Islam and the Nomadic Political Tradition in the 19th-Century Khanate of Khiva

Abstract

Abstract This study analyses the Islamic authority and the nomadic political tradition in the 19th-century Khanate of Khiva. The Khivan Qongrat rulers relied on Islamic authority to justify their rule, owing to their non-Chinggisid lineage. The study also contrasts the devastation and prosperity brought about by the two ruling lineages, Chinggisid and Qongrat, as documented by the Khivan chroniclers. The study further explores the nomadic political tradition including the rituals of a Khan’s ascendance to the throne, the Qongrat Khans’ connection with the Kazakh Sultans of Junior Juz, and the royal charter within the Khorazm oasis. The khans as holy warriors against infidels, their coexistence with the Islamic saint Pahlavān Maḥmūd and their perception of the Ottoman sultan as the Caliph of the Sunni Muslim world and other mixed and multifaceted characteristics, reflective of the traditions of Central Eurasian rulers are also touched upon.