Pilgrims on the Silk Road--a Muslim-Christian Encounter in Khiva

2010·33.4 MB·English

by  Ratliff

R
i
WALTER R . RAITLIFF
*
The Great Highway of Central Asia
'The Illutitrated London News-April 4,1885
Pilgrims on the Silk Road
A Muslim-Christian Encounter in Khiva
WALTERRA TLIFF
WIPF Q STOCK Eugene, Oregon
PILGRIMS ON THE SILK ROAD
A Muslim-Christian Encounter in Khiva
Copyright O 2010 Walter Ratliff. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in
critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner
without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and
Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.
Wipf & Stock
An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers
199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3
Eugene, OR 97401
www.wipfandstock.com
ISBN 13: 978-1-60608-133-4
Manufactured in the U.S.A.
Portions of chapters 12 and the epilogue previously appeared in Mennonite Life, Spring
2008 vol. 63 no. 1 as "Last Oasis: The Mennonite Refuge in Khiva."
Figures 37 and 38 are reproduced by permission from the Musee de I'Elysee, Lausanne,
Switzerland.
Figures 10, 15, 16, 17, 26,40,42,44 are reproduced by permission from the book Atlf
den Spuren der Ahnen by Robert Friesen of Minden, Germany.
For
My parents, Edward and Anna Mae Ratlifl
and my loving wife, Tricia
Blessed are they that long for home,
For homeward they shall surely come.
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction xv
1 The Russians Are Coming 1
2 The Farmer, the Baron, and the Bey 23
3 The Fall of Khiva 4 1
4 Seeds of Migration 67
5 The Pilgrim's Call 84
6 Twelve Stones from the Jordan 106
7 Ebenezer 124
8 The Ride to Khiva 148
9 The Redemption of Johann Drake 163
10 The Rise and Fall of Claas Epp Jr. 177
11 Revolution 190
12 The Last Oasis 207
Epilogue Return to Ak Metchet 233
Appendix A lhe Community of Christ 241
Appendix B Once Upon a Time 270
AppendixC Maps 273
Bibliography 279
Subject/Nanze Index 287

List of Illustrations
1. The Great Highway to Central Asia.'
2. Order issued by the khan to free the Russian slaves in Khiva. From
the "Translation of the Rescript of the King of Khwarazm (Khiva),"
in the Journal of the Central Asian Society, 8-2 (192 1) 12 1.
3. Johann Cornies*"
4. Baron August Haxthausen. From Haxthausen, Studien iiber die
Innern Zustande, xvi.
5. Kokan-Aga's house in Akkerman. Ibid., 183
6. General Konstantin Petrovitch von Kaufman"'"
7. Russian Troops Crossing the Amu Darya, 1873"
8. First meeting between Gen. Kaufman and Khan Muhammad Rahim
11, 1873'
9. Russian Troops attack a Turkoman caravan, 1873"
10. Mennonite bride in Russia, 1870***
11. Martin and Maria Klaassen*'"
12. Church at Koppental, Am Trakt*'
13. Claas Epp Jr., Elizabeth and Margarethe, 1876'"
14. Johann Heinrich Jung (Stilling)"
15. Mennonites in Kaplanbeck, 1881***
16. Church in Aulie Ata, 1903"""
17. Franz Bartsch and Wilhelm Penner*""
18. Bibi Khanim Mosque, c. 1900ttt
19. Muzzafar, Emir of Bukhara. From the Ark of Bukhara Museum, Uz-
behstan
20. Bukharan interior minister, c. 1900itt
x List of Illustrations
21. Great Comet of 1882. From the South African Astronomical
Observatory.
22. Emil Riesen, 18767t
23. Muhammad Murad. From Jefferson, A New Ride to Khiva, 273.
24. Khan Muhammad Rahim IIe*
25. Mennonite home in Lausan, c. 1883**
26. Heinrich Jantzen's family, with Claas Epp's daughter, Margarethe, in
centere**
27. Elizabeth Unruh Schultz, 1886tt
28. Wilhelm Penner and class at Ak Metchet*'
29. Boys in courtyard at Ak Metchet*"
30. Church at Ak Metchet, 1906""
3 1. Wilhelm Penner**
32. Khudaybergen Divanov. From OJZbekF otografiyasi 125 Yil
1879-1 940.
33. Khudaybergen Divanov and Wilhelm Penner. State Museum of
Khiva.
34. Islam Khodja, Divan-Begi of Khiva ***
35. Ispendiyar Jurji Bahadur, Khan of Khiva 1910 - 1918.TtT
36. Sayid Abdullah, Khan of Khiva 1918- 1920. From Maqsud
Abdurasulov, Uzbekistan
37. Jakob Rempel as a fugitive, 1932. From: Rempel and Enns, Hope is
Otir Deliverance.
38. Johann Toews teaching class at Ak Metchet, 1932. From the Musie
de 1'Elyske.
39. Interior of Ak Metchet church, 1932. From the Musee de 1'Elysie.
40. Otto Toews and family.***
41. Emil Riesen, 1932.*"
42. Cornelius Penner as a Soviet prisoner***
43. Surviving members of the migration to Central Asia, 1934TT
44. Herman Jantzen, missionary to Turkestan"