The Khan receives the envoy in a yurt
Editorial contextAfter weeks of waiting, Muraviev was led through a fine brick gateway and a series of mud-walled courtyards. In the last, weedy courtyard stood the Khan's yurt, and the ruler sat inside it cross-legged on a carpet while the Russian envoy stood at the entrance.
On reaching the end of this corridor, we had to go down two steps into a fourth court-yard, larger than the other three, but surpassing them all in filth, and covered here and there with weeds. In the middle of this stood the Khan's Yurt.
About Muhammad Rahim Khan of Khiva (Uzbek)
Continue in this sourceMuraviev's embassy to the Khan of Khiva1819 to 1820 · 16 passagesThe devil's claws on the moon
Editorial contextMuraviev says that even the court astronomer who could calculate eclipses believed, like everyone in Khiva, that an eclipse happened when the devil grabbed the sun or moon, and that shouting and firing guns would drive him off. They called the North Star the 'iron point' at the end of the earth's axis and compared the earth to a watermelon.
he does not even know the cause of an eclipse, but believes with the rest of the people that it is brought about by the devil fastening his claws on to the sun or moon, and thinks a loud noise and the firing off of guns necessary to get rid of this dreadful enemy. The earth they believe to be round and compare it to a water-melon.
About Khivans
Keep in mind
Muraviev writes condescendingly about Khivan learning.
Mud-walled towns that last because it rarely rains
Editorial contextMuraviev lists the five towns of the khanate, with New Urgench larger and busier than Khiva itself. All were walled, but their buildings were mean and made almost entirely of mud, with walls faced with stone only here and there. They survived for years only because so little rain fell.
The buildings in all the above towns are very mean (the only ones approaching to anything like size being a few mosques), and mud is the almost universal material of the houses, as it may also be said to be that of the town walls … In spite of this perishable material, the buildings stand for many years, owing to the very scanty rain fall.
About Sarts, Uzbeks and Turkmens of Khiva
Continue in this sourceMuraviev's embassy to the Khan of Khiva1819 to 1820 · 16 passagesKhiva's manor houses of rammed clay
Editorial contextRiding into the Khiva oasis, Abbott describes the country houses of the gentry: tall clay-walled compounds with towers at the corners, locally called 'castles'. The walls were of rammed clay, generally fluted, an effect he thought perhaps came from the hurdles of straight branches that held the clay while it was rammed.
The houses have all one character, being an enclosure of very lofty clay walls, flanked by ornamental towers at the angles, which give them the appearance of castles. This name (Gullah) they bear at Khiva. … The walls, built with great regularity of rammed clay, are generally fluted, an effect given them perhaps by the hurdles of straight branches, between which the clay is supported whilst soft
About Uzbek gentry of Khiva
Continue in this sourceA British officer's winter ride from Herat to the Khan of Khiva1839 to 1840 · 15 passagesThe khan who wanted no gold: the Khiva massacre
Editorial contextBruce tells how Prince Alexander Bekovich, sent to find gold on the Amu Darya, was lured into quartering his men among the Uzbeks. The khan assured him he had no use for gold or silver, since his people owned only herds and tents and had no castles or towns to lose. That night the troops were massacred and Bekovich cut to pieces. The story reached Peter through a surviving captive officer.
for his own part, he neither valued gold nor silver, as it was of no use in their country, for they lived without that, or even bread, consequently had no use for either ; their whole riches consisting in herds of cattle, which, with their tents, they could remove at pleasure ; and, consequently, could not fear having either castles, towns, or villages, rifled or taken from them
About Uzbeks of Khiva ('Usbeck Tartars')
Keep in mind
Hearsay and dramatised; the khanate of Khiva in fact had walled towns, so the khan's speech (if spoken) was a ruse.
Mud castles of the Khivan landowners
Editorial contextConstant feuds had led landowners to build square fortified farmsteads with granaries, tanks, mills and stables for 100 to 150 people. Muraviev gives their size and materials: mud walls 18 to 20 feet high, sometimes of masonry, with domed corner towers and battlements that were only for show. He was himself held in one of these forts.
The buildings are in the form of a square, and are surrounded by walls generally of mud, but sometimes of masonry. The walls are 8 feet thick at the base, diminishing to 3 at the summit, and are from 18 to 20 feet high. They are supported on the exterior faces by round buttresses, also of mud, and are crenelated, but the battlements are merely for show
About Uzbek landowners of Khiva
Continue in this sourceMuraviev's embassy to the Khan of Khiva1819 to 1820 · 16 passagesSlave caravans on the road to Khiva
Editorial contextAbbott travelled alongside caravans that had carried grain south and were returning to Khiva with captives, many from Herat. He describes the women riding with their captors and the men walking the whole way, chained by the neck at night.
