Khanate of Khiva خانات خیوه
←   ← 30px 1511–1920 →
Flag
The Khanate of Khiva (green), c. 1600.
Capital	Khiva
Language(s)	Uzbek and Persian[1] Kazak, Karakalpak and Turkmen also spoken
Religion	Islam
Government	Absolute monarchy
Khan
- 1511–1518	Ilbars I
- 1918–1920	Sayid Abdullah
History
- Established	1511
- Kungrad dynasty established	1804
- Conquered by Russia	12 August 1873
- Disestablished	2 February 1920

The Khanate of Khiva (Persian: خانات خیوه‎Uzbek: خیوه خانلیگی) was the name of an Uzbek^[2] state that existed in the historical region of Khwarezm from 1511 to 1920, except for a period of Persian occupation by Nadir Shah between 1740–1746. The Khans were the patrilineal descendants of Shayban (Shiban), the fifth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan. Centered in the irrigated plains of the lower Amu Darya, south of the Aral Sea, with the capital in Khiva City, the country was ruled by the Kungrads, a branch^{[citation needed]} of the Astrakhans, themselves a Genghisid dynasty. It covered present western Uzbekistan, southwestern Kazakhstan and much of Turkmenistan before Russian arrival at second half of 19th century.

In 1873, the Khanate of Khiva was much reduced in size and became a Russian protectorate. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Khiva had a revolution too, and in 1920 the Khanate was replaced by the Khorezm People’s Soviet Republic. In 1924, the area was formally incorporated into the Soviet Union and today is largely a part of Karakalpakstan and Xorazm Province in Uzbekistan.

Economy[link]

William Griffith reports seeing Khivan tea "of good quality" for sale in the bazaar in Kandahar in 1839.^[3]

History[link]

See also Khwarezm, History of Uzbekistan

Early history[link]

The region that would become the Khanate of Khiva was a part of the Chagatai Khanate with its capital at Old Urgench, one of the largest and most important trading centers in Central Asia. However, Timur regarded the state as a rival to Samarkand, and over the course of 5 campaigns, he destroyed Old Urgench completely in 1388. In 1511, the Uzbek group the Yadigarid Shaybanids installed themselves as khans of the region. Once Old Urgench was finally abandoned due to a shift in the course of the Amu-Darya in 1576, the center of the region shifted southward, and, in 1619, the khan, Arab Muhammad I, chose Khiva as the capital of the khanate.

Russian Empire period[link]

Khanate of Khiva (labeled Karasm), on a 1734 French map. The Khanate on the map surrounds the Aral Sea (depicted as much smaller than it actually was in those days) and includes much of the today's Kazakhstan's and Turkmenistan's Caspian coast

Much of Khiva's later history was framed against the khanate's relationship with the great powers Russia and Britain. The discovery of gold on the banks of the Amu Darya during the reign of Russia's Peter the Great, together with the desire of the Russian Empire to open a trade route to India, prompted an armed trade expedition to the region in 1717-18, led by Prince Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky and consisting of 750-4,000 men. Upon receiving the men, the Khivan khan, Shir Ghazi, set up camp under the pretense of goodwill, then ambushed and slaughtered the envoys, leaving ten alive to send back. Peter the Great, indebted after wars with the Ottoman Empire and Sweden, did nothing. The khanate was a dependency of Nadir Shah's Persia between 1740-1747.

Tsar Paul I also attempted to conquer the khanate, but his expedition was woefully undermanned and undersupplied, and was recalled en route due to his assassination. Tsar Alexander I had no such ambitions, and it was under Tsars Nicholas I and Alexander II that serious efforts to annex Khiva started.

