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Map Map of the Khanate of Khiva and the Lower Reaches of the Amu Darya River.

About this Item

Title

  • Map of the Khanate of Khiva and the Lower Reaches of the Amu Darya River.

Summary

  • The permanent military presence of imperial Russia in the Aral Sea region dates to 1847, when the Russians founded Fort Aralsk near the mouth of the Syr Darya (Jaxartes) River on the northern shore of the sea. At the time Russia was locked with Great Britain in the intense rivalry for influence in Central Asia and Afghanistan that became known as the Great Game. This detailed and beautifully rendered Russian map shows the southern shores of the Aral Sea and the other great river of Central Asia, the Amu Darya or Oxus. The map was published in 1873, a watershed year that saw Russian annexation of the Khanate of Khiva (lying along the course of the Amu Darya in the region depicted in the map) as well as of the Emirate of Bokhara (lying to the southeast of the Khanate of Khiva). The map includes such features as rivers, lakes, marshes, and cultivated areas, in addition to arid regions (labeled as Takir, i.e., salt flats characterized by fissured and cracked surfaces, and solonetz). Also included are cities and villages, roads, and mosques. The city of Khiva lies near the bottom of the map at the edge of an area of vast cultivation that includes other historical cities such as Kunya-Urgench and Kath or Kat. The entire region was later to undergo an environmental cataclysm with the drying up of the Aral Sea, caused by irrigation policies pursued during the Soviet era. The map was created by the cartographic unit of the Military Topography Directorate of the Russian General Staff. The scale is in versts, a Russian unit of measurement; one verst is equal to 1.07 kilometers.

Names

  • Russia. General Staff. Military Topography Directorate Creator.

Created / Published

  • Moscow : General Staff, Military Topography Directorate, 1873.

Headings

  • -  Turkmenistan
  • -  Uzbekistan
  • -  1873
  • -  Afghan Wars
  • -  Library of Congress Afghanistan Project
  • -  Military maps
  • -  Territorial questions

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  "Scale 1:550,000"--Note extracted from World Digital Library.
  • -  Original resource extent: 1 map : color ; 62 x 75 centimeters.
  • -  Original resource at: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries.
  • -  Content in Russian.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Source Collection

  • American Geographical Society Library Digital Map Collection

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021668291

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Russia. General Staff. Military Topography Directorate Creator. Map of the Khanate of Khiva and the Lower Reaches of the Amu Darya River. Moscow: General Staff, Military Topography Directorate, 1873. Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021668291/.

APA citation style:

Russia. General Staff. Military Topography Directorate Creator. (1873) Map of the Khanate of Khiva and the Lower Reaches of the Amu Darya River. Moscow: General Staff, Military Topography Directorate. [Map] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021668291/.

MLA citation style:

Russia. General Staff. Military Topography Directorate Creator. Map of the Khanate of Khiva and the Lower Reaches of the Amu Darya River. Moscow: General Staff, Military Topography Directorate, 1873. Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021668291/>.