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THE END OF THE KHIVA KHANATE AND THE ACTIVITIES OF
JUNAYD KHAN
Kayumov Ma'rufjon Usmonovich
Candidate of Historical Sciences, Namangan
Engineering and Technology Institute
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14748745
Abstract
This article analyzes the struggle of Turkmen leader Junayd Khan against
the Soviet government and the political processes in the Khiva Khanate from
1918 to 1920, as well as the eventual end of the Khiva Khanate.
Keywords:
Junayd Khan, Turkmens, Khiva Khanate, Soviet government,
revolution, Young Khivans movement
Introduction
After the Russian troops withdrew from the Khiva Khanate in 1918, Junayd
Khan, who had military forces, established his rule in the Khanate. He had
returned from Iran in the autumn of 1917, taking advantage of the situation.
Asfandiyar Khan, who did not have his own army, had previously relied on
Russian forces to maintain his rule. After the Russians left, he lost his main
support and fell under Junayd Khan’s influence. Junayd Khan established his rule
in Khiva and appointed his loyalists to the positions of local rulers. However, his
men lacked experience in governance.
Taking advantage of the situation, Asfandiyar Khan, with the help of the
Turkmens, began to dissolve the Majlis and eliminate the core of the Young
Khivans who had formed it. He first bribed the leader of the Turkmen Ushoq
tribe, Said Muhammadbek, to kill Rahmonbergan Yakub o'g'li and Kurbonboy
Qalantar. In April 1917, the punishment of the young Bukharians in the Emirate
of Bukhara led Asfandiyar Khan to intensify his actions against the Young
Khivans. Asfandiyar Khan offered gifts to Junayd Khan's son, Eshshi, and had the
Young Khivans who had held important government posts killed, including
Prime Minister Husseinbek Matmurodov, his successor Isokhujani, Foreign
Minister Abdusalomkhujani (son of Said Islomkhujani), and Treasurer
Tolibkhujani.
The properties of the Young Khivans were confiscated, and their families
were expelled. Those who had connections with them were also punished. On
the same day, Junayd Khan’s forces executed 24 people who had participated in
an April 1917 demonstration. However, later, Asfandiyar Khan himself was
assassinated by Junayd Khan. According to P. Yusupov, Asfandiyar Khan, in
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order to avenge the death of the Young Khivans, sent Junayd Khan false
information about requesting help from the Bolsheviks. As a result, Junayd Khan
sent his troops, led by his son Eshshi, on October 1, 1918, to kill Asfandiyar
Khan.
Junayd Khan appointed the more obedient Said Abdullo to the throne.
Asfandiyar Khan's brother, Said Abdullo, was a weak-willed man who was not
interested in state affairs. To manage state affairs, Junayd Khan appointed his
own man, Davlat Murod Makhram.
After establishing his full rule over the Khiva Khanate, Junayd Khan began
to make efforts to reclaim the territories on the right bank of the Amu Darya that
were under the control of the Bolsheviks. On November 24, 1918, he launched
an attack on the city of Turtkul (formerly known as Petro-Alexandrovsk) with an
army of ten thousand. The Bolsheviks had a garrison of eight hundred men in
Turtkul. When Junayd Khan’s forces encountered strong resistance, they laid
siege to the city. His forces also attacked Nukus and laid siege there as well. For
support, the Bolsheviks sent 180 men from the "Tashkent" and "Verney" ships
from Chardzhou. On the tenth day of the siege, a counterattack by the Bolsheviks
resulted in a large loss for Junayd Khan’s forces, and they were defeated. Despite
having a large army, Junayd Khan’s forces were disorganized. After this defeat,
Junayd Khan temporarily halted his military actions against the Bolsheviks.
By 1919, Junayd Khan and his officials’ acts of violence and arbitrariness
towards the population, the removal of gold and silver currency from
circulation, the introduction of paper and cotton money, the forced confiscation
of horses and other livestock, attacks on rebellious villages and settlements, the
conscription of people and transport vehicles for the war effort, the breakdown
of irrigation systems, and the disruption of former trade connections had caused
the economy and daily life of the Khanate to fall into disarray.
