AFGHANISTAN
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[Illustration: LORD CURZON OF KEDLESTON]
AFGHANISTAN
BY
ANGUS HAMILTON
FELLOW OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY
AUTHOR OF “KOREA,” “THE SIEGE OF
MAFEKING,” ETC.
WITH A MAP AND NUMEROUS
ILLUSTRATIONS
[Illustration: Colophon]
LONDON
WILLIAM HEINEMANN
1906
COPYRIGHT 1906 BY WILLIAM HEINEMANN
_All rights reserved_
PREFACE
Since 1871, when Sir Charles MacGregor drew up a very exhaustive
_précis_ of information on Afghanistan for the use of the Government
of India, no book dealing with our buffer state in a general manner
has been issued. The thirty-five years which have intervened have not
been without important contributions to our knowledge of Afghanistan,
but those works which have appeared cannot altogether be described as
presenting a single comprehensive study of contemporary conditions
in the country. In 1886 Lieutenant A. C. Yate, and in 1888 Major C.
E. Yate, C.S.I., C.M.G., described in two very interesting volumes
the proceedings of the Afghan Boundary Commission. Ten years elapsed
before anything of importance appeared, when, by a rare coincidence,
two books dealing with Afghanistan saw the light in 1895: Mr. Stephen
Wheeler’s admirable account of _The Amir Abdur Rahman_, and that
most entertaining and graphic volume, _My Residence at the Court of
the Amir_, by the late Amir’s private physician, Dr. A. J. Gray. In
1900 Sultan Mahomed Khan, Mir Munshi to Abdur Rahman, presented to
the public his remarkable production, _The Life of Abdur Rahman_, as
well as a treatise on _The Constitution and Laws of Afghanistan_. In
the following year, 1901, Colonel Sir Thomas Holdich embodied in _The
Indian Borderland_ many graceful descriptions of scenery and various
centres in Afghanistan while, in 1905, in a series of articles in the
_Wide World Magazine_, Mrs. Kate Daly, physician to Habib Ullah’s harem
and the Government of Afghanistan, illustrated with many delightful
touches a sojourn of _Eight Years Among the Afghans_. These few works
practically exhaust contemporary literature on Afghanistan, and it
is in an endeavour to provide a more complete record of the subject
than has hitherto existed that the author of _Korea_ has compiled
this little book. Mistakes are those of his own making; reflections
and criticisms arise from his own opinions; but, in hoping that his
critics may find something of value in the results of two years’ toil,
the author wishes to say that if good qualities exist in it, they are
attributable to the encouragement and gracious assistance which he has
received and here wishes to acknowledge.
With a view to the careful preparation of this volume the author, after
returning to London from the war in Manchuria, visited Central Asia,
his travels terminating abruptly in an attack of small-pox contracted
from the natives, while he was wandering in the region of the Pamirs.
Descending _viâ_ Gilgit to India from the Taghdumbash, twelve months
have been spent in the labour of writing, in the examination of a
number of works, and in reference to those authorities who are so
justly distinguished for their knowledge of the heart of Mid-Asia. In
this direction it is perhaps of interest to point out that in order to
establish a standard of accuracy, certain chapters have been submitted
in page proof to the criticism of this little group of Central Asian
experts, and their corrections embodied in its final form. The author
very warmly appreciates the help which has in this way been given him,
and to Colonel de la Poer Beresford and Captain Charles Bancroft in
connection with chaps. i., ii., iii.; to Colonel Sir Thomas Holdich,
K.C.I.E., K.C.M.G., C.B., in chap. iv.; to Colonel C. E. Yate, C.S.I.,
C.M.G., in chaps. v. and vi.; to Colonel Sir Henry McMahon, K.C.I.E.,
C.S.I., in chap. ix.; to Dr. A. J. Gray, Mrs. Kate Daly, and Major
Cleveland, I.M.S., in chaps. xiv. and xv. he is very much indebted,
as the indulgent manner in which his inquiries have been received has
materially assisted the conclusion of his task.
