Khwarazm
خوارزمThe delta of the Amu Darya: an ancient Iranian civilisation and the home of al-Khwarizmi and al-Biruni.
Khwarazm, the lower delta of the Amu Darya near the Aral Sea, was an Iranian kingdom from Achaemenid times, with its own language, Khwarazmian, long extinct.
The mathematician al-Khwarizmi, whose name gave us the word algorithm, and the scholar al-Biruni both came from Khwarazm. The walled city of Khiva, with its glazed minarets, is the best preserved of its later capitals.
Cities and towns
Khivaخیوه
The walled city
Urgenchاورگنج
The modern regional centre
Nukusنوکوس
Capital of Karakalpakstan
Landmarksبناها و نشانهها
Itchan Kala, Khiva
ایچان قلعهThe walled inner city of Khiva
Khwarazm through time
Iranian historyAfsharids, Zands and Qajarsافشاریان، زندیان و قاجاریان
A soldier-king who sacked Delhi, a regent who rebuilt Shiraz, and a dynasty that made Tehran the capital and lived through Iran's Constitutional Revolution.
- Islam Khodja minaret completed in Khiva
- Itchan Kala inscribed by UNESCO