Akifumi SHIOYA, PhD (2012) and assistant professor of University of Tsukuba (Japan), is currently working on the political and societal upheavals in the local society of Central Asia before and after its conquest by Imperial Russia, focusing on the development of irrigation and environmental changes.
This presentation aims to introduce the current research trends and future possibilities of the Khivan archive, which has been built up during the period of the Qongrat Dynasty (1804-1920; under the protection of the Russian Empire, in 1873-1917) in the Khanate of Khiva. The archive encompasses a variety of documents: royal charters issued by the Khans of Khiva, diplomatic documents exchanged between the Khanate of Khiva, and Amirate of Bukhara, Qajarid Iran, Ottoman Empire and other political powers, administrative and judicial documents concerning many ethnic groups in the Khorazm oasis, and so on. Some documents reveal how the local polity and society coped with the issue of water management and how the imperial power reacted to the local ‘traditional’ way of water management. These documents will also explore a new method of enquiry regarding modern Russian and Central Asian histories.
Contact: (812) 386-76-48