They had brought grain from Khiva, and are returning thither laden with slaves, many of whom are natives of Heraut. … But the men are chained together by the throats at night, so that rest is scarcely possible, whilst the contact of the frozen iron with their skin must be torturous. For them also no carriage is found, they walk the whole way
About Turkmen traders and their captives from Herat
Continue in this sourceA British officer's winter ride from Herat to the Khan of Khiva1839 to 1840 · 15 passagesKhiva: a turquoise dome and mud streets
Editorial contextMuraviev describes Khiva as a walled town between two canals whose chief buildings were the great mosque with its turquoise-blue dome, a rather insignificant palace and some smaller mosques. Most building was in mud, the streets were narrow, and a market was held twice a week. Locals said its old name was Khivak and that it existed before the Amu Darya changed course.
The principal buildings are the great mosque, with its dome of turquoise-blue (a colour revered by Mussulmans) ; the Khan's palace, which is, however, an insignificant structure, and several smaller mosques. Mud is the material in general use for building purposes. The streets are narrow.
About Uzbek khanate of Khiva
Continue in this sourceMuraviev's embassy to the Khan of Khiva1819 to 1820 · 16 passagesA note hidden in a gun barrel
Editorial contextPreparing to leave, Muraviev found a slip of paper secretly pushed into his gun barrel by Russian captives, begging him to tell the Tsar of more than 3,000 Russian slaves suffering in Khiva. Elsewhere he says most were kidnapped on the Orenburg frontier by Kazakhs and sold at Khiva, and that Russian slaves were the khanate's only smiths.
As I was preparing to clean this gun, I discovered a slip of paper in one of the barrels, on which the following was written in Russian : "We venture to inform your Honor that there are over 3,000 Russian slaves in this place, who have to suffer unheard-of misery from labour, cold, hunger, &c. Have pity on our unhappy situation and reveal it to the Emperor.
About Russian slaves in Khiva
Continue in this sourceMuraviev's embassy to the Khan of Khiva1819 to 1820 · 16 passagesKhiva: walls of earth and houses of mud
Editorial contextThe British factors Hogg and Thompson reached Khiva in 1740. They describe it as the khan's seat on rising ground, defended by a very thick earth wall higher than the houses, with turrets and a wet ditch. The houses are low, mostly mud-built, with flat roofs covered in earth. On the same page they note that the Khivans live in towns while their Kazakh neighbours live in tents.
It is situated on a rising ground, has three gates, and is defended by a strong wall of earth, very thick, and much higher than the houses: it has turrets at small distances, and a broad deep ditch full of water. The place is large, but the houses are low, the greatest part of them being built with mud; the roofs are flat, and covered with earth.
About Khivan Tartars (Uzbeks)
Continue in this sourceJonas Hanway's history of British trade over the Caspian1743 to 1745 · 17 passagesA khan who lived in a felt tent
Editorial contextMuraviev says the Khan of Khiva lived in a felt tent all year round and kept his houses only for his wives, spending most of his time hawking and hunting on the steppe. He also notes the Khan had banned alcohol and tobacco on pain of having one's mouth slit.
His mode of living is quite nomadic, for he occupies a felt tent all the year round, keeping his houses for his wives only. The greater part of his time is passed in the steppe, hawking or hunting, snipe and wild goats being his favourite game.
About Muhammad Rahim Khan of Khiva
Continue in this sourceMuraviev's embassy to the Khan of Khiva1819 to 1820 · 16 passagesA captive Tartar prince who galloped home from Isfahan
Editorial contextChardin tells the court story of 'Abouel-Kazi', a prince of Khwarazm captured in a Persian victory over the Uzbeks. Shah Safi treated him as royalty in Isfahan for ten years, until he feigned illness, went to a spa, and rode off with twenty Uzbek horsemen sent to fetch him. He became khan and stayed a friend of Persia. This is Abu'l-Ghazi Bahadur, khan of Khiva, later author of a famous history of the Turks.
To whom the Yusbeck Prince thus briskly answer'd; I am highly oblig'd to the King of Persia, but I owe more my own Country and Relations that call me back. 'Tis my Father that sends me these Men, to facilitate my return to my Native soil
About Uzbeks of Khwarazm (Khiva)
Keep in mind
Court gossip retold decades later; details such as the role of the prince's father may not match other accounts.
Singing kites over Khiva
Editorial contextFor weeks Abbott heard a strange humming music over Khiva at night. It turned out to be paper kites with a taut string stretched across a bent crosspiece, which hummed in the wind and were left flying all night. He thought the idea worth copying in England.
Seeing some children on the road with their paper kites, I approached to examine the contrivance, by which these toys emit a musical sound, whilst floating in the air. … And, as numbers of these kites are left floating in the air all night, the effect is that of aerial music ; monotonous, but full of melancholy interest.
