I. A khanate of Independent Tur-kistan, central Asia, between lat. 36° and 44° N., and lon. 51° and 62° 30' E., bounded N. W. and N. by Russia, N. E. and E. by Bokhara, S. by Afghanistan and Persia, and W. by the Caspian sea; area, about 30,000 sq. m.; pop. estimated at 1,500,000. The Bokharian-Rus-sian boundary under the recent treaty (the czar having ceded the territories occupied E. of the river to the khan of Bokhara) follows the Amoo Darya (Oxus) from Kukertli to the junction of the westernmost branch, which it follows to the Aral sea; and from Cape Urgu, on the latter, the line continues along the E. slope of the Ust-Urt plateau and the so-called old bed of the Oxus to the Caspian. The whole of Khiva is supposed to have been at some time the bed of an immense shallow inland sea, of which only the Caspian and Aral remain. It is now a level expanse of plain alternating between sand and gravel, in which only the hardiest of plants can flourish, and which is relieved in spots by low, barren, slaty mountains.

In the middle of this desert is the oasis of Khiva, which has a length of about 200 m., with an average width of 75 m., and contains a population of nearly 1,000,000. The Amoo Darya is connected with this oasis by a large number of canals, partly formed by the river itself, and partly artificial, and covering the whole land under cultivation as with a net. The climate of the oasis of Khiva is variable. The greatest cold is in December, when the Amoo and the sea of Aral are usually covered with ice. Frosts continue till April, and then the heat increases so rapidly as to become insupportable in June. In October night frosts set in again. Vam-bery speaks in the most enthusiastic terms of the fertility of the abundantly watered soil, and of the admirable quality of its fruits and vegetables, especially apples, peaches, pomegranates, and the incomparable melons. The other principal products are corn, rice, cotton, and ruyan, a kind of root prized for the red dye extracted from it. The finest silk comes from Shah-Abat and Yeni Urgenj. Sheep, goats, horses, asses, and camels are raised in large numbers. The principal manufactures are articles in brass, earthenware, woollen goods, silk, and linen.

Trade is chiefly carried on with Russia. Caravans consisting of nearly 2,000 camels go to Orenburg in the spring and to Astrakhan in the fall, and bring back cast-iron vessels, chintz (a favorite ornament of the women), fine muslin, calico, sugar, guns, and fancy goods. There is a great export trade in fish, but the Russians have their own fisheries on the sea of Aral. With Persia and Afghanistan the trade is small, as the routes are occupied by the Turkomans. With Bokhara they exchange woollen gowns and linen for teas, spices, paper, and fancy goods. From Astrabad they obtain boxwood and naphtha. - The khanate is peopled by Uzbecks, Turkomans, Kirghiz, Sarts (or Tajiks), and Persians. The Uzbecks, the predominant race, live in settled villages and towns, and are mostly engaged in agriculture. They are fond of music and poetry, mimic battles, wrestling, and horse races. The Turkomans are repre-sented mainly by the Yomuts, who inhabit the borders of the desert from Kunya Urgenj to Gazavat. There are now very few Kirghiz. The Sarts are the ancient Persian population of Khiva, and though they have lived five centuries together, very few marriages have taken place between them and the Uzbecks. Before the recent war there were 40,000 Persians, many of them slaves.

The Khivan constitution is of Mongol origin. At the side of the khan stand a number of dignitaries whom he cannot remove from office. Other officials serve only in time of war. Justice is administered by karsis and muftis, either in their own houses or in the mosques. The political divisions of the khanate correspond to the number of large cities, which have their own beys or governors. The most interesting cities are Khiva, the capital, Yeni (New) Urgenj, and Kunya (Old) Urgenj, famous for having long been the capital of the khanate. Other towns of importance are Hazar-asp, Kungrad, Tash-hauz, Gurlen, Khoja Ili, Shah-Abat, Kilij-bay, Mangit, and Kiptchak, mostly within a short distance from the banks of the Amoo Darya. - The khanate of Khiva anciently formed part of the Persian empire, and included the provinces of Chorasmia, Sogdiana, and Bactria. The shores of the sea of Aral were at that time inhabited by the Massagetae, who, it is said, slew Cyrus, 529 B. C. North of the old course of the Oxus, which united the Caspian and Aral seas, lived the Asparsiacae, a Scythian tribe.

