Khiva
Khiva ( Хива ) ( usbek. )
Kalta Minor in the old town of Khiva
Khiva (also Khiva Khiva or; Cyrillic Хива ) is an oasis town in north- western Uzbekistan in the province Xorazm with 55 568 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2005). The city is located west of the Amu Darya to the ancient Silk Road. It has textile industry (including carpets) and historic buildings. Khiva was formerly the capital of the Khanate of Khiva in Khorezm. Khiva is a city and also the capital of an eponymous district.
History
History of the city came by their location on the communication route between India and Europe is always a strategic role. Founded in the 6th century AD, Khiva was conquered 712 during the Islamic expansion by Arab forces, which led to the spread of Islam.
In the 10th century, Khiva was already an important trading city in Khorezm. The Arab traveler and geographer al - Maqdisi, who traveled the country in the same century, wrote: " Khiva is situated on the edge of the desert. It is a large city with a significant Friday Mosque ".
1220 conquered by the armies of Genghis Khan and Timur Lenk in 1388 those of the city. It was not until the early 17th century was the capital city of Khiva, founded in 1511 Khorezm Khanate Khiva, the successor state of the old historic kingdom of Khorezm.
In the frequent sieges the fortifications of the city were often destroyed. The last time this happened in 1740, when Khiva conquered by the Persian Nadir Shah and the Khanate for a short time was part of the Persian Empire.
Due to the discovery of gold on Oxusufer in the reign of Peter I of Russia (1682-1725), an armed man 4000 started strong trading expedition to the area under the leadership of Prince Alexander Bekowitsch - Cherkassky. When they reached Khiva, the Chan granted them in supposedly peaceful intent inlet in the city, but it attracted so in an ambush. Apart from a few survivors the entire expedition including Prince Bekowitsch - Cherkassky was destroyed. Peter the Great, who was involved in wars with the Ottoman Empire and Sweden, did nothing.
Tsar Paul I of Russia also made an attempt to conquer the city, but failed and had to withdraw. Tsar Alexander I let the city of peace that Tsar Alexander II and Alexander III. took again several conquest attempts.
In 1873 Khiva was finally occupied by Russian troops. Since 1924, the city was part of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic within the Soviet Union, since 1991 it belongs to the sovereign state of Uzbekistan. 1997 Uzbekistan celebrated the 2500 anniversary of the city Khiva.
Attractions
Worth seeing are the numerous monuments from the glorious past of the city, especially the palace Tash Hauli, a masterpiece of oriental architecture. The minaret Kalta Minor was built in 1852 and should be the highest of the Islamic world with over 70 m once, but never got beyond the height of 26 m.
Since 1967, Khiva is a museum city, since 1990, the old town Itchan -Kala is under protection of UNESCO and thus belongs to the world cultural heritage of humanity.
Famous people
- Muhammad ibn Musa al - Khwarizmi, mathematician, astronomer and geographer, on the back of the term algorithm
- Abū 'r - Raihan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al - Biruni (973-1048) scientist, geographer, astronomer, historian.