In other quarters similar help has been given, and the author desires
to express his deep obligation to the Secretary of State for India,
Mr. Morley, to Mr. John E. Ellis, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of
State for India, to Sir William Lee-Warner, and to Mr. Thomas, of the
Political Department, India Office, for the considerate way in which
services have been rendered him. The very pleasant hospitality bestowed
upon the author by Mr. George Macartney, C.S.I., the representative
of the Government of India in Kashgar, Chinese Turkestan; by Mr. L.
G. Fraser, the editor of _The Times of India_; by Mr. C. F. Meyer,
Standard Oil Company’s Agent in Bombay; by Major Cleveland, in Poona;
and by Mr. Ivor Heron-Maxwell, late of Baku in that centre, has
provided him with many haunting memories which, in a later volume, will
be more suitably described. To Dr. Chalmers Mitchell, Secretary of the
Zoological Society of London, and to Mr. J. Bryant Sowerby, Secretary
of the Royal Botanic Society, the author is indebted for assistance in
compiling the tables of species which illustrate chap. xii.; while to
the Librarian of the India Office, and to the Librarian of the Royal
Geographical Society, he would express his grateful thanks.
As correspondent to _The Pall Mall Gazette_, and to _The Times of
India_ from Central Asia, it is the pleasant duty of the author to
acknowledge the permission of Sir Douglas Straight and Mr. L. G. Fraser
to make use of certain articles which, although entirely altered
and greatly amplified since their original appearance, were first
presented in the respective columns of these organs. These extracts,
a few brief paragraphs on various pages, are confined solely to the
first six chapters of the book. Acknowledgments are also due to the
proprietors of that esteemed Indian journal _The Pioneer_, whose London
staff permitted the files of their well-known paper to be inspected;
to the proprietors of _The Daily Graphic_ for permission to reproduce
the block of the Amir’s proclamation, and accompanying translation,
appearing on pages 370, 371; to Messrs. Macmillan for the right to
reproduce their copper engraving of Dr. A. J. Gray’s painting of the
Amir Abdur Rahman; to Baron Herbert de Reuter, Managing Director of
Reuter’s Telegram Company, for courteous assistance; to Mr. J. D.
Holmes, an Indian photographer of renown, whose unique photographs
of the Khyber Pass illustrate chaps. xvi. and xvii.; to Lieutenant
Stewart, whose photographs appear in chap. ix.; to Lieutenant Olufsen
for the right to reproduce certain interesting photographs from that
informative work _Through the Unknown Pamirs_; to Colonel Sir Thomas
Holdich for authority to base upon his original sketches enlarged
drawings of Herat and Kandahar, by Mr. Percy Home; to Major Cleveland,
I.M.S., to whose great credit very many of the illustrations in this
volume must be placed; to Major Molesworth Sykes, H.B.M. Consul at
Meshed, for photographs appearing in chap. vii.; to Professor Victor
Marsden, of Moscow University, for general courtesies; to Captain
Charles Bancroft for assistance in translating extracts from papers
placed at the author’s disposal by his Excellency Prince Khilkoff,
Russian Minister of Railways; to that well-known military novelist, Mr.
Horace Wyndham, who has been good enough to assist the author in the
revision of his proofs; and to Mr. Thomas Bumpus, of Messrs. J. and E.
Bumpus, Limited.
The final, but by no means the least gratifying, duty now remains to be
fulfilled. It is concerned with the dedication of this volume which, by
special permission, is inscribed:
TO HIM
WHO,
BY THE SPLENDOUR OF HIS GIFTS
AND
THE WISDOM OF HIS RULE,
HAS LEFT
AN INDELIBLE AND MEMORABLE
IMPRESSION
UPON INDIA:
LORD CURZON OF KEDLESTON,
G.C.S.I., G.C.I.E., P.C.
ETC. ETC. ETC.
AUTHORITIES CONSULTED
The works consulted in the preparation of this volume, including
references to the _Encyclopædia Britannica_, embrace most of the
well-known writers on Asiatic Russia, Persia, Afghanistan, and the
Indian Frontier. Among those of less recent date are the books of
Bellew, Connelly, Elphinstone, Ferrier, Lansdell, MacGregor, Marvin,
Pottinger, Rawlinson, Vambéry, Wood and Yule.
