At the beginning of the 18th century, Tsarist Russia's power had reached the Caspian Sea region, and in the north of the Caucasus Mountains on the west shore of the Caspian Sea, there was a small khanate under Russian control called Astrakhan; on the eastern bank of the Caspian Sea was a large and small tribe and khanate composed of nomadic peoples such as Kazakhs, Turkmenists and Tajiks, which is the seat of today's Five States of Central Asia, where a khanate called Khiva was very close to Russia.
It originates in the Pamir Plateau on the Amu Darya River
Due to the fierce and warlike warriors of the steppe nomads, the Russian bear's paw had a very limited understanding of the region before it touched Central Asia, and in the 18th century Russia focused almost all its energy on northern Europe and the Black Sea region, fighting with Europeans in the Baltic Sea, and encroaching on ottoman Turkish territory around the Black Sea.
Today's Amu Darya River
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > rumor of gold sand in the Amu Darya</h1>
Originating in the Pamir Plateau, the Amu Darya River passes through Central Asia to reach the Aral Sea and feeds herders and livestock from various tribes in Central Asia. One day a Turkmen merchant came to Astrakhan, claiming that there was gold sand in the Amu Darya River, and in order to obtain the gold sand, the Khanate of Khiva rerouting the Amu Darya River and diverting the Amu Darya River, which had originally flowed into the Caspian Sea, into the Aral Sea.
To confirm what the merchant had said, The Prince gagarin of Astrakhan immediately sent men to the Khanate of Khiva. The king of Khiva Khan was very generous, and immediately sent the emissaries two bags of gold sand, and boasted that the Khiva Khanate was rich in gold sand resources and the people's lives were rich. After the Turkmen merchants' claims were verified, Prince Gagarin immediately reported the situation to Tsar Peter the Great in St. Petersburg.
Peter the Great's eyes lit up when he heard this news, and he was like a treasure, because at this time Russia was fighting with the Swedes in the Baltic Sea. Fighting was very expensive, and now there was a golden mountain in the back garden of Russia, and Peter immediately summoned his ministers to discuss the conquest of Khiva.
Berkovich
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > sent troops south</h1>
The task of conquering the Khanate of Khiva was given to Captain Berkovich, and in addition to this, Peter the Great gave Belkovich three tasks:
1. Look for the channel from the Caspian Sea to the Amu Darya, and if the Caspian Sea can be the same as the Amu Darya, then the Russian army can go south along the river to Xinjiang, British India and China.
2. Build chain fortresses along the Amu Darya River to provide a chain of support for the Russian army to go south.
3. Send emissaries to the Mughal Dynasty of India and the Xinjiang region of the Qing Dynasty to communicate trade matters.
Russian soldier in the 18th century
In March 1717, an offensive force of seven thousand men, including engineers and surveyors, was assembled in Astrakhan, and after crossing the Caspian Sea they came to the banks of the Amu Darya River, where Belkovich left his engineers on the Amu Darya River to build two forts, sent surveyors to map the topography of Central Asia, laying the groundwork for the Russian army to go south in the future, and he led the remaining military personnel to the city of Khiva. After hearing the news of the Russian invasion, Khiva Khan was fearless and immediately organized a team of 24,000 people to intercept it.
The two armies met 120 kilometers from the city of Khiva, although far superior in numbers to the Russians, and the Khiva troops, armed with cold weapons such as swords and arrows, did not take advantage of the Powerful Firearms of the Russian Army. After several rounds of fighting, the Khiva army withdrew from the battle after sending more than 2,400 heads.
Although the Khiva army did not win, they let the Russian army see the stubborn fighting consciousness and superiority of the Central Asian peoples, and the city of Khiva, 120 kilometers away, in addition to gathering a large number of troops, the walls were high and the fortifications were perfect. Berkovich realized that his seven thousand soldiers alone would not be enough to conquer the Khanate of Khiva, and that perhaps diplomatic negotiations would be a better option.
Escorted by 500 soldiers, Berkovich came to the city of Khiva to negotiate with the Khan, who warmly welcomed them and pretended to agree to surrender to Russia, and even agreed to the entry of Russian troops into the Khiva Khanate.
On the issue of garrisons, the two sides began to argue, Berkovich believed that the Russian army should be stationed in the city of Khiva Khan and take over the defense of the city, Khiva Khan said that the food and shelter of Khiva City could not meet the daily supply of such a large Russian army, hoping that the Russian army would be divided into five parts and stationed in the five small cities of the Khiva Khanate, so that the logistics of the Russian army could be guaranteed.
Since the reception of Khiva Khan was in place, Belkovich did not think much about it and agreed to the Khan's arrangement. When the Russian army encamped separately in five small cities, Khiva Khan secretly deployed troops to surround the small city where the Russian army was located, and the Russian troops in the five cities were slaughtered, and the surviving Russian soldiers were sold to other khanates as slaves by Khiva Khan.
The Russian-Swedish Baltic War
News of the massacre of the Russian army reached St. Petersburg, when Peter the Great was too busy fighting against Sweden to take revenge. More than a hundred years later, Tsar Nicholas I came to power, the Hatred of the Russians for the Khiva Khanate did not disappear, and in 1839, on the grounds of the Caspian Slave Incident, the Russian army once again attacked the Khiva Khanate, but due to the hasty preparations and winter march, the Russian army's southern expedition ended in failure.
For an article on the Russo-Khiva War of 1839, please click: Put the hardest words, get the most vicious beatings, and that year the Russian army also lost to winter
saint petersburg
In 1873, under the orders of Tsar Alexander II, 13,000 Russian soldiers captured the Khiva Khanate in three ways, and the Khiva Khanate became a vassal state of Russia, and after a century, the Russian army finally avenged the massacre of the Khiva Khanate.