Persian slave in the Khanate of Kiva, 19th century

A notable episode during The Great Game involved a Russian expedition to Khiva in 1839. The nominal purpose of the mission was to free the slaves captured and sold by Turkmen raiders from the Russian frontiers on the Caspian Sea, but the expedition was also an attempt to extend Russia's borders while the British Empire entangled itself in the First Anglo-Afghan War. The expedition, led by General V.A. Perovsky, the commander of the Orenburg garrison, consisted of 5,200 infantry, and ten thousand camels. Due to poor planning and a bit of bad luck, they set off in November 1839, into one of the worst winters in memory, and were forced to turn back on 1 February 1840, arriving back into Orenburg in May, having suffered over a thousand casualties.

The painter Vasily Vereshchagin was present at the taking of Khiva by Russian forces in 1873.

At the same time, Britain, anxious to remove the pretext for the Russian attempt to annex Khiva, launched its own effort to free the slaves. Major Todd, the senior British political officer stationed in Herat (in Afghanistan) dispatched Captain James Abbott, disguised as an Afghan, on Christmas Eve, 1839, for Khiva. Abbott arrived in late January 1840 and, although the khan was suspicious of his identity, he succeeded in talking the khan into allowing him to carry a letter for the Tsar regarding the slave issue. He left on 7 March 1840, for Fort Alexandrovsk (Aqtau), and was subsequently betrayed by his guide, robbed, then released when the bandits realized the origin and destination of his letter. His superiors in Herat, not knowing of his fate, sent another officer, Lieutenant Richmond Shakespear, after him. Shakespear had more success than Abbott: he convinced the khan to free all Russian subjects under his control, and also to make the ownership of Russian slaves a crime punishable by death. The freed slaves and Shakespear arrived in Fort Alexandrovsk on 15 August 1840, and Russia lost its primary motive for the conquest of Khiva, for the time being.

A 1903 Polish map showing Khiva (Chiwa, in Polish) within the much reduced borders the Khanate had during 1874-1920

A permanent Russian presence in Khwarezm began in 1848 with the building of Fort Aralsk at the mouth of the Syr Darya. The Empire's military superiority was such that Khiva and the other Central Asian principalities, Bukhara and Kokand, had no chance of repelling the Russian advance, despite years of fighting.^[4] Khiva was gradually reduced in size by Russian expansion in Turkestan and, in 1873, after Russia conquered the neighbouring cities of Tashkent and Samarkand, General Von Kaufman launched an attack on Khiva consisting of 13,000 infantry and cavalry. The city of Khiva fell on 28 May 1873 and, on 12 August 1873, a peace treaty was signed that established Khiva as a quasi-independent Russian protectorate.

The first significant settlement of Europeans in the Khanate was a group of Mennonites who migrated to Khiva in 1882. The German-speaking Mennonites had come from the Volga region and the Molotschna colony under the leadership of Claas Epp, Jr. The Mennonites played an important role in modernizing the Khanate in the decades prior to the October Revolution by introducing photography, which resulted with the development of the Uzbek photography and filmmaking, more efficient methods for cotton harvesting, electrical generators, and other technological innovations.^[5]

Civil war and Soviet Republic[link]

Flag used by the khanate of Khiva during the civil war (1917–1922).^[6]

After the 1917 Bolshevik seizure of power in the October Revolution, anti-monarchists and Turkmen tribesmen joined forces with the Bolsheviks at the end of 1919 to depose the khan. On 2 February 1920, Khiva's last Kungrad khan, Sayid Abdullah, abdicated and a short-lived Khorezm People’s Soviet Republic (later the Khorezm SSR) was created out of the territory of the old Khanate of Khiva, before in 1924 it was finally incorporated into the Soviet Union, with the former Khanate divided between the new Turkmen SSR and Uzbek SSR. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, these became Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan respectively. Today, the area that was the Khanate has a mixed population of Uzbeks, Karakalpaks, Turkmens, and Kazakhs.

Khans of Khiva (1511–1920)[link]

[edit] Arabshahid Dynasty (Yadigarid Shabanid Dynasty, 1511–1804)^[7]

The borders of the Russian imperial territories of Kiva, Bukhara and Kokand in the time period of 1902–1903.

