Muhammad Rahim II
Muhammad Rahim II in 1900/1901
Khan of Khiva
Reign1864–1910
PredecessorSayyid Muhammad Khan
SuccessorIsfandiyar Khan
Bornc. 1847
Died1910

Sayyid Muhammad Rahim Bahadur II (c. 1847–1910)[1] was Khan of Khiva from 1864 to 1910,[2] succeeding his father Sayyid Muhammad Khan. Khiva was turned into a Russian protectorate during his rule, in 1873.

Life

The reign of Muhammad Rahim II marked the peak of a cultural revival, during which "more than a hundred works were translated, mostly from Persian into Chagatai Turkic."[3] Muhammad Rahim II introduced printing to Khiva in 1874.[4] He was also "a munificent patron" and wrote poetry under the pen name Feruz.[1]

Muhammad Rahim II also abolished the Khivan slave trade and slavery. When the Russian general Konstantin Petrovich von Kaufmann and his army approached the city of Khiva during the Khivan campaign of 1873, the Khan fled to hide among the Yomuts, and the slaves in Khiva rebelled, informed about the eminent downfall of the city.[5] When Kaufmann's Russian army entered Khiva on 28 March, he was approached by Khivans who begged him to put down the ongoing slave uprising, during which slaves anvenged themselwes on their former enslavers.[6] When the Khan returned to his capital after the Russian conquest, the Russian General Kaufmann presented him with a demand to abolish the Khivan slave trade and slavery, which he did. [7]

Excerpt from Ghazals

Madrasah of Muhammad Rakhim Khan II.

Below is one of Muhammad Rahim's ghazals in modern Uzbek Latin script:

Furqating soldi dil-u jon ichra oʻt,
Kufri zulfing din-u iymon ichra oʻt.

Nargisi shahlo koʻzung solgʻusidur,
Bir nigahdin bogʻ-u rizvon ichra oʻt.

Oh cheksam furqatingdin oʻrtanib,
Tushgusidur baytulahzon ichra oʻt.

Jurmim, ey mahvash, nedur, har dam solur
Barqi ishqing jismivayron ichra oʻt.

Oy kibi farrux yuzungning furqati
Soldi koʻkda mehri raxshon ichra oʻt.

Ne ajab, koʻrgach yuzing Feruzning
Ohidin tushsa guliston ichra oʻt.

— Adabiyot (Majmua). Vol. 2. Tashkent. 2010. pp. 358–359.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

References

  1. ^ a b Degeorge & Porter 2002, p. 131.
  2. ^ Auzias & Labourdette 2017.
  3. ^ Green 2019, p. 246.
  4. ^ Feldman, Chagatai literature at the Encyclopædia Britannica.
  5. ^ Eden, J. (2018). Slavery and Empire in Central Asia. Storbritannien: Cambridge University Press. p. 187-189
  6. ^ Eden, J. (2018). Slavery and Empire in Central Asia. Storbritannien: Cambridge University Press. p. 187-189
  7. ^ Eden, J. (2018). Slavery and Empire in Central Asia. Storbritannien: Cambridge University Press. p. 187-189

Sources

Further reading

Preceded bySayyid Muhammad Khan Khan of Khiva 1864–1910 Succeeded byIsfandiyar Khan
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