A Drive to Khiva
Updated: Jan 1
I couldn’t resist the play on the title of Frederik Burnaby’s original travel account of his “A Ride to Khiva”[1] for my own journey to this most fascinating Silk Road city. I drove to Khiva from Bukhara, stopping once in the desert along the way. The drive was otherwise uneventful, with a fair few of the long straight roads through desolation which Central Asia is famous for.
The drive to Khiva, the desert after the rain:
In my view, Khiva (also known as Khwarzem, Khorasam (and similar variations to this)) is one of the most attractive Silk Road cities because it retains a significant amount of its original buildings in the city centre (called the Itchan Kala) and most of its walls. Of course, it has been significantly refurbished in parts given its age (apparently more than 2500 years), including parts by a joint venture between the Uzbeks and the Chinese.
I spent three days in Khiva, and this allowed me to explore all the city centre which was excellent. Many of the sites and buildings are pay to enter, but fortunately some group passes can be purchased so you only need 2-3 tickets to explore every major site. There are plentiful hotels in and around the city centre, as well as restaurants. I struggle to choose a favourite point of interest in Khiva, the whole ensemble really is what made it excellent.
I have added images of a couple murals/maps of Khiva, below, for reference.
The History of Khiva
Archaeological evidence points to human settlement in Khiva in the 6th century, continuing to the present day. There had been human settlement in the broader region of Khwarazm during the early Iron Age, with connections to Afrasiab in what is today, Samarkand. Around 500 BC the region would be subject to the Achaemenid expansion and thus Persian influence, until it became an independent Kingdom prior to the fall of the Persian Empire after Alexander the Great’s conquest. The magnificent walls around the old town are thought to have been first constructed in the 10th century. By the 1700s Khiva had become an independent Khanate and the city became known for its notorious slave market which existed up until the 19th century.[2] The majority of the cities’ most famous structures (madrasah’s etc.) were built between 1780-1850 when it was most prosperous. In 1839 the Russian Empire tried to annex Khiva but failed due to the poorly planned military expedition of General Vasily Alexeevich Perovsky. The Russians would eventually succeed in annexing Khiva in 1873, however, the Khan remained as a nominally independent vassal of the Russian Empire. In 1875-1876 the British soldier Frederick Burnaby made his famous “Ride to Khiva” (more on this below). In 1920 the vassal state of Khiva and its Khan were overthrown by the Bolsheviks with Khiva becoming part of Soviet Uzbekistan by 1924. Today Khiva is a relatively small city under 150,000 people (in its broader area) with an economic focus on tourism, cotton harvesting and textile production.
“A Ride to Khiva” and an introduction to its author
I thought it would be interesting to provide a brief overview of Frederick Burnaby’s “Ride to Khiva”. Johnathan Ure’s book “Shooting Leave” provides a decent overview of Frederick Burnaby’s own account, which was published in 1877 and is now easily available in hard copy and online in various formats. Born in 1842, Burnaby was the quintessential Victorian solider on account of his being wealthy, tall (193cm), famed for his strength, courageous, a crack shot, a skilled linguist (8 languages), and a brilliant horseman in various cavalry units of the British Army. It is easy to draw parallels between Burnaby and George Macdonald Fraser’s fictional Harry Flashman character (no doubt partially inspired by Burnaby) of the epic Flashman series of novels. Unfortunately, despite his supreme Victorian self-confidence Burnaby would die relatively young at the age of 42 in the Battle of Abu Klea in Sudan in 1885.
Frederick Burnaby caricature in Vanity Fair, also the Battle Plan of Abu Klea where he met his end:
Burnaby was already a storied soldier by the time of his death and one of his most famous exploits was his Ride to Khiva, which he commenced, entirely self-financed, in November 1875. In contrast to many of the English Great Game adventurers who reached Central Asia via India and the Khyber Pass, Burnaby’s overland route took him through Russian European territory first eastwardly via train to St. Petersburg and then Syrzan, and from Syrzan to Orenburg via sleigh (he made the journey in Winter). En route he encountered one of the worst winters on record and nearly lost both of his hands to severe frostbite (he was saved from this fate through the kindness of the Cossacks).[3] Despite Russian friendliness, Burnaby still took the time to gather what intelligence/military gossip he could whilst being in the region, including from one of the Russian hostesses. His journey continued via a more direct route to Khiva, despite assertions to Russian authorities that he would travel (as advised) via Petro-Alexandrovsk. Cleverly, Burnaby used the avarice of his own guide to take him on a detour away from Petro-Alexandrovsk on a more direct route to Khiva under the guise of horse trading and other financial inducements. There were a few close calls between his guides and locals, and fortunately non-between them and Turkoman raiders, but I will skip detailing these for brevity. Before arriving in Khiva, Burnaby stopped in Urgench for a shave to maintain his military whiskers (a very Flashman’esque move!) and eventually arrived in the city where he ended up being well-treated, a stark contrast to those British adventurers who found themselves in a dungeon in Bukhara 32 years earlier. Burnaby’s own written account is incredibly detailed, discussing the contents of markets, exchange rates, Russian military pay, and Khivan taxation, to name but a few. Here is a link to a .pdf copy so that the viewer can see the full extent of the matters discussed: https://ia801803.us.archive.org/19/items/dli.pahar.0825/1876%20A%20Ride%20To%20Khiva%20By%20Burnaby%20S.pdf
I will conclude this section with an excerpt from one of the Great poems of Empire "Vitae Lampada" (1892) by Sir Henry Newbolt.