Khiva probably formed part of the Parthian empire at the time of Arsaces VI. (or Mithri-dates I.), about 150 B. C. The tribes succeeded in throwing off the Parthian yoke between A. D. 50 and 100. From the 3d to the 10th century it was connected with Persia. It became afterward an independent kingdom under the name of Khovaresm or Kharesm, until conquered by Genghis Khan early in the 13th century. At the end of the 14th it was taken by Tamerlane, and remained part of the kingdom of Samarcand until the beginning of the 16th century. Eventually it came under the rule of the Uzbecks, a Turkish tribe, who founded the khanate or kingdom of Khiva. Peter the Great sent an army under Gen. Bekevitch against the Khivans in 1717, which was defeated. Since that time the khans have taken every opportunity to display hostile feelings against Russians. Prominent among the recent khans, for his military skill and wise administration, was Rahim (1802-'26). Allah Kuli (1826-'41) toward the end of his reign successfully resisted a large Russian expedition under the command of Gen. Perovsky. He subdued also the tribe of the Goklens, whom he transferred into his territory.

His son Rahim Kuli (1841-'3) settled 10,000 tents of Jem-shidi, a Persian tribe, on the bank of the Amoo, near Kilij. His brother defeated the emir of Bokhara, and usurped the throne at his death. Mohammed Emin (1843-'55) extended his territory by conquering the land of the Sariks and the Tekkes, who dwelt near Merv and Akhal. In a subsequent expedition some daring enemies entered his tent, struck off his head, and sent it to the shah of Persia. His troops called to the throne one Abdullah, who was slain in a rebellion of the Yomuts (1856). He was succeeded by his younger brother Kutlug-Murad, who reigned only three months. His successor, Seid Mohammed, allowed the Yomuts to devastate the land, and the colonies founded by the previous khan became depopulated. Then a pretender to the throne, Mohammed Penah, instigated a rebellion, and implored the protection of Russia, for which he was finally murdered by his own partisans. The expedition undertaken by the Russian government against Khiva toward the close of 1872, under pretext of repressing brigandage and securing redress of grievances, met at first with a serious reverse. A body of Khivans surprised the advancing Russians, and compelled them to retreat. The Khivan success, however, roused the Russians to new efforts.

An army was sent out in two main divisions, one advancing against Khiva from Turkistan on the east, and another from Orenburg and the Caucasus on the west. The principal column was under the orders of Gen. Kaufmann, the commander-in-chief of the whole expedition. On May 20, 1873, Kungrad was attacked and captured, and on June 10 the Russians entered the capital of Khiva. The khan had fled, but a few days afterward he returned, signified his submission, and signed a treaty of peace, which compelled him to pay an indemnity of 2,000,-000 rubles by instalments extending over seven years, the Russian troops in the mean time occupying Shurakhan and Kungrad. The independence of the khan was to be recognized, but the E. boundary of the territory was reduced to the river Amoo Darya. Slavery and the slave trade were prohibited in the khanate. Subsequently it was added that the khan should have no right to make treaties with foreign powers without Russian sanction. The population of the ceded territory may be roughly estimated at 6,000 houses of settled inhabitants, and 37,000 kibitkas of nomads and semi-nomads; and taking the usual estimate of five persons to a house, with about 5,000 Persians previously slaves, the ceded population probably amounts to about 220,000. II. A city, capital of the khanate, situated in the most fertile portion of the valley of the Amoo Darya, about 30 m. from its W. shore; lat. 41° 20' N., lon. 60° E.; pop. about 6,000. The environs of Khiva are beautifully cultivated, but the city itself is declared to be inferior to a Persian city of the lowest rank.

The houses are built of mud, and stand in the most irregular manner. The city is divided into Khiva proper and the citadel, which can be shut off from the outer city by four gates. The palace of the khan is an inferior building, and the bazaars are not equal to those of other oriental cities. Tim is the principal bazaar, where the articles imported from Russia, Bokhara, and Persia are exposed for sale. There are few mosques of much antiquity or artistic construction. The Polvan-Ata is an edifice about four centuries old, consisting of one large and two small domes, and contains the tomb of Polvan, the patron saint of the city. The mosque attached to the khan's palace has a high round tower ornamented with arabesques. Among the medreses (colleges), that of Mohammed Emin Khan is probably the largest. It was built in

The Mosque of the Palace of Khiva.

1843 by a Persian architect after the model of a Persian caravansary. It has accommodation for 300 students. - See Stumm, Aus Chiwa (Berlin, 1874); Veniukoff, Die Russisch-Asia-tischen Grenzlande (translated from the Russian by Kramer, Leipsic, 1874 et seq.); Vam-bery, " Central Asia and the Anglo-Russian Frontier Question " (London, 1874); Spalding, "Khiva and Turkestan " (London, 1874); and MacGahan, "Campaigning on the Oxus, and the Fall of Khiva" (London, 1874).