The Bukhara, Khiva and Kokand khanates

In the 16th–19th centuries three states existed on the territory of Uzbekistan — the Khanate (from the late 18th century the Emirate) of Bukhara, and the Khanates of Khiva and Kokand. The period was marked by political fragmentation, changes of dynasty and wars between the khanates; the decline of Silk Road trade left the region behind world developments. Yet towns, madrasas, crafts and literature kept developing (Abulghazi Khan, Nodira Begim, Ogahiy, Munis). It was the khanates’ weakness and mutual feuds that made the Russian conquest easier in the 19th century. Exams ask many questions about dynasties and founders, official posts, dates and foreign policy.

§1. The Khanate and Emirate of Bukhara

• After the Shaybanids the Ashtarkhanid (Janid) dynasty ruled (1601–1756).
• Under Imamquli Khan (1611–1642) there was relative stability and the Sherdor madrasa in Samarkand and other buildings were built.
• Later central power weakened, local begs became independent and economic crisis deepened.
• In 1740 the Iranian shah Nadir Shah subdued Bukhara — clear evidence of Ashtarkhanid weakness.

• Shahmurad (1785–1800) took the title “emir” — the state became the Emirate of Bukhara; reforms: regulated taxes, a currency reform and irrigation works.
• Emir Haydar (1800–1826) and Emir Nasrullah (1826–1860) strengthened central power and harshly crushed the begs’ resistance; Nasrullah briefly took Kokand in 1842.
• Under Emir Muzaffar (1860–1885) the emirate became a Russian protectorate (1868).
• Government: the emir; the qushbegi (chief minister), divanbegi (finance), ataliq, qazikalon (chief judge), mirshab (night watch) and rais (supervisor of religious law and market order). Provinces (begliks) were governed by begs.

§2. The Khanate of Khiva

• Founded in 1511–1512 by Ilbars Khan (the Arabshahid dynasty, related to the Shaybanids); its first capital was Urgench (Kunya-Urgench), but in the 17th century, as the Amu Darya changed course, the capital moved to Khiva.
• Abulghazi Khan (1643–1663) strengthened the state and was a historian, author of the “Shajara-i Turk” and “Shajara-i Tarakima”.
• In the 18th century there were Iranian invasion (Nadir Shah, 1740), internal feuds and struggles between Turkmen and Uzbek clans.

• Muhammad Rahim Khan I (1806–1825) centralised power and reformed taxes; under Allaquli Khan (1825–1842) much was built (the Tash-Hauli palace and madrasas).
• Historian-poets: Munis and Ogahiy — the chronicle “Firdaws al-Iqbal”.
• The Karakalpaks lived mainly within the Khanate of Khiva; Turkmen tribes were also subject to it.
• In 1873 the Treaty of Gandimiyan made the khanate dependent on Russia.

§3. The Khanate of Kokand

• The Fergana Valley broke away from Bukhara and became an independent state with its capital at Kokand.
• Alim Khan (1798–1810) was the first to take the title “khan”, annexed Tashkent (1809) and created a regular army of Tajik highlanders (ghalcha).
• Umar Khan (1810–1822) patronised culture and was himself a poet (pen name Amiri); his wife Nodira Begim was a celebrated poet (pen names Komila and Maknuna). A literary circle flourished in Kokand at this time.
• Under Muhammad Ali Khan (Madali Khan) (1822–1842) the khanate reached its greatest extent (up to the borders of Eastern Turkestan).

• Khudoyar Khan came to the throne and was overthrown several times; popular revolts (Pulat Khan) broke out.
• In 1876 Russia abolished the khanate and created the Fergana Oblast in its place.

§4. Society and economy

• Forms of landholding: amlak (state land), mulk (private land), waqf (land of religious institutions) and tankho (land granted for service).
• Taxes: kharaj (land tax), zakat (on trade and livestock) and tanabana (on orchards and melon fields); duties — qazuv (digging and cleaning canals), begar (unpaid communal labour) and ulov (transport duty).
• Crafts: weaving, pottery, jewellery and smithing; craft associations in the towns.
• Trade: caravan trade with Russia, Iran, China, Afghanistan and India; trade with Russia via Orenburg and Troitsk grew especially in the 19th century.
• Slavery: the slave trade survived in Khiva and Bukhara (captured Iranians and Russians).