The sand of the desert is sodden red, —
Red with the wreck of a square that broke; —
The Gatling’s jammed and the Colonel dead,
And the regiment blind with dust and smoke.
The river of death has brimmed his banks,
And England’s far, and Honour a name,
But the voice of a schoolboy rallies the ranks:
‘Play up! play up! and play the game!’
My own visit to Khiva
As mentioned previously, my own journey to Khiva via Bukhara, was not hugely interesting, apart from the amusingly short temper of my driver, who was happy to yell at the ignorance of other drivers. I did take a few shots of the drive through the desert en route, these are below. I noticed the desert has a strange smell during the rain (desert photos above).
It was raining when I arrived, and the first significant view was driving through the gate house in the city walls on the south side of the city. I filmed some of this approach on the GoPro. It is fortunate that there is a decent sized road around the interior of the walls of the inner part of the old city, which renders it more accessible. The further one gets to the interior of the city, the less accessible by car it becomes, which leaves it largely a pedestrian affair, and prime for exploring on foot.
Khiva has many magnificent buildings and locations within its walls. Given the number and proximity of these various buildings and sites, I will not attempt to cover everything save those I found to be most impressive.
City Walls
Fortifications are always a point of interest and amusement for me, so naturally, I explored as much of these as a I could, at one point mistakenly wandering into a cemetery on the Southwest interior corner (which I quickly departed), whilst exploring. Khiva’s walls are like those of the Ark of Bukhara (though smaller), and its gatehouses similar in design to those in Bukhara as well. They are 2.5km long and run around the Itchan Kala (city centre) in an elongated rectangle with rounded corners. The walls are regularly interspersed with large bulbous turrets crowned with crenelations. Apart from their lower height, they also differ from those in the ark of Bukhara in that the exterior of the walls is covered by a low mud brick ramps which extents out further than the height of the wall; I can only guess that this was to deter any form of siege engine or mining. The original walls of Khiva were destroyed by the Persians, with the present set being built in the 17th and 18th centuries. Beyond the walls of the Itchan Kala, there is a further and less substantial external city wall, complete with its own gatehouses, though it only exists in part today, with the remainder having been dismantled to make way for the modern city.
Itchan Kala & Khiva at Night
As mentioned, the Itchan Kala is simply the name for the old city. It is made up of winding streets between a selection of houses, small gardens, hotels, homestays, restaurants, shops, and of course mosques, madrasah’s, palaces and other monuments all within the city walls. It was pleasant to walk around the labyrinthine back alleys given the very limited vehicle traffic and being the off season, there were few throngs of tourists. I tried to get a few night shots of the city as well.
Khiva is very elegantly lit in the evenings, making it quite pleasant to explore then as during the day. Fortunately, they keep the lights with a yellow hue, rather than some awful fluorescent rubbish.
Night shots of Khiva - I recommend viewing some of these in full size in a separate tab:
Khiva has a number of street markets and shops, some of which are tucked away into historic buildings, and are quite pleasant to visit. I particularly enjoyed the carpet shops, alas, I had no space in my bags to purchase one.
Khivan markets & shops:
Kalta Minor Minaret
The Kalta Minor Minaret is one of the more easily recognizable structures in Khiva given that it is incomplete, and unlike many minarets, it is covered entirely in glazed tiles on its external facing. Its construction began in 1852 and stopped abruptly, apparently because the Khan (Muhammad Amin Khan) died in battle in 1855. I am not sure why no one else bothered to complete it.
