posts that regulated Russia's trade with the states of the East.

In 1885, the "Russian Imperial Political Agency" was created in Bukhara, which performed the functions of an embassy. Through a political agent, as the official representative of Russia in the khanate, all connections between Tashkent and St. Petersburg with the Bukhara government were carried out. He was also entrusted with control over the Russian-Afghan border: he monitored the observance of the terms of the agreement concluded between the two states in 1873, the duty-free transportation of Russian goods through the protectorate zone to neighboring eastern states, regulated the mutual payments of Russian and Bukhara merchants, ensured payment of claims for bills presented by Russian subjects, carried out judicial functions related to the interests of the Russian merchants in the Khanate.

In the created judicial commission, which consisted of a Russian political agent and kush-begi, criminal and civil cases that arose between Russian and Bukhara subjects were resolved by mutual agreement of the parties.

At the end of the XIX century. the prerogatives of a political agent undergo changes in connection with the organization of the Russian court in the Bukhara Khanate. His judicial rights were somewhat limited as a result of the introduction of the institution of magistrates who decided the cases of Russian citizens.

In 1873, after the conquest of the Khiva Khanate by the tsarist troops, a peace treaty was concluded, according to which the Khanate became a protectorate of Russia. To control the activities of the khan, a Divan is created consisting of 7 people: 4 representatives of the Russian administration and 3 representatives of the Khiva side (khan, divan-begi and mehter). The decisions of the Divan, headed by the khan, were approved by the Turkestan governor-general, who also appointed and dismissed the members of the Divan. After the formation of the Amu-Darya district, the Divan was abolished. In 1874, the district was renamed into a department with the center in the city of Petro-Aleksandrovsk. Leads it Russian military leader in the rank of officer 76

In 1887, the "Regulations on the Administration of the Turkestan Territory" were adopted, according to which the Amu-Darya department was included in the Syrdarya region, its chief was equated to the county chief, but with the preservation of special powers. He remains the head of the troops of the department and in military affairs is subordinate to the Turkestan Governor-General, being also the diplomatic representative of Russia in the Khiva Khanate.

Internal administration after the conclusion of the protectorate treaty remained unchanged. The Khan with hereditary power remained at the head of the Khiva Khanate, although his rights were curtailed by the Divan and the head of the Amu-Darya department. Management was carried out through palace officials and higher clergy. The main dignitary was kush-begi, who "managed" the settled population of the southern half of the khanate. He was followed by a mehter, to whom the settled population of the northern part of the country was subordinate. Another important position was the sofa-running position of the manager of the State Chancellery.

In the Khiva Khanate, the former division into districts was also preserved, headed by khakims - rulers, and sometimes qazis - judges. The lands around the cities on the right side of the Amu Darya were exempted from paying taxes and transferred to the management of members of the khan's family.

The management of the cities of the Khiva Khanate was in the hands of khakims, their assistants - yuzbashi (centuries) and kedkhudo (headmen).

In the villages, the management function was carried out by aksakals, whose duties included collecting taxes from the settled population, solving minor administrative issues and monitoring the behavior of the inhabitants. Mirabs were in charge of irrigation in the countryside.

Nomads had a special control system. The Kazakhs, Turkmens, and Karakalpaks who inhabited the khanate did not obey the khakims - they were ruled by their tribal foremen: among the Turkmens - beks and vakils, among the Kazakhs and Karakalpaks - biys, who were at the head of separate clans. The associations of clans were led by atalyks, who were subordinate to the beklyar-begi to the khan's officials.

Police power was concentrated in the hands of the mirshabs, who performed police functions at night, when the bazaars ended and the gates of the cities closed.

The khanate also kept its army. The regular army, numbering 1,500 people, guarded the khan's family in peacetime. During the war, the people's militia was assembled, which consisted of nukers (horsemen and infantry), as well as a special unit of mounted Turkmens. The regular army was led by yesaul-bashi. The commanders of the people's volunteer corps appointed by the khan were not professional soldiers 77 .

The Islamic clergy continued to play an important role in the khanate and under the protectorate of Russia. Its service part included: sheikh-ul-Islams, qazis, rais, muftis, mudarrises, imams, etc. There was also an institution of unofficial clergy - dervish sheikhs, who headed Murid organizations that had a great influence on the rural and urban population.

The local court was also preserved here. The supreme judge - kazi-kalyan - was appointed by the khan, like the rest of the judges in the state. Judges also performed notarial functions, sealed property transactions, inheritance cases. They were entrusted with the supervision of waqf property and guardianship of minor and incompetent heirs. The judges were not supported by the khan, but lived on fees for the commission of legal acts. They decided cases according to Sharia - Muslim religious law based on the Koran and collections of judicial decisions. The verdict was final and not subject to appeal. The judge listened to witnesses during the process, while the testimony of two women was equated with the testimony of one man. He pronounced the sentence immediately and immediately carried it out. Fines, imprisonment, caning, amputation of hands or feet were used as punishments. The preliminary investigation, as well as the defense of the accused, was absent. The death penalty was carried out only with the permission of the khan. The positions of judges in the cities were performed by qazis, who were subordinate to the supreme judge. In nomadic areas, the qazis also performed judicial functions. Some tribes had their own qazis, for example, the Karakalpaks decided their court cases in Chimbai, if they concerned inter-clan relations. Judicial punishments were also harsh: beheading, beating with sticks, cutting off the nose.

The second person after the supreme judge in the khanate was the rais - chief; he oversaw the behavior of the inhabitants, their implementation of Sharia regulations and carried out the functions of trade inspection. Rais used the lists to check the parishioners' attendance at the obligatory five-time prayers; in the markets he controlled the correctness of merchant measures and weights. If violations were discovered, the perpetrators were punished with a whip, and goods were confiscated from merchants 78 .

Such was the political and administrative structure of the two large state formations of Central Asia - the Bukhara and Khiva khanates - until the October Revolution of 1917.

Khiva Khanate(Khiva, ancient Khorezm), occupying the central part of the so-called. Central Asia, or Turkestan, in broad sense of this word, between 40° and 43¾° N. lat. and 57° and 62° E. duty. from Greenwich, borders to the west, southwest and south with the Transcaspian region. , to the southeast with Bukhara, to the east with the Amudarya department of the Syrdarya region. , on the N with the Aral Sea; has, in general, the form of a curved triangle, the base of which rests on the Aral Sea, and the top is turned along the Amu Darya to the SE; occupies (according to Strelbitsky) 54246 sq. in., or 61734 sq. km, with a population of about 700 thousand of both sexes. The border of the X. Khanate with the Transcaspian region, starting at the hall. Adzhibay on the Aral Sea, goes south along the eastern outskirts of Ustyurt, leaves within Kh. the basin of the lower reaches of the Amu Darya and its floods, the dried-up bays of Aibugar and Ak-Cheganak, as well as Lake. Sarykamysh, turns to B and, passing through the wells of Layla and Sagadzha, ends at the ruins of the Daya-Khatyn fortress, not far from the left bank of the Amu Darya. The border with Bukhara starting from here runs almost along the entire length of the Amu Darya (the left bank of which belongs to Khiva, and the right bank to Bukhara), up to the tract. Ichke-yar; further to the north, the border with the Amu Darya department goes all the time along the Amu Darya and along its eastern branch, up to its confluence with the Aral.

By nature, the entire area of ​​the Kh. Khanate consists of two parts - the Khiva oasis, well irrigated, relatively densely populated and cultivated, located in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya, to the left of the main channel, and adjacent to this oasis from the southwest and northwest, anhydrous, clay and sandy, in places saline, deserts. The same deserts approach the right bank of the Amu, thus bordering, almost from all sides, with boundless gray-yellow spaces a blooming and green oasis. According to the structure of the Kh. surface, the khanate is, in general, a plain cut through for more than 300 ver. from S to N of the Amu Darya, which distinguishes here many branches, channels and irrigation canals. This plain, gradually descending to the north to the Aral Sea, dotted here and there with floods, old channels, swamps and lakes, is located at a low altitude; its highest parts to the south lie no higher than 300-350 ft. above ocean level, and the northern edge descends to the Aral itself, i.e. up to 158 feet. above ocean level.

The existence and life of the Khiva oasis, which is the creation of the Amu Darya, are closely connected with this river; from it, through a network of canals, water is drawn for irrigation of fields; countless sleeves, channels and channels serve as convenient ways of communication; the lowering of the level in the river reduces the cultivated area and the results of the harvest, and the excess of water, especially when the dams break, bordering channels and canals in many places, causes floods and public disaster. Due to the softness of the coasts and bottom, composed of alluvial loess and sand, and the speed of the current, erosion occurs extremely quickly, and often within a few hours the fairway, channel, and sometimes the banks, change beyond recognition; in a short time new islands and channels appear, and significant areas of land disappear under water. In floods, erosion occurs with great speed. At Pitnyak, the Amu Darya begins to divide into branches and irrigation canals, some of which are of very considerable length and, in terms of their width and mass of carried water, represent real rivers. The main irrigation canals are: Polvan-ata (25 sazh. latitude), Khazavat, Shah-abat (135 ver. long.), Yarmysh, Kdych-niaz-bay, Yangi-bazaar-yab and Mangyt-arna. Both these channels and the natural channels and arms of the river produce many secondary channels, which, breaking up more and more, carry water to the fields. Since the slope of the whole country is small and does not allow water to be carried far, the irrigated lands are usually grouped near canals, and the areas located between them provide steppe spaces more suitable for nomadic than settled life. In winter, irrigation canals, half covered with silt during the period of their greatest activity from April to October, are cleaned, which takes a lot of people's labor, not less than 700,000 working days. The southeastern part of the oasis is a plain, in some places undulating, indented by irrigation canals, in general, significantly populated by a settled population and well cultivated. The northwestern large part of the oasis, which is actually the Amu delta - below the first, is irrigated, in addition to canals, by many channels and branches of the Amu Darya, is replete with floods, swamps, lakes and reeds and is relatively uncultured and poorly populated, partly by nomadic peoples. Nomadic Turkmen live in the steppes. At present, the waters of the Amu Darya pour into the Aral Sea along two main channels: Ul-kun-Darya and Yany-su, and along several small channels located between them and lost in the swamps. The third branch of the delta, Taldyk, which back in 1849 represented the only convenient entrance for steamers from the sea to the Amu Darya, at present does not reach the sea; it is blocked by dams and all its water is used for irrigation.

The climate of Kh. Khanate is quite continental. Winter does not last long (3-4 months), but frosts often reach 20 °, and the Amu Darya remains covered with ice, sometimes for about 1-1½ months. In Petroaleksandrovsk, January is as cold as in Christiania, 18½° to the north. Spring usually comes in March, at the end of which the vines closed for the winter, the pomegranate and the fig tree open; in mid-April everything is already green, and from May summer begins, characterized by intense heat, which, with thick caustic dust floating in clouds in the air, makes staying here extremely difficult. Frosts usually begin in October. The amount of precipitation is negligible (Petroaleksandrovsk - 99 mm, with fluctuations from 62 to 160), cloudiness and humidity are very low. The prevailing winds are cold and dry north and northeast; both of these winds range from 55% (Petroaleksandrovsk) to 60% (Nukus) of all winds, and the share of north-east. wind accounts for more than half of this amount, from 31% to 36%. As a result, strong summer heat, cloudless skies and the predominance of dry winds develop the strongest evaporation, exceeding, in the annual average, precipitation by dozens of times (in Nukus by 27, and in Petroaleksandrovsk by 36 times). In summer, evaporation exceeds precipitation by 85 times in Nukus and 270 times in Petroaleksandrovsk; even in winter, evaporation exceeds precipitation by 6 times.

The vegetation of Kh. khanate, according to the two parts that make it up, the steppes and deserts, on the one hand, and the oasis, on the other, can be attributed to two types. The vegetation of the first type consists of extremely characteristic forms common to the Central Asian steppes and deserts (see Kizil-Kul, Turkestan); As for the second, it, in its composition, comes closest to the type of coastal thickets (tugai), common along the banks of large Turkestan rivers. Along the banks of channels, branches and channels, and especially along the banks and islands of the Amu Darya, there are thickets consisting of willows, poplar (Populus diversifolia, pruinosa), tamarisk (Tamarix), jeddah (Eleagnus), chingil (Halimodendron argenteum), etc. intertwined with kendyr (Apocynum sibiricum) and other climbing plants and replaced by giant reeds. There are no forests in the usual sense of the word; far from the river, small groves of various-leaved poplars are occasionally found. Cultivated plantations should also be counted among the forest resources of the Kh. Khanate, which, wherever there is irrigation, are planted in abundance and give the appearance of a garden to some areas of the country. Such cultural plantings consist of different varieties willows, from garden jeddah, multi-leaved (turanga), pyramidal and silvery poplar, blackberry, mulberry and elm (elm), which is the largest and most beautiful tree in the oasis. In the northern part of the oasis, where there are many swamps, vast areas are occupied by reeds. Of the mammals characteristic of the Kh. oasis, the following can be noted: jackal, badger, fox, cheetah (Felis jubata), tiger, wild boar, hare, wolf, and wild cats; from birds - whiskered tit (Calamophilus barbatus), reed tit (Aegithalus maccronyx), goose (Anser cinereus), swans (Cygnus olor), cormorants, pink and curly woman birds (Pelecanus onocrotalus et crispus), cormorants, herons, swallows, marsh night owl (Caprimulgus oxianus), falcons, kites, eagles (Haliaetas Macei), gulls, pheasants (Phasianus oxianus), tugai nightingale, etc. Of the fish, we should note the chaklika (Scaphirhynchus Kaufmanni), whose closest relatives live in the Syrdarya and Mississippi. Steppes and deserts are inhabited by their peculiar species (see Kizyl-Kum, Turkestan).