Contemporary authorities, to which the author is more especially
indebted, are as follows:
BRUCE, R. I. _The Forward Policy and its Results_.
CHIROL, VALENTINE _The Middle Eastern Question_.
CURZON, LORD _Russia in Central Asia_.
” ” _Persia and the Persian Question_.
” ” _The Pamirs and the Source of the
Oxus_.
DALY, MRS. KATE _Eight Years among the Afghans_.
GRAY, DR. A. J. _My Residence at the Court of the
Amir_.
HOLDICH, COLONEL SIR T. H. _The Indian Borderland_.
KEANE, A. H. _Asia_.
LANSDELL, H. _Russia in Central Asia_.
OLUFSEN, O. _Through the Unknown Pamirs_.
ROBERTS, FIELD MARSHAL LORD _Forty-one Years in India_.
RONALDSHAY, EARL OF _Sport and Politics under an Eastern
Sky_.
” ” ” _On the Outskirts of Empire in Asia_.
SHOEMAKER, M. M. _The Heart of the Orient_.
SKRINE, F. H., and ROSS, E. D. _The Heart of Asia_.
SULTAN MAHOMED KHAN _Laws and Constitution of Afghanistan_.
” ” ” _The Life of Abdur Rahman, Amir of
Afghanistan_.
THORBURN, S. S. _The Punjab in Peace and War_.
YATE, A. C. _England and Russia Face to Face_.
YATE, C. E. _Kurasan and Seistan_.
” ” _Northern Afghanistan_.
Together with scientific papers, lectures and articles by:
COLONEL DE LA POER BERESFORD.
MAJOR CLEVELAND.
MAJOR-GENERAL SIR EDWIN COLLEN.
MRS. KATE DALY.
MAJOR-GENERAL SIR EDMOND ELLES.
SIR LEPEL GRIFFIN.
MISS LILLIAS HAMILTON.
COLONEL SIR THOMAS HOLDICH.
COLONEL SIR HENRY MACMAHON.
And including all Parliamentary, Consular, and other official
publications, the files of _The Times_, _Morning Post_, _Standard_,
_Daily Chronicle_ in England; and _The Pioneer_, _Times of India_, and
_Indian Daily News_ in India; besides the more prominent Continental
organs.
ROYAL SOCIETIES CLUB, ST. JAMES’S
_June 1, 1906_.
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. THE ORENBURG-TASHKENT RAILWAY 1
II. THE KHANATE OF BOKHARA, THE PROVINCE OF SAMARKAND,
THE DISTRICTS OF TASHKENT AND MERV 25
III. FROM TASHKENT TO MERV 58
IV. THE NORTHERN BORDER AND THE OXUS RIVER: ITS
CHARACTER, TRIBUTARIES AND FORDS 81
V. THE MURGHAB VALLEY RAILWAY 110
VI. THE MURGHAB VALLEY 131
VII. HERAT AND THE WESTERN BORDER 147
VIII. KANDAHAR 178
IX. SEISTAN AND THE MCMAHON MISSION 211
X. PROVINCES AND DISTRICT CENTRES, ETHNOGRAPHICAL
AND OROLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION 242
XI. ADMINISTRATION, LAWS AND REVENUE 269
XII. TRADE: INDUSTRIES AND PRODUCTS 288
XIII. ARMY, FORTS AND COMMUNICATIONS 308
XIV. KABUL: ITS PALACES AND COURT LIFE 342
XV. KABUL AND ITS BAZAARS 376
XVI. ANGLO-AFGHAN RELATIONS 400
XVII. ANGLO-AFGHAN RELATIONS (_continued_) 427
APPENDICES
I. NAMES OF STATIONS ON THE ORENBURG-TASHKENT
RAILWAY 461
II. (A) LIST OF STATIONS FROM TASHKENT TO MERV, WITH
DISTANCES FROM KRASNOVODSK AND TASHKENT 463
II. (B) MURGHAB VALLEY RAILWAY: LIST OF STATIONS
FROM MERV TO KUSHKINSKI POST, WITH DISTANCES
FROM KRASNOVODSK AND MERV 464
III. TABLE OF MEASUREMENTS 465
IV. THE TREATY OF GANDAMAK, ETC. ETC. 466
V. TIME TABLES OF THE OXUS FLOTILLA 519
VI. RETURN OF ARTICLES EXPORTED FROM RUSSIA TO
