The craft industry in Khiva
The basic part of the craft industry of the khanate
was concentrated in Khiva. However, the years of economic
development very often were replaced by a decline
period. Anthony Jenkinson, representative of the English
Trade Company, who visited Khiva in 1558, noted that
the city of Vazir «was damaged very much by
the internecine wars. Especially during the last seven
years, it was destroyed four times. That is why the
number of merchants was so low and at the same time
they were very poor, so that I could sell only four
pieces of fabric in the whole city. The petty producers
comprised a considerable portion of population. The
handicraft here was specialized.»
One of the developed handicrafts was weaving —
making cloth out of cotton. The most important fabric
was coarse calico (kirbas in Tadjik-Persian, boz,
booz in Uzbek, byaz in Russian). The Khiva masters
made various kinds of coarse calico: both cheap and
expensive ones, including fine high-quality fabrics.
This fine fabric was intended, mainly, for the richest
feudal lords. As long ago as the Saalibi (961-1038),
kirbas was exported from Khorezm to many cities of
the East. Coarser and cheaper types of calico were
made by the weavers, bought by the ordinary people,
and taken to the nomadic steppes. The constant demand
for the coarse calico by the nomadic population was
one of the stimuli of further development of this
branch of production both in Khiva and in the cities
of the khanate. F. Efremov, who was in Khiva in the
1870s, noted: «Cotton fabrics were made in large
amounts. They wove yashmaks, muslins, and flax; of
which they made cotton print, printed cloth, muslins,
pestryads, impressed cloth, bridal veils, burmets,
coarse calicos and other different fabrics in Russia
and in other states». However, in the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries, many valuable textile items
came to Khiva from Bukhara.
Silkworm breeding played an important role in the
economic life of Khiva, Silk and half-silk (mixed
milk) fabrics were produced there. Bukhara merchants
came to Khiva to buy silk. In 1669 M. Fedotov wrote:
«They make silk, coarse calico and plain zendens.
The silk fabrics were often dyed in color».
The mastery of metal-goods production, including cast-iron
goods, played a considerable role. Majority of the
Khorezm coppersmiths and blacksmiths lived and worked
in Khiva.
The people of Khiva produced firearms and side arms:
harquebusses, saydaks and spears as well as bows and
arrows. «They made arms and ammunition themselves,
but they had never seen any cannons», until
1818, when artillery was used against the Akhal-teke
campaign of Mukhammad Rakhim. The armament of the
Khiva troops in 1885 consisted of sabres, guns, muskets,
one eighteen-foot cannon, and sixteen falhonets.
Nineteenth century Khiva masters created gold and
silver jewellery that was unique and beautiful.
Carpet making was highly developed. The high quality
carpets of the local masters, especially Tekin carpets
and carpets of the Turkmen masters, which were delivered
to Khiva, were famous, and in great demand. Many were
exported to the other regions.
The woodworking tradition goes back to ancient times
as well. The carved pillars in the buildings of the
grand scale; the carved doors of palaces, madrasas,
and dwelling houses; chests; horse collars, and items
necessary for everyday life, were produced by the
highly specialized masters of wood-working. A fine
wooden khan's throne, today a museum exhibit, reflects
high skills of the Khivan wood-workers.
Many other handicrafts have flourished in Khiva. The
ceramic vessels made in Khiva are unique in their
expressiveness and elegance. Other handicrafts, including
fur coat sewing, men's hat-making, plaster and stone
carving, leather working, and shipbuilding were highly
developed. Twenty-seven handicraft professions are
mentioned in the Khiva khan's archives. In realty
the number was far more.
The main part of the population of Khiva was craftsmen
who sold their goods. To become a skilled master many
years are required. A master mainly taught his elder
son, instilling in him the professional skills, traditions,
and secrets of his handicraft. In some cases, when
additional assistance was required for work, apprentices
were accepted from outside the family. In this case
the conditions and terms of study were put in to written
form. Before receiving the rank of the master and
opening his own workshop, the craftsman had to show
his skill and get the masters' permission for opening
a workshop. The shop organized the work of craftsmen
and represented their interests to the khanate's officials.
Only small part of the Khiva craftsmen owned their
own workshops. Many craftsmen worked at home, and
many rented their workshops, which, as a rule, belonged
to feudal rulers, including the khan. Some craftsmen
worked to order, and some tried to set of more extensive
enterprises, though feudal relations prevailing in
the Khiva Khanate hampered them. Some combined handicraft
with agriculture. Their ability to cultivate a good
harvest impressed the foreigners who visited Khiva.
«Even in Germany 1 have not seen such zeal in
cultivating fields as exists in Khiva», one
of them wrote in 1820.
The feudal nobility that lived in Khiva and the Khan
himself were big landowners. They had great income
from their land. Many of them also had shops, workshops,
caravanserais, bathhouses, and other profitable establishments
in Khiva.
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