The population of the Kh. khanate, the number of which is determined by different researchers unequally and can be taken as approximately 700 thousand, is quite diverse in its own way. ethnic composition. The dominant people are the Uzbeks, who live settled and are engaged in agriculture, partly in gardening, and in a small amount, in cattle breeding; Uzbeks also make up the entire ruling class population - administration, beks, etc. The number of Uzbeks living in Khiva is probably at least 200-250 thousand. and the southwestern steppe part of the Kh. Khanate, and partly in the middle of the oasis, on the steppe intervals between the channels, live Turkmens belonging to two clans - the Yumuds and the Choudors. They are engaged in cattle breeding and lead a semi-nomadic lifestyle. The northern part of the khanate, namely the delta of the Amu Darya, is occupied by the Karakalpaks, who live there settledly and are mainly engaged in cattle breeding, and partly in agriculture and fishing. The Kirghiz, nomadic in the same area, are pastoralists. A significant number of urban residents are of Tajik or Persian origin (Sarts); they mixed partly with the Turkmens and Uzbeks. There are also many descendants of former slaves and ancient conquerors (Persians, Afghans, Arabs, etc.). All these mixed nationalities are mainly engaged in trade and crafts. According to the 1897 census, there were about 4,000 Russian subjects registered in the Kh. Khanate, but these should mainly include residents of neighboring Turkestan and Kazan Tatars; Russians in this number are negligible. The bulk of the population of the Khanate professes Sunni Islam; Shiites are very few. There are no Jews at all.

The main source of people's well-being is agriculture, namely farming, and to a lesser extent, cattle breeding. In view of the peculiarities of the climate, agriculture is possible only with artificial irrigation, which is carried out either by direct discharge of water from canals to the fields, or, where the fields lie significantly above the water level in the canal, with a preliminary rise of water to the required height by means of a water-lifting wheel (chigir), propelled by the power of water or the draft of animals (camel, horse or donkey). The amount of irrigated land reaches approx. 220000 dec. (according to other sources - 700,000 dec.). The technique of agriculture is in a primitive state, but thanks to the fertility of the soil and the industriousness of the population, which makes a lot of work and skill in the cultivation of almost garden crops on their small plots of land, agriculture almost always gives satisfactory, and often very good results. The field intended for sowing is divided into regular sections, which are leveled like a table, and surrounded by small rollers, after which water is poured in, left until the soil is well saturated with it; fertilizer, in greater or lesser quantities, is placed everywhere, and both manure and weathered earth from the banks of canals, old fences, hills, etc. are used as it. In places where an excess of salts is noticed in the soil, it is necessary, at times, to completely renew topsoil, removing salt-soaked soil and replacing it with new soil. Plowing is done with a primitive plow, but very carefully, up and down, often up to 10-20 times, after which the field is leveled with a board. Bread is threshed by horses on the current. Correct crop rotation is not practiced by the Khiva people, but fruit rotation is replaced by abundant fertilizer, observing, if possible, a certain alternation of crops. Due to the long vegetation period after the removal of winter crops (wheat), it is possible to make secondary crops in the same field, and they usually sow sesame, mung bean (Phaseolus mango), millet, melon or jugar (Sorghum cernuum) for livestock feed. Of the cultivated plants, the following are common: winter and spring wheat, spring barley, dzhugara or durra, rice, alfalfa, millet, legumes - sheep peas, mung bean and lobia; sesame, flax, hemp, tobacco, cotton, melons, cucumbers, watermelons, pumpkins, carrots, beets, onions, madder (Rubia tinctoria), etc. Potatoes and cabbage are very rare. Grain breads give, under favorable conditions, up to 150 pounds. from des., and dzhugara - up to 250. Alfalfa and dzhugara (very densely) are sown on green fodder for horses and livestock. IN winter time livestock feed on alfalfa hay and dzhugara stalks. Oil is squeezed out of sesame, flax and part of cotton, at primitive oil mills; madder still serves as a dye plant. Tobacco is bred almost exclusively for chewing. There is no exact data on the amount of grain harvested in the Khanate, but it is known that in good years there are significant grain surpluses. According to some reports, the oasis yields about 5½ mil. pud. any bread. In terms of food, melons, watermelons and cucumbers are of great importance. A very important field plant is cotton, which is obtained in the southern part of the Khanate in an amount of up to 400-600 thousand pounds. pure fiber, exported to meet local needs, to Russia along the Amu Darya to Chardzhuy and further along the Trans-Caspian railway. road. Exclusively local cotton (Khiva) is bred, which, in comparison with other Central Asian local varieties, gives a longer, more delicate, and therefore more valuable fiber. Horticulture in the H. oasis has in places acquired a rather noticeable significance; in gardens, which are mostly small in size, besides fruit trees, forest trees (willow, poplar, elm) are also bred, which provide forest for buildings, as well as mulberry, which, in addition to fruits, provides leaves for feeding the silkworm. In the garden of a wealthy Khiva resident, on the bank of a pond, under the shade of an elm, a platform is usually arranged, near which a small flower garden with balsams, cockscombs and fragrant herbs is planted; on this platform, on carpets, the native's family spends almost the whole summer. Of the fruit trees in the oasis, apricots, plums, peaches, apples, quinces, mulberries and grapes are most often bred; pear, fig tree, pomegranate, walnut are less common. Some of the fruits (peach, apricot) are harvested for future use in dried form. Sericulture has existed in the oasis since time immemorial, but its size, due to diseases of the silkworm, has recently been greatly reduced. The amount of silk produced is small; it goes mainly to meet local needs, for the production of silk fabrics. The lack of meadow and pasture areas does not favor the development of cattle breeding in the oasis, where cattle, horses, donkeys, camels and sheep are bred for economic purposes on a relatively small scale. On the outskirts of the oasis and in the steppes, the breeding of camels and, in particular, sheep by semi-nomadic and nomadic populations is of more significant importance. Of the breeds of horses bred in the khanate, the main ones are the Kyrgyz, Karabairs (a cross between the Kyrgyz and Turkmen breeds) and the Turkmen, whose representatives are locally called Argamak. Argamaks are the most valuable element of horse breeding in the oasis, they are carefully and rather complexly cared for and valued quite expensively. Camels are bred with one and two humps; this branch of animal husbandry, which until recently was of great importance, is now declining. Cattle are bred mainly by the Karakalpaks in the Amudarya delta, and constitute their wealth. In addition to ordinary Kyrgyz cattle, the Indian breed of zebu (Bos indicus) is also common in the oasis. Sheep are bred fat-tailed and fat-tailed, giving valuable astrakhan skins. In the estates of the Uzbeks, donkeys and goats are also very common. Of the hunting dogs, "tazy" are issued - the Turkmen breed of greyhounds. According to information, however, hardly reliable, in the Khanate there are: 100,000 horses, 130,000 camels, 120,000 cattle, 960,000 sheep, and 179,000 goats. Hides and wool are important trade items. Commercial hunting is very poorly developed in the Kh. oasis; the purpose of hunting is in most cases the protection of fields and livestock. Hunting is more developed in the steppes among the Turkmens and Kirghiz (baiting hares, foxes, saigas, jackals, etc.) with greyhounds; hunting birds, mainly golden eagles, are used for the same purpose. On the Amu Darya and its branches, especially in the delta of the river and along some lakes, fishing is significantly developed, which is carried out by the Uzbeks and, mainly, by the Karakalpaks. Spike (Acipenser schypa), asp (Aspius esocinus), barbel (Barbus brachycephalus), catfish, carp, bream and so on are caught. In total, fish are caught within the oasis, probably no more than 50,000 pd.; part of it is exported to Bukhara. There is no factory industry in the Khanate, with the exception of a few ginneries in Khiva and Urgench, driven by steam or water. The steam cotton-cleaning plant of the Yaroslavl manufactory in Urgench, equipped with all the latest machines and devices for cleaning Khiva cotton from husks and seeds, is one of the best factories of this kind in Central Asia. The handicraft industry is less developed in the Kh. Khanate than, for example, in Bukhara or in other areas of Turkestan, and is concentrated mainly on the dressing of household items, coarse semi-silk, paper and woolen products. metal objects, shoes, etc. The quality of all these products is much lower than in Bukhara. The internal trade of the khanate is not distinguished by the vastness of turnovers and has the same character as other areas of Central Asia; on certain days, bazaars take place in cities and villages; on these days, merchants open shops, and the streets are overflowing with the surrounding population, stocking up on necessary household items and selling their raw products. A fairly lively exchange of goods takes place between the steppe, with its nomadic or semi-nomadic population, on the one hand, and the oasis, on the other. Foreign trade consists in the exchange of goods with Russia and Bukhara. Trade relations with Russia are carried out either by caravans to Uralsk and Orenburg, or by boats along the Amu Darya to Chardzhuy; along this last route, all the cotton going to Russian factories, as well as part of the goods destined for Bukhara, is exported from the Khanate. The largest trading centers are Khiva and Urgench, and in the northern part of the khanate - Kungrad. The following items are exported from the Kh. Khanate: cotton, dried fruits, skins, sheepskins, wool, fish, etc.; imports are manufactory, sugar, iron, dishes and small items, kerosene, tea, etc. According to estimates ( somewhat exaggerated), which were made during the design of the railway. dor. Alexandrov Gai - Khiva - Chardzhui, the Khanate can export: cotton and sesame seeds 1000 thousand pounds, cotton 500 thousand pounds, fresh fruit 250 thousand pounds, dried fruit 50 thousand pounds, livestock products 50 thousand pounds . and other goods 150 thousand pounds., and in total up to 2 million. pud. cargo. Imports to the Khanate could have amounted to: manufactory 100 thousand pounds, sugar 100 thousand pounds, iron, steel and products - 100 thousand pounds, kerosene - 50 thousand pounds, tea - 10 thousand pounds, other goods 40 thousand pd., total 500 thousand poods. Communication within the oasis is made by dirt roads on carts or on horseback and camels, as well as on boats along the river, its channels and larger channels. Along the Amu Darya, not only wooden, primitive, but also iron boats go: wooden boats (kime) are built from willow and raise: large ones - over 1000 lpd. cargo, medium - up to 600, small - up to 300 pd. Service life for long-distance navigation is 4-5 years; the cost of a large boat is up to 360 rubles. Boats go down the Amu on oars, up - on a strap; Swimming is usually done only during the day. A platoon voyage takes about 25 days from Urgench to Chardzhui, while the voyage down takes 4-7 days. Upward shipping fee from Urgench to Chardzhuy - 10 kopecks. from batman (54 fn.), down - 5 kopecks. from batman. Communication but the Amu Darya is also carried out by the steamer of the Amu Darya flotilla "Tsaritsa", which makes more or less regular trips between Chardzhui (Amu Darya station Zakasp. Railway) and Petroleksandrovsk, lying 1 / 2 days by boat from the city of Khanka to Kh. khanate. The flight up takes 5 days, down - 3, but very often, in shallow water and due to the poor design of the steamer, sitting too deep, the flights are delayed; there were cases when the steamboat traveled the distance from Petroaleksandrovsk to Chardzhuy (360-400 ver.) in 15 days or even about a month. Control. Due to the extremely difficult accessibility of the Kh. khanate, located far from the main routes in Central Asia, this country has completely retained its former appearance; holding the Transcaspian Railway. dor., and in general the enormous development in the last 15-20 years of Turkestan, had almost no effect on the Kh. khanate, which, in its structure and orders, remained a living image of past times and was relatively little studied in many respects. Kh. khan, being the unlimited ruler of the entire khanate and the manager of the fate of his subjects, nevertheless, complies with the instructions emanating from the Russian government and transmitted through the Turkestan governor-general. All relations with the khan are conducted through the head of the Amudarya department, who lives in Petroaleksandrovsk. Khan governs the country with the help of a naqib (spiritual head), atalyks (advisers) and a mehter (something like a minister of internal affairs). According to the treatise of 25 Aug. 1873, Khan recognized himself as a vassal of Russia; Russians granted the right free trade in the khanate and free navigation along the Amu Darya; in addition, the khan undertook to cede land for government institutions of Russia and to maintain Russian government buildings in good order. In addition to Russia, the khan cannot communicate with other states. There is almost no regular standing army in the Khanate; during the war, it puts up a militia, the number of which can be increased to 20,000 people. The income of the khanate hardly reaches 1 million. rub. in year. Coins: gold - tillya, worth 4 rubles, silver - tenga, 20 kopecks, shai - 5 kopecks, pul - 1/2 kopecks. Khanom Kh. is currently Seid-Muhammed-Rahim (since 1861), who, like his immediate ancestors, comes from the Uzbek clan Kungrad. During the coronation in 1896, Kh. Khan was granted the title of "lordship".

