After the ravages of Genghis Khan and Amir Timur, the Khorezm Oasis suffered little more than the odd bout of war with the Emir of Bukhara and the quelling of the usual Turkoman insurrections. However, this was not to last. By the 1600s Khiva was already familiar with plundering Cossaks, and over the following centuries experienced a succession of scheming Tsars and their attempts to capture Khiva. Compared with the size and might of the Russian Bear, the Khanate of Khiva seemed doomed to defeat. However, through both good fortune and treachery, the wily Khivans proved to be more troublesome than anyone would have expected.
The first Cossack raid against Khiva took place in the 16th century, prompted by rumours of a fertile and wealthy Oasis. A raiding party carrying only light provisions set out across the Kirghiz steppe and attacked Urgench, sacking the city and victoriously escaping laden with booty and a thousand local beauties. Soon slowed down by their additional baggage, they were swiftly overtaken by the enraged Mohammed Arab Khan, and a fierce battle ensued. The Cossacks fought courageously, even, having no access to water, resorting to drinking the blood of their enemies to quench their thirst. But they had little chance against the whole war host of Khiva. After sustaining heavy casualties the remaining few eventually surrendered and were sold into slavery.
The greedy Cossacks remained undeterred and soon a second band of raiders, this time numbering 500, tried their luck. They also carried out a successful raid but were again overtaken and slaughtered by the Khan and his troops. A third raiding attempt did not even get as far as the Oasis, soon losing their way and ending up, in winter, on the banks of the Aral Sea. With no provisions and in the desolation of winter, they had to resort to killing members of their party for food. Eventually they found Khiva and willingly gave themselves up to the Khan as slaves.
The Russians had not got off to a good start, and nor were things about to get better. Within a century the Oasis was set to become an area of strategic political significance and before long, not only the plundering Cossacks but also the Tsar of Russia himself were plotting and scheming. Reports had reached Tsar Peter the Great that the banks of the Oxus were awash with nuggets of gold, and that the trading potential with the Khiva Khanate was considerable. However, the immediate wealth to be had in Khiva was not his principle concern, but rather a step towards the real prize: India.

India, the jewel in the British imperial crown, had long been an alluring temptation for the Tsar. He was acutely aware of the backward state of Russia, which had languished under the Mongol yoke while the rest of Europe had advanced and prospered. So he was determined to create a magnificent and formidable Russian Empire. With Khiva in his possession, he would gain the perfect stepping-stone from which to send forces to occupy regions further to the south and eventually to India itself. The Tsar had also been informed that the Oxus had originally flowed into the Caspian and not the Aral Sea. If this was the case, he reasoned, then the river could soon be returned to its original course, allowing his navy access into the heart of Central Asia and ever closer to the frontiers of India. A Caucasian prince and Muslim convert to Christianity was chosen to lead an army of 4,000 men to bring victory through diplomacy or the sword.
In 1717, Prince Alexander Bekovitch (whose Central Asian name was Devlet Giriy) and his men sailed from Astrakhan to the Caspian Sea and from there across the Karakum desert. In his eagerness to dispatch the troops, it had not occurred to the Tsar that the summer was probably not a good time to attack a desert oasis. The troops began their sweaty march across the Karakum desert in the searing heat of June. Many of his troops contracted sunstroke, and marauding Turkoman tribes proved a constant source of irritation. Water was scarce and dug from brackish wells. Troop morale inevitably began to plummet.
Eventually they reached the banks of the Oxus, but were soon attacked by Shir Gazi Khan's troops. After three days of fighting, a truce was agreed upon and the Khan came out to meet the General, begging for peace and friendship. Surely, as his guests, the Khan and the General could come to some sort of agreement. However, as the Khan pointed out apologetically, the city had nowhere that could accommodate the entire garrison. Perhaps they could be split into five groups and housed properly. Captain Bekovitch agreed, anxious not to offend, despite the misgivings of Major Frankenburg, the second in command, whom he threatened with a court marshalling if he did not comply.
As soon as the troops had been separated from each other, the treacherous Khan gave the order and the Khivans began their slaughter. Bekovitch was flayed alive and his head sent as a gift to the Emir of Bukhara and his skin made into a drum head. The rest of the army was also butchered bar 40 soldiers. They were about to be executed when the spiritual elder of the city stopped the Khan, stating that the victory had already been won through victory and that further sin would surely incur the wrath of God.
The survivors were made slaves and joined the many Persian slaves working on the Khan's pet project, his Madrassah. Conditions were miserable and food scarce. However the slaves were constantly reminded by Shir Gazi Khan that they would be freed on completion of his Madrassah. The years dragged by with still no sign of the Madrassah being completed and eventually the slaves decided that they had nothing to loose by revolting. The Khan and his entourage were attacked and killed as they inspected work at the Madrassah and the slaves made their escape. Finally, years after their original march on Khiva, a mere remnant of the Russian army dressed in tatters and gaunt with malnutrition made their way back to Russia with news of the deceased Khan's treachery.
After such a disastrous campaign Khiva enjoyed a respite from Russian invaders for more than a century. However, the lucrative potential for exclusive trade in Russian goods and the continual lure of India proved too much, and soon plans were being laid once more. This time the Russians also had a good excuse for invading Khiva. For years, the frontier regions of Orenburg had endured numerous raids by Turkoman Tribes under the Khiva Khanate. Not only were caravans plundered, but an alarming number of Russian citizens had been absconded, dragged to Khiva and sold in the bustling slave market.

