Title: To the Issue of the Cost of Slaves on the Territory of the Khiva Khanate (the first half of the XIX century)
Abstract:The article considers the capture of 80 Russian prisoners as a phenomenon in the first half of the XIX century, using the example of the case of the return of 80 Russian prisoners from the Khiva Khana...The article considers the capture of 80 Russian prisoners as a phenomenon in the first half of the XIX century, using the example of the case of the return of 80 Russian prisoners from the Khiva Khanate.There are used as sources the archival documents of the State Archive of the Orenburg Region (Orenburg, Russian Federation), namely case No. 4993 "The case of 80 Russian prisoners taken out of Khiva in 1839".It contains 80 questionnaires about the circumstances of the capture of Russian people, their sale, as well as their stay in captivity.The documents are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time.In conclusion, the authors state that, as in the Caucasus, the most expensive living goods were children (boys and girls under 15 years old).The maximum price among them, according to available data, reached 130 gold Khiva coins on the Khiva slave market.It is also important to understand that there were at least two prices for slaves: one when buying at the place of production division (usually in a coastal village), such a price could be 50 % lower than the market price and the price at slave markets in cities.That is why the nomads in the villages on the coast of the Caspian Sea always had a lot of slave traders.Throughout the entire period, with the exception of 1839, the prices for prisoners were quite high.That is why the slaveholders several times thought that it would be more profitable from a financial point of view to quickly sell live goods to slavers at a bargain price and go on a new raid or take a break from raiding activities and go to Khiva themselves to sell the goods.Quite often, the predators chose the second option.In 1839, raids on Russian fishermen became widespread, besides this, the predators captured many prisoners on the Persian coast, all this brought down the prices of live goods and in the villages for 30-39-year-old Russian fishermen began to give from 11 to 16 gold Khiva coins, while previously the cost was from 30 to 50.In terms of a rigid vertical of power of the feudal lord, which was the Khan of Khiva, the permission for raids could be authorized only at the very top.The predators, in turn, were taxed in favor of the khan.If someone wanted to sell the prisoners in Khiva at the maximum price, but this person had to be ready to give the khan 20 % of the live goods first, and after selling the prisoners, give another 10 % of the proceeds to the khan's treasury.Despite such a double tax, the number of persons who want to traffick people did not decrease, and the slave market flourished both in Khiva and in other regions of Central Asia.Read More
Title: $To the Issue of the Cost of Slaves on the Territory of the Khiva Khanate (the first half of the XIX century)
Abstract: The article considers the capture of 80 Russian prisoners as a phenomenon in the first half of the XIX century, using the example of the case of the return of 80 Russian prisoners from the Khiva Khanate.There are used as sources the archival documents of the State Archive of the Orenburg Region (Orenburg, Russian Federation), namely case No. 4993 "The case of 80 Russian prisoners taken out of Khiva in 1839".It contains 80 questionnaires about the circumstances of the capture of Russian people, their sale, as well as their stay in captivity.The documents are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time.In conclusion, the authors state that, as in the Caucasus, the most expensive living goods were children (boys and girls under 15 years old).The maximum price among them, according to available data, reached 130 gold Khiva coins on the Khiva slave market.It is also important to understand that there were at least two prices for slaves: one when buying at the place of production division (usually in a coastal village), such a price could be 50 % lower than the market price and the price at slave markets in cities.That is why the nomads in the villages on the coast of the Caspian Sea always had a lot of slave traders.Throughout the entire period, with the exception of 1839, the prices for prisoners were quite high.That is why the slaveholders several times thought that it would be more profitable from a financial point of view to quickly sell live goods to slavers at a bargain price and go on a new raid or take a break from raiding activities and go to Khiva themselves to sell the goods.Quite often, the predators chose the second option.In 1839, raids on Russian fishermen became widespread, besides this, the predators captured many prisoners on the Persian coast, all this brought down the prices of live goods and in the villages for 30-39-year-old Russian fishermen began to give from 11 to 16 gold Khiva coins, while previously the cost was from 30 to 50.In terms of a rigid vertical of power of the feudal lord, which was the Khan of Khiva, the permission for raids could be authorized only at the very top.The predators, in turn, were taxed in favor of the khan.If someone wanted to sell the prisoners in Khiva at the maximum price, but this person had to be ready to give the khan 20 % of the live goods first, and after selling the prisoners, give another 10 % of the proceeds to the khan's treasury.Despite such a double tax, the number of persons who want to traffick people did not decrease, and the slave market flourished both in Khiva and in other regions of Central Asia.