History. According to the Khwarezmian historian of the XI century. according to R. Chr. Biruni, there was an era in Khorezm that began from 1292 BC, as from the foundation of an agricultural culture in the country; but this and other dates given by the same historian are probably based only on astronomical calculations and religious beliefs. We are for native sources ancient history we do not have a country; in the historical literature of other countries, only the most meager information is found. Khorezm is first mentioned in the inscriptions of Darius I, under which he was part of the Persian state. Under Alexander the Great, Khorezm had an independent king, Farasman, whose possessions extended west to Colchis, i.e., almost to the Black Sea. For the period 304-995 according to R. Chr. Biruni gives the names of 22 kings (after the father there is always a son); the date 304 seems to be based only on the generation count. Personal names, historical legends and information about the type and language of the inhabitants show that the population of Khorezm belonged to the Iranian branch of the Aryan peoples, but was early mixed with Turkic elements. In 712 the Arab conquest took place; the Arabs retained the native dynasty and at the same time appointed their governor. The dual power gradually led to the disintegration of Khorezm into two independent, mutually hostile possessions: the possession of the native kings, the Khorezmshahs, in the south, with the main city of Kyat (now the village of Sheikh Abbas-Veli), and the possession of the Arab emirs, in the north, with the main city of Gurganch (now Kunya-Urgench). The unity of Khorezm was restored in 995 by Emir Mamun, who deposed the Khorezmshah Abu-Abdallah. After Mamun, his sons Ali and Mamun II ruled. In 1017, Khorezm was conquered by the Gaznevid sultan Mahmud (VII, 809 and XVIII, 823), who appointed his commander Altuntash as governor there, with the title of Khorezmshah; the same title was subsequently worn by all the rulers of the country, up to and including Kh. khans. Altuntash was succeeded by his sons Harun (1032-35) and Ismail Khandan (1035-41), who revolted against the Ghaznavids (see). In 1041, Khorezm was conquered by the ruler of Jend (on the lower reaches of the Syr Darya), Shah-Melik; in 1043 it became part of the Seljuk Empire (see Seljuks). In 1097, Qutb-ad-din Muhammad, the founder of a new dynasty of Khorezmshahs, was appointed governor. His son and successor Atsiz (1127-56) waged a stubborn struggle against the Seljuk sultan Sinjar and actually became an independent sovereign, although until his death he was considered a vassal of the Seljuk sultan and, in addition, a tributary of the Karakitays who conquered Turkestan in 1141 (see Kidani) . His successors Il-Arslan (1156-72) and Tekesh (1172-1200), who took advantage of the decline of the Seljuk dynasty to assert their power in the eastern and, partly, in the western regions of Persia, were also considered tributaries of the Karakitays (the death of the last Seljuk sultan in the struggle against Tekesh in 1194). Under the son of Tekesh, Muhammad (1200-1220), Khorezm reached the highest degree of power; Khorezmshah in 1210 defeated the Karakitays and conquered Maverannehr (see); all of Iran and even the eastern coast of Arabia submitted to him. The capital of Khorezm, Gurganch, became one of the most flourishing cities in Asia and one of the centers of active intellectual life. However, internal turmoil caused by Muhammad's inability to restrain his multi-tribal army did not make it possible to repel the invasion of Genghis Khan and the Mongols; Muhammad fled to an island in the Caspian Sea, where he died. His son and successor Jalal-ad-din was forced to leave Khorezm already in 1221, which was conquered by the Mongols in the same year. The latter destroyed the dams on the Amu Darya and plundered the country, which could no longer recover from this invasion, although Gurganch, renamed Urgench by the Mongols and Turks, was restored a few years later and during the existence of the Mongol Empire was one of the most important trading points on the way from Europe to Asia. According to travelers, the population of Khorezm at that time already spoke the Turkic language. Khorezm became part of the possessions inherited by the eldest son of Genghis Khan, Jochi, and his descendants, the Golden Horde khans. After the weakening of the power of the Golden Horde in Khorezm, an independent Sufi dynasty was formed, from the Kungrat clan. The founder of the Hussein dynasty in 1372; his successor Yusuf fought unsuccessfully with Timur, who in 1379 conquered Khorezm and made another trip there in 1388 to punish the inhabitants for going over to the side of Tokhtamysh; the area was devastated and the inhabitants moved to other lands. In 1391, Timur allowed Urgench to be restored and the country repopulated. In the XV century. Khorezm was the subject of a struggle between the descendants of Timur and the Golden Horde khans; representatives of the Sufi house are also mentioned as vassals of one or another. In 1405, after the death of Timur, the region was a occupied by Edigey, and in 1413 it was subordinated to Timur's son, Shahrukh; in 1431 it was invaded by the Uzbek Khan Abulkhair (see Uzbeks); in the middle of the fifteenth century it was owned by the Jochid khan Mustafa and Osman Sufi; at the end of the same century, it was part of the possessions of Timur's descendant, Sultan Hussein (1469-1506). In 1505, the Uzbek Khan Sheibani conquered the region, after the brave resistance of the local ruler (vassal Hussein) Chin Sufi. In 1510, Khorezm came under the control of the Persian Shah Ismail (XXIII, 394) and soon after that was invaded by another branch of the Uzbeks, under the command of the brothers Ilbars and Balbars, who founded the Khanate. The main city of the Khanate in the XVI century. Urgench remained (now Kunya-Urgench), but around 1575 he lost water due to the turn of the main arm of the Amu Darya, after which life gradually began to move into the southern part of the khanate; in the 17th century Khiva became the capital. The khanate also included the cities of sowing. parts of Khorasan (now part of the Transcaspian region). The content of the history of the Kh. khanate consists of internecine strife among representatives of the dynasty, the struggle between khans and influential families, raids on Khorasan, wars with the Turkmens and the Bukhara khans; the latter several times (1538, 1593, 1643, 1688) managed to subjugate the khanate for a short time. The Uzbek conquest increased the population without increasing the country's productivity (the nomadic conquerors lived off the settled indigenous population); hence the increased demand for slave labor, constant raids on neighboring regions, robbery of caravans; the khanate remained a robber state of Kh. until the Russian conquest. Political turmoil caused a decline in the level of culture. By the 17th century includes the remarkable historical work of Khan Abulgaz (1643-63), which serves as the main source for the history of the Khanate. The dynasty of the founders of the khanate ceased in 1688; in the 18th century not a single khan could firmly establish his power and establish a dynasty; khans were invited either from Bukhara or from the Kirghiz steppes. In 1740, the Kh. Khanate was conquered by Nadir Shah, but with the death of the latter (1747), dependence on Persia ceased. In the second half of the XVIII century. the khans lost their actual power, which passed into the hands of their advisers, ipaks. At the beginning of the XIX century. one of the Ipaks, Iltezer, took the title of khan and founded a dynasty that still rules today. Iltezer's brother and successor Mohammed-Rahim (1810-25) put internal affairs in some order; both he and his son Alla-Kul (1825-42) tried to subjugate the Turkmens and Kirghiz to their power. The intervention of the khans in the affairs of the Kirghiz steppes and the sale into slavery in Khiva of Russians captured by the Turkmens on the Caspian Sea led to a clash with Russia (see below).

Wed E. Sachau, "Zur Geschichte und Chronologie von Khwârizm" (B., 1873); P. Lerch, Khiva oder Kharezm. Seine historischen und geographischen Verhältnisse" (St. Petersburg, 1873); N. Veselovsky, “Essay on historical and geographical information about the Kh. Khanate from ancient times to the present” (St. Petersburg, 1877).

History of relations between Kh. khanate and Russia probably dates back to 1603, when, according to Kh. historian Abul-gazi-khan, the Yaik Cossacks, including approx. 1000 people raided Urgench. In the same century, the Moscow government sent a number of embassies to Khiva, namely: in 1620, the nobleman Ivan Khokhlov went to Bukhara through Khiva, in 1669 - the Astrakhan nobleman Ivan Fedotov and the townsman Matvey Muromtsev; in the same year, Boris Pazukhin went to Khiva; in 1675, the embassy of Vasily Daudov passed through Khiva; in 1695, the merchant Semyon Malkiy passed with goods on his way to India to the Great Mogul. Tired of submitting to Bukhara, Kh. khan Shakhniaz in 1700 sent envoys to Peter the Great to ask for the acceptance of Khiva into Russian citizenship, which was followed on June 30, 1700 by the consent of the king. In 1703 and 1714 new embassies arrived from Khiva. The last embassy gave rise to the expedition of Prince. Bekovich-Cherkassky (1714-17), which is the first major episode in the history of Russia's relations with Khiva. The entire Russian detachment (3½ thousand) was destroyed near the city of Porsu within the khanate. More than 100 years passed before a new attempt by the Russians to move into Central Asia, namely, before the Khiva campaign of 1839-40 (see Khiva campaigns). Having retained, as a result of the failure of the campaign, complete independence, Khiva continued to have a harmful influence on the nomads, who constantly disturbed our border in Central Asia. Khiva raids in 1847-48. and the defiant and hostile course of action that the Khanate held during the war with the Kokand and Bukhara led to the decision to subdue Khiva by force of arms, which was carried out by the Kh. expedition in 1873 under the command of the gene. Kaufman (see H. campaigns). Upon the final reconciliation of the region, the terms of peace between Russia and the Khanate were signed in Khiva (Aug. 12, 1873). Under these conditions, Khiva was subordinate to Russia, paid 2200 thousand rubles. military costs (with payment by installments for 20 years) and ceded the entire territory on the right side of the Amu Darya and the westernmost branch of this river, until it flows into the Aral Sea.

“The composition of the Khiva constitution, of Mongolian origin, includes:
1) Khan or padisha, elected from a victorious tribe.
2) 4 inaga - the two closest relatives of the khan.
3) The Naqib, the spiritual ruler, is in the same rank as the Sheikh-ul-Islam in Constantinople.
4) Bi during the battle should be on the right hand of the khan; then: Minbagli, yuzbagli, onbagli - chiefs of detachments, etc ... "

A. Vamberi “Journey through Central Asia in 1863.

We have repeatedly mentioned the fertility of the Khiva soil; especially noteworthy are cereals, good rice, mainly Görlen, the finest silk in Shahbad and Yangi-Urgench, cotton, ruyan - a kind of root from which red dye is extracted, and fruits, the best of which, perhaps, are not found not only in Persia and Turkey, but even in Europe.
Wonderful apples in Hezarasp, pears and pomegranates in Khiva, and incomparable delicious melons, which are famous as far as distant Beijing, (I brought seeds of four different varieties to Hungary, and judging by the first experience, melons will probably be to produce crops in the lowlands of Hungary as well.) so that the lord of the Heavenly Empire did not forget to claim among the annual gifts that came to him from the Chinese Tartary, several Urgench melons.
For them they give good price even in Russia, so that he who takes away the air comes back with a load of sugar. Of the products of the Khiva industry, the Urgench chapan is famous, i.e. caftan from Urgench, it is sewn from a striped two-color fabric (wool or silk, and often both threads are mixed) like our dressing gowns; in addition, Khiva copper utensils, Khezaresp guns, and Tashauz linen are widely known.

Khiva conducts the largest trade with Russia. Caravans of one or two thousand camels go to Orenburg in spring, to Astrakhan in autumn; they bring cotton, silk, skins, clothes for Nogais and Tatars, shagreen leather and fruits to the fair in Nizhny (which they call "Makaria") and bring back boilers and other utensils made of cast iron (local "jogen"), chintz (a variety used in our country for upholstery of furniture, but here it is used for women's shirts), percale, cloth, sugar, iron, bad guns and some haberdashery goods.
Fish is also a significant export article, however, the Russians themselves deliver fish under the protection of three steamships that are in the Aral Sea and, according to the treatise concluded by the last Russian embassy in Khiva, can reach Kungrad itself. Trade with Persia and Herat is carried out on a small scale (True, in Herat and its environs they willingly wear the Khiva chapan (caftan from Khiva) and give a good price for it, but this product is brought there through Bukhara) because the roads leading there are in the hands of Turkmens.
Relations between Khiva and Astrabad are supported only by the Yomuts, who annually bring 100 to 150 camels with boxwood (for combs) and oil. Trade relations with Bukhara, on the contrary, are much livelier. Clothes and linen are exported there, and they buy tea, spices, paper and small haberdashery goods made there.
For trade within the country, a bazaar is open in each city once or twice a week. Even in those places where only nomads live and there is not a single house, a market square (bazaarli-jai) is created with several clay huts so that you can arrange market trade, which in this area has the character of a holiday. A Central Asian often travels 10 to 12 miles to the bazaar to buy a few needles or other small things, but in fact he is motivated by vanity, as he mounts his most beautiful horse and takes with him the best weapons.