Islam Khoja Minaret
The Islam Khoja Minaret is immediately adjacent to the Islam Khoja Madrasah which was constructed between 1908 and 1910 at the same time as the madrasah. It was and it remains the tallest tower in Khiva, at 56.6 meters, with a 9.5m diameter base. It is partially adorned with glazed tiles and is crowned with further elegant turquoise tiles at its pinnacle. I think it is very elegant.
Juma Mosque
The Juma Mosque is one of the older surviving structures in Khiva, being first documented in the 10th century AD. It was, however, subsequently rebuilt in 1788. It is a larged flat-roofed structure with its own minaret standing at 42 meters in height. The vast ceiling area (55x46 meters) is supported by 212 intricately carved wooden columns. There are two skylights which filter light elegantly over beds of flowers below. The Juma Mosque was quite surprising, as I’d not read up on it before visiting nor had I seen photos, so was taken aback by the impressive columned interior. It was slightly reminiscent of the Achaemenid capital of Persepolis in Iran, or more fancifully, the Second Hall of Moria in Lord of the Rings, if on a vastly smaller scale than both those examples.
Kutlug Murad Inaq and Allakuli Khan Madrasahs
These two madrasahs are both across from each other, so I address them together.
The Khojamberdibai Madrasah was originally constructed in 1688 and was rebuilt in 1834 and constructed of baked brick. Between the street and the main entrance to the madrasah there is now a small restaurant called “Khorezm Art Restaurant” which has decent food and was a cozy place to hide away from the cold weather outside on several occasions. Today there is a museum inside the madrasah.
The Allakuli Khan Madrasah is constructed in 1835 on a small 3m high hill giving it a slight prominence over the nearby buildings (minarets obviously excepted). Curiously the interior of this madrasah is merely plastered with gypsum and not otherwise substantially decorated. It presently houses a handicrafts and cultural centre.
In their heyday both of these grand madrasah’s would have been important centres of learning within the Old City of Khiva.
Kuhna Ark
The Kuhna (or Konya) Art is the old citadel within the Itchan Kala of Khiva. It forms a significant portion of the city and is one of the main visible sites. It’s on the Western Edge of the Itchan Kala and covered 1.2 hectares. The Ark was first constructed around the 12th century; however, present structure was mostly constructed in the 17th century for diverse purposes, serving as a fortification, palace, the Khan’s personal mosque, mint, and the centre of administration (among others). It has several courtyards including one which was apparently used by the Khans to house a Yurt during the summer. Adjacent to the wall at the back of the citadel is a large watchtower accessible by a small passage and which is the highest point of the Kuhna Art; the watchtower provides an impressive view across the entirety of the Itchan Kala and the modern city beyond the walls.
A selection of photos of the interior of the Kuhna Ark including the palace, and also views from the top:
Toshovli Palace
On the eastern side of the Itchan Kala is a palace called Toshovli. It is arranged around a large rectangular square. The palace was built from 1830 to 1841 and includes ~260 rooms around three courtyards. It is impressively decorated with tiling throughout.
Mohammed Rakhim Khan Madrasah
The Mohammed Rakhim Khan Madrasah is one of the larger madrasahs in Khiva (and Central Asia generally) and sits across from the Kuhna Ark citadel within the Itchan Kala. The Mohammed Rakhim Khan madrasah was completed in 1876 and bears the name of one of Khiva's more enlightened rulers.
The internal courtyard of the Madrasah as well as a panorama view (top right, beyond the walls of the Kuhna Ark):
The Khivan Culinary Scene
I managed to find a few decent restaurants in Khiva, one tucked away in the backstreets in the entrance to a Madrasah (the Khorezm Art Restaurant), and another with a terrace prominently off one of the main squares, with great views, called Terrassa. Both had excellent food with the latter being particularly good.
Leaving Central Asia
It was rather sad to finally have to leave Central Asia and to have to fly to the next destination, alas, all good things must come to an end thanks to pesky things like budget and time limitations. Khiva was certainly the most fascinating old city on the Silk Road for me given its excellent condition and how much of the original structures remain. That said, I find I can (with some exceptions) only stay in one place for so long whilst travelling, otherwise I tend to get bored.
After my three day stay in Khiva, I headed to Urgench for my flight to the final major Silk Road stop on my journey, Istanbul. The prospect of being up at 5AM for an 8AM flight was quite unpleasant, fortunately, the airport transfer driver decided to blast some great tracks during the ride to Urgench, and security etc. was an absolute breeze.
Cheers,
Simon
[1] Frederick Burnaby, “A Ride to Khiva – Travels and Adventures in Central Asia”, Cassell Petter & Galpin, 1876.
[3] John Ure, “Shooting Leave”, Constable, 2009, pages 165-166.
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