TRAVELERS

Khiva (Khive in Persian) is an ancient city in Uzbekistan's northern Khorazm Viloyat (province.) The Khorazm region used to be part of Greater Persia until the 6th century when warlike Turkic-Uzbek tribesmen from the remote eastern steppes invaded the region and made Khiva their capital. In the 8th century, Arabs invaded Central Asia and converted the inhabitants to Islam. Nader Shah of Persia conquered Khiva in 1740 and once again added Khorazm to the Persian Empire. After Nader's death, the Uzbek khans established a barbaric rule in Khiva and turned it into a major slave market where many Persian and Russian captives were brought by Turkmen brigands and sold in its infamous slave market. Russians invaded Khiva in 1873 and in 1925, added it to the newly formed Uzbekistan Socialist Soviet Republic. In 1991, after the collapse of the USSR, Uzbekistan as well as the rest of the Socialist Republics, gained its independence. Present day Khiva is a city-museum. Its old quarter called Ichan Qal'a (inner fortress) is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Ichan Qal'a is surrounded by high walls and has four darvozas (gates) built in each corner of the city. There are sixty historic buildings and five minors (minarets) in it. There are still many Persian and Persian inspired architectural and artistic craftsmanship in the city.