Establishing trade relations with India was a long-standing dream of Russian sovereigns since the time of Ivan the Terrible. But on the way to the legendary country lay the waterless steppes inhabited by nomads, and the restless Khiva Khanate, whose rulers did everything to slow down the movement of Russia to the south. Neither agree with the Khiva khans, nor defeat them by force. This book is dedicated to a epic stretching over several centuries, full of drama, including inglorious campaigns, diplomatic demarches, espionage missions, adventures of lone adventurers, escapes of captives, which turned into travels halfway around the world...