RUSSIAN CONQUEST OF CENTRAL ASIA: A CASE STUDY OF KHIVA

Abstract

Mankind is witnessed to the fact that imperialism has been exhibiting in human history in many forms since long. Subjugation was the earliest form of it where in an empire overpowered an alien society, exploited its land, raw material and subjected it to the service of the superior authority. A similar formula of exploiting the land and people of Central Asia has been assumed by the Russian Imperial power during the nineteenth century. The imperial move of Russia towards this region was considered as the ultimate consequence of a continuous process of expansion of the Russian Empire. This expansionist drive of Russia into the region has been attributed to several factors such as political, military, strategic and above all the economic factor is believed to be the dominant one. The conquest provided the Russian Tsars a golden opportunity to hold their control over a vast area of striking geographic and human diversity. The motives behind this conquest were multidimensional, interrelated and complex. During this process of expansion, the state of Khiva was the first priority of the Russian Empire while materializing their future programme and policies. Though the Empire had already attempted to occupy the state, yet it could not get success prior to 1873. The importance of Khiva cannot be ignored while dealing with the question of Russian conquest of Central Asia in general and Khiva in particular.