The population of the Khiva Khanate.

In Khiva live 1) Uzbeks, 2) Turkmens, 3) Karakalpaks, 4) Kazakhs (called Kirghiz), 5) Sarts, 6) Persians.
1. Uzbeks. Uzbeks is the name of the people, mostly settled and engaged in agriculture. They live in a vast area from the southern tip of the Aral Sea to Kamul (40 days' journey from Khiva) and are considered the predominant people in the three khanates and Chinese Tataria. Uzbeks are divided into 32 main taif (tribes): 1) Kungrad (Kungrad), 2) Kipchak (Kiptschak), 3) Hitai (Chitai), 4) Mangyt (Mangit), 5) Knox (Nöks), 6) Naiman (Nayman ), 7) Kulan (Kulan), 8) Kiyat (Kiet), 9) As (As), 10) Taz (Tas), 11) Sayat (Sajat), 12) Jagatai (Dschagatay), 13) Uyghur (Ujgur) , 14) Akbet (Akbet), 15) Dermen (Dormen), 16) Yoshun (Oeschün), 17 Kanjigals (Kandschigaly), 18) Nogai (Nogai), 19) Balgali (Balgali), 20) Miten (Miten), 21 ) jelair (Dschelair), 22) kenegös (Kenegös), 23) kanly (Kanli), 24) ishkili (Jschkili), 25) beyurlu (Btsjürl), 26) alchin (Altschin), 27) achmaily (Atschmayli), 28) karakursak (Karakursak), 29) birkulak (Birkulak), 30) tyrkysh (Tyrkysch), 31) Kellekeser (Kellekeser), 32) Ming (Ming).
This division is old, only the circumstance that even individual tribes are widely scattered over the named territory attracts attention, and it strikes the researcher, it often seems simply incredible to him that the Uzbeks from Khiva, Kokand and Yarkand, whose language, customs and faces are completely different, they are aware of their belonging not only to one nation, but also to one tribe, to one clan.
I just want to note that most of the tribes are represented in Khiva, and the Khiva is rightfully proud of his ancient Uzbek nationality, opposing it to Kokand, Bukhara and Kashgar. At first glance, the Khiva Uzbek betrays an admixture of Iranian features, for he has a beard, which among the inhabitants of Turkestan can always be considered as an alien element, while the color and features of the face very often indicate a purely Tatar origin.
Yes, and in character, the Khiva Uzbek is preferable to the rest of his fellow tribesmen, he is simple-hearted and frank, and by nature is still as wild as the nomads around him, but he does not have the refined slyness developed by Eastern civilization, and after a real Osman, this is the second inhabitant of the East from which something else could come out.

The fact that Khiva has less of the Islamic education for which Bukhara is famous contributed greatly to the preservation by Khiva Uzbeks of much of both their pagan customs and Persian religious rites.
Love for music and folk Turkic poetry, for which the Central Asian nomad has a passion more ardent than a representative of any educated nation, is stronger here than in Kokand, Bukhara and Kashgar. Khiva performers on the dutar (two-string guitar) and kobuz (lute) are famous throughout Turkestan. The greatest Uzbek poet Navoi is known to everyone, but not a single decade passes without a lyricist of the second or third magnitude appearing.
In Khiva I met two brothers. One brother, Muniz, wrote poetry, some of which I intend to publish later; the second, Mirab, with great patience translated the great historical work of Mirkhond into the Uzbek-Turkic dialect in order to make it more accessible to his son, who, however, also knew the Persian language. This work lasted 20 years, but he was embarrassed to admit it to anyone, because the pursuit of other sciences, except for religious ones, is considered frivolous.
Despite the centuries-old age of the city, Khiva customs bear the stamp of the former heroic life. Very often there are demonstrative battles, battles, and especially horse races with magnificent prizes. Every significant wedding is not complete without jumps on 9, 19, 29, i.e. the winner receives 9, 19, or 29 pieces of any kind of property, such as 9 sheep, 19 goats, etc., which is often a considerable amount.
We have already talked about the races of the bride with her future husband, the so-called kyokbyoryu. From the former inhabitants of the country, fire worshipers, holidays and games have been preserved in Khiva, which, probably. existed in other parts of Central Asia before the introduction of Islam, but are now completely forgotten.
2. Turkmens. We have already talked about them in more detail. Here, in Khiva, there are a) Yomuts living in the south, along the edge of the desert from Köne-Urgench to Khazavat, in the regions of Karailgin, Kokchege, Uzbek-Yap, Bedrkend and Medemin; b) chovdur, also roaming near Köne, namely near Kyzyl-Takyr and Porsu, but more often to the west, between the Aral and Caspian seas. There are very few Göckins here.
3. Karakalpaks. They live on the other side of the Oxus, opposite Görlen and further almost to Kungrad, near large thickets. They have few horses, almost no sheep. The Karakalpaks are famous for having the most beautiful women in Turkestan, but they themselves are portrayed as the greatest idiots.
I counted 10 main tribes among them: 1) Baimakli (Bajmakli), 2) Khandekli (Chandekli), 3) Terstamgali (Terstamgali), 4) Achamaili (Atschamayli), 5) Kaychili-Khitai (Kaytschili Chitai), 6) Ingakly ( Ingakli), 7) keneges (Keneges), 8) tomboyun (Tombojun), 9) saku (Saku), 10) onterturuk (Ontörturuk).
Their number is determined at 10 thousand wagons. From time immemorial they have been subordinate to Khiva. Forty years ago, they revolted under the leadership of Aydost, who invaded Kungrad, but was later defeated by Muhammad Rakhim Khan.
Eight years ago, they again rebelled under the leadership of Sarlyg, who, as they say, had 20 thousand horsemen and caused great devastation. In the end, the rebels were defeated by Kutlug Murad-biy and dispersed. The last time they rebelled three years ago, their leader Er-Nazar built a fortress for himself, but was also defeated.
4. Kazakhs (Kyrgyz). Now there are very few of them in Khiva, since in recent times they have mostly come under Russian rule. We will talk about this nomadic people of Central Asia when we talk about Bukhara.
5. Sarts. Sarts, called Tajiks in Bukhara and Kokand, are the ancient Persian population of Khorezm, their number is relatively small here. Gradually they mixed their native Persian with Turkic. Sarts, like Tajiks, can be recognized by their cunning and grace; Uzbeks don't like them very much. It is characteristic that, although they have been living together for five centuries, mixed marriages between Uzbeks and Sarts were very rare.
6. Persians. These are either slaves, of which there are about 40 thousand, or those who have been freed from captivity; in addition, they form a small colony in Ak-Derbend and Jamli. However, in material terms, the slave lives well in Khiva, since he surpasses the modest Uzbek in cunning and soon grows rich. Many prefer, having bought themselves free, to settle there and do not return to their homeland. A slave in Khiva is called "dogma", and his children - "khanezad", i.e. "born in the house". The shame of the transferred slavery is erased only in the third generation.

On the history of Khiva in the 19th century.

1. Mohammed Emin-inak. (1792 - 1800). After Nadir Shah, who had taken possession of the khanate without a fight, suddenly retired (After he defeated Yolbars (Leo) Shah in 1740 and returned to Herat a few months later), the Kirghiz of Malaya came to power in Khiva. Hordes (or Ustyurt Kazakhs, i.e. Kazakhs of the Upper Yurt). They ruled until the end of the century, when an Uzbek leader from the Konrad tribe appeared and claimed his rights to the throne.
He called himself Mohammed Emin-inak. With this title, he wanted to emphasize his origin from the last ruling Uzbek family. He managed to gather a small army and send it against the Kazakh prince. However, he was then still strong enough and more than once defeated his opponent, forcing him to eventually flee to Bukhara, where he lived for several years in seclusion. But his adherents continued the struggle until they achieved some success, after which they sent a deputation of 40 horsemen to him.
He returned and again stood at the head of the army. This time he was more fortunate, he drove out the Kazakhs and, having ascended the throne, founded the current ruling dynasty, which, as is clear from the attached genealogy, succeeded him without any interruptions.
2. Iltuzer Khan (1800 - 1804). He continued the war with Bukhara, which supported the falling power of the Kazakhs. While he was in the vicinity of Chardjou, the Yomuts, incited by the Bukharans, under the leadership of their leader Tapishdeli, attacked Khiva, captured the city and plundered it. Iltuzer immediately went to Khiva, but on the way he was defeated by the Bukharians and, fleeing, died in the waters of the Oxus. He was succeeded by his son Muhammad Rahim.
3. Mohammed Rahim (1804 - 1826), also called Medrehim. He immediately turned his weapons against the Yomuts, drove them out of the capital and received a substantial compensation for the losses caused. No less successful was his struggle with the Karakalpaks, who opposed him under the leadership of Aydost; he quickly forced them into submission. Military operations against Kungrad were not so successful, where one of his relatives, with whom he waged war for 17 years, disputed the rights to the throne.
All this time, Kungrad was under siege, but the staunch defender, laughing at the futile efforts of the enemy, once shouted to him from the battlement of the tower wall: “Uch ai savun, i.e. three months of sour milk, kavun - melons, kabak - pumpkins, chabak - fish.
Thus, he wanted to tell him that he has special food for every season of the year, which he receives without leaving the city, that he does not need bread and cannot be forced to surrender because of hunger.
To avenge his father's death, Medrehim moved to Bukhara, where at that time the reins of government were in the hands of the feeble-minded emir Seyid, who introduced himself as a dervish. Khivans ravaged many cities near Bukhara and took thousands of prisoners.
This was reported to the emir, and he answered: “Akhir Registan amandur”, i.e. that he has a Registan, (the main square of Bukhara.) a safe place, and he has nothing to fear. Having made great devastations, Medrekhim returned home with huge booty and at the end of his reign defeated more Teke and Yomuts near Astrabad.
4. Alla Kuli Khan (1826 - 1841). He inherited from his father, along with a complete khazneh (treasury), also a powerful influence on neighboring peoples. Efforts to save him involved the khan in endless wars. In Bukhara, the feeble-minded Seyid was succeeded by the energetic Nasrullah. Wanting to take revenge for the shameful defeat of his father, he started a war and utterly defeated the Khiva crown prince Rakhim Kulityore. At this time, news came that the Russians were moving from Orenburg to Khiva, and that even the Emir of Bukhara had set out only at the instigation of the infidels.
The confusion was great, as it was said that * *the Muscovites had more than 80 thousand troops and over a hundred guns. (This is the version of the Khivans. However, it is known that General Perovsky, who commanded the corps, had 10-12 thousand people who died from the severe cold and during the retreat suffered great losses from the Khivans).
After waiting in vain for a long time for help from the "Ingliz" from Herat, the Khan sent about 10 thousand horsemen under the command of Khoja Niyaz-bay to meet the Russians, who had already advanced from the Urge plain to Lake Atyolu, located six miles from Kungrad. The people of Khiva say that they attacked the enemy and committed an unheard-of massacre. They captured many, and in Kungrad they showed me two Russians who became prisoners in that battle.
Later, when they officially converted to Islam, the khan freed them and bestowed gifts, besides, they got married there. After the victory, the khan ordered that fortifications be built in the vicinity of Devkara on both sides, and Khoja Niyaz-bai put in charge of the garrison. Now these fortifications have been destroyed and abandoned for ten years. To thank God for good luck in the fight against the Russians, Alla Kuli ordered the construction of a madrasah (school) and generously provided for it.
Meanwhile, the war with Bukhara continued uninterrupted. Göklen were also defeated, and a significant part of them were forcibly resettled in Khiva. (In Khiva, there is an old but strange custom, according to which entire tribes are suddenly forcibly resettled in their own country, giving them all kinds of support, so that it would be easier to supervise them up close, because their hostility never passes).


5. Rakhim Kuli Khan (1841 - 1843). He inherited the throne after the death of his father and was immediately involved in dealings with the Jemshids, a nomadic Persian people living on the eastern bank of the Murghab. The people of Khiva settled their 10,000 wagons along with their leader on the banks of the Oxus, near Kylychbay.