KHORASSAN DURING THE PERIOD MARCH 21, 1903, TO
MARCH 20, 1904, COMPARED WITH 1900-03 522
VII. RETURN OF ARTICLES EXPORTED FROM KHORASSAN
TO RUSSIA DURING THE PERIOD MARCH 21, 1903, TO
MARCH 20, 1904, COMPARED WITH 1900-03 526
VIII. RETURN OF ARTICLES EXPORTED FROM AFGHANISTAN TO
KHORASSAN AND SEISTAN DURING THE PERIOD MARCH 21,
1903, TO MARCH 20, 1904, COMPARED WITH 1900-03 529
IX. RETURN OF ARTICLES EXPORTED FROM KHORASSAN AND
SEISTAN TO AFGHANISTAN DURING THE PERIOD MARCH 21,
1903, TO MARCH 20, 1904, COMPARED WITH 1900-03 531
X. RETURN OF ARTICLES EXPORTED FROM INDIA TO KHORASSAN
_viâ_ THE SEISTAN ROUTE DURING THE PERIOD
MARCH 21, 1903, TO MARCH 20, 1904 534
XI. RETURN OF ARTICLES EXPORTED FROM KHORASSAN TO
INDIA _viâ_ THE SEISTAN ROUTE DURING THE PERIOD
MARCH 21, 1903, TO MARCH 20, 1904 535
XII. TRADE VALUE OF THE SEISTAN ROUTE COMPARED WITH
COMPETING ROUTES 536
XIII. AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND JAPAN 537
XIV. CHRONOLOGICAL SKETCH OF AFGHAN HISTORY 540
INDEX 547
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Lord Curzon of Kedleston _Frontispiece_
Market-cart, Orenburg 1
Tomb in the Market-place, Samarkand 3
Palace of the Governor, Baku 5
The Picturesque Camel 6
The Shir Dar Medresse, Samarkand 7
On the Road in Asia 9
Kirghiz Elders 17
Kirghiz Women 19
Native Quarter, Tashkent 21
Shir Dar, Samarkand 25
The Amir of Bokhara on Palace Steps 27
The Gates of Bokhara 31
The Prison, Bokhara 35
The Minar Kalan, Bokhara 36
The Ark, Bokhara 37
The Tomb of Tamerlane, Samarkand 41
Samarkand--the Hour of Prayer 44
Samarkand--a Bird’s-eye View 45
Sobornaya Boulevard in Tashkent 47
Bazaar Scene 51
Breaking Camp on Manœuvres, Tashkent 53
Native Quarter, Tashkent 58
Koran Stand, Samarkand 58
Peasants from the Golodnaya Steppe 60
The Column of Tamerlane, Samarkand 63
The Registan, Samarkand 65
Throne-Room--Palace of the Amir of Bokhara 68
Amir’s Palace, Bokhara 70
The Dervishes of Bokhara 72
The Kara Kum--Black Sands 76
Mosque at Bairam Ali 77
The Gur Amir 78
The Military Quarter, Merv 80
The Amu Daria Bridge 81
Near the Source of the Oxus 83
The Valley of the Oxus 83
Beside the Oxus 87
The Wakhan Valley 87
Type from Wakhan 89
Bridge over the Upper Oxus 90
Difficult Going 92
Village on the Lower Oxus 95
Petro Alexandrovsk 99
Native Church at Khiva 101
Temple on the Banks of the Oxus 103
The Shrine of Hazrat Ali 105
Village on the Middle Oxus 107
Street Scene, Andijan 110
A Notable Gathering 113
On the Central Asian Railway 115
School Children 118
Hindu Traders at Pendjeh 120
Native Water-Sellers 123
Khorassan Dervish 125
The Murghab Valley Railway 127
Native School 130
The Russian Cossack on the Afghan Border 131
Tamarisk Scrub in the River Valley 133
Bokharan Traders at Pendjeh 139
The Russo-Afghan Boundary 141
Meshed Traders at Pendjeh 143
Gandamak Bridge, where the Famous Treaty was signed 151
Plan of Herat 153
A Street Shrine 155
The Irak Gate 159
Herat Citadel 163
Kitchen in Native House 165
Household Utensils 167
A Caravansary Compound 170