• Ilbars I (1511–1518)
• Sultan Haji (1518–1519)
• Hasan Quli (1519–1524)
• Bujugha (1524–1529)
• Sufyan (1529–1535)
• Avnik (1535–1538)
• Qal (1539–1549)
• Aqatay (1549–1557)
• Dust Muhammad (1557–1558)
• Haji Muhammad I (1558–1602)
• Arab Muhammad I (1602–1623)
• Isfandiyar (1623–1643)
• Abu al-Ghazi I Bahadur (1643–1663)
• Anusha (1663–1685)
• Khudaydad (1685–1687)
• Muhammad Awrang I (1687–1694)
• Chuchaq (1694–1697)
• Vali (1697–1698)
• Ishaq Agha Shah Niyaz (1698–1701)
• Awrang II (1701–1702)
• Musa (1702–1712)
• Yadigar I (1712–1713)
• Awrang III (c. 1713 – c. 1714)
• Haji Muhammad II (c. 1714)
• Shir Ghazi (1714–1727)
• Sarigh Ayghir (1727)
• Bahadur (1727–1728)
• Ilbars II (1728–1740)
• Tahir (1740–1742)
• Nurali I (1742)
• Abu Muhammad (1742)
• Abu al-Ghazi II Muhammad (1742–1747)
• Ghaib (1747–1758)
• Abdullah Qara Beg (1758)
• Timur Ghazi (1758–1764)
• Tawke (1764–1766)
• Shah Ghazi (1766–1768)
• Abu al-Ghazi III (1768–1769)
• Nurali II (1769)
• Jahangir (1769–1770)
• Bölekey (1770)
• Aqim (first time, 1770–1771)
• Abd al-Aziz (c. 1771)
• Artuq Ghazi (c. 1772)
• Abdullah (c. 1772)
• Aqim (second time, c. 1772 – c. 1773)
• Yadigar II (first time, c. 1773–1775)
• Abu'l Fayz (1775–1779)
• Yadigar II (second time, 1779–1781)
• Pulad Ghazi (1781–1783)
• Yadigar II (third time, 1783–1790)
• Abu al-Ghazi IV (1790–1802)
• Abu al-Ghazi V ibn Gha'ib (1802–1804)

Qungrat Dynasty (1804–1920)[link]

Isfandiyar Jurji Bahadur circa 1911.

• Iltazar Inaq ibn Iwaz Inaq Biy (1804–1806)
• Abu al-Ghazi V ibn Gha'ib (1806)
• Muhammad Rahim Bahadur (1806–1825)
• Allah Quli Bahadur (1825–1842)
• Muhammad Rahim Quli (1842–1846)
• Abu al-Ghazi Muhammad Amin Bahadur (1846–1855)
• Abdullah (1855)
• Qutlugh Muhammad Murad Bahadur (1855–1856)
• Mahmud (1856)
• Sayyid Muhammad (1856 – September 1864)
• Muhammad Rahim Bahadur (10 September 1864 – September 1910)
• Isfandiyar Jurji Bahadur (September 1910 – 1 October 1918)
• Sayid Abdullah (1 October 1918 – 1 February 1920)

See also[link]

• Khwarezm
• Khorezm SSR
• Khiva
• List of Sunni Muslim dynasties

References[link]

External links[link]

• "Russian Invasion (the end of 19 century)"
• "The dramatic end of Khiva"

Khiva Xiva / Хива
Walls of Itchan Kala
Khiva Location in Uzbekistan
Coordinates: 41°23′N 60°22′E / 41.383°N 60.367°E / 41.383; 60.367
Country	Uzbekistan
Province	Xorazm Province

Khiva (Uzbek: Xiva / Хива; Persian: خیوه / Khiveh‎; Russian: Хива; alternative or historical names include Khorasam, Khoresm, Khwarezm, Khwarizm, Khwarazm, Chorezm, and Persian: خوارزم‎) is a city of approximately 50,000 people located in Xorazm Province, Uzbekistan. It is the former capital of Khwarezmia and the Khanate of Khiva. Itchan Kala in Khiva was the first site in Uzbekistan to be inscribed in the World Heritage List (1991).

