The Khanate of Khiva

The Khanate to Remain fully Independent, Russian Aid Cut.

14 JANUARY, 1900, KHIVA | On a freezing January morning, Khan of Khiva, Muhammad Rahim Bahadur walked out to the main square of the city of Khiva, and silenced the bustling crowd that had congregated to the square to hear the Khan speak. Many citizens knew of the Russians attempting to administer the khanate, and knew today was the announcement of coming under Russian admin, or remaining a fully independent state, with most assuming the former would be the reason of this so each to be called. Over 3,000 residents of the capital city were in the square, and had just completed morning prayers at the nearby mosque, ready to listen about the position of their home nation.

"Good Morning gentlemen..." Bellowed the Khan; "...I am sure you are all concerned on the future for Khiva. After much debate, and a great time in thought, we have come amongst our final decision for the path of this great Khanate, and we hope you see how this will benefit all of us. Persia has agreed on our stance, and will aid us, as we have chosen NOT to become a protectorate of Russia, and we will remain fully independent." There was a shocked silence in the crowd, as the men in the square had expected things would almost certainly go in the other direction for the Khanate. The Khan quickly walked back to his palace, aided by guards, as many of the men in the square disbanded and made their own ways home.

Later that day, a message from Russia had been sent, informing Khiva that the nation will cut it's aid and support to the nation, and will take action, should the Khanate become a nuisance to Russia. There was a tense feeling in the air of the Royal Palace that day, as the Khan acknowledged the consequences of his actions.

A surviving Khanate of Khiva?

Interesting.

I'll be following this one closely.

Aussie470 said:

The Khanate of Khiva is an Islamic Khanate, located in between Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan Turkmenistan, as well as the Caspian Sea in Central Asia. The capital of the Khanate is the ancient city of Khiva, but other large cities are present in the nation's borders, such as Aktau and Nukus.

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So what are the borders of the Khanate like? I had always been under the impression that it historically covered almost all of what is nowadays Turkmenistan and most of Uzbekistan except for a small bit of land in the east. Although I suppose they could both still survive if they were in turn to take territory from further east.

A map would be nice to give some context on the khanate's borders. Persian Empire you say? hmm, sounds like Khivas not the only one who outperforms TTL

That or it's just our timeline's Persia with a sense with a grandiose title.

Simon said:

So what are the borders of the Khanate like? I had always been under the impression that it historically covered almost all of what is nowadays Turkmenistan and most of Uzbekistan except for a small bit of land in the east. Although I suppose they could both still survive if they were in turn to take territory from further east.

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Western Turkmenistan, a bit of Kazakhstan, and the western third, roughly, of Uzbekistan, centered southeast of the Aral: the eastern bulk of Uzbekistan was part of the Khanate of Buhkara. It was considerably shrunken under Russian rule, as seen here...



Frankly, as described in the post, it seems too small to have had any chance of surviving the Soviet onslaught (if it has only 1.345 million people in 2015, it can't have more than a few hundred thousand in 1920): and it is improbable that it survives while there is a Turkmen Soviet SSR, which is to the _south_ of it and between it and Persia/Iran.

Bruce

I share B Munro's concerns. Frankly, a surviving Khiva requires a POD going back into the mid-19th C and some different outcomes to Russian expansion into Central Asia. Perhaps greater British and/or Persian intervention in the area, a greater Russian defeat in the Crimean War, Russia is distracted by events in other theaters of operation, or all of the above. In short, anything that significantly nerfs Russia. By the late 19th C. it is too late for Khiva -- territory and population reductions would fatally offset Khivan aspirations to independence.
Khiva OTL was very lucky in holding off the Russians until the 1870s.

With the outcome of Khiva I have planned, Persia sends in masses of support, due to Russian Turkestan pushing into the khanate. As England is supporting Persia, English aid also begins to flow in.

In a nutshell, in this scenario, Persia is supporting the khanate, due to religious ties, and to stop the Russians, so helped Khiva escape Russian control in 1900, after they previously attempted to take the nation in the 1870's, only for Persia to block them, loosing them the war.

The Persian support came through the Turkmen SSR, using un-used desert trade routes, which once led to Ugrench, even though this was ilegal, and they could be caught by the Russians.

I'll add this to the front page, to clear up any future confusion.

Also, I have a self-made map, which is set in 2015, but I can't access it until later on today. Roughly, the country follows the top quarter of the Kazakh-Uzbek border, then turns South, after it fully enters Kazakhstan, before joining onto the Caspian north of Aktau. It follows the Caspian, past the Garagobaz-Kul, before turning North-East to meet up with the start of the border, almost in a triangular shape.

Hmmm... The ruling Qajar dynasty of Persia would have to be far more powerful and financially solvent to deter the Russians. OTL they were a dynasty in decline after the 1850s. In 1870 Persia experienced a devastating famine that killed millions. Russians were the least of their worries.

Yes, I see you're point now, Persia was never one of my strong points.

I will re-do the history of the Khante, but begin much, much earlier, before intercepting the 1900+ forum.