Notes on the Present State of the Khanate of Khiva by the Head of the Amu-Darya Department Colonel Nil Lykoshin, 1912

This book presents a textual edition and English translation of an important historical source about the Khanate of Khiva. The text was written in 1912 by N.S. Lykoshin (1860–1922), a Russian colonial officer and renowned Orientalist. In his capacity as Commandant of the Amu-Darya Department (ADO), an administrative-territorial unit within the Turkestan Governor-Generalship, Lykoshin was tasked with overseeing affairs in the Khanate of Khiva, which since the Russian takeover of 1873 had been a Russian protectorate. During his tenure as ADO Commandant, Lykoshin produced a detailed administrative survey of the Khanate, comprising a rich bricolage of statistical data, ethnographic sketches, and travel notes replete with elements of novelistic playfulness. As such, the work represents one of the most detailed accounts of the Khivan Khanate to survive from the colonial era. The editor’s introduction further leads the reader through the intricate world of contemporary Khiva – from institutional history to courtly politics, and even to contract-style assassinations and backroom intrigues. The textual edition of the work has been prepared on the basis of the only known manuscript, which is held in the National Archive of Uzbekistan in Tashkent.