Khiva Ancient Khorezm History and Civilization
Explore the ancient history of Khorezm — the region around Khiva where one of Central Asia's earliest civilizations developed in the Amu Darya delta, the ancient Khorezmian kingdom that maintained independence from the Achaemenid Persian Empire, the homeland of the medieval Islamic scholar al-Biruni, and the state that was destroyed by Genghis Khan in 1221.
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Ancient Khorezm Archaeological Sites
The ancient Khorezm archaeological sites in the desert north of Khiva — the fortified cities of the pre-Islamic Khorezmian kingdom dating from the 4th century BCE to the 8th century CE, the mud-brick fortresses rising from the flat desert plain preserving the remains of a civilization that controlled the Amu Darya delta for a thousand years.
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Al-Biruni Medieval Scholar
The legacy of al-Biruni — the 11th-century polymath born in Khorezm who wrote on astronomy, mathematics, geography, history, and pharmacology, his works translated into Arabic and Persian and circulated across the Islamic world, the scholar who measured the circumference of the earth with remarkable accuracy in the 11th century.
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Khwarazmian Empire Medieval
The Khwarazmian Empire of the early 13th century — the brief empire built by the Khwarazmshah Muhammad II who controlled territory from the Aral Sea to the Persian Gulf before Genghis Khan's invasion of 1219-1221 destroyed his empire, the invasion precipitated by the Khwarazmshah's execution of Mongol trade envoys.
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Mongol Destruction Urgench
The Mongol destruction of Urgench — the medieval capital of Khorezm destroyed by Genghis Khan's forces in 1221 in one of the most thorough urban destructions of the Mongol campaigns, the city replaced by the smaller settlement that grew into modern Khiva as the administrative center of the diminished Khorezm region.
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Shaybanid and Khanate Period
The Shaybanid and Khanate period of Khorezm — the Uzbek dynasties that controlled the region from the 16th century, building the madrasas, mosques, and palaces that survive in Ichan Kala today, the khanate maintaining nominal independence from the major powers of the region until the Russian conquest of 1873.
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Khorezm State Museum
The Khorezm State Museum in the Ichan Kala — the collection tracing the history of the region from the Bronze Age Tazabagyab culture through the ancient Khorezmian kingdom, the Silk Road period, and the Khanate era, the museum providing the historical depth that the visible monuments of the walled city represent.