On the other hand, the Saryks, who at that time owned Merv, entered the fight against the Uzbeks. The younger brother of the khan, Medemin-inak, was sent against them, but the road from Khiva to Merv was terrible, many soldiers fell ill on the way, and since at the same time the Bukhara emir was besieging the city of Hezaresp, inak quickly turned his weapon against him, won a victory and concluded peace. At this time, Rakhim Quli Khan died.
6. Mohammed Emin Khan (1843 - 1855). He accepted the reins of government, which he rightly claimed, and not according to the law of succession to the throne, since the late khan had sons, but according to his former merits. Medemin Khan is considered the most famous monarch of Khiva of modern times, because he restored, as far as possible, the former borders of the Khorezm state, which had not existed for 400 years, and thanks to victories over all the surrounding nomads, he significantly contributed to an increase in both the prestige of the khanate and its income.
Just two days after he was raised on a white felt mat (As I was told, the performance of this ceremony has been a privilege since the time of Genghis Khan exclusively for the gray-bearded Chagatai tribe.) - this is a kind of accession to the throne in Khiva and Kokand - he went to Saryks, the bravest of all the Turkmen tribes, which he wished to subjugate along with the fertile Merv plain to his power. After six campaigns, he managed to take the Merv fortress and the Yoleten fort located nearby.
But as soon as he managed to return to Khiva, the Saryks rebelled again and killed the entire garrison left in Merv, along with the commandant. Soon the khan undertook a new campaign, in which the Jemshids, old enemies of the Saryks, also took part. The winner was their leader Mir Mohammed, who triumphantly entered Khiva to the great annoyance of all Uzbek heroes.
The Saryks, thus, were subordinated, but then the Teke, who then lived in Karayapa and Kabukly between Merv and Akhal, behaved hostilely; they refused to pay the annual tribute, and Medemin had no choice but to turn his sword, from which Turkmen blood had not yet drained, against this tribe.
After three campaigns, during which many people and animals found death in the sandy desert, they managed to get the better of part of the rebels, and the khan left a garrison there, consisting of Yomuts and Uzbeks, under the command of two leaders. Unfortunately, they quarreled, and the first of them returned to Khiva, but the khan threw him off a high tower as punishment.
By this act, the khan turned all the Yomuts into his enemies; they secretly joined the theca and later became responsible for his death. By this time, Medemin had gathered 40,000 horsemen from Uzbeks and other nomads who paid tribute to him.
He sent a part to the fortifications of Khoja Niyaz-bai against the Russians, who were then moving towards Khiva from the eastern coast of the Aral Sea. With the other part, he himself went to Merv in order to put an end to the eternal Turkmen troubles with one blow.
He immediately took Karayap and went on to Serakhs (ancient Syrinx). When he was resting in his tent not far from him on a hill (It is said about this hill that Abu Muslim, a powerful vassal, and later an enemy of the Baghdad caliph, also found his death here.) right in the middle of the camp, he was attacked by several daring enemy horsemen, and , despite his cries of "Men hazretem" ("I am Khan"), they cut off his head before the servants rushed to help.
At the sight of the severed head, which the Turkmens later sent as a gift to the Persian Shah, (The Shah, who rightly feared Medemin, since he would certainly capture Mashhad after the capture of Serakhs, first paid honors to the severed head of his enemy and ordered to build a small tomb for it at the castle gates ( Darvaza-i Dovlet).
But later he ordered it to be destroyed, because, as they said, the pious Shiites mistook it for the grave of the imam and fell into sinful error because of the Sunni.) Panic terror spread among his troops. Nevertheless, they retreated in good order, proclaiming on the way that Abdullah Khan would be the sovereign.
7. Abdullah Khan (1855 - 1856). No sooner had the new khan arrived in the capital, embarrassed by the events that had happened, when strife over the throne began. The legitimate pretender Seyid Muhammad Khan, who had the advantage of age, drew his sword in the presence of all the mullahs and noble people of the country, considering that he would assert his right if he immediately killed the khan; but he was subdued and then locked up in a dungeon. The Yomuts lured two princes to their place in order to enthrone them, but they soon found out about this and strangled the princes, and the Yomuts, since their evil machinations were revealed, decided to punish.
The Khan advanced on them with several thousand horsemen, but they declared their innocence, and as barefoot grey-bearded old men came out to meet him with drawn swords hanging from their necks, which was a sign of humility, this time they were left alone. Meanwhile, two months later, the Yomuts began hostilities again; Khan became angry, hastily gathered two thousand horsemen and rushed at the rebels, who now showed obvious resistance.
The case ended in failure, the Uzbeks had to flee, and when they began to look for the khan, it turned out that he was among the first to die and was thrown along with the rest of the dead into a common grave.
8. Kutlug Murad Khan (reigned only 3 months). He was succeeded by Kutlug Murad Khan, his younger brother, who fought side by side with him and returned with severe wounds. Despite this, he was ready to continue the struggle that cost his brother's life, but the leaders of the Yomuts asked for peace and promised that, together with the cousin of the khan, who fell into their hands in the last skirmish and then proclaimed by them khan, they would come to Khiva and obey .
Khan and his ministers believed them, appointed a day, and they really came: 12 thousand people on their best horses, with magnificent weapons. On the morning of the performance, the khan received his cousin, and he, embracing him, treacherously pierced him with a dagger. The Khan collapsed to the ground, and the Turkmens rushed at the courtiers who were present. During this terrible turmoil, the mehter climbed onto the fortress wall and, announcing from there a villainous crime, called on the Khivans to kill all the Yomuts that were in the city.
The Turkmens, paralyzed by terror, attacked by the inhabitants, bled under the sabers of men and even under the knives of women, like lambs in the hands of a butcher. Blood flowed through the streets of Khiva, and it took several days to remove the dead.
For eight days after the massacre, Khiva remained without a ruler. The throne was offered to the rather businesslike Seyyid Mohammed-tere, but his addiction to opium prevented him from becoming a khan, and he refused in favor of his younger brother.
9. Seyid Mohammed Khan (1856-to this day). Seyid Mohammed, whose dementia is known to everyone, became Khan. The reader has already heard about it more than once. During his reign, Khiva was ravaged by civil wars with the Yomuts; the colonies founded by the former khans were destroyed and depopulated.
While the Yomuts and Uzbeks were killing each other and taking away women and children into slavery, the Jemshids arrived, following the proverb: "Inter duos litigantes tertius est gaudens"^189 rich booty, accompanied by two thousand Persian slaves, who were freed during the turmoil.
Poverty, cholera, plague, extermination of the population led in the end to the establishment of peace. Counting on the support of the Russians, in Kungrad, a new pretender to the throne named Mohammed Penah raised a rebellious banner; he immediately sent an embassy through Mangyshlak to Astrakhan, begging the Russian monarch for patronage. But this became known, and members of the mission were killed on the way.
Later, when he ran out of Russian imperials, Mohammed Penah was killed by his own supporters, while the main instigators were "packed", i.e. they sewed their hands to the body with wet skin, and then sent them to Khiva, where a terrible end awaited them.
Since I left Khiva, events have taken place there, about which we must say a few words here. After Seyyid Mohammed Khan, who died in the late 60s, his son Seyyid Mohammed Rahim Khan succeeded to the throne.
Then he was probably at most 20 years old, and apart from the usual unrest that accompanied his accession to the throne, he brought upon himself the hatred and enmity of Russia, which reached such a level that the government of St. Petersburg, having won victories in Bukhara and Kokand, declared war on this last independent state in Central Asia and, as far as can be judged from current events, will finish him too.

Roads in the Khiva Khanate and border lands.

From Khiva, caravans go to Astrakhan and Orenburg, from where some wealthy merchants reach Nizhny Novgorod and even St. Petersburg.
1. From Khiva to Gemushtepe:
a) Orta-Yolu road can be easily covered on horseback in 14-15 days. It has the following stations: 1) Akgap, 2) Medemin, 3) Shorgel (lake), 4) Kaplankyr, 5) Dehli-Ata, 6) Kahriman-Ata, 7) Koymat-Ata, 8) Yeti-Siri, 9) Dzhanyk , 10) Ulu-Balkan, 11) Kichig-Balkan, 12) Keren-tagi (mountain range), 13) Kyzyl-Takyr, 14) Bogdaila, 15) Etrek, 16) Gemushtepe,
b) Teke-yola can be overcome in 10 days. They say that it has the following stations: 1) Medemin, 2) Denen, 3) Shahsanem, 4) Ortakuyu, 5) Alti-Kuiruk, 6) Chirlalar, 7) Chin-Mukhammed, 8) Sazlyk, 9) Etrek, 10) Gemushtepe . Apparently, this road is used for the Alamans, since only in this way can one explain the fact that it is possible to overcome so quickly long distances along the usual path.
2. From Khiva to Mashhad
There are two roads, one is from Hezaresp to Deregez, to the south, through the desert, requires 12 days of travel, the other, going through Merv, has 7 main stations or wells Dari, Sagri, Namaqabad, Shakshak, Shurken, Ak-Yab, Merv
3. From Khiva to Bukhara (main road)
Khiva-Khanka 6 tashes (or farsakhs), Teyeboyun - Tyunyuklu 6 tashis (or farsakhs), Khanka-Shurakhan, Tyunyuklu - Uch-Udzhak 10, Shurakhan - Akkamysh 6, Uch-Udzhak - Karakol 10, Akkamysh - Toyeboyun 8, Karakol- Bukhara 9.
4. From Khiva to Kokand.
There is a road through the desert, it does not go through Bukhara. At Shurakhan they leave the khanate and usually reach Khojent in 10-12 days. The path can be shortened by turning at Jizzakh. Conolly rode along this road, accompanied by the Kokand prince, whom he met in Khiva.
5. From Khiva to Kungrad and the coast of the Aral Sea.
Khiva - Yangi-Urgench 4 tasha, Kanly - Khoja-Ili (desert) 22 tasha, Yangi-Urgench - Görlen 6, Görlen Yangi-Yap 3, Khoja-Ili - Kungrad 4 tasha, Yangi-Yap-Khitai 3, Kungrad - Hakim -Ata 4, Khitay-Mangyt 4, Hakim-Ata - Chortangol 5, Mangyt - Kipchak l, Chortangol - Bozatava 10, Kipchak - Kanly 2, Bozatava - seashore 5. Total 73 tasha This distance, if the road is not very bad, you can drive in 12 days.
6. From Khiva to Kungrad through Kene (Kunya-Urgench).
Khiva - Ghazavat 3 tash, Kyzyl-Takyr - Porsu 6 tash, Ghazavat - Tashkhauz 7, Porsu - Köne 9, Tashkhauz - Kökcheke 2, Köne - Khoja-Ili 6, Kökchek - Kyzyl-Takyr 7. From here to Kungrad, as already mentioned , 4 tasha, which is 44 tasha in total. So, this road would be closer than through Guerlain, but, firstly, the road through Kene is not safe, and secondly, it is difficult to drive through the desert, so the fifth route is most often traveled.
7. From Khiva to Fitnek.
Khiva - Sheikh-Mukhtar 3 tash, Ishantepe - Khezaresp 2 tash, Sheikh-Mukhtar - Bagat 3, Khezaresp - Fitnek 6, Bagat - Ishantepe 2. Total 16 tash. Adding this number to the 73 tash indicated in the fifth route, we will see that the largest extent of the khanate, located along the Oxus, does not exceed 89 tash.

In the XVI - 1st half of the XVIII centuries. in the Khiva Khanate there was a constant internecine struggle, there were continuous wars with Bukhara, Iran, with nomadic Turkmens, there was an acute national strife between Uzbeks and Turkmens within the country. In 1700, 1703, 1714 the ambassadors of Khan Shah-Niyaz negotiated with Peter I on the adoption of the Khiva Khanate into Russian citizenship. However, the expedition to Khiva of A. Bekovich-Cherkassky in 1717 was destroyed by the Khivans. In 1740, the Khanate of Khiva was conquered by the ruler of Iran, Nadirshah, but after his death in 1747, it became independent again.

In the course of the internecine struggle in 1763, Muhammad Amin, the head of the Kungrat tribe, came forward, who laid the foundation for a new Khiva dynasty - the Kungrat dynasty. The most significant representative of this dynasty was Khan Muhammad Rakhim (1806-1825), who completed the unification of the Khiva Khanate, established a supreme council, carried out a tax reform, and subjugated neighboring small possessions (Aral, Karakalpak, etc.). It was a period of strengthening the central government and internal stabilization.

As a result of the Khiva campaign of 1873, under the Gendemian peace treaty of 1873, the Khiva khanate abandoned the lands on the right bank of the Amu Darya and became a vassal of Russia while maintaining internal autonomy. The population of the Khiva Khanate, which consisted of Uzbeks, Turkmens, Karakalpaks and Kazakhs, was engaged in agriculture based on artificial irrigation and cattle breeding. Feudal orders were closely intertwined with patriarchal-clan and slave-owning ones. With the exception of a few ginneries, there was no industry. Exports were cotton, dried fruits, hides and wool. Khan enjoyed unlimited power. Arbitrariness and violence reigned in the country. The reactionary Muslim clergy played an important role.

After the October Revolution of 1917, a sharp political struggle began in the Khiva Khanate. On February 2, 1920, a popular uprising, supported by units of the Red Army, overthrew the khan's power. On April 26, 1920, the 1st All-Khorezm People's Kurultai proclaimed the formation of the Khorezm People's Soviet Republic.

Formation of the Khiva Khanate

On the eve of the invasion of Sheibaniykhan in Khorezm, Chin Sufis from the Sufi dynasty, who came from the Kungrat dynasty, ruled. Officially, he was considered the governor of Hussein Baykara. In 1505 Khorezm was captured by Sheibaniykhan, and in 1510 by the Iranian Shah Ismail. But his reign did not last long. In 1511, Khorezm again gained independence.

About 20 Uzbek tribes lived on the territory of Khorezm. Among them, the tribes of Kungrats, Mangyts, Naimans, Kipchaks and Kiyats were considered the most numerous and strongest.

