Arab Muhammad Khan
Khan of Khiva (1602–1621), the eleventh ruler of the Arabshahid dynasty: he fought off raids by Yaik Cossacks and Kalmyks, saw Khiva become the capital and built the madrasa that bears his name.
- Occupation:
- Historical figure, Politician
- Born:
- c. 1570 — c. 1621
- Birthplace:
- Khorezm
- Father:
- Hajji Muhammad Khan
- Children:
- Habash-sultonIlbars-sultonAsfandiyorxonAfg'on Muhammad
Biography
Arab Muhammad Khan was the eleventh ruler of the Arabshahid dynasty in Khorezm (the Khanate of Khiva) and reigned from 1602 to 1621 (to 1623 according to some sources). He was the son of Hajji Muhammad Khan and a descendant of Yadgar Khan. His birth year is not known exactly. In his father’s lifetime he was governor of Khiva.
After his father’s death in 1602 he took the throne. At the start of his reign Khorezm suffered raids by the Yaik Cossacks: according to Abu al-Ghazi, the Cossacks of ataman Aborkin in 1602 and ataman Nechay in 1603 plundered Urgench, while ataman Shamay’s march in 1604 ended in the Cossacks’ defeat. Nechay’s band was surrounded in Urgench and wiped out. In 1620 and 1621 the Kalmyks raided Khorezm and carried off captives.
Under him Khiva replaced Urgench as the capital of Khorezm. In 1616 a new single-storey madrasa of baked brick was built in Khiva, the Arab Muhammad Khan Madrasa, which is linked with Khiva becoming the capital. It was rebuilt by Allah Quli Khan in 1838. The khan also had a canal dug near the To’q Qal’a fortress.
In 1616 Arab Muhammad Khan sent an ambassador, Khoja Yusuf, to Moscow. In 1603 his second son was born, the future khan and historian Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur; by his own account he was named Abu al-Ghazi (“father of the warrior”) because he was born soon after his father defeated a Cossack raid.
Towards the end of the reign the internal conflicts in the khanate sharpened: each prince held his own territory with a separate administration. The khan’s sons Habash Sultan and Ilbars Sultan went to war against him. Abu al-Ghazi fled to Bukhara and the youngest son, Afghan Muhammad, to Russia, where he died in Kasimov in 1648. Arab Muhammad Khan was killed in 1621 (according to the National Encyclopedia of Uzbekistan he was defeated, besieged in the fortress of Qum Qal’a and died there, with the date given as 1623).
After him Habash and Ilbars Sultan ruled Khorezm for a short time, and in 1623 another son, Isfandiyar Khan, seized power.
Career
Life path
- 16th centuryBirth
Born into the family of Hajji Muhammad Khan; the exact date is unknown. In his father’s lifetime he governed Khiva.
- 1602Accession
Became khan of Khorezm after his father’s death (sources give 1602 or 1603).
- 1602–1604Cossack raids
Expeditions of the Yaik Cossacks under Aborkin, Nechay and Shamay; Urgench was plundered.
- 1603Birth of his son Abu al-Ghazi
His second son was born, the future khan and historian Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur.
- 1616Ambassador to Moscow
Sent the ambassador Khoja Yusuf to Russia.
- 1616Arab Muhammad Khan Madrasa
A single-storey madrasa of baked brick was built in Khiva; it is linked with Khiva becoming the capital.
- 1620–1621Kalmyk raids
The Kalmyks marched on Khorezm and carried off captives.
- 1621Death
Killed or died during the war with his sons Habash and Ilbars (the National Encyclopedia of Uzbekistan gives 1623).
Legacy
Under Arab Muhammad Khan Khiva became the capital of Khorezm and later remained the main city of the khanate. The Arab Muhammad Khan Madrasa of 1616 is counted among the oldest architectural monuments of Khiva; in 1838 Allah Quli Khan rebuilt it with two floors. In 2019 it was entered in the national list of cultural heritage properties of Uzbekistan. The khan’s sons Isfandiyar Khan and the historian Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur later became khans of Khiva themselves.
Era: The Khanate of Khiva under the Arabshahid dynasty, early 17th century- Raids by the Cossacks of Aborkin and Nechay (1602–1603) (1602)
- Building of the Arab Muhammad Khan Madrasa (1616)
- The khan’s death and his sons’ struggle for the throne (1621–1623) (1621)