The Khanate of Khiva: government, landholding and economy

According to the textbook, the Khanate of Khiva was under strict control as a protectorate: the khan had to agree changes in internal and foreign policy with the governor-general of Turkestan, a Council of 7 was set up to oversee him, 4 of whom were representatives of the tsarist government, and the head of the Amu Darya Division also supervised the khan’s actions. The khan belonged to the Qongirot dynasty and governed with the support of Qongirot nobles, courtiers and the higher clergy. The khanate was divided into 18 begliks and 2 noibliks; the mehtar (prime minister) and the devonbegi were the highest officials. The regular army was 1.5 thousand men under the yasovulboshi and from 1873 kept only internal order. Most land belonged to the khan and officials, 40% of irrigated land counted as mosque property, and 64 mosques and madrasas held over 205 thousand tanobs. Although peasants were about 90% of the population, they owned only 5% of irrigated land. There were about 25 types of taxes and duties (solghut, zakat, chop puli and others); the heaviest was cleaning canals and repairing dams and bridges. In 1909, 81 industrial enterprises operated in Khiva and 40 more were built in 1910–1915; in 1909 the “A-Meta” syndicate, joining capital of the Russian–Asian Bank and Madiyorov–Bakkalov, was formed and exported about 3 thousand tonnes of cotton a year. The Transcaspian railway of 1885 and the Amu Darya flotilla of 1887 increased dependence on Russia. Cheap Russian goods and heavy taxes hurt craftsmen.