History[link]

The painter Vasily Vereshchagin was present at the taking of Khiva by Russian forces.

For further history of Khiva and the Khanate of Khiva, see: Khwarezmia

In the early part of its history, the inhabitants of the area were from Iranian stock and spoke an Eastern Iranian language called Khwarezmian. Subsequently the Iranic ruling class was replaced by Turks in the 10th century A.D, and the region gradually tuned into an area with a majority of Turkic speakers.

The city of Khiva was first recorded by Muslim travellers in the 10th century, although archaeologists assert that the city has existed since the 6th century. By the early 17th century, Khiva had become the capital of the Khanate of Khiva, ruled by a branch of the Astrakhans, a Genghisid dynasty.

In 1873, Russian General Von Kaufman launched an attack on the city, which fell on 28 May 1873. Although the Russian Empire now controlled the Khanate, it nominally allowed Khiva to remain as a quasi-independent protectorate.

Following the Bolshevik seizure of power after the October Revolution, a short lived Khorezm People's Soviet Republic was created out of the territory of the old Khanate of Khiva, before its incorporation into the USSR in 1924, with the city of Khiva becoming part of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic.

Sights[link]

Panorama view of Khiva (Uzbekistan)

Khiva is split into two parts. The outer town, called Dichan Kala, was formerly protected by a wall with 11 gates. The inner town, or Itchan Kala, is encircled by brick walls, whose foundations are believed to have been laid in the 10th century. Present-day crenellated walls date back to the late 17th century and attain the height of 10 meters.

The large blue tower in the central city square was supposed to be a minaret, but the Khan died and the succeeding Khan did not complete it; perhaps he realized that if completed, the minaret would overlook his harem and the muezzin would be able to see the Khan's wives. Construction was thus halted and the minaret remains unfinished to this day.

The old town retains more than 50 historic monuments and 250 old houses, mostly dating from the 18th or the 19th centuries. Djuma Mosque, for instance, was established in the 10th century and rebuilt in 1788-89, although its celebrated hypostyle hall still retains 112 columns taken from ancient structures.

It also is the site of the Sheikh Mukhtar-Vali Complex, a mausoleum nominated for World Heritage status in 1996.^[1]

Sister cities[link]

• Nishapur, Iran

See also[link]

Uzbekistan portal

• Khwarezmia
• Al-Khwarizmi
• Kumhar
• Trolleybuses in Urgench

References[link]

Publications[link]

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (April 2012)

• Campaigning on the Oxus, and the Fall of Khiva, MacGahan, (London, 1874).
• A Ride to Khiva, Frederick Burnaby, (OUP, 1997. First published 1876).
• Russian Central Asia, Lansdell, (London, 1885).
• A travers l'Asie Centrale, Moser, (Paris, 1886).
• Russia against India, Colquhoun, (New York, 1900).
• Khiva, in Russian, S. Goulichambaroff, (Askhabad, 1913).
• A Carpet Ride to Khiva, C. A. Alexander, (London, 2010).
• Journey to Khiva, Philip Glazebrook, A Writer's Search for Central Asia, (London, 1992).

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Khiva

• Images and travel impressiones along the Silk Road - Khiva

Coordinates: 41°23′N 60°22′E / 41.383°N 60.367°E / 41.383; 60.367

v t e Xorazm Province Capital: Urgench Districts and seats Bog‘ot District (Bog‘ot) · Gurlan District (Gurlan)  · Xonqa District (Xonqa) · Xazorasp District ( Xazorasp)  · Khiva District (Khiva) · Qo‘shko‘pir District (Qo‘shko‘pir) · Shovot District (Shovot)  · Urganch District (Qorovul)  · Yangiariq District (Yangiariq) · Yangibozor District (Yangibozor)