Perovsky was the General chosen by the Tsar to lead a sizeable army of 5,000 men and almost 10,000 camels. Assembling his huge caravan of troops and animals in Orenburg, the General addressed them stating, 'Khiva has for many years tried the patience of a strong but magnanimous power, and has at last brought down upon itself the wrath which its hostile conduct has provoked.'
With a rallying cheer of righteous indignation, the huge party set off from Orenburg. They had not travelled far south before arriving at the desert, where lack of water and the chronic heat began to take their toll. Having heard of the disaster wreaked upon the former invading troops by the desert heat, Perovsky decided to encamp at Abu Balik. They would wait there until winter, when rains and snows would provide the water needed en route for men and pack animals.
Unfortunately, the winter Perovsky had waited for was one of the worst on record. The howling winds and biting cold blizzards soon resulted in frostbite and ensuing gangrene. Snow blindness was also a pernicious adversary, coupled with hunger, scurvy and constant attacks from bands of wolves who would pick off stragglers. Unable to find enough fodder for the camels, they were soon leaving a grim litter of up to a hundred corpses per day along their trail. Washing and changing clothes were impossible in the cold, leading to outbreaks of vermin and disease.
As to what happened next, accounts vary. According to Khivan history the Khivans attacked the Russian troops and inflicted heavy losses as well as capturing a number of soldiers to sell as slaves. Vambery met two Russian soldiers who had been captured and enslaved, but later, on their conversion to Islam, were freed and provided with gifts from the Khan including a wife each. According to Russian history the troops turned back before getting anywhere near the enemy. It was a depressing decision having come so far, but with no sign of the merciless winter abating and with little food and severe problems with frostbite and scurvy, General Perovsky announced a retreat. The forlorn survivors eventually arrived back in Orenburg in May, a full seven months after their departure.
The expedition had resulted in a huge loss of life, having lost a fifth of the army, not to mention a huge loss of face, and only one-tenth of the camels remained. This was exacerbated by the fact that the British had successfully secured the release of the Russian slaves in Khiva, and this with only two men. The Russians were forced to admit another major defeat and, with the freeing of the slaves, had lost the perfect pretext for an invasion.

General Kaufman

This was not to deter the Russians who, having suffered two humiliating defeats at the hands of a small Central Asian Khanate, were determined not to fail again. By the 1870s, when the Tsar turned his attention to the conquering of Khiva once more, much had changed and the Russians were now a formidable enemy. General Kaufman had been let loose on Central Asia and had conquered the merchant city of Tashkent. Having secured a base, he proceeded to capture the Khanate of Kokand and the Emirate of Bukhara (although the latter eventually revolted and enjoyed a few more decades of autonomy). Khiva alone remained the only undefeated city and the Khan, Mohammed Rakhim the Second (known as Feruz) was getting nervous. In a last ditch attempt at diplomacy he wrote to the Tsar stating:

Feruz Khan

"Our Sovereign desires that the White Tsar, following the example of his forefathers, should not permit himself to be led away by the greatness of the Empire which God has entrusted him, and should not seek to gain possession of the lands of other powering defeats at the hands of a small Central Asian Khanate, were determined not to fail again. By the 1870s, when the Tsar turned his attention to the conquering of Khiva once more, much had changed and the Russians were now a formidable enemy. General Kaufman had been let loose on Central Asia and had conquered the merchant city of Tashkent. Having secured a base, he proceeded to capture the Khanate of Kokand and the Emirate of Bukhara (although the latter eventually revolted and enjoyed a few more)"

