KHIVA

KHIVA is a city in Xorazm Province, Uzbekistan. It is in Central Asia, S. of the Sea of Aral.

It was formerly a Turkestan province or khanate. It became under Russian protection in 1873. KHIVA was the capital or this province, on a canal connected with the Amu, some distance from the left bank of the Oxus, and 300 m. NW. of Merv. It was a town of earth huts; it was at one time one of the chief slave-markets in Asia till the traffic was put a stop to by Russia. The province was a sandy desert with many oases, and in some parts well irrigated from the Oxus. It produced wheat, rice, cotton, and fruit; climate subject to extremes.