Religious Festival on the Perso-Afghan Border 171
Afghan Post at Kala Panja 175
A Water Seller 177
Typical Street Scene 180
Crossing the Helmund River 183
Constructing the Quetta-Nushki Line 188
Plan of Kandahar 191
The Walls of Kandahar 195
Always a popular and central Meeting-place 199
Typical Street Scenes 207
Carrying Cotton to Market 210
Camel Bazaar, Nasratabad 212
Lakeside Dwellers 214
The Native Staff attached to the Mission 215
Officers of the McMahon Mission 217
Baluchistan Camel Corps 220
Baluchi Chiefs who accompanied Colonel McMahon 221
Gates at Nasratabad 224
The Walls at Nasratabad 225
Bazaar Scene, Nasratabad 227
Dâk Bungalow on the Nushki Route 236
Infantry with the Persian Commissioner 238
The Persian Commissioner 240
A Caravan of Pack-Ponies 242
Women pounding Grain 245
A Baluchi Shepherd 248
Elders from Wakhan 251
Kasi Khoda da of Ishkashim 261
Children from the Upper Oxus 265
A Mountain Village 268
Entrance to Amir’s Pavilion at Jelalabad 269
Tomb of the Emperor Baber near Kabul 272
Spinning Cotton 275
A Customs Station in the Plains 285
Abdur Rahman’s Memorial to the Soldiers who fell in
the War of 1878-1880 287
Caravan of Wool and Cotton 288
Cotton Fields under Irrigation from the Amu Daria 299
Across the Passes 307
Typical Afghan Fortress 310
Picket of the Household Troops 313
Troop of Cavalry 315
Men of the Amir’s Bodyguard 317
Infantry in Parade State 319
Patrols of Household Troops 322
Infantry on the March 325
Miss Brown, Physician to the Amir’s Harem 342
Winter Palace of the Amir 348
Amir’s Summer Residence--Indikki Palace 351
Major Cleveland, I.M.S. Physician to the Amir of
Afghanistan 354
Mrs. Cleveland 355
His Highness Prince Nasr Ulla Khan 361
The Amir’s Bodyguard 363
His Highness Habib Ullah, Amir of Afghanistan 367
A Proclamation 370
Major Cleveland’s Residence at Kabul 375
The famous Cage on the Summit of the Lataband Pass 376
Weighing Wood in the Bazaar 377
Playground of Amir’s School, Kabul 381
Afghan Women 383
A Saint’s Tomb 385
The Bala Hissar Kabul 389
Remains of the Roberts Bastion at Shirpur 393
Bazaar Children 398
In the Khyber Pass 400
Abdur Rahman’s Palace at Jelalabad 404
The Road to Lundi Khana, Khyber Pass 412
Ali Masjid Fort 420
Jamrud Fort 426
Jamrud Fort 428
Caravansary at Dakka 430
Grounds of Palace occupied by the Dane Mission 437
Takht-i-Rawan 447
Festival in Honour of the Dane Mission 453
Scene of the Audiences between Habib Ullah and
Sir Louis Dane 455
Escort outside the Gate of the Quarters occupied by
the Dane Mission 457
The Walls of Bokhara 458
Map of Afghanistan _At end_
[Illustration: MARKET-CART, ORENBURG]
CHAPTER I
THE ORENBURG-TASHKENT RAILWAY
By a coincidence of singular interest in Central Asian affairs the
completion of the Orenburg-Tashkent railway occurred simultaneously
with the evacuation of Lhassa by the troops of the Tibetan Mission, the
two events measuring in a manner the character of the policies pursued
by the respective Governments of Great Britain and Russia in Mid-Asia.
