BETWEEN SOVEREIGNTY AND STRATEGY: THE KHIVA KHANATE AND IMPERIAL RUSSIA UNDER MUHAMMAD RAHIMKHAN I (1806–1825)
Keywords:
Khiva Khanate, Russian Empire, Muhammad Rahimkhan I, Central Asia, diplomacy, imperial strategy, networks, nineteenth century.Abstract
This article examines the relations between the Khiva Khanate and the Russian Empire during the reign of Muhammad Rahimkhan I (1806–1825) as a distinct phase of controlled diplomacy and strategic restraint. It is argued that this period should not be understood merely as a preliminary stage of imperial domination, but rather as a consciously maintained balance shaped by the political agency of the Khivan leadership and the pragmatic calculations of the Russian state. The study demonstrates that Muhammad Rahimkhan I pursued a foreign policy aimed at preserving sovereignty through selective engagement, limited economic openness, and cautious diplomatic interaction. At the same time, Russian policy toward Khiva is shown to have been characterized by informational reconnaissance, commercial experimentation, and the absence of immediate expansionist mechanisms. By reassessing diplomatic encounters, trade practices, and political decision-making, the article contributes to a more nuanced understanding of early nineteenth-century Central Asian international relations and challenges teleological interpretations of imperial expansion.
References
1.Allworth, E. Central Asia: A Century of Russian Rule. New York: Columbia University Press, 1994.
2.Morrison, A. Russian Rule in Samarkand 1868–1910. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
3.Frank, A. Islamic Historiography and Central Asian Politics. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998.
4.Levi, S. The Indian Diaspora in Central Asia and Its Trade. Leiden: Brill, 2002.
5.Burton, A. The Bukharans: A Dynastic, Diplomatic and Commercial History. London: Curzon Press, 1997.
6.Khalid, A. Central Asia: A New History from the Imperial Conquests to the Present. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2021.
7.Becker, S. Russia’s Protectorates in Central Asia: Bukhara and Khiva. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1968.
8.Crews, R. For Prophet and Tsar: Islam and Empire in Russia and Central Asia. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006.
9.Sunderland, W. Taming the Wild Field: Colonization and Empire on the Russian Steppe. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2004.