About Children of Khiva
Continue in this sourceA British officer's winter ride from Herat to the Khan of Khiva1839 to 1840 · 15 passagesRussia's Tatars are 'Nogais' to the Kazakhs; 'Tatar' is a cursed name
Editorial contextIn a footnote to his chapter on ruins Levshin notes that Kazakhs call the Tatars living in Russia only 'Nogais'. The word 'Tatar' itself they did not use; in their view it belonged to some base people cursed by a Muslim prophet. Bukharans and Khivans thought the same. The same story was reported by Rychkov seventy years earlier (W175).
The Kirghiz-Kazakhs call the Tatars living in Russia nothing but Nogais. The (word) Tatar itself is not used by them at all, and in their opinion belongs to some base people cursed by a certain Muslim prophet. The Bukharans and Khivans think the same, and also call the Russian Tatars Nogais.
Working translation
Original wording
Киргизъ-Казаки иначе не называютъ Татаръ въ Россіи живущихъ, какъ Ногаями. Само Татары совсѣмъ у нихъ не употребительно, и принадлежитъ по ихъ мнѣнію какому то подлому народу, проклятому однимъ Магометанскимъ пророкомъ. Бухарцы и Хивинцы тоже думаютъ, и также называютъ Татаръ Россійскихъ Ногаями.
About Tatars of Russia (as seen by Kazakhs, Bukharans and Khivans)
Keep in mind
'Само' is as printed in the OCR; the word 'слово' (word) seems to be implied or garbled.
In Bukhara and Khiva, 'Tatar' was an insult
Editorial contextRychkov questioned Muslim scholars and Russian envoys sent from Orenburg to Khiva and Bukhara about the names 'Scythians' and 'Tatars'. He concludes that no people there called itself Tatar. The word meant a lawless, inhuman people supposed to live somewhere in far Siberia, and calling someone a Tatar was like calling him a barbarian or a worthless peasant.
for I am fully certain that in all those parts there is not one people that calls itself Tatars. By the name Tatars they understand a very lawless and inhuman people, which they suppose lives in the Russian, and above all in the most remote Siberian, places … And they regard the name Tatar as very dishonourable and abusive, as if to say barbarian, serf, and good-for-nothing.
Working translation
Original wording
ибо я совершенно увѣренъ, что во всѣхъ тамошнихъ сторонахъ ни одного народа нѣтъ, которой бы Татарами имяновался. Подъ именемъ Татаръ разумѣютъ они народъ весьма беззаконной и безчеловѣчной, признавая, якобы жительствуетъ онъ въ Россійскихъ, а паче въ самыхъ отдаленныхъ Сибирскихъ мѣстахъ … И имя Татаръ почитаютъ они за весьма безчестное и поносное, такъ какъ бы сказать, Варваръ, Смердъ, и ни къ чему годной человѣкъ.
About Peoples of Central Asia; Tatars as a label
Keep in mind
Based on Rychkov's interviews with Muslim scholars and returning envoys, not on travel of his own to Khiva or Bukhara.
The scan is too rough to double-check this quote by machine. Compare it with the page.
Bards who sing all night
Editorial contextRich Khivans kept bards who sang the deeds of ancient heroes on a lute, growing more ecstatic as the audience applauded, sometimes through the whole night while the listeners sat still and silent.
The wealthy Khivans generally keep a bard in their service, who entertains them with stories and songs, and airs played on a sorry kind of lute. Sometimes they compose ballads relating the deeds of ancient heroes. … This singing is kept up the whole night not unfrequently, during which the host and his guests sit attentively listening, motionless, and apparently buried in meditation.
About Uzbeks and wealthy Khivans
Continue in this sourceMuraviev's embassy to the Khan of Khiva1819 to 1820 · 16 passagesKhiva and Kokand: towns of mud
Editorial contextDrawing on Alexander Burnes and other authors, Wolff describes the capital of Khiva as a town of mud huts with three stone mosques and a mud palace, living largely by the slave trade, and says Kokand was likewise built of mud except for three stone bazaars.
The capital of Khiva is a town of mud huts, with three stone mosques, and a mud palace. Its chief trade is in slaves, of whom there are about forty thousand in the Khanat ; and it is said there are many captured Russians, who are slaves in Khiva. … It is, like Khiva, built of mud, with the exception of three stone bazaars.
About Uzbek khanates of Khiva and Kokand
Keep in mind
Second-hand; Wolff did not visit Khiva or Kokand on this journey.
An Uzbek map of the world
Editorial contextThe Khivan minister showed Abbott a world map by an Uzbek scholar that put Italy north of England and Russia south of China. Abbott, tongue in cheek, decided not to argue.
