SOCIO-ECONOMIC LIFE OF THE KHANATE OF KHIVA

N. Khamrayeva

doi:10.71337/inlibrary.uz.ijai.106062

Authors

N. Khamrayeva
University of Asian Technologies

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.71337/inlibrary.uz.ijai.106062

Abstract

The largest city of Khorezm or the Khiva Khanate was Khiva (modern Uzbekistan) — its capital from the beginning of the 17th century until 1920. In ancient times, the city was called Khiyvak. Since its foundation, Khiva was a link on the trade route between the East and the West. New Urgench was built under Abulgazi Khan in the 17th century.

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SOCIO-ECONOMIC LIFE OF THE KHANATE OF KHIVA

Khamrayeva N.Sh.

Senior Lecturer, University of Asian Technologies

Abstract.

The largest city of Khorezm or the Khiva Khanate was Khiva (modern Uzbekistan)

— its capital from the beginning of the 17th century until 1920. In ancient times, the city was

called Khiyvak. Since its foundation, Khiva was a link on the trade route between the East and

the West. New Urgench was built under Abulgazi Khan in the 17th century.

Keywords

: the city of Khorezm, Khiva Khanate, Uzbekistan, 17th century to 1920, the routes

between East and West, the Amu Darya riverbed, New Urgench, the mausoleum of

SultanTekesh.

Абстракт.

Хива, расположенная в современном Узбекистане, была крупнейшим городом

Хорезма, или Хивинского ханства, и его столицей с начала XVII века до 1920 года. В

древности город назывался Хийвак. С момента своего основания Хива играла ключевую

роль на торговом пути между Востоком и Западом, что способствовало ее

экономическому и культурному развитию. В XVII веке при Абулгази-хане был построен

Новый Ургенч, который стал центром современной Хорезмской области.

Ключевые слова:

город Хорезм, Хивинское ханство, Узбекистан, XVII век – 1920 год,

пути между Востоком и Западом, русло Амударьи, Новый Ургенч, мавзолей Султан-

Текеша.

In 1512, a new dynasty of Uzbeks, who had broken away from the Shibanids, rose to the

head of an independent khanate[8] in Khorezm. Initially, the capital of the state was the city of

Urgench (formerly Gurganj), located on the territory of modern Turkmenistan. In 1598, Amu

Darya River retreated from Urgench, and the capital was moved to a new location - Khiva. The

Amu Darya, flowing through the territory of the khanate, flowed into the Aral Sea, supplying

residents with water, and also providing a waterway to Europe. Over the centuries, the river

changed its course several times. 150 km from Khiva, near the city of Kunya-Urgench, which

means "old Urgench", are the ruins of an ancient capital. It was a small fortified town with a

ten-century history. The legend of its origins says that the city grew around the well of Kheyvak,

the water from which had an amazing taste, and the well was dug by order of Shem, the son of

the biblical Noah. In Ichan-Kala (the inner city of Khiva) you can still see this well today.

When the capital was moved to a new place, over time, the khanate flourished again.

The real name of this country since ancient times was Khorezm. The Khorezm state,

which existed until the 20th century, was ruled by nomadic Uzbek tribes under the leadership of

the sultans Ilbars and Balbars, descendants of Yadgar Khan, since 1511. They belonged to the

branch descended from Arab Shah ibn Pilad, a descendant of Shiban in the 9th generation, so

the dynasty is also called Arab Shahids. Shiban, in turn, was the fifth son of Jochi[6]. But

neither they nor others called the state the Khiva Khanate, only Khorezm.

In the 16th century, a settled lifestyle was prevalent only among a majority of the

population in the southern part of the country. Notably, many irrigated lands in the north were

abandoned, leading to a decline in water supply and agriculture. Consequently, urban culture

also declined. The economic weakness of the Khanate was reflected in the absence of its own

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currency until the end of the 18th century, relying instead on Bukharan coins. This indicates the

Khanate's lack of economic independence and its dependence on Bukhara. Under these

circumstances, the Uzbek people managed to maintain a nomadic lifestyle longer compared to

their southern neighbors.

The reign of the famous Khan-historian Abulgazi (1643-1663) and his son and successor

Anush Khan were periods of relative political stability and economic development[5]. Large-

scale irrigation works were undertaken, and the newly irrigated lands were divided among

Uzbek tribes, which became increasingly sedentary. Khorezm, due to the scarcity of its own

economic resources, waged wars with Bukhara and the Safavids, and the Turkmens of the state

raided Khorasan. The last representative of the Shibanid-Arabshahid dynasty who ruled

Khorezm was Ilbars Khan II, who was killed by Nadir Shah in 1740.

Uzbek Kungrat Dynasty/Arabshahid Dynasty died out by the mid-18th century. The last

influential khan was Shergazi Khan (1714-1728), who managed to defeat the military

expedition of Bekovich-Cherkassky. By this time, the power of the tribal leaders had grown

greatly, and they began to invite the Chingizids from the Kazakh steppes to the khan's throne.

Real power was concentrated in the hands of tribal leaders with the titles of ataliq and inak. The

two main Uzbek tribes, the Kungrats and the Mangyts, fought for power in the khanate, and

their struggle was accompanied by the separation of the northern part of Khorezm, the Aral (the

Amu Darya delta). The nomadic Uzbeks of the Aral proclaimed their Chingizids, who were also

puppets, as khans. Chaos reigned in Khorezm for most of the 18th century, and in 1740 the

country was captured by Nader Shah of Iran, but his power was nominal and ended with the

Shah's death in 1747. In the subsequent struggle between the Kungrats and the Manghits, the

Kungrats won. However, 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 tribe of Yomuds. In 1770,

Muhammad Amin-biy, the leader of Uzbek Kungrat tribe, defeated the Yomuds and established

his own rule in the khanate. He became the founder of a new Kungrat dynasty in Khiva.