The freedom-loving Khorezm tribes and their leaders led the people's struggle against the Iranian invaders. When Iranian troops were expelled from Khorezm, influential people of the country put Elbarskhan (1511-1516), the son of Berka Sultan, a descendant of Sheibaniykhan, on the throne, despite family relations, were in hostile relations. The reason for this was the murder of Berka Sultan (1431-1436) by Abulkhairkhan, when the latter was fighting for the creation of a single state. Elbarskhan managed to drive the Iranian invaders out of the country. So in 1511 Khorezm again gained independence. The state began to be called the Khiva Khanate, the founders of which were representatives of the Sheibanid dynasty. Khiva Sheibanids ruled the country until 1770.

Under Elbarskhan, the capital of the country was moved from Vazir to the city of Urgench. After the liberation of Vazir from the Iranians, Elbarskhan and his sons received the nickname Ghazis. The word "ghazi" means "fighter for the faith."

The Sheibanid dynasty died out by the end of the 17th century, by this time the power of the tribal leaders had grown very much and they began to invite Chingizids from the Kazakh steppes to the khan's throne. The real power was concentrated in the hands of the Uzbek tribal leaders with the titles of Atalik and Inak. The two main Uzbek tribes, Kongrat and Mangit, fought for power in the khanate and their struggle was accompanied by the separation of the northern part of Khorezm, the Aral (delta of the Amu Darya). The Uzbeks of the Aral, mostly nomads, proclaimed their Genghisides, who were also puppets.

Chaos reigned in Khorezm for most of the 18th century, and in 1740 the country was captured by Nadir Shah of Iran, but Iranian power was nominal and ended with the death of Nadir Shah in 1747. In the ensuing struggle between the Kongrats and the Mangits, the Kongrats won. However, the long wars between Khiva and the Aral and between various Uzbek tribes, in which the Turkmen took an active part, brought Khorezm to the brink of total anarchy, especially after the capture of Khiva in 1767 by the Turkmen Yomud tribe. In 1770, Muhammad Amin Inak, the leader of the Kongrats, defeated the Yomuds and established his power in the khanate. He became the founder of the new Kongrat dynasty in Khiva.

However, even after that, the Kongrat Inaks needed decades to suppress the resistance of the tribal leaders and the puppets of Genghisides were still on the throne.

In 1804, the grandson of Muhammad Amin, Iltuzer Inak, was proclaimed khan and the puppets of Genghisides were no longer needed. His younger brother, Muhammad Rahim Khan (reigned 1806-1825), united the country by defeating the Aralians in 1811, subdued Kara Kolpakov (in the northwest of the Amu Darya delta) and tried with some success to subdue the Turkmen in the south and the Kazakhs in the north. The same policy was pursued by his heirs. Iltuzar and Muhammad Rahim finally broke the opposition of the tribal nobility with the help of the Sarts and curbed military force Turkmens whom they either persuaded to live in Khorezm by distributing irrigated lands for military service or force them to do so. They created a relatively centralized state in which the provincial governors had limited power.

First half of XIX century Kongraty significantly expanded the irrigation system; thus, the Uzbeks became a settled nation, as a result of which new cities began to appear. Under Muhammad Rahim Khan, the khanate began to produce their own coins. But despite all this, the khanate lacked both human and financial resources, and Khiva raids into the Bukhara Khanate and Khorasan, as well as against the Kazakhs and independent Turkmen tribes, became annual.

At the same time, the Kongrat period was also marked by cultural achievements; It was at this time that Khorezm became the main center for the development of Turkic literature in Central Asia. In 1855, the army of the khanate suffered a crushing defeat from the Turkmens at Teke pad Serakhsom, in Khorasan, and Khan Muhammad Amin was killed in the battle. This caused an uprising of the Turkmens in Khorezm, which lasted intermittently until 1867. The khanate weakened politically and economically, and most of the land developed in the first half of the century was abandoned, the khanate also lost control over the southern Turkmens. On top of that, it was approaching a fatal confrontation with Russia. The first attempt to penetrate Khorezm was made by Peter I, who sent a small expedition under the command of Bekovich-Cherkassky in 1717. The expedition was unsuccessful and almost all of its members died.

In the 19th century, tension between the Russian Empire and Khiva grew as a result of Russian expansion in Central Asia, their rivalry for influence in the Kazakh steppes, and the plunder of Russian trade caravans by the Khiva. The military offensive against Khiva began in the spring of 1873 from several directions under the leadership of the Governor-General of Turkestan von Kaufmann. Khiva was taken on May 29 and Khan Said Muhammad Rakhim II surrendered. The peace treaty signed on August 12, 1873 determined the status of the khanate as a Russian protectorate. Khan declared himself a "submissive servant" Russian emperor and all the lands of the khanate on the right bank of the Amu Darya went to Russia.

The loss of independence had almost no effect on the internal life of the khanate, in which Russia interfered only to suppress a few Turkmen rebellions. An attempt at liberal reforms after the February Revolution of 1917 failed, mainly because of the Uzbek-Turkmen enmity. In the spring of 1918, the leader of the Yomud Turkmens, Junaid Khan, seized power in Khiva and only in January 1920 was overthrown by the invading Red Army with the support of Uzbeks and Turkmens who opposed Junaid Khan. On February 2, 1920, the last Kongrat Khan, Said abd Alla, abdicated, and on April 27, 1920, the People's Republic of Khorezm was proclaimed instead of the khanate.

Socio-economic and political life in the Khiva Khanate

In the 16th century, the Khiva Khanate did not yet exist. centralized state, there was still a strong influence of the tribal system; the head of the ruling tribe was declared khan.

Like the Sheibanids in Maverannahr, the Khiva Khanate was divided into small possessions. Vilayets were ruled by members of the khan's family. They did not want to submit to the central government. This circumstance was the cause of internal strife.

The population of the khanate was divided into three groups, differing in their ethnic, cultural and linguistic characteristics:

The direct descendants of the ancient Khorezmians, who assimilated with various ethnic groups;
Turkmen tribes;
tribes that migrated from Dashti-Kipchak to Khorezm.

Before the establishment of the dynasty from the Kungrat tribe, the heads of large Uzbek tribes turned into independent rulers of their possessions and began to exert a decisive influence on the socio-political situation in the khanate.

In the second half of the XVI century. an economic crisis broke out in the Khiva Khanate, one of the main reasons for which was a change in the channel of the Amu Darya; starting from 1573, it stopped flowing into the Caspian Sea and for 15 years rushed towards the Aral Sea. The lands along the old channel turned into a waterless steppe, and the population was forced to move to other, irrigated regions.

In addition, in the XVI century. The Khanate of Khiva was twice conquered by the Khanate of Bukhara. Internal strife, heavy taxes and duties caused the ruin of the country's population, which, in turn, had a negative impact on trade.

In the 17th century two features were observed in the political life of the Khiva Khanate: a decrease in the authority of the ruling dynasty and an increase in the influence of the heads of the tribes. True, officially the beks and biys still submitted to the central government. In fact, within the limits of their beks, they had absolute power. It got to the point that they began to dictate their will to the supreme ruler. Khan, however, could not decide state affairs on his own, bet their participation, on the contrary, they decided the fate of the khan in the elections. Political fragmentation in the state was especially pronounced under Arab-Muhammyadkhan (1602-1621). Due to the change in the course of the Amu Darya, he moved his capital from Urgench to Khiva.

The economic crisis greatly affected the political situation in the state. Under Arab-Muhammadkhan, the Yaik Cossacks, led by Ataman Nechay, guarding the Russian border, made a robbery attack on Urgench, capturing 1,000 young men and women. But on the way back they were overtaken by the khan with his army. The Cossacks were defeated. Some time later, Ataman Shamai and his detachment attacked Urgench, but they also did not succeed and were captured by the khan.

Dissension became more frequent in the khanate. In 1616, the sons of Arab-Mukhamadkhan Khabash-sultan and Elbars-sultan, with the support of the heads of the Naiman and Uighur tribes, rebelled against their father. Khan yielded to his sons. To the lands that belonged to them, he added the city of Wazir. But in 1621 they rebelled again. This time, on the side of Arab-Muhammadkhan, his other sons, Asfakdiyarkhan and Abulgazi-Sultan, acted. In the battle, the troops of Khabash-Sultan and Elbars-Sultan won. By order of his sons, the father who was captured by them was blinded with a red-hot rod and thrown into a zindan. Some time later, the khan was killed. Abulgazi Sultan took refuge in the palace of the Bukhara Khan Imamkuli. Asfandiyarkhan: hid in Khazarasp. Later, his victorious brothers allowed him to go on the Hajj. But Asfandiyarkhan went to the Iranian Shah Abbas I and with his help in 1623 took the throne of Khiva. Upon learning of this, Abulgazi Sultan hurried to Khiva. Asfandiyarkhan (1623-1642) appointed him ruler of Urgench. But soon their relationship deteriorated, and Abulgazi fled to the ruler of Turkestan, Eshimkhan. After the death of the latter in 1629, Abulgazi moved to Tashkent to its ruler Tursunkhan, then to the Bukhara Khan Imamkuli. The Turkmens, dissatisfied with the policy of Asfandiyarkhan, asked Abulgazi to come to Khiva. His brother was forced to cede the Khiva throne to him. But six months later, Abulgazi was accused of attacking Iran's Niso and Darun (settlements between Ashgabat and Kiyl-Arvat), captured and, accompanied by his detachment, sent to the Iranian Shah Safi 1 (1629-1642). Abulgazi Sultan had to live in captivity for 10 years (1630-1639). In 1639 he managed to escape, and in 1642 he arrived at the Uzbeks of the Aral Sea region. After the death of Asfandiyarkhan and the same goal, Abulgazi (1643-1663) took the throne of Khiva. The 20-year period of his reign was spent in military campaigns. He had to fight several times with the Bukhara Khanate. Abulgazi, having raised the authority of the heads of the tribes, intended to get rid of them by attacking the central government. He divided all the tribes living on the territory of the Khanate into four groups: Kiyat-Kungrat, Uighur-Naiman, Kanki-Kipchak, Nukuz-Mangyt. At the same time, their customs, way of life, family relations between tribes were taken into account. These groups were joined by 14 more small tribes and clans. Elders were appointed in each gpynne - inaki. Through them, the khan solved the problems of the tribes. Inaki, as close advisers to the khan, lived in the palace. Abudgazi Bahadirkhan already had 32 heads of tribes - Inaks - among his close associates.

Abulgazi intervened in strife between the brothers Abdulaziz and Subkhankulikhan, the latter was married to Abulgazi's niece. An agreement was concluded with Abdulazizkhan. Despite this, in 1663 Abulgazi carried out predatory raids on the Bukhara Khanate seven times, plundered the tumens of Karakul, Charlzhui, Vardanyan.

At the same time, Abulgazikhan was an enlightened ruler. He wrote historical works in the Uzbek language "Shazharai Turk" (Genealogical tree of the Turks) and "Shazhara-i tarokima" (Genealogy of the Turkmen)

After the death of Abulgazikhan, his son Anushakhan (1663-1687) took the throne. Under him, relations with the Bukhara Khanate became even more aggravated. He several times undertook military campaigns against him, reached Bukhara, captured Samarkand. In the end, the Bukhara Khan Subkhankuli organized a conspiracy against him, and Anushakhap was blinded.

Subkhankulikhan made a conspiracy in Khiva from his supporters. In 1688, they sent a representative to Bukhara with a request to take the Khiva Khanate into demolition citizenship. Taking advantage of this circumstance, Subkhankulikhan appointed inak Shakhniyaz as Khan of Khiva. But Shazniyaz did not have the ability to govern the state. Feeling helpless, he betrayed Subhankulikan and began looking for a stronger guardian. That could be Russia. With the help of the Russian Tsar Peter 1, he wanted to maintain his position. In secret from Subkhankulikhan, in 1710 he sent his ambassador to Peter 1 and asked to take the Khiva Khanate into Russian citizenship. For a long time, having dreamed of taking possession of the gold and raw materials of Central Asia, Peter 1 considered this an opportunity and on June 30, 1710 issued a decree satisfying the request of Shakhniyaz. The appeal of the Khiva ruler to Russia was assessed by his contemporaries as a betrayal of the interests of the Turkic-speaking peoples. This appeal opened the way for the Russian colonialists. After these events, political life in the Khiva Khanate became even more complicated.

The social situation in the Khanate of Khiva, as in other states of Central Asia, was characterized by stagnation, the ego was associated with the backlog of the khanate from the process of world development. Political fragmentation, the dominance of subsistence farming, ongoing internal strife, attacks by foreigners led to the fact that the country's economy was in decline, and social life was monotonous. The rulers thought more about their well-being than about the benefits for the state and people.

In December 1867, Colonel Abramov made a reconnaissance of the western part of the Jizzakh region, which was under the control of the Bukhara administration. During this expedition, the Russians burned the village of Ukhum, occupied by the Bukharians. In March 1868, a large detachment of Major O.K. Grippenberga again approached Ukhum and dispersed the detachment of the Emir's soldiers stationed in it.

