Khiva, also called KHARASM, KHWARIZM, or URGENJ (anc. Chorasnia), a khanate of Turkestan in central Asia, lies between 37° 45'—44° 30' N. lat. and 50° 15'—63° E. long., and contains about 25,000 sq. m., the surface being mostly a sandy desert, with many fertile tracts scattered over it. It is bounded on the N. by the Russian territory and Sea of Aral, E. by the khanate of Bokhara, S. by Persia, and W. by the Caspian Sea. The chief oasis, in which the capital Khiva is situated, stretches from the mouth of the Oxus or Amu-Daria for 200 miles along its banks, and is watered by artificial canals supplied from that river, to which it entirely owes its fertility. The inhabited area is about 5000 sq. m. The population has been estimated to consist of 260,000 settled inhabitants and nearly as many nomads. Amongst them are Uzbegs, Karakalpaks, and Turkomans (all Ural-Altaic), Aryan Sarts and Tajiks, probably the original inhabitants of Khiva, and Kizilbashes, mostly liberated Persian slaves.
Khiva in ancient times was nominally subject to the Seleucidæ; subsequently it formed a part of the kingdoms of Bactria, Parthia, Persia, and the Caliphate, and became an independent monarchy in 1092 under a lateral branch of the Seljuk dynasty. The Khivans, or, as they were then called, the Chorasnians, after conquering the greatest part of Persia and north-western Afghanistan, were obliged to succumb to the Moguls, under Genghis Khan, in 1221. In 1370 Khiva came into the hands of Timûr. Timûr's descendants were subdued in 1511 by Shahy Beg (called Sheibani Mohammed Khan by western writers), chief of the Uzbegs, a Turkish tribe, and his successors ruled over Khiva till the end of the 18th century, when they were supplanted by Kirghiz and Karakalpak princes, and from the beginning of the 19th century by the Kungrat branch of the Uzbegs. Ever since the Russians entered central Asia they have complained that the Khivans fostered rebellion among their Kirghiz subjects, and plundered their caravans. In 1717 Peter the Great endeavoured to conquer Khiva, but was defeated, and in 1839 the attempt was renewed by the Czar Nicholas, with no better success. War may be said to have recommenced when new Russian forts in 1869 and 1871 were founded on the shores of the Caspian. It was not, however, till 1873 that a great effort was made finally to crush Khiva. To diminish the difficulties of crossing the deserts the Russian force was divided into five columns, each about 3000 strong, to approach Khiva by different routes. After enduring with admirable fortitude great privations and fatigue, the Russians entered Khiva on the 10th of June. The khan agreed to pay a war indemnity and to cede to Bokhara the Khivan possessions on the right bank of the Amu-Daria. Shortly afterwards, however, these possessions, including the seat of the Karakalpaks near the embouchures of the Oxus, were incorporated with Russian territory, and now Kizil-Kum and the annexed part of Khiva form the Russian government of Amu-Daria, with an area of 39,820 sq. m., and an estimated pop. of 109,600. The rest of Khiva is ruled by the khan, under Russian suzerainty.—KHIVA, the capital of the khanate, is on the Hazveti Pehlivan Canal, in the western portion of the great oasis. It consists almost entirely of earth-huts, not excepting the residence of the khan, the only brick buildings being three mosques, a school, and a caravansarai. Pop. 20,000. Other towns are Yenghi-Urgenj, the commercial centre of the khanate, and Kungrat, not far from the Aral. See works by Vambéry (1864), Burnaby (1876), Stumm (Eng. trans. 1885), and Lansdell (1885).