However, even after this, the Kungrat inaks needed decades to suppress the resistance of the

tribal leaders, and the puppets of Chingizids were still on the throne[7].

After this, Muhammad Rahim Khan I tried with some success to subjugate the Turkmen

in the south and the Kazakhs in the north. The same policy was pursued by his successors.

Eltuzar and Muhammad Rahim Khan I finally broke the opposition of the tribal nobility with

the help of the Sarts and curbed the military strength of the Turkmen, whom they either

persuaded to live in Khorezm by distributing irrigated lands in exchange for military service, or

forced them to do so by force. They created a relatively centralized state in which provincial

governors had limited power. In the first half of the 19th century, the Kungrats significantly

expanded the irrigation system. Under Muhammad Rahim Khan I, the khanate began minting

its own coins with the inscription "issued in Khorezm." But despite all this, the khanate lacked

both human and financial resources, and Khivan raids into the Bukhara Khanate and Khorasan,

as well as against the Kazakhs and independent Turkmen tribes, became annual. At the same

time, the Kungrat 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[1]

In Khorezm, unlike Bukhara, there were cases of marriages between government officials

and Russian girls. For example, Matniyaz-divanbegi, the son of the khan's uncle, and a Russian

slave. The Khiva Khanate was ruled for 4 centuries by two dynasties of nomadic Uzbek tribes:

the Shabanids of the Arabshahids (1511–1740) and the Kungrats (1763–1920).

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The social situation in the Khiva Khanate, as in other Central Asian states, was

characterized by stagnation, which was due to the khanate lagging behind the process of world

development. Political fragmentation, the dominance of subsistence farming, ongoing internal

strife, and attacks by foreigners led to the country's economy being in decline and social life

being monotonous. The rulers thought more about their own well-being than about the benefit

of the state and the people.

In the Khiva Khanate, as well as in Bukhara, there were many taxes and duties. The main

one was considered to be the land tax "salguto". Among other taxes, the population paid

"algug" (once a year) and "miltin puli" (for the purchase of a gun), "arava oluv" (use of the

population's carts), "ulok tutuv" (mobilization of draft animals), "kunalga" (provision of

housing for ambassadors and officials if necessary), "suysun" (slaughter of animals for treating

government officials), "chalar puli" (payment for messengers), "tarozuyana" (payment for

scales), "mirabana" (payment to the elder for the division of water), "darvazubon puli"

(payment to the gatekeeper and security guard), "mushrifana" (payment for determining the

amount of tax on the harvest), "afanak puli" (payment to the one who brings news of the begar),

"chibik puli" (payment for exemption from other work from society), payment to the clergy, etc.

In total, the people paid about 20 types of taxes. In addition, the population was forced to

perform compulsory public works:

• "begar" - one person from each family had to work 12 days a year (sometimes up to 30

days) on various construction sites, cleaning irrigation canals, etc.;

• "kazuv" - construction of canals;

• "ichki va obkhura kazuv" - cleaning irrigation systems and dams with locks;

• "kachi" - construction of defensive walls and dams;

• "atlanuv" - participation with a horse in the khan's hunt.

Xiva honligida feodal tuzumning asosiy xususiyatlaridan biri majburiy mehnat edi. Aholi

soliqlardan tashqari, quyidagi majburiy jamoat ishlarini bajarishga majbur edi:

– "begar": har bir oiladagi bir kishi yiliga 12 kun (ba’zida 30 kungacha) turli qurilish

maydonchalarida, sug‘orish kanallarini tozalash va hokazo ishlarda ishlashi kerak edi.

– "qazuv": kanallar qurish.

– "ichki va obxura qazuv": sug‘orish tizimlari va to‘g‘onlarni tozalash.

– "xachi": himoya devorlari va to‘g‘onlarni qurish.

– "atlanuv": honning ovchilariga ot bilan yordam berish.

It is known that irrigation and water played a special role in Khorezm. The change in the

course of Amu Darya even led to a change in the capital. Irrigation, the construction of devices,

and artificial irrigation systems served to establish Khorezm as a center of science and culture,

and this, of course, had a very great influence. Amu Darya changed its course several times.

Because of this, at one time the center of Khorezm, the city of Kyat, was devastated, they

erected a new Kyat. The same thing happened with the city of Vezir, which, unfortunately, later

lost its significance as a capital. I can also mention old Urgench, which is now located in

Karakalpakstan. At that time, Urgench was destroyed because the old bed of Amu Darya

changed its course in the other direction. The khans always paid special attention to the

restoration and cleaning of the irrigation system of canals. In this regard, in 1646, Abulgazi

Bahadur Khan, whom I introduced as the most prominent representative of the Arabshahids,

ordered a new city to be built near old Urgench. And it was already called New Urgench, Yangi

Urgench. At one time it was the capital. Then the city of Khiva was the capital of the Khiva

Khanate, but Urgench was the capital of merchants who were engaged in international trade,

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and all the largest trade deals were concluded in the city of Urgench. The supreme ruler was

always there personally and controlled the process of cleaning canals, irrigation ditches. It was

his duty to constantly, every year (this is called "kazu", from the word kazish - to dig) conduct

such an event. The khan himself was personally present at least on the first day, he himself set

an example. This was the most important action that required the intervention of the central

government.