By the beginning of 1919, the political situation in the Khiva Khanate was
also tense. Junayd Khan’s attack on Turtkul had failed, and despite retreating,
the state of war persisted. However, by this time, both Junayd Khan and the
Bolsheviks were in a difficult position, and neither side was able to continue
active military operations. Junayd Khan's popularity had fallen among the
people, and his army’s Turkmen units, which had participated in the
unsuccessful attack on Turtkul, had returned to their homeland. Not only the
Uzbek population but also several Turkmen tribes were dissatisfied with Junayd
Khan’s rule. This discontent gradually turned into an open armed resistance
against him.
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The situation was also difficult for the Bolsheviks, as Ataman Dutov's White
Guard forces had captured Orenburg, thus separating Turkestan from Russia.
Furthermore, uprisings by the Ural Cossacks and the Karakalpaks had broken
out against the Bolshevik government in the Amu Darya region.
In this challenging situation, both sides sought a path to reconciliation. In
1919, the Bolshevik government in Turkestan sent an extraordinary mission
headed by A.F. Christoforov, a member of the Turkestan Revolutionary
Committee, to negotiate with Junayd Khan. Junayd Khan accepted the proposal
for talks and invited the mission to his residence in the Takhta-Kala fortress.
After two days of negotiations, a peace agreement was signed on April 9.
According to the agreement, both sides pledged to halt military actions. The
Soviet government recognized the right of the Khiva population to determine
their own destiny. Both sides agreed to exchange representatives and allow
Khiva to open a diplomatic mission in Tashkent and Moscow, while the Soviet
government could establish a mission in Khiva. Both sides also pledged to
ensure free movement and security for trade routes passing through their
territories, both land and water. In exchange for participation in military
operations against the Soviet forces, amnesty was declared for Turkmens who
were Russian citizens, and they were granted the right to freely choose their
place of residence.
In June 1919, Junayd Khan declared a general military mobilization in the
Khiva Khanate. Armed groups were quickly formed, and the mobilized people
had to buy their own weapons and ammunition. Special military taxes, called
"war tax," were imposed on every household that did not provide manpower for
military service, collecting 300 soms from each. Junayd Khan sought external
assistance to strengthen his armed forces, first establishing contacts with
Filichev and Khan Maksum, who were operating against the Soviet government
in the Amu Darya region, and agreed to act together. He also sought to form a
military alliance with the Emir of Bukhara. The Emir of Bukhara sent eleven
Austrian military prisoners to Khiva to repair weapons.
In October 1919, Admiral Kolchak’s forces, consisting of 130 Cossacks and 8
officers, along with a large number of weapons and ammunition, sent support to
Junayd Khan. By the end of 1919, Junayd Khan managed to raise his army to
17,000 cavalrymen. However, after the peace agreement, taking advantage of the
temporary calm, the Bolshevik government also began preparing to invade the
Khiva Khanate.
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By the autumn of 1919, Junayd Khan’s armed groups’ lawlessness, violence,
and destruction caused the people’s dissatisfaction with his rule to grow, and the
situation became even more tense. The Bolsheviks took advantage of this and
intensified their activities in the Khiva Khanate. By this time, the Bolsheviks had
a favorable opportunity to invade the Khiva Khanate, as the Red Army had
defeated Kolchak’s forces and achieved significant success on the Caspian Front.
In November 1919, one of the Turkmen leaders, Qoshmamad Khan, in the
Old Urgench district, revolted against Junayd Khan and established contact with
the Young Khivans. Using the pretext of this rebellion, Soviet forces invaded the
Khiva Khanate. In February 1920, the Soviet southern group of troops entered
the Khiva capital without facing serious resistance. In the areas captured by the
Soviet forces, the violence and looting carried out by the Bolshevik soldiers
surpassed that of the Tsarist imperial army. Red Army soldiers conducted their
looting under the leadership of their commanders.
On April 6, 1920, the chairman of the Turkfront Revolutionary Tribunal, I.R.
Fonstein, sent a telegram to Tashkent, describing the atrocities committed by
the Red Army in Khiva. He wrote: “We have never seen such horrors anywhere.
This was organized military looting. Women and girls were taken away, kept as
captives or slaves, sold in markets in Petro-Alexandrovsk and Khiva, the palaces
of Khiva were looted, and Red Army soldiers shot anyone they encountered in
order to seize their property.” No measures were taken against the perpetrators
of these crimes; on the contrary, they were later promoted to higher positions
and rewarded.
On February 2, 1920, under pressure from the Bolsheviks, Said
Abdullakhon signed a manifesto renouncing the throne. A new temporary
coalition government was formed under the leadership of J. Sultanmurodov.
Thus, the Khiva Khanate came to an end.
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