In December 1867, Colonel Abramov made a reconnaissance of the western part of the Jizzakh region, which was under the control of the Bukhara administration. During this expedition, the Russians burned the village of Ukhum, occupied by the Bukharians. In March 1868, a large detachment of Major O.K. Grippenberga again approached Ukhum and dispersed the detachment of the Emir's soldiers stationed in it. The situation in the Bukhara Khanate itself by that time had become very difficult. In Bukhara and Samarkand, as before in Tashkent, two groups formed. The Muslim clergy and the military elite demanded decisive action against Russia from Emir Muzaffar, accused him of cowardice and relied on the eldest son of the Emir Abdul-Malik, nicknamed Katta-Tyura. The opposite position was taken by the Bukhara and Samarkand merchants, who were interested in economic ties with Russia and demanded a peaceful settlement of the conflict. Relying on numerous students of religious schools, the clergy issued a decree (fatwa) on a holy war against the Russians. In April 1868, an army of thousands led by the emir headed for the river. Zeravshan, leaving Samarkand in his rear. A Russian detachment under the command of Kaufman himself, consisting of 25 companies of infantry and 7 hundred Cossacks with 16 guns (a total of 3,500 people) moved towards her from Julek. On the eve of the clash, the Russians received an unexpected ally. A detachment of 280 Afghans arrived in Jizzakh, led by Iskander Khan, the grandson of Dost-Mohammed. These Afghans were in the service of the Emir of Bukhara, forming the garrison of the Nur-Ata fortress. However, the local bek decided to detain their salary. The offended soldiers took two fortress guns “in compensation for losses” and went to the Russians, defeating those Bukhara detachments that tried to detain them along the way. Subsequently, Iskander Khan received from the Russian command the rank of lieutenant colonel, the Order of St. Stanislav 2nd class. and the place of an officer in the illustrious Life Guards Hussar Regiment. His service in Russia was interrupted quite unexpectedly and even absurdly. In St. Petersburg, during classes in the arena, the commander of the imperial convoy hit Adjutant Iskander Khan Raidil in the face. Iskander immediately challenged the offender to a duel, was arrested and placed in a guardhouse. After that, the proud Afghan left for his homeland, where he accepted the patronage of the British. All this, however, was later. At the time described, Iskander Khan voluntarily joined Kaufman's army and went into battle with him against the Bukharans. On May 1, 1868, the Russians reached the northern bank of the Zeravshan and saw an enemy army across the river. The ambassador, who arrived from the Bukharans, asked Kaufman not to start hostilities, but the emir was also in no hurry to withdraw the troops. At about three o'clock in the afternoon, the Bukharians opened fire from cannons. In response, Russian batteries began to speak, under the cover of which the infantry began the crossing. Passing first through the river chest-deep in water, and then through the swampy rice fields, the Russian soldiers struck the Bukharians at the same time in front and from both flanks. “The enemy,” recalled the participant in the battle, “did not wait for our bayonets, and before we got a hundred steps closer, he left 21 guns and fled, throwing along the road not only weapons and cartridge bags, but even clothes and boots in which it was difficult to run” . Of course, a Russian officer can be suspected of bias, but in this case, he apparently did not exaggerate. The Bukhara writer and diplomat Ahmadi Donish wrote with caustic mockery: “The fighters found it necessary to flee: everyone ran as best they could, ran wherever they looked, threw all their property and equipment. Some fled towards the Russians, and the latter, having learned their position, having fed and watered them, let them go. Emir, having soiled his pants, also fled. Nobody wanted to fight." The victory of the Russian detachment was complete, and with minimal losses: two were killed. The remnants of the emir's army retreated to Samarkand, but the townspeople closed the gates in front of them. When Russian troops approached the former capital of Tamerlane, the people of Samarkand surrendered.

K. Kaufman thanked the residents on behalf of the sovereign, and presented the chief judge and spiritual head of the city Kazi-Kalyan with a silver medal. On May 6, a small detachment of Major von Stempel was sent from Samarkand, who captured the small Bukhara fortress of Chelek at the foot of the Nurata Mountains. On May 11, Kaufman equipped another, larger expedition consisting of 6 companies of soldiers and 2 hundred Cossacks with 4 guns under the command of Colonel Abramov. This detachment went to the city of Urgut, located 34 km southeast of Samarkand.

On May 12, the detachment collided under the walls of the city with a large Bukhara army, which they inflicted a crushing defeat on. After that, Abramov's soldiers stormed the city, partially dispersing, partially exterminating its garrison. On May 14, the expedition returned to Samarkand. On May 17, the Russians occupied Kata-Kurgan, 66 km northwest of Samarkand. All these successes greatly frightened the rulers of the city of Shakhrisabz. This large craft and trade center, the birthplace of the great warrior Tamerlane, tried more than once to overthrow the power of the Bukhara emirs. Now the Shakhrisabz beks decided that the power of Bukhara was over, but it was necessary to get rid of the Russians. To do this, they supported the son of Emir Abdul-Malik.

On May 27, a 10,000-strong army of Shakhrisabz attacked a detachment of Colonel Abramov (8 companies and 3 hundred Cossacks) near the village of Kara-Tyube, not far from Samarkand. But it was rejected. This clash encouraged Emir Muzaffar, who felt that the time had come for revenge. On June 2, 1868, on the Zirabulak heights, between Katta-Kurgan and Bukhara, a decisive battle took place between the emir's army and the detachment of Kaufman himself. Demoralized by previous failures, the Bukharans acted extremely indecisively and were again defeated. The road to Bukhara was open, and Muzaffar himself was about to flee to Khorezm.

However, Kaufman could not attack the emir's capital, because. in the rear, he himself suddenly had a center of resistance. Departing for the Zirabulak heights, the governor-general left a very small garrison in Samarkand, consisting of 4 companies of the 6th line battalion, 1 company of sappers and 2 artillery batteries under the general command of Major Shtempel. In addition, non-combatant and sick soldiers of the 5th and 9th line battalions were in the city, as well as Colonel N.N. Nazarov, who, due to frequent quarrels with his colleagues, submitted his resignation, but did not have time to leave. In total, the Russian detachment consisted of 658 people, among whom was a prominent battle painter V.V. Vereshchagin with the rank of ensign.

On June 2, this handful of Russian soldiers was besieged by an army of 25,000 under the command of Baba-bek, who came from Shakhrisabz. In alliance with the Shahrisabzians, a 15,000-strong detachment of the Kirghiz led by Adil-Dahty, as well as the rebellious residents of Samarkand, whose number also reached 15,000, came forward. Thus, for every Russian soldier there were more than 80 opponents. Not having the strength to hold the entire city, the garrison immediately retreated to the citadel, located at its western wall.

“When we closed the gate behind us,” recalled a participant in the events, staff captain Cherkasov, “the enemy broke into the city ... To the sound of zurn, the beat of drums, merging with wild screams, the enemy quickly spread through the streets of the city. In less than an hour, all the streets were already filled with it and the waving badges became clearly visible to us.

The thickness of the walls of the citadel reached 12 meters in some places and the attackers obviously could not break through it. The weak point of defense was two gates: Bukhara in the southern wall and Samarkand in the east. The Russian detachment had enough ammunition and food for a long defense. The besiegers made the first attack on the Bukhara Gate, which was defended by 77 soldiers under the command of Major Albedil.

Shakhrisabz residents tried three times to break down the gate and get over the wall, but each time they were beaten off with well-aimed rifle fire. Albedil himself was seriously wounded. Finally, the attackers managed to set fire to the gate. At the same time, the enemy was also pressing at the Samarkand gates, where 30 soldiers of ensign Mashin were holding the defense. Here the attackers also set fire to the gates, tried to get through them, but the soldiers knocked them out with bayonets. In the midst of the battle, a platoon of the 3rd company arrived in time to help the defenders of the Samarkand Gates under the command of Ensign Sidorov, which constituted a mobile reserve. He helped repel the enemy onslaught, and then quickly rushed to the Bukhara Gate and supported Albedil's detachment.

In addition to the gates, the Shahrisabzians tried to enter the citadel through gaps in the eastern wall. They also climbed directly onto the walls, for which they used iron hooks that were put directly on their arms and legs. However, everywhere the attackers were met by the well-aimed fire of the soldiers. By evening, the attacks had ceased, but this temporary success cost the Russians dearly: 20 privates and 2 officers were killed.

On the morning of June 3, the assault resumed. The defense of the Bukhara Gate was headed instead of Albedil by Lieutenant Colonel Nazarov, who officially did not hold any position. This officer had a reputation as a brave man, but very impudent, arrogant, who did not recognize any authorities, in a word, "a true Turkestan." To encourage the soldiers, he ordered to place his camp bed at the gate, emphasizing that he would not leave his position even at night. Sleep Nazarov, however, did not have to. At 8 o'clock in the morning the inhabitants of Shakhrisabz, having broken the charred remains of the gate, dismantled the barricade erected by the Russians and seized one cannon. The soldiers rushed to the bayonets, and V. Vereshchagin was in front of everyone. After a fierce hand-to-hand fight, the besiegers retreated, but soon resumed the assault in other directions.

The attacks continued for the next two days, and they were combined with constant shelling of the citadel. The garrison, thinned by enemy bullets, had not only to repulse attacks, but also put out fires, fill up the gates with bags of earth, and make sorties beyond the fortress walls.

Only on July 8, Kaufman's army returned to Samarkand, putting the Shakhrisabz and Kirghiz people to flight. During the 8-day defense, the Russians lost 49 people killed (including 3 officers), and 172 people wounded (5 officers).

As punishment for the rebellion, Kaufman gave the city for three days to be plundered. “Despite the appointment of numerous patrols,” V. Vereshchagin recalled, “many dark things happened during these three days.” By the way, it was the defense of Samarkand that inspired the artist to paint one of his most famous paintings, Mortally Wounded (1873). Vereshchagin himself described in his memoirs how, during a fight for the gate, a soldier, hit by a bullet, “let go of his gun, grabbed his chest and ran around the site, shouting:

Oh, brothers, they killed, oh, they killed! Oh, my death has come!

Then, the painter said, “the poor man did not hear anything anymore, he described another circle, staggered, fell on his back, died, and his cartridges went into my reserve.”

During the fighting in Samarkand, Emir Muzaffar, fearing that the victory of the Shakhrisabz people would shake not only the Russian government, but also his own, sent several false letters that the Bukhara army was preparing to march on Shakhrisabz. This circumstance, along with the approach of Kaufman's forces, contributed to the withdrawal of the besiegers from Samarkand.

In June, the ambassador of Emir Mussa-bek arrived at the Russian command and an agreement was concluded between Russia and Bukhara.

The Bukharans officially recognized the entry of Khujand, Ura-Tube and Dzhizak into the Russian Empire. They also pledged to pay 500 thousand rubles. indemnities, and to ensure the implementation of this paragraph, Samarkand and Katta-Kurgan were subject to temporary occupation by the Russians. From the newly occupied territories, the Zeravshan district was organized, the head of which was Abramov, promoted to major general.

Emir's son Abdul-Malik fled to Karshi, where he proclaimed himself Khan. Muzaffar immediately moved his troops there and drove his son out of the city, but as soon as he returned to Bukhara, the rebellious offspring again settled in Karshi. Then Muzaffar turned to Abramov for help, and he sent his detachment to Karshi. Without waiting for the battle, Abdul-Malik fled again, this time to India, under the protection of the British. Russian troops entered Karshi, then handing it over to the representatives of the emir. Everything testified to the transformation of the Bukhara Khanate into a vassal of the Russian Empire.

The obvious successes of the Russian army in Central Asia caused a new fit of irritation in the British government. Foreign Minister Lord Clarendon turned to the Russian envoy I. F. Brunnov with a proposal to urgently draw up the border of the “neutral Central Asian belt”. At the beginning of 1869, negotiations began on this subject, which immediately revealed serious differences between the countries. Clarendon insisted on drawing the border “along the Amu Darya in its middle course, so that on the meridian of Bukhara it would follow strictly west through the whole of Turkmenistan. The Russians, in response, objected that such a line would pass only 230 versts from Samarkand, while the distance from it to the "advanced English post was more than twice as large." In addition, in the English version, the border would have crossed the caravan routes from Bukhara to Khorasan and other provinces of Northern Persia, which did not suit the Russian merchants. Finally, disputes flared up about the rights of Afghanistan, which had an agreement with England, to the principalities between the Hindu Kush Range and the Amu Darya. Russian diplomats, not without reason, believed that the Afghan emir Sher-Ali was preparing to start a big war against Bukhara. In British government circles, there was a growing belief that Russian promotion in Central Asia begins to really threaten their positions in Iran, even in India. The matter ended with the conclusion of some general declarations, and Russia promised not to advance the border of the Bukhara Khanate to the south in the direction of Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Russian merchants and industrialists were increasingly insisting on the desire for a "lasting mastery" of the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea. In April 1869, at a meeting of the Committee of the Society for the Promotion of Russian Industry and Trade, even the idea of ​​Peter I about turning the Amu Darya to the Caspian Sea was recalled. In June 1869, the Governor-General of Turkestan addressed a letter to the Minister of War D. A. Milyutin, in which he noted that relations with Bukhara had taken on a character that was desirable for Russia and that it was possible to revisit the solution of the “Krasnovodsk issue”. The Minister of War, agreeing with Kaufman's arguments, in August of the same year suggested that the Caucasian governor begin preparations for a military expedition. In November 1869, a Russian military detachment under the command of Colonel N. G. Stoletov landed on the coast of the Muravievskaya Bay of the Krasnovodsk Bay.

