Civilisation, some may think, has a predilection for the way that leads from the south to the north; but how can any spark penetrate to Central Asia, as long as the Turkomans menace every traveller and every karavan with a thousand perils? {329} CHAPTER XVII. KHIVA, THE CAPITAL PRINCIPAL DIVISIONS, GATES, AND QUARTERS OF THE CITY BAZAARS MOSQUES MEDRESSE OR COLLEGES; HOW FOUNDED, ORGANISED, AND ENDOWED POLICE KHAN AND HIS GOVERNMENT TAXES TRIBUNALS KHANAT CANALS POLITICAL DIVISIONS PRODUCE MANUFACTURES AND TRADE PARTICULAR ROUTES KHANAT, HOW PEOPLED ÖZBEGS TURKOMANS KARAKALPAK KASAK (KIRGHIS) SART PERSIANS HISTORY OF KHIVA IN FIFTEENTH CENTURY KHANS AND THEIR GENEALOGY. _Les principaux Tartares firent asseoir le Khan sur une pièce de feutre et lui dirent: 'Honare les grands, sois juste et bienfesant envers tous; sinon tu seras si misérable que tu n'auras pas même le feutre sur lequel tu es assis_.' Voltaire, Essai sur les Moeurs, c. lx. A. KHIVA, THE CAPITAL. As we are speaking of an Oriental city, what need to say that the interior of Khiva is very different from what its exterior would lead us to expect! First, reader, you must have seen a Persian city of the lowest rank, and then you will understand my meaning when I say that Khiva is inferior to it; or picture to yourself three or four thousand mud houses standing in different directions in the most irregular manner with uneven and unwashed walls, and fancy these surrounded by a wall ten feet high, also made of mud, and again you have a conception of Khiva. {330} _Its Divisions._ The city is divided into two parts: (_a_) Khiva proper; and (_b_) Itch Kale, the citadel with its encircling wall, which can be shut off from the outer city by four gates; and consists of the following Mahalle (quarters): Pehlivan, Uluyogudj, Akmesdjid, Yipektchi, Koshbeghimahallesi. The city, properly so called, has nine gates, and ten Mahalle (quarters). [Footnote 106] [Footnote 106: That is to say, towards the north, Urgendj dervazesi,(1) Gendumghia dervazesi, Imaret dervazesi; towards the east, Ismahmudata dervazesi, Hazaresp dervazesi; to the south, Shikhlair dervazesi, Pishkenik dervazesi, Rafenek dervazesi; and to the west, Bedrkhan dervazesi. There are ten Mahalle (quarters), that is to say, 1. Or. 2. Kefterkhane. 3. Mivesztan, where the fruit is sold. 4. Mehterabad. 5. Yenikale. 6. Bala Havuz, where there is a large reservoir of water surrounded by plane trees, serving as a place of recreation. 7. Nanyemezorama. (2) 8. Nurullahbay. 9. Bagtche. 10. Rafenek. (1) Dervaze, a Persian word, meaning gate. (2) This word means 'village that eats no bread.'] _Bazaars_.