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* KHEVENHULLEB. 473 KHIVA. came a prominent figure at the Imperial Court, where he was a protege of Chancellor Khlesl. (See Khlesl, ilELcmoB.) In 1616 he obtained the important appointment of Ambassador to Madrid, and there was successful in enlisting Spanish influence on behalf of Ferdinand 11. Other diplomatic commissions were subsequently intrusted to him. He wrote, in German, an im- portant work on contemporaneous history, the Annales Ferdinandci (printed entire at Leipzig, in 12 vols., in 1716-26). Consult Wolf, Geschichl- liche Bilder ausOestcrreich.vol.L (Vienna, 1878j. KHEVSUBS, Kev'soorz, or CHEVSTIBS (Georg., valley-dwellers). One of the smaller mountain tribes of the Oieorgian group of peoples inhabiting the Caucasus. They are celebrated for their beer feasts. Their folk customs in general are of interest. Besides the general works on the Georgians and the peoples of the Caucasus, ref- erence may be made to Radde's monograph. Die Chevs'uren und ihr Land (Cassel, 1878), and to the detailed account of the Chevsurs given in the fourth volume of Chantre's Recherches an- ihropologiques dans le Caucuse (Lyons, 1885-87). KHINGAN, Kin-giin'. A range of mountains in the northeastern part of the Chinese Empire. It begins at the southeastern corner of the Desert of Gobi, being an extension of the long chain which crosses that desert from East Turkestan (Map: China, F 2). It skirts the desert on the east and extends northward through Eastern Mongolia and Western Manchuria to the Amur River. It reaches a height of about 7500 feet, and contains a number of volcanic peaks. This chain is generally called the Great Khingan, and it is connected by forest-covered plateaus in- tersected by river-valleys with the Little Khin- gan, a group of mountains south of the Amur in Xortheastern Manchuria. KHIVA, Ke'va. A vassal State of Russia, in Central Asia, situated approximatelv between latitudes 40° and 44° X.. and longitudes 58° and 62° E. (Map: Asia, Central, HI). It is bounded by the -ral Sea on the north, Russian Turkestan and Bokhara on the east, and the Russian Trans- easpian possessions on the south and west. Its area is estimated at over 22.000 square miles. With the exception of the portion adjoining the Amu Darya, which flows along the eastern border, the country is occupied by sandy des- ert interspersed v.ith a number of" small "oases. Tlie territory depends for its water entirely on the Amu Darya, from which a number of canals extend into the interior and are used for irriga- tion. The climate, although unpleasant, is healthful. The heat in the summer is very great and the winters are short but severe. The rainfall is scanty, and during the autumn great quantities of sand are blown by the wind from the surrounding desert. In the portions of the country accessible to irrigation rice, wheat, and other cereals, cotton, and southern fruits are cultivated to some extent. Domestic animals in- clude horses, camels, and sheep; wild animals, the jackal, the wolf, and the fox. Agriculture and the raising of live stock are the chief occupa- tions of the natives, who are partly nomadic. Khiva is governed by a khan whose rule is hereditary and restrained in its absolutism by Russia. The foreign relations of the khanate have been under the practical control of Russia since 1S7.S. The population of Khiva is variously estimated at from 800,000 to less than 100,000. The inhabitants belong to the Mongolian and Aryan races, and are composed mainly of Uzbegs, Karakalpaks, Turkomans, and Kirghizes. The Uzbegs are the ruling race, and are engaged chiefly in agriculture. The Sarts or Tajiks, sup- posed by some to be the original settlers of the tountrj, inhabit the cities, where they engage in trade and handicraft. The chief towns are Khiva (q.v. ), the capital; Kew Urgentch, Kiptchak, and Kungrad. HisTOBy. Khiva in ancient times and in the early Middle Ages formed part, succes- sively, of the kingdoms of Bactria, Parthia, and Persia, and of the caliphate. The modern Khanate of Khiva is a fragment of the independ- ent kingdom of Chorasmia or Khwaresm, which rose into power at the close of the eleventh cen- tury under a Seljuk dynasty, and conquered and held in subjection Persia and Afghanistan. This kingdom controlled the Oxus or Amu Darya, the most important river of Central Asia, "it was swept into his great drag-net of conquest by Genghis Khan in 1221, and in 1372 it came into the hands of Timur. Tiraur's descendants were subdued in 1511 by Shahy Beg (called Sheibani Khan by Western writers), chief of the Uzbeks, a Turkish tribe, and his successors have ruled over Khiva to the present time. Ever since the seven- teenth century, when its wealth excited the cupid- ity of the first Cossack raiders into Central Asia, the Russian Government recognized the impor- tance of Khiva, and as a pretext for attempts at conquest complained that the Khivans fostered rebellion among the Kirghiz subjects of the Czar, and plundered their caravans. In 1717 Peter the Great endeavored to conquer Khiva, but was de- feated, and in 1839 the attempt was renewed by the Czar Nicholas I., but with no better success. With the advance of Russia in Central Asia, and the establishment of Russian power in the trans- Caspian country, a cordon was slowly drawn about Khiva, and in 1873 a great efl'ort was made to crush it. Three Russian columns advanced on Khiva from the Caspian, from Orenburg, and from Tashkent. The second and third, under Generals Verekin and Kaufmann, entered the city in May and .June. The Khan agreed to pay a war indem- nity (which has never been paid), and to cede to Bokhara the Khivan possessions on the right bank of the Amu Darya. Shortly afterwards, however, these possessions controlling the mouth of the Amu Darya were incorporated with Russian terri- tory, and now form the Russian District of Amti Darya. Khiva, on the left bank, retains its autonomy nominally; but with Russia as a heavy creditor, and established in full control of the surrounding country, it is practically a vassal State. Consult: Colquhoun. Puxsia Against In- dia (New York, 1000) ; MacGahan. Campai/jning on the Oxus. and the Fall of Khiva (London, 1874) ; Lansdell, Russian Central As^a (London, 1885) ; Stunim, Aiis Chira. Beriehte (Berlin, 1873) ; id.. Der russische Feldxug nach Chiva (Berlin. 1S75) : Khanikov, "Les documents sur le khanat de Khiva." in Bulletin de la SociHd Geographique (Paris, 1873). with bibliography. KHIVA. The capital of the khanate of the same name, situated on a canal near the Amu Darja (Jlap: Asia, Central. 11 1). It is sur- rounded by a wall, and is made up mostly of flat- roofed huts. On an eminence in the centre of the town is situated the citadel, containing the palace of the Khan and some of the mosques. Of