v t e Cities of Uzbekistan Capital Tashkent Cities Andijan Angren Asaka Bekabad Beruniy Bukhara Chimboy Chirchiq Fergana Guliston G‘ijduvon G‘uzor Jizzakh Juma Kattaqo‘rg‘on Kogon Kosonsoy Margilan Mo‘ynoq Namangan Navoiy Nukus Nurota Olmaliq Qarshi Qorako‘l Qorasuv Qo‘ng‘irot Qo‘qon Rishton Samarkand Shahrisabz Shirin Sirdaryo Termez To‘rtko‘l To‘ytepa Uchquduq Urganch Urgut Vobkent Xiva Xo‘jayli Yangiabad Yangiyer Yangiyo‘l Zarafshon

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: The article lacks structure and needs more background information (as well as sources).. Please help improve this article if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (December 2011)

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There are many people in history who are commonly appended with the phrase "the Great", or who were called that or an equivalent phrase in their own language. Other languages have their own suffixes such as e Bozorg and e azam in Persian and Urdu respectively.

In Persia, the title "the Great" at first seems to be a colloquial version of the Old Persian title "Great King". This title was first used by the conqueror Cyrus II of Persia.^[1]

The Persian title was inherited by Alexander III of Macedon (336–323 BC) when he conquered the Persian Empire, and the epithet "Great" eventually became personally associated with him. The first reference (in a comedy by Plautus)^[2] assumes that everyone knew who "Alexander the Great" was; however, there is no earlier evidence that Alexander III of Macedon was called "the Great".

The early Seleucid kings, who succeeded Alexander in Persia, used "Great King" in local documents, but the title was most notably used for Antiochus the Great (223–187 BC).

Later rulers and commanders began to use the epithet "the Great" as a personal name, like the Roman general Pompey. Others received the surname retrospectively, like the Carthaginian Hanno and the Indian emperor Ashoka the Great. Once the surname gained currency, it was also used as an honorific surname for people without political careers, like the philosopher Albert the Great.

As there are no objective criteria for "greatness", the persistence of later generations in using the designation greatly varies. For example, Louis XIV of France was often referred to as "The Great" in his lifetime but is rarely called such nowadays, while Frederick II of Prussia is still called "The Great". A later Hohenzollern - Wilhelm I - was often called "The Great" in the time of his grandson Wilhelm II, but rarely later.

Rulers[link]

