KHOI, a district and town in the province of Azerbaijan, Persia, towards the extreme north-west frontier, between the Urmia Lake and the river Aras. The district contains many flourishing villages, and consists of an elevated plateau 60 m. by 10 to 15, highly cultivated by a skilful system of drainage and irrigation, producing fertile meadows, gardens and fields yielding rich crops of wheat and barley, cotton, rice and many kinds of fruit. In the northern part and bounding on Maku lies the plain of Chaldaran (Kalderan), where in August 1514 the Turks under Sultan Selim I. fought the Persians under Shah Ismail and gained a great victory.
The town of Khoi lies in 38° 37′ N., 45° 15′ E., 77 m. (90 by road) N.W. of Tabriz, at an elevation of 3300 ft., on the great trade route between Trebizond and Tabriz, and about 2 m. from the left bank of the Kotur Chai (river from Kotur) which is crossed there by a seven-arched bridge and is known lower down as the Kizil Chai, which flows into the Aras. The walled part of the town is a quadrilateral with faces of about 1200 yds. in length and fortifications consisting of two lines of bastions, ditches, &c., much out of repair. The population numbers about 35,000, a third living inside the walls. The Armenian quarter, with about 500 families and an old church, is outside the walls. The city within the walls forms one of the best laid out towns in Persia, cool streams and lines of willows running along the broad and regular streets. There are some good buildings, including the governor’s residence, several mosques, a large brick bazaar and a fine caravanserai. There is a large transit trade, and considerable local traffic across the Turkish border. The city surrendered to the Russians in 1827 without fighting and after the treaty of peace (Turkman Chai, Feb. 1828) was held for some time by a garrison of 3000 Russian troops as a guarantee for the payment of the war indemnity. In September 1881 Khoi suffered much from a violent earthquake. It has post and telegraph offices.
KHOJENT, or Khojend, a town of the province of Syr-darya, in Russian Turkestan, on the left bank of the Syr-darya or Jaxartes, 144 m. by rail S.S.E. from Tashkent, in 40° 17′ N. and 69° 30′ E., and on the direct road from Bokhara to Khokand. Pop. (1900), 31,881. The Russian quarter lies between the river and the native town. Near the river is the old citadel, on the top of an artificial square mound, about 100 ft. high. The banks of the river are so high as to make its water useless to the town in the absence of pumping gear. Formerly the entire commerce between the khanates of Bokhara and Khokand passed through this town, but since the Russian occupation (1866) much of it has been diverted. Silkworms are reared, and silk and cotton goods are manufactured. A coarse ware is made in imitation of Chinese porcelain. The district immediately around the town is taken up with cotton plantations, fruit gardens and vineyards. The majority of the inhabitants are Tajiks.
Khojent has always been a bone of contention between Khokand and Bokhara. When the amir of Bokhara assisted Khudayar Khan to regain his throne in 1864, he kept possession of Khojent. In 1866 the town was stormed by the Russians; and during their war with Khokand in 1875 it played an important part.
KHOKAND, or Kokan, a town of Asiatic Russia, in the province of Ferghana, on the railway from Samarkand to Andijan, 85 m. by rail S.W. of the latter, and 20 m. S. of the Syr-darya. Pop. (1900), 86,704. Situated at an altitude of 1375 ft., it has a severe climate, the average temperatures being—year, 56°; January, 22°; July, 65°. Yearly rainfall, 3.6 in. It is the centre of a fertile irrigated oasis, and consists of a citadel, enclosed by a wall nearly 12 m. in circuit, and of suburbs containing luxuriant gardens. The town is modernized, has broad streets and large squares, and a particularly handsome bazaar. The former palace of the khans, which recalls by its architecture the mosques of Samarkand, is the best building in the town. Khokand is one of the most important centres of trade in Turkestan. Raw cotton and silk are the principal exports, while manufactured goods are imported from Russia. Coins bearing the inscription “Khokand the Charming,” and known as khokands, have or had a wide currency.
The khanate of Khokand was a powerful state which grew up in the 18th century. Its early history is not well known, but the town was founded in 1732 by Abd-ur-Rahim under the name of Iski-kurgan, or Kali-i-Rahimbai. This must relate, however, to the fort only, because Arab travellers of the 10th century mention Hovakend or Hokand, the position of which has been identified with that of Khokand. Many other populous and wealthy towns existed in this region at the time of the Arab conquest of Ferghana. In 1758-1759 the Chinese conquered Dzungaria and East Turkestan, and the begs or rulers of Ferghana recognized Chinese suzerainty. In 1807 or 1808 Alim, son of Narbuta, brought all the begs of Ferghana under his authority, and conquered Tashkent and Chimkent. His attacks on the Bokharan fortress of Ura-tyube were however unsuccessful, and the country rose against him. He was killed in 1817 by the adherents of his brother Omar. Omar was a poet and patron of learning, but continued to enlarge his kingdom, taking the sacred town of Azret (Turkestan), and to protect Ferghana from the raids of the nomad Kirghiz built fortresses on the Syr-darya, which became a basis for raids of the Khokand people into Kirghiz land. This was the origin of a conflict with Russia. Several petty wars were undertaken by the Russians after 1847 to destroy the Khokand forts, and to secure possession, first, of the Ili (and so of Dzungaria), and next of the Syr-darya region, the result being that in 1866, after the occupation of Ura-tyube and Jizakh, the khanate of Khokand was separated from Bokhara. During the forty-five years after the death of Omar (he died in 1822) the khanate of Khokand was the seat of continuous wars between the settled Sarts and the nomad Kipchaks, the two parties securing the upper hand in turns, Khokand falling under the dominion or the suzerainty of Bokhara, which supported Khudayar-khan, the representative of the Kipchak party, in 1858-1866; while Alim-kul, the representative of the Sarts, put himself at the head of the gazawat (Holy War) proclaimed in 1860, and fought bravely against the Russians until killed at Tashkent in 1865. In 1868 Khudayar-khan, having secured independence from Bokhara, concluded a commercial treaty with the Russians, but was compelled to flee in 1875, when a new Holy War against Russia was proclaimed. It ended in the capture of the strong fort of Makhram, the occupation of Khokand and Marghelan (1875), and the recognition of Russian superiority by the amir of Bokhara, who conceded to Russia all the territory north of the Naryn river. War, however, was renewed in the following year. It ended, in February 1876, by the capture of Andijan and Khokand and the annexation of the Khokand khanate to Russia. Out of it was made the Russian province of Ferghana.
Authorities.—The following publications are all in Russian: Kuhn, Sketch of the Khanate of Khokand (1876); V. Nalivkin, Short History of Khokand (French trans., Paris, 1889); Niazi Mohammed, Tarihi Shahrohi, or History of the Rulers of Ferghana, edited by Pantusov (Kazañ, 1885); Makshéev, Historical Sketch of Turkestan and the Advance of the Russians (St Petersburg, 1890); N. Petrovskiy, Old Arabian Journals of Travel (Tashkent, 1894); Russian Encyclopaedic Dictionary, vol. xv. (1895).
(P. A. K.; J. T. Be.)