Uzbekistan: A high-ranking official of the Khanate of Khiva with his retinue, photographed by I....

The Khanate of Khiva was a Central Asian state that existed in the historical region of Khwarezm from 1511 to 1920, except for a period of Persian occupation by Nadir Shah in 1740-46. Centered in the irrigated plains of the lower Amu Darya, south of the Aral Sea, with the capital in Khiva City, the country was ruled by the Kungrads, a branch of the Astrakhans, themselves a Genghisid dynasty. In 1873, the Khanate became a Russian protectorate. In 1924, the area was formally incorporated into the Soviet Union and today is largely a part of Karakalpakstan and Xorazm Province in Uzbekistan.