• Abbas I of Persia (1571–1629), Shah of Iran
• Akbar (1542–1605), ruler of the Mughal Empire of South Asia, mainly India
• Alain I of Albret (1440–1522), French aristocrat
• Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), King of Macedonia, Persia, Greece, Egypt, and all of Mesopotamia
• Alexander I of Georgia (1386–1446), King of Georgia
• Alfonso III of León (c. 848-910), King of León, Galicia and Asturias
• Alfred the Great (848/849-899), King of Wessex
• Antiochus III the Great (c. 241–187 BC), ruler of the Seleucid Empire
• Ashoka the Great (c. 304–232 BC), Indian emperor of the Maurya dynasty
• Ashot I of Iberia “the Great”(died 826/830), presiding prince of Iberia (modern Georgia),
• Askia Mohammad I (c. 1442–1538), ruler of the Songhai Empire
• Bhumibol Adulyadej (born 1927), King of Thailand
• Bolesław I Chrobry (967-1025), sometimes called "the Great", first King of Poland
• Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the following section)
• Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (1736–1809), founder and ruler of the Rattanakosin Kingdom (in what is now Thailand)
• Cnut the Great (c. 985 or 995-1035), King of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden
• Casimir III the Great (1310–1370), King of Poland
• Catherine the Great (1729–1796), Empress of Russia
• Chandragupta II (reigned 375-413/415), also known as Vikramaditya, ruler of the Gupta empire in India
• Charlemagne (died 814), King of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans
• Chulalongkorn (1853–1910), King of Siam (now Thailand)
• Chlothar II (584-629), King of Neustria and King of the Franks
• Conrad, Margrave of Meissen (c. 1097-1157), Margrave of Meissen
• Constantine I (c. 272-337), Roman emperor
• Cyaxares the Great (c. 625-585 BC), third king of Media
• Cyrus the Great (c. 600 BC or 576 BC–530 BC), founder and ruler of the Persian or Achaemenid Empire
• Darius the Great (550 – 486 BC), third ruler of the Persian Empire
• Devapala (died 850), ruler of the Pala Empire in the Indian subcontinent
• Dionysius I, Greek tyrant of Syracuse^[3]
• Ferdinand I of León and Castile (c. 1015–1065), King of León and Count of Castile
• Frederick the Great (1712–1786), King of Prussia
• Genghis Khan (1162?-1227), founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire
• Gero (c. 900–965), ruler of Marca Geronis, a very large march in Europe
• Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (1594–1632), King of Sweden, founder of the Swedish Empire, and noted military leader
• Gwanggaeto the Great, King of Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea^[4][5]
• Hanno the Great, the name of three leaders of Carthage, in the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd centuries BC
• Henry I, Duke of Burgundy (946–1002)
• Henry IV of France (1553–1610), King of France and King of Navarre
• Herod the Great (73/74 BC-4 BC), King of Judea
• Hugh the Great (898-956), Duke of the Franks and Count of Paris
• Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France
• Hugh I, Count of Vermandois (1057–1101)
• Humphrey I de Bohun (died c. 1123), Anglo-Norman aristocrat
• Ivan III of Russia (1440–1505), Tsar of Russia
• John I of Portugal (1358–1433), King of Portugal and the Algarve
• John II of Aragon (1398–1479), King of Aragon and, through his wife, King of Navarre
• Justinian I (483-565), Byzantine Emperor
• Kamehameha I (c. 1758-1819), first King of Hawai'i
• Kanishka (died c. 127), ruler of the Kushan Empire in Central Asia and parts of India
• Kvirike III of Kakheti (1010–1029), King of Kakheti in eastern Georgia
• Kublai Khan (1215–1294), Mongol ruler in the 13th century and Emperor of China; founder of the Yuan Dynasty
• Llywelyn the Great (c. 1172–1240), Prince of Gwynedd and de facto ruler of most of Wales
• Louis I of Hungary (1326–1382), King of Hungary, Croatia and Poland
• Mangrai the Great (1238–1317), Lanna, northern Thailand
• Emperor Meiji (1852–1912), Emperor of Japan
• Mircea I of Wallachia (1355–1418)
• Mithridates II of Parthia (died 88 BC), ruler of the Parthian Empire (in present day Iran)
• Mithridates VI of Pontus (134 BC–63 BC), ruler of Pontus and the Bosporan Kingdom
• Mstislav I of Kiev (1076–1132), Grand Prince of Kievan Rus
• Naresuan (1555–1605), King of Ayutthaya
• Narai (1633–1688), King of Ayutthaya (in what is now modern Thailand)
• Odo the Great (died c. 735), Duke of Aquitaine
• Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (912-973)
• K'inich Janaab' Pakal (603-683), ruler of the Mayan city-state of Palenque
• Parakramabahu I of Polonnaruwa (1123–1186), King of Sri Lanka
• Peter Krešimir IV of Croatia (died 1075), King of Croatia
• Peter the Great (1672–1725), Tsar of Russia
• Peter III of Aragon (1239–1285), King of Aragon and King of Sicily
• Pompey (106 BC-48 BC), military and political leader of the late Roman Republic, rival of Julius Caesar
• Radama I (1793–1828), first king of greater Madagascar
• Raja Raja Chola I (c. 947-1014), Indian emperor of the Cholas.^[6][7][8]
• Rajendra Chola I (reigned 1014–1044), Tamil King of India
• Ramesses II (reigned 1279 BC – 1213 BC), considered the greatest pharaoh of Ancient Egypt
• Ram Khamhaeng (around 1237 to 1247-1298), King of Sukhothai (in present day Thailand)
• Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona (1082–1131), also Count of Provence and various other counties
• Rhodri the Great (c. 820–878), King of Gwynedd (in present day Wales)
• Roman the Great (after 1160-1205), Grand Prince of Kiev
• Saladin (c. 1138-1193), Kurdish Sultan of Egypt and Syria, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, and victor over the Crusaders
• Samudragupta (c. 335–375), ruler of the Gupta empire in the Indian subcontinent
• Sancho III of Navarre (c. 992-1035), King of Kingdom of Navarre
• Sargon of Akkad (died c. 2215 BC), ruler of the Akkadian Empire
• Sejong the Great (1397–1450), Korean king^[9]
• Shapur II (309-379), king of the Sassanid Empire, Persia
• Simeon I of Bulgaria (864/865-927), ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire
• Stephen III of Moldavia (1433–1504), Prince of Moldavia (Romania)
• Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia (c. 1308-1355), King of Serbia and Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks
• Taksin (1734–1782), King of the Thonburi Kingdom (Thailand)
• Tamar (1160-1123), Queen of the Georgian Empire
• Timur (1336–1405), better known as Tamerlane, founder of the Timurid Dynasty
• Theobald II, Count of Champagne (1090–1151), Count of Blois and of Chartres as Theobald IV, Count of Champagne and of Brie
• Theodoric the Great (454-526), King of the Ostrogoths, regent of the Visigoths and a viceroy of the Byzantine Empire
• Theodosius I (347-395), Roman emperor
• Tigranes the Great (140-55 BC), Emperor of Armenia
• Tiridates III of Armenia (285-339), King of Armenia
• Umar (c. 586 to 590–644), second caliph of the Muslim Empire
• Valdemar I of Denmark (1131–1182), King of Denmark
• Valentinian I (364-375), Roman Emperor
• Vladimir I of Kiev (c. 958-1015), ruler of Kievan Rus
• Vytautas (c. 1350-1430), archduke of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy
• William I, Count of Burgundy (1020–1087), Count of Burgandy and Mâcon
• William V, Duke of Aquitaine (969-1030), also Count of Poitou
• Xerxes I (519-465 BC), King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire (Persia)
• Yu the Great (c. 2200-2100 BC), legendary ruler in ancient China