§5. Relations between the khanates and foreign policy

• The three khanates fought one another: Bukhara and Kokand over Khujand, Ura-Tyube and Jizzakh; Bukhara and Khiva over Merv and their borders.
• These wars weakened the khanates, damaged their economies and eased the Russian conquest.
• External ties: embassies and trade with Russia, the Ottoman Empire, Iran, Afghanistan and China (Kokand traded with Eastern Turkestan).
• In the mid-19th century the “Great Game” between Russia and Britain put the khanates at the centre of a rivalry between two empires.

§6. Culture

• Architecture: the Lyabi-Hauz ensemble in Bukhara, the Sherdor and Tilla-Kari madrasas in Samarkand (Ashtarkhanid era), the buildings of Itchan Kala in Khiva (Tash-Hauli, the Islam Khoja minaret — early 20th century) and Khudoyar Khan’s palace in Kokand.
• Literature: Turdi, Mashrab, Nodira Begim, Uvaysiy, Munis and Ogahiy.
• History-writing: Abulghazi Khan, Munis and Ogahiy (“Firdaws al-Iqbal”), and in Kokand the “Tarikh-i Shahrukhi”.
• Madrasas taught mainly religious subjects and the exact sciences declined — contributing to society’s scientific backwardness.
• Even so, the khanate era preserved the traditions of folk crafts (Bukharan gold embroidery, Khivan woodcarving, Kokand ceramics) and the art of maqom — an important part of today’s cultural heritage.

Worked example

“Match: 1) Shahrukh Biy; 2) Muhammad Rahim Biy; 3) Ilbars Khan; 4) Muhammad Amin Biy. a) Khiva (Arabshahids); b) Kokand; c) Bukhara (Mangits); d) Khiva (Kungrats).”

1. Shahrukh Biy founded the Khanate of Kokand: 1–b.
2. Muhammad Rahim Biy — the Mangit dynasty: 2–c.
3. Ilbars Khan founded the Khanate of Khiva (Arabshahids): 3–a.
4. Muhammad Amin Biy — the start of the Kungrat dynasty: 4–d.
5. Answer: 1–b, 2–c, 3–a, 4–d.

Worked example

Chronology: “Order: the founding of the Khanate of Kokand; the Mangits’ rise to power; Nadir Shah’s subjugation of Bukhara; the annexation of Tashkent by Kokand; Nasrullah’s capture of Kokand.”

1. Khanate of Kokand — 1709.
2. Nadir Shah — 1740.
3. The Mangits — 1756.
4. Tashkent annexed by Kokand — 1809.
5. Nasrullah in Kokand — 1842.
6. Answer: 1709 → 1740 → 1756 → 1809 → 1842.

Worked example

Source analysis: “Since no one had undertaken to write the history of the Turkic peoples, I decided to write it myself, in plain Turkic so that everyone could understand it” (paraphrasing a work’s preface). Who wrote it, and what is the work?

1. A history of the Turkic peoples written in plain Turkic — 17th-century Khivan historiography.
2. The author was the ruler and historian Abulghazi Khan (1643–1663).
3. The work is the “Shajara-i Turk”.
4. Answer: Abulghazi Khan, the “Shajara-i Turk”.

Check yourself

1. In what year did the Mangit dynasty come to power?

2. Which Mangit ruler first took the title “emir”?

3. Who founded the Khanate of Kokand?

4. In what year was Tashkent annexed by Kokand?

5. Who wrote the “Shajara-i Turk”?

6. What was the post of chief minister in the Emirate of Bukhara called?

7. Which Kungrat ruler was the first in Khiva to take the title of khan?

8. What was the duty of digging and cleaning canals called?

Common mistakes

• Saying the Emirate of Bukhara was founded under the Shaybanids (the emirate dates from the Mangits, starting with Shahmurad).
• Naming Alim Khan as founder of the Khanate of Kokand (the founder was Shahrukh Biy; Alim Khan was the first to take the title “khan”).
• Calling the Kungrats a Bukharan dynasty (they ruled in Khiva).
• Reversing the Ashtarkhanids and the Mangits (the Ashtarkhanids came first).
• Explaining the khanates’ weakness only by outside factors: mutual wars and internal feuds were the main cause.