Content of Khiva History

Khiva History
Period One
Period Two
Period Three
Period Four
Period Five

History of Khiva - Period Two

PERIOD TWO (4th-1st century BC) deals with the emergence of a fortified city at Ichan-qala. By that time there was a twin wall built all around Ichan-qala complete with a shooters' gallery and rectangular turrets standing 22 meters to 27 meters apart from one another. The walls rested on a high pakhs stylobate protected on the outside by a barrier wall 4.3 m away from the main one. There was a wide fosse running all around the city.

This mighty wall proves Khiva's big-city status in the Khorezmian state. The ceramic items found inside the perimeter and in the adjoining corridors date back to the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. By the onset of the 2nd century BC the city was already in decline in the face of the advancing Karakum desert, which eventually destroyed the city walls.