Moreover, if consideration be given to them and the relation of each
to contemporary affairs appreciated, it becomes no longer possible to
question the causes which have determined the superior position now
held in Asia by our great opponent. If this situation were the result
of some sudden cataclysm of nature by which Russia had been violently
projected from her territories in Europe across the lone wastes of the
Kirghiz steppe into and beyond the region of the Pamirs or over the
desert sands of the Kara Kum to the southern valleys of the Murghab
river, our periodic lament at the mastery of Central Asia by Russia
would be more comprehensible. But, unfortunately, the forward advance
of Russia to the borders of Persia, along the frontiers of Afghanistan
to the north-eastern slopes of the Hindu Kush, has been gradual;
so gradual indeed that as each successive step became accomplished
we have had time to register recognition of the fact in bursts of
indignant chatter, accompanied as is not unusual with us by a frothy
clamour of empty threats. Unluckily noisy outcry has been mistaken for
action; but from the moment when Russia first moved into Trans-Caspian
territory there appears to have been nothing but vague realisation
of the acute possibilities with which the situation in Central Asia
from that hour became impressed. As time passed and the several phases
vanished our indifference and supineness have increased, until no
chapter in the history of our Imperial affairs offers more melancholy
reading than that which deals with the period covering the “peaceful”
penetration of Asia by Russia.
In order to secure sufficient momentum for her descent railways were
needed; and, while the line so lately completed between Orenburg and
Tashkent is a more material factor in the situation than hitherto has
been recognised, the laying of the permanent way between Samarkand and
Termes, Askhabad and Meshed, approximately gauges the duration of the
interval separating Russia from the day when she will have rounded off
her position in Mid-Asia. Just now, therefore, and for ten years to
come, strategic requirements should alone be permitted to influence the
arrangement of our policy in High Asia. Commercial developments within
the vexed sphere of the Russian and British territories in this region
should be regulated by circumstances which, actually inherent in our
Asiatic position, have been too long ignored. No question of sentiment,
no considerations of trade influenced the creation of railway
communication between Orenburg and Tashkent, the construction of the
Murghab Valley line or the extension of the Trans-Caspian system from
Samarkand to Osh. Strategy, steely and calculating, required Mid-Russia
to be linked with Mid-Asia, the irresistible expansion of empire
following not so much the line of least resistance as the direction
from which it would be placed in position for the next move. Continents
have been crossed, kingdoms annihilated and provinces absorbed by
Russia in her steady, inimical progression towards the heart of
Central Asia; until there is nothing so important nor so intimately
associated with our position in Afghanistan to-day as the intricate
perplexities which have emanated from this untoward approach. From time
to time attempts have been made to effect an adjustment of the points
at issue. The result has been unsatisfactory since the patchwork
application of pen and paper has come, as a rule, in response to some
accomplished _coup_ upon the part of our astute opponent. Indeed,
there is nothing in the result of any of these compromises which can
be said to do credit to our knowledge of the existing situation.
Indifference, coupled with a really lamentable ignorance, distinguishes
the conditions, if not the atmosphere, under which these rectifications
of frontier and modifications of clauses in previously accepted
treaties have been carried out. But now that we have witnessed the
joining of the rails between Orenburg and Tashkent let us put an end
to our absurd philandering; and, appraising properly the true position
of affairs, let us be content to regard all further extension of the
Russian railway system in Mid-Asia as the climax of the situation. To
do this we must understand the points at issue; and to-day in Central
Asia there are many causes which of themselves are sufficient to direct
attention to them.
[Illustration: TOMB IN THE MARKET-PLACE, SAMARKAND]
Years have passed since the delimitation of the Russo-Afghan frontier
and the definition of the Anglo-Russian spheres of influence in the
Pamirs were made. In the interval, beginning with the acceptance of the
findings of the Pamir Boundary Commission of 1896, Russia ostensibly
has been engaged in evolving an especial position for herself in
North China and providing railway communication between Port Arthur,
Vladivostock and St. Petersburg. In this direction, too, war has
intervened, coming as the culminating stroke to the policy of bold
aggression and niggardly compromise which distinguished the diplomatic
activities of Russia in Manchuria. Yet throughout these ten years the
energies of Russia in Mid-Asia have not been dormant. Inaction ill
becomes the Colossus of the North and schemes, which were _en l’air_
in 1896, have been pushed to completion, others of equal enterprise
taking their place. Roads now thread the high valleys of the Pamirs;
forts crown the ranges and the military occupation of the region is
established. Similarly, means of access between the interior of the
Bokharan dominions and the Oxus have been formed; caravan routes have
been converted into trunk roads and the services of the camel, as a
mode of transport, have been supplemented by the waggons of the railway
and military authorities.