A map of the world, the production of a profound Oozbeg philosopher, was then produced ; I begged a clue to this singular chart, and was rather surprised to find, that Italy lay north of England ; and Russia south of China.
About Uzbek court of Khiva
Keep in mind
Abbott is being sarcastic about the map.
Oaths at a saint's tomb and fortune-telling sticks
Editorial contextThe Yomut Turkmens settled disputes by swearing an oath over a saint's tomb, believing a perjurer could only escape damnation by dying on the spot. Muraviev also describes Khivan fortune-tellers who read letters from a book, or threw sticks onto a circle of other sticks each standing for a letter.
The Yomud Turcomans adore a Saint over whose tomb they settle their differences by an oath. A false oath under those circumstances is unknown, for it is firmly believed that whoever forswears himself over the tomb can only save himself from eternal punishment by dying on the spot.
About Yomut Turkmens and Khivans
Continue in this sourceMuraviev's embassy to the Khan of Khiva1819 to 1820 · 16 passagesThe Turkmen: 'these Tartars' under Uzbek rule
Editorial contextIn his essay on a possible Russian invasion of India, Conolly weighs whether Russia could win over the Turkmen, who then gave unwilling allegiance to 'their Oosbeg conquerors' at Khiva. He concludes the Turkmen would follow their interests, and that Russia, as in the Caucasus, might in time 'subdue these Tartars'. It shows 'Tartar' as a British strategic label for the Turkic peoples of the desert.
I am sure that the Toorkmuns would be chiefly influenced by what they thought their interests; and when I look to what we have done in Hindoostan, or, to speak nearer to the point, what the Russians have done in Persia, I cannot decide that they may not subdue these Tartars
About Turkmen and their Uzbek overlords
Keep in mind
A political argument, not an observation.
Khiva's mud walls and towns
Editorial contextIn the extract from Muraviev's journal that Monteith appended, Khiva appears as a walled capital of 10,000 to 15,000 people with mud walls 20 feet high, a palace and a fine mosque. The other towns of the khanate were of flat-roofed mud with a few brick mosques, and lasted well because the climate was so dry.
The walls of the city are built of mud and 20 feet in height … The buildings in all these towns are only of mud with flat roofs, some few mosques are of brick and mortar. They are however very permanent from the dryness of the climate.
About Uzbek khanate of Khiva
Keep in mind
Not Meyendorff's text: Muraviev's journal as extracted by the translator. The full Muraviev translation is record W027.
Uzbek means 'own master'
Editorial contextMuraviev explains the Uzbek name as 'own master' (uz = self, beg = master) and adds, with some irony, that since Muhammad Rahim Khan made himself absolute ruler, the Uzbeks of Khiva now called themselves 'khidmatgar', servants.
"Us" in Turkish signifies "self" and "Beg" master, so Usbeg may be translated as "Own Master." The name was appropriate enough up to the time of the reigning Khan, Mahomed Ragim, who, by ability, craft, and force, established himself as uncontrolled Ruler, since when his countrymen in Khiva style themselves "Khidmatgar" (servant) instead of "Usbeg."
About Uzbeks of Khiva
Keep in mind
A popular folk etymology; the name probably comes from the 14th-century Golden Horde khan Özbeg.
'Yusbek': a hundred lords, or 'he is the lord'?
Editorial contextChardin gives two etymologies for the Uzbeks. Persians derived it from 'yuz' (a hundred) and 'bek' (lord), mocking a land split among a hundred petty princes; the Uzbeks rejected that and said it meant 'he is the lord'. He adds that Tartar and Turkish are one language, Turkish being a dialect of it.
They are called Yusbecks, at least if the Persian Etymology be true, by reason of the great number of Sovereign Princes by which the Tartars are Govern'd; for Yus, as well in the Language of the Tartars as Turks, which is but a Dialect of it, signifies a hundred, and Bek, Lords
About Uzbeks, whom Chardin calls the Tartars of Lesser Tartary
Continue in this sourceChardin's journey through Crimea and the Caucasus to Persia1660 to 1679 · 13 passagesEntering walled Khiva
Editorial contextAbbott rode to his first audience through a suburb, a bazaar and a fortified gateway, with women crowding the rooftops to stare. The royal citadel itself he found to be a modest brick building set into a corner of the town walls.
On approaching the town, we entered a considerable suburb, and afterwards passed through a miserable bazaar to the gateway ; for Khiva is fortified. … It was not long before we reached, through some very poor streets, the citadel, within which resides the "Father of Victories," the king of Khaurism. It is a poor, brick building, forming an angle of the city defences.
About Uzbeks and townspeople of Khiva
Continue in this sourceA British officer's winter ride from Herat to the Khan of Khiva1839 to 1840 · 15 passages