Religious figures[link]

• Abraham the Great of Kashkar (ca. 492-586), monk and saint of the Assyrian Church of the East
• Abraham Kidunaia (died c. 366, hermit, priest, and Christian saint of Mesopotamia
• Albertus Magnus (1193/1206–1280), medieval German philosopher and theologian
• Anthony the Great (c. 251–356), early Christian saint of Egypt
• Babai the Great (c. 551–628), Assyrian church leader
• Basil of Caesarea (330-379), Greek bishop and theologian
• Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the previous section)
• Euthymius the Great (377-473), abbot and Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox saint
• Gertrude the Great (1256-c. 1302), German Benedictine, mystic, theologian and Roman Catholic saint
• Pope Gregory I (c. 540-604)
• Hiyya the Great, 3rd-century rabbi, Palestine
• Pope John Paul II (1920–2005)
• Pope Leo I (c. 391 or 400-461)
• Macarius of Egypt (c. 300-391), Egyptian hermit
• Pope Nicholas I (c. 800-867)
• Photius I of Constantinople (c. 810–c. 893), Eastern Orthodox saint and Patriarch of Constantinople
• William of Maleval (died 1157), founder of the Catholic congregation of Williamites

Other[link]

• Beli Mawr, a figure in medieval Welsh literature and genealogies
• Emmy the Great, folk singer
• Matteo Rosso the Great, Roman politician and father of Pope Nicholas III
• Prokop the Great, Hussite general in Bohemia

See also[link]

• Epithet
• List of monarchs by nickname
• List of nicknames of European Royalty and Nobility: G-I
• James, son of Zebedee, also known as James the Greater, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus
• Ajax (mythology), called Ajax the Greater
• Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, whose common honorific "Mahatma" means "Great Soul"

Notes[link]