The great importance attaching to the Orenburg-Tashkent railway and
its especial significance at this moment will be appreciated more
thoroughly when it is understood that hitherto the work of maintaining
touch between European Russia and the military establishment of Russian
Turkestan devolved upon a flotilla of fourteen steamers in the Caspian
sea--an uncertain, treacherous water at best--and the long, circuitous
railway route _viâ_ Moscow and the Caucasus. This necessitated a break
of twenty hours for the sea-passage between Baku and Krasnovodsk
before connection with the Trans-Caspian railway could be secured. The
military forces in Askhabad, Merv, Osh and Tashkent--including, one
might add, the whole region lying between the south-eastern slopes of
the Pamirs, Chinese Turkestan, the Russo-Afghan and the Russo-Persian
frontiers--embracing the several Turkestan Army Corps, were dependent
upon a single and interrupted line. Now, however, under the provision
of this supplementary and more direct Orenburg-Tashkent route the
entire military situation in Central Asia has been dislocated in
favour of whatever future disposition Russia may see fit to adopt. All
the great depôts of Southern and Central Russia--Odessa, Simpheropol,
Kieff, Kharkoff and Moscow, in addition to the Caucasian bases as a
possible reserve of reinforcements--are placed henceforth in immediate
contact with Merv and Tashkent, this latter place at once becoming
the principal military centre in these regions. Similarly, equal
improvement will be manifested in the position along the Persian and
Afghan borders, to which easy approach is now obtained over the metals
of this new work and for which those military stations--Askhabad,
Merv, Samarkand--standing upon the Trans-Caspian railway, and Osh,
now serve as a line of advanced bases. It is, therefore, essential to
consider in detail this fresh state of affairs; and as knowledge of
the Orenburg-Tashkent railway is necessary to the proper understanding
of the position of Afghanistan, the following study of that kingdom is
prefaced with a complete description of the Orenburg-Tashkent work,
together with the remaining sections of railway communication between
Orenburg and Kushkinski Post.
[Illustration: PALACE OF THE GOVERNOR, BAKU]
The journey between St. Petersburg and Orenburg covers 1230 miles and
between Orenburg and Tashkent 1174 miles, the latter line having taken
almost four years to lay. Work began on the northern section in the
autumn of 1900 and many miles of permanent way had been constructed
before, in the autumn of 1901, a start was made from the south. The
two sections were united in September of 1904; but the northern was
not opened to general traffic until July, nor the southern before
November, 1905. Prior to the railway communications were maintained
by means of tarantass along the post-road, which led from Aktiubinsk
across the Kirghiz steppes _viâ_ Orsk to Irghiz and thence through
Kazalinsk to Perovski, where the road passed through Turkestan to run
_viâ_ Chimkent to Tashkent--a journey of nineteen days. In addition to
the galloping _patyorka_ and _troika_--teams of five and three horses
respectively--which were wont to draw the vehicles along the post-road
and the more lumbering Bactrian camels, harnessed three abreast and
used in the stages across the Kara Kum, long, picturesque processions
of camels, bound for Orenburg and carrying cotton and wool from Osh
and Andijan, silks from Samarkand and Khiva, tapestries from Khokand,
lambs’-wool, skins and carpets from Bokhara and dried fruits from
Tashkent, annually passed between Tashkent and Orenburg from June to
November.
[Illustration: THE PICTURESQUE CAMEL]
Of late years, the Trans-Caspian railway, begun by Skobeleff in 1880
and gradually carried forward by Annenkoff to Samarkand, has supplanted
the once flourishing traffic of the post-road, along which the passing
of the mails is now the sole movement. The new railway, too, is
destined to eliminate even these few links with the past, although in
the end it may revive the prosperity of the towns which through lack
of the former trade have shrunk in size and diminished in importance.