This measure caused the strongest displeasure of the Iranian Shah Nasreddin, who believed that the Yomud Turkmens, who roamed along the Atrek and Gurgan rivers, were his subjects. Russia, however, rejected the claims of the Persians. On the Caspian coast, the Krasnovodsk fortification was rebuilt, and the territories occupied by the Russians under the name of the Mangishlak police station were subordinated to the Caucasian administration. All this sparked unrest among the local population.

In mid-March 1870, Colonel Rukin, who headed the bailiff, went on a reconnaissance trip, during which he was attacked by a "crowd" of Kazakhs and was killed along with the entire convoy (40 Cossacks). Following this, the Kazakhs besieged the Alexander Fort, but were defeated by the Caucasian troops who arrived from Petrovsk. The armed forces on Mangishlak were headed by Colonel Count Kutaisov. At the end of April, he inflicted a number of defeats on the Kazakhs, and the warriors of the Dagestan irregular cavalry regiment especially distinguished themselves in battles.

For further development of the territory, under the leadership of Stoletov, the Krasnovodsk detachment was formed, subordinate to the Caucasian military authorities and including 5 infantry companies (mainly the 82nd Dagestan Infantry Regiment), 1.5 hundreds of Terek Cossacks, a team of sappers and 16 guns with servants. The main stronghold for him was the Mikhailovsky fortification, based on the shore of the now shallow Mikhailovsky Bay. Another fortress was built 75 km. from the coast to the Mallakari tract. The measures were more than timely. On October 20, 1870, the Turkmen-Tekins, instigated by Khiva, attacked the Mikhailovsky fortification, but were repulsed. As a response, N. G. Stoletov gathered a detachment of 490 soldiers and Cossacks at Mallakari, with 3 guns, with which he moved east. Having covered more than 200 km, on December 10 he reached Kizyl-Arvat, but did not find the enemy and returned back. In May 1871, Stoletov sent an expedition led by staff captain M. D. Skobelev (future hero Russian-Turkish war) inland. The purpose of all these events was not only to “pacify” the Turkmens, but also to explore the routes, prepare for a decisive attack on the Khiva Khanate.

During the war between Russia and the khanates of Bukhara and Kokand, Khiva still provided shelter for robbers who robbed trade caravans and intrigued against Russia in every possible way. In 1870, N. A. Kryzhanovsky received a message that a Turkish ambassador had arrived to the Khan of Khiva and offered Mohammed-Rakhim help in the event of creating a union of Central Asian states. Many military leaders called for an immediate end to Khiva, but the diplomats were more cautious. Director of the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Stremoukhov, in his letter to Kryzhanovsky, stated bluntly that the "military demonstration" was premature. Under these conditions, the commander of the Krasnovodsk detachment N. G. Stoletov and his assistant M. D. Skobelev decided to start fighting at one's own risk. Having learned about their plans, the chief of staff of the Caucasian Military District, General Svistunov, arrived in Krasnovodsk to clarify the situation. Fearing that he would be banned from fighting, Stoletov tried to hide his intentions from his superiors and did not let Svistunov go to the front posts.

The case ended in scandal. In June 1871, Stoletov was removed from his post and almost got on trial, and Lieutenant Colonel V. I. Markozov became the commander of the detachment. The disgrace of the willful Stoletov did not mean that the government abandoned its intention to assert its power over Khiva. In the autumn of the same year, Markozov made a deep reconnaissance of the territories along the Atrek and towards Sarykamysh. In early September, his detachment of 625 soldiers and Cossacks with 16 guns gathered in Mallakari. When the Turkmens refused to provide Markozov with the camels necessary for the campaign, he took them away by force and, having made up a large caravan, moved towards Sarykamysh, establishing fortified points along the way.

The main difficulty for the expedition was the lack of water. However, the Russians managed to reach the distant Dekcha well and return to Mallakari by early November. After that, Markozov ordered the transfer of the garrison of the Mikhailovsky fortification to the village of Chikishlyar on the shore of the Gassankuli Bay, at the confluence of the river. Atrek. The reason for such a movement was that along the Atrek there was a convenient path to the main center of the Turkmen-Tekins, Kizyl-Arvat. In the summer of 1872, another very large expedition began. Its base was located in the village of Bilek, 76 km east of Krasnovodsk. To ensure the campaign, mass requisitions of camels from the Turkmens were made. One company of soldiers was specially sent to the Bugdayli tract, famous for its reservoirs, in order to receive camels collected by another company on the coast. The event almost ended tragically. The very name "Bugdayli" comes from the Turkmen word "bugday" - wheat. In rainy springs, real lakes really appear there, which can be used for watering cattle. However, by July, the water partially evaporates, partially goes into the soil, and then it is necessary to dig deep wells. Russian soldiers reached Bugdaily in August, and the spring was dry that year. No water was found. It got to the point where the soldiers drank their own urine. With heavy losses, without completing the task, the company returned to Chekishlyar.

The detachment of Major Madchavariani was much more successful, who got more than 500 camels at Uzboi. Markozov himself set out from Chekishlyar at the head of two companies of the 80th Kabardian Infantry Regiment. After a 12-day march, he reached Lake Topiatan in the dry channel of the Uzboy, where he captured a caravan en route from Khiva to Atrek. Gradually, other units of the Krasnovodsk detachment also pulled up to Topiatan. By the beginning of October, 9 companies of infantry and a hundred Cossacks were concentrated there. Markozov ordered to leave 200 soldiers (7th company of the Kabardian regiment) at the Jamal well for the construction of fortifications, and he himself led the main forces up the Uzboy and then to Kizyl-Arvat. On October 25, the Russians reached Kizyl-Arvat, but it turned out that it had been abandoned by the Turkmen.

Markozov decided to continue moving to the southeast, but even here all the villages were empty. The detachment passed Kodzh, Kizyl-Cheshme, Bami, and finally in the village of Baurma found a small group of Tekins, who immediately entered into a skirmish with the Russians. In response, Markozov ordered "to set fire to all the Turkmen wagons that only meet" and, at the same time, sent 5 companies under the command of Colonel Klugen to the Gyaur well and then to Jamal to "raise the rest of the troops." When the detachment of Klugen reached the Jamal fortification, it turned out that it was besieged by about 2 thousand Turkmens and Khiva warriors. In the ensuing battle, the Turkmen-Khivan army was defeated. Klugen, with reinforcements and supplies, moved back to Kiziol-Arvat, but along the way many camels fell, and 46 packs of biscuits had to be burned.

Having united, the detachments of Markozov and Klugen headed through the foothill plain of Kurendag along the Adzhi gorge and further along the Atrek back to Chekishlyar, where he arrived on December 18. The transition was very difficult. Camels were exhausted to such an extent that the Russians had to constantly throw loads, and this led to a decrease in allowances. At the end of the campaign, it also began to rain, and the washed-out clay soil made it even more difficult for the troops to follow. It should be noted that all of Markozov's previous combat experience was connected with the Caucasus and he did not know, and could not know, many specific features of the campaign through the desert. The expeditionary detachment he assembled was quite numerous: about 1,700 people. To provide it with water, food and ammunition, such a large number of camels, which was impossible to find. Therefore, Markozov's soldiers loaded camels with twice as much cargo as is permissible. It is not surprising that out of 1600 animals that were available at the beginning of the campaign, only 635 remained to return to Chekishlyar. The detachment made difficult transitions from well to well, expecting a collision with the enemy, but the Turkmens retreated without giving a fight. Of course, Markozov managed to carry out a detailed reconnaissance of the area, but many of his colleagues doubted whether it was necessary to move such a large army across the desert for this.

Nevertheless, the Khiva government regarded the campaign of the Krasnovodsk detachment as the beginning of a big war and began to gather troops. The situation in the Bukhara lands also remained difficult. After the emir signed peace with the Russians, the Shakhrisabz beks refused to submit to his authority. Small beks in the upper reaches of the Zeravshan also “fell away” from Bukhara: Matcha, Falgar, Fan, etc. In the spring of 1870, expeditions were sent there under the command of Major General Abramov (550 soldiers with 2 mountain guns) and Colonel Dennett (203 people) .

The first detachment set out on April 25 from Samarkand, passed more than 200 km up the Zeravshan and reached the village of Oburdan. Dennett's detachment also arrived there, but it went from Ura-Tyube, through the mountainous Auchinsky pass. Having united, the expeditions of Abramov and Dennett went to the village of Paldorak, the residence of the Matchinsky bek, who, having learned about their approach, fled. At the end of May, Abramov went further east, to the Zeravshan glaciers, and Dennett went north, to the Yangi-Sabah pass. Having passed the pass, Dennett's detachment encountered a large army of Matcha Tajiks and Kirghiz, after which they returned to join forces with Abramov's forces. Then the Russians again moved north, overtook the enemy and on July 9, 1870 defeated him at the northern exit from Yangi-Sabah. After that, they explored the territories along the Yagnob and Fan-Darya rivers, near the Iskander-Kul lake, after which the entire expedition began to be called Iskander-Kul. In the same 1870, the new lands were included in the Zeravshan district under the name "Nagornye Tyumen".

Meanwhile, new news came to St. Petersburg that Emir Muzaffar, despite the help he received under Karshi, was trying to forge an alliance against Russia, establishing contacts with the Afghan emir Sher-Ali, negotiating with Khiva and even with his recent enemies, the Shakhrisabz beks. The situation was complicated by the fact that due to the cold and little snow winter of 1869-1870. in a number of areas of the Bukhara Khanate there was a crop failure. Due to lack of fodder, the loss of livestock began. “Gangs of hungry poor people,” Kaufman reported, “began to roam the khanate, causing serious unrest. The fanatical clergy, by all means, incited the emir against us, pointing out to him with one voice the importance of the granary lost in 1868 (i.e., the Samarkand oasis - A.M.).”

In order to prevent possible actions, Kaufman decided in the summer of 1870 to strike at the Shakhrisabz beks. The reason for the start of hostilities was the fact that a certain Aidar-Khoja found refuge in Shakhrisabz, who, with his supporters, raided the borders of the Zeravshan district. General Abramov demanded the extradition of the culprit, but was refused. Soon an expeditionary detachment of 9 infantry companies, 2.5 hundred Cossacks with 12 guns and 8 rocket launchers was formed in Samarkand. It was divided into two columns, which set off on a campaign with an interval of 2 days (August 7 and 9) and on August 11 approached the walls of the city of Kitab in the Shakhrisabz oasis. On August 12, the Russians, having laid batteries, began to lay siege to this point. The Kitab garrison numbered 8 thousand people, and its fortifications were quite powerful.

On August 14, when Russian guns punched a hole in the city wall, General Abramov, who led the siege, decided to storm. The soldiers of the assault column under the command of Colonel Mikhailovsky simultaneously burst into the gap and climbed the ladders to the walls. They were followed by the reserve column of Major Poltoratsky, whose soldiers set fire to the city's hay store. After fierce street fighting, the city was taken. 600 defenders of Kitab and 20 Russians (1 officer and 19 soldiers) were killed in the battle. Wishing to emphasize that this campaign was directed only against the rebels, Abramov handed over the management of the Shakhrisabz oases to the emir's envoys.

Meanwhile, the Shahrisabz commanders Jura-bek and Baba-bek gathered a 3,000-strong army in the Magian bey. Three companies of infantry came out against them and the beks, not daring to fight, retreated. The Shakhrisabz expedition was not only crowned with victory, but under the guise of help demonstrated to the emir the strength and power of the Russian army.

Another major success was achieved on the border of the Kirghiz tribes and Western China. In the summer of 1871, a detachment led by the governor of Semirechye G. A. Kolpakovsky occupied the lands of the Kuldzha Khanate there, which arose during the uprising of Muslim Dungans against Chinese rule. The transition of Kulja into Russian hands contributed to a major diplomatic success: the conclusion of an agreement with the ruler of Kashgar, Yakub-bek, thereby fighting the Russians, being a Kokand commander. Understanding perfectly well what a strong power he was dealing with, Yakub-bek generally avoided conflicts with the Russians in every possible way.

Thus, in 1868-1872. Russian armed forces suppressed pockets of resistance in the Bukhara Khanate, made long trips to mountainous Tajikistan and deep into the Turkmen lands. The next step, according to the plan of the Turkestan command, was to be a decisive offensive against the Khiva Khanate, which, as before, tried to hold on to Russia independently and even defiantly.

A.A.Mikhailov, "Battle with the desert"