Frederick Burnaby, 'Ride to Khiva', 1876

Unfortunately for the Khan, this homily was to have little effect on the brutal Kaufmann. The General was busily organising different columns to arrive at Khiva from different routes to surround the city and ensure, at last, a victory. Troops were dispatched from Orenburg, from the Caspian Sea, from Fort Kazala and from Tashkent. In the event, Kaufmann's decision was vindicated as the troops from Krasnovodsk were stranded in the desert, and after burying their cannon, retreated. However, in his determination to ensure absolute victory, his limelight was stolen by General Kyrjinovsky who had arrived first from Orenburg and taken the city without a fight.

Feruz Khan had, quite sensibly, noted that the Russian Army far outnumbered his own and promptly fled to neighbouring Gandimyan where his brother had a small palace. However, he was eventually cajoled back to the city and a treaty duly signed, handing the real power over to Russia but keeping the Khan as a vassal of the Tsar.
General Kaufmann, his pride wounded by having failed to arrive first and capture Khiva, consoled himself by being the first to march officially into the city. He was doggedly followed by the American journalist James MacGahen, who soon became a lackey of the Russians, following them unquestioningly on their later massacre at Goek Tepe.

"At last it broke upon us, amid the clouds of dust which we had raised. Great, heavy mud walls, high and battlements with heavy round buttresses, and a ditch, partly dry, partly filled with water, over which we could see the tops of the trees, a few tall minarets, domes of mosques, and one immense round tower that reflected the ray of the sun like porcelain...
We began to see groups of men in the lateral streets, in dirty ragged tunics and long beards, with hats off, bowing timidly to us as we passed. These were the inhabitants, and they were not yet sure whether they would be massacred or not. With what strange awe and dread they must have gazed upon us as we passed, dust covered and grimy after our march of 600 miles over the desert which they had considered impassable. Grim, stern, silent and invincible, we must have appeared to them like some strange powerful beings of an unknown world."

J.A. Macgahen, 'Campaigning on the Oxus and the Fall of Khiva', 1874

'An unhappy harem'

Feruz Khan had fled to the neighbouring town of Gandimyan where his brother had a palace. He was sent a letter by Kaufmann that he was to surrender or the General would find a replacement Khan to rule in his place. His city was surrounded, his palace overturned by the army, who had also 'liberated' his harem. The proud Khan realised that he had no choice but to grovel before the smug little General.

"He rode humbly enough into his own garden, with about twenty followers; and when he had reached the end of a short avenue of poplars leading up to General Kaufmann's tent, dismounted from his horse, and came forward on foot, taking off his tall sheepskin hat and bowing low as he approached... He was dressed in a long khalat of bright blue silk and the tall sheepskin hat of the Khivans. Humbly he sat before Kaufmann, scarcely daring to look him in the face. The two men formed a curious contrast; Kaufmann was not more than half as large as the Khan and a smile, in which there was apparent a great deal of satisfaction, played over his features as he beheld Russia's historic enemy at his feet."

Having humiliated the Khan, Kaufmann proceeded to forgive him his foolishness and benevolently forgive all past errors stating,

The Great White Tsar is too great a Tsar to take revenge. Having shown you his might he is willing to forgive you, and let you retain your throne under conditions, which you and I, Kahn, will discuss another day."

J.A. Macgahen, 'Campaigning on the Oxus and the Fall of Khiva', 1874

These conditions included a crippling war indemnity of 2,200,000 roubles. All territory belonging to the Khan over the Oxus river was ceded to Russia and, shortly after, a fort was established at Turtkul, which was re-named Petro Alexandrovsk. Russian merchants were to be given complete freedom to travel throughout the Khanate and to settle where they wished. Only Russian and Khivan vessels would be permitted on the Oxus, so sealing off any potential for trade in British goods. Finally the invaders from the Tsar had won.

"Old Jakob Beg, one of the Khan's ministers brought us in some ice water, a thing we had never hoped for in Khiva, with wheaten cakes, apricots, and cherries, with which we merrily proceeded to refresh ourselves. The Khan, Said Mohammed Rakhim Bogadur Khan, had fled; the Russians were in possession of his palace and his harem: and so fell Khiva, the great stronghold of Islamism in Central Asia, after a succession of disastrous expeditions extending over a period of 200 years."

J.A. Macgahen, 'Campaigning on the Oxus and the Fall of Khiva', 1874