Archival Fond “The Chancellery of the Khiva Khanate”: A History of Acquisition and Description

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Isakova M.S.,

Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan

Archival Fond “The Chancellery of the Khiva Khanate”: A History of Acquisition and Description

Abstract

The Central State Archive of the Republic of Uzbekistan is one of the largest archives in Central Asia, in which there are collected documents in the Asian languages (Arabic, Persian and Chagatai). Among the unique fonds there is that of the qushbegi of the emir of Bukhara and of the khans of Khiva and Kokand. The article addresses the issue of formation of the archival fond of the Khiva khans, which is of interest to many researchers. It puts in chronological order preconditions and stages of acquiring the document collections of the Khiva khans, of adding to and describing them. The article studies regulatory legal documents, correspondence, reports and biographical data of the employees involved in scientific description of the fonds. The study of the little-known archival materials allows to present objectively and comprehensively all most significant facts and to identify main patterns in archival work on the fonds, which went on for 50 years. The primary work, which included the first series description of the fond, was led by K.Z. Mukhsinova and was completed in December, 1950. In the following years the archive intensified its efforts in document acquisition by organizing an archival expedition to Khiva and Karakalpakstan. Also a decision was made on the government level to restitute archival documents then stored at the Saltykov-Shchedrin State Public Library. While preparing the second part of the series of the fond Khiva Khan, the structure and contents of the documents underwent some changes. The second series was described by K. Ubaydullaev and included documents collected in the expedition and those transferred from the Public Library. On recommendation of the researcher J. Brueghel, documents from the collection “Documents of the Khan’s Ysaulbashi” were transferred from series 1 to series 2. Studying the specifics of the series description reveals methodical approach and principles of the document data codification, as well as identifies achievements and limitations of employees’ efforts in the scientific description of the archival documents. The issues addressed in the article are to help researchers understand the particular nature of document science and records management in the Khiva Khanate.

Keywords

Archive of the Khiva Khanate, archival series, restitution, ordering of documents, systematization, description, Central State Archive of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

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References

1. Izakson M. Nacional'nye fondy Central'nogo arhiva UzSSR v Tashkente [National fonds of the Central Archive of the Uzbek SSR in Tashkent]. Bibliografiya Vostoka, Leningrad, 1932, no. 1, pp. 55-72.

2. Pervyshev I. O dokumental'noj baze dlja istoriografii feodal'noj formacii v Srednej Azii [On document base of the historiography on the feudal system in Central Asia] Revoljucija i kul'tura v Srednej Azii. Sbornik pervyj. [Revolution and culture in Central Asia. Collection 1]. Tashkent, 1934, pp. 106-111.

3. S Starostin E.V. Francuzskomu istoriku-arhivistu R.-A. Bot'e – 75 let. [75th anniversary of the French historian-archivist R.-A. Bautier] Otechestvennye arhivy, 1997, no. 6, pp. 112-113.

About author

Isakova Mukhayo Srajidinovna, PhD in History, senior researcher at the Institute of History of the Academy of Science of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Central State Archive of Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan, +998-90-931-39-07, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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