HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE KHIVA KHANATE: EUROPEAN AND NATIONAL SCHOLARLY STUDIES (19TH–21ST CENTURIES)

This study provides a scholarly analysis of the formation and stages of development of the historiography of the Khiva Khanate. It comparatively examines the views of nineteenth-century European scholars on the khanate and the academic approaches that emerged in foreign and domestic historiography during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The study analyzes scholarly literature, khan decrees, judicial documents, waqf records, and diplomatic correspondence relating to the political, socio-economic, legal, and cultural life of the Khiva Khanate from source-critical and historiographical perspectives. It also evaluates the content and scholarly contributions of studies conducted during the years of independence and summarizes the principal findings of research on the khanate’s foreign policy, trade and economic relations, land and water relations, the institution of waqf, and the system of state administration. Particular attention is given to diplomatic relations between the Khiva and Kokand Khanates on the basis of historical sources, with emphasis on the practical functioning and political significance of the institution of diplomatic missions. The analysis demonstrates that, although substantial scholarly research has been conducted on individual aspects of the history of the Khiva Khanate, the historiographical interpretation of its statehood remains an important academic problem requiring comprehensive and systematic investigation. The findings have significant scholarly and practical value for studying the history of the Khiva Khanate through contemporary historiographical approaches and for advancing further research in this field.