The line does not exactly follow the postal route; but from Orenburg,
which is the terminus of the railway from Samara on the Trans-Siberian
system, it crosses the Ural river to Iletsk on the Ilek, a tributary
of the Ural. From Iletsk the metals run _viâ_ Aktiubinsk and Kazalinsk
along the Syr Daria valley _viâ_ Perovski to Turkestan and thence to
the terminus at Tashkent.
[Illustration: THE SHIR DAR MEDRESSE, SAMARKAND]
Originally one of three suggested routes the Orenburg-Tashkent road
was the more desirable because the more direct. Alternative schemes in
favour of connecting the Trans-Siberian with the Central Asian railway
on one hand and the Saratoff-Uralsk railway with the Central Asian
railway on the other were submitted to the commission appointed to
select the route. Prudence and sentiment, as well as the absence of
any physical difficulties in the way of prompt construction, tempered
the resolution of the tribunal in favour of the old post-track. It
was begun at once and pushed to completion within four years--a feat
impossible to accomplish in the case of either of the two rival
schemes. The former of these, costly, elaborate and ambitious, sought
to connect Tashkent with Semipalatinsk, the head of the steamboat
service on the Irtish river, 2000 miles away, _viâ_ Aulie-ata, Verni
and Kopal. Passing between the two lakes Issyk and Balkash alternative
routes were suggested for its direction from Semipalatinsk: the one
securing a connection with the Trans-Siberian system at Omsk, the other
seeking to pass along the post-road to Barnaul, terminating at Obi
where the Trans-Siberian railway bridges the Obi river. The supporters
of the scheme, which aimed at uniting the Saratoff-Uralsk railway with
the Central Asian railway, proposed to carry the line beyond Uralsk
to Kungrad, a fishing village in close proximity to the efflux of the
Amu Daria and the Aral sea. From Kungrad, passing east of Khiva, the
line would have traversed the Black Sands following a straight line and
breaking into the Central Asian system at Charjui, opposite which, at
Farab, a line to Termes _viâ_ Kelif has been projected; and where, too,
an iron girder bridge, resting on nineteen granite piers, spans the
Amu Daria. It is useless at this date to weigh the balance between the
several schemes; one of which, the Orenburg-Tashkent route, has become
an accomplished fact to provide, doubtless in the near future, matter
for immediate concern.
From Orenburg, of which the population is 80,000, the line 4 versts[1]
from the station crosses the Ural river by an iron bridge, 160
sagenes[2] in length, running from there south to Iletsk, formerly the
fortress Iletskaya Zashchita and at present a sub-district town of the
Orenburg government with a population of 12,000.
[Illustration: ON THE ROAD IN ASIA]
From Iletsk a short branch line, rather more than three versts in
length, proceeds to the Iletsk salt mines. Running eastwards and
crossing the Ilek river from the right to the left bank by an iron
bridge 105 sagenes in length it reaches Aktiubinsk, a district town
in Turhai province. At this stage the railway traverses the main
watershed of the Ural, Temir, Kubele and Embi rivers, arriving at the
Kum Asu pass across the Mugodjarski range. The passage of the line
through the mountains, extending 26 versts and a veritable triumph of
engineering, imposed a severe test upon the constructive ability of
the railway staff. Beyond the range the line turns southward following
the valleys of the Bolshoi, Mali Karagandi and Kuljur rivers until,
600 versts from Orenburg, it arrives at Lake Tchelkar. The line
now runs across the Bolshiye and Maliye Barsuki sands, where there
is abundance of underground fresh water, to the northern extremity
of the Sari Tchegonak inlet on the Aral sea, where it descends to
sea-level moving along the north-eastern shore. The military depôt
at Kazalinsk--sometimes called Fort No. 1--now approaches. This point
founded in 1854 has lost its exclusive military character, ranking
merely among the district centres of the Syr Daria province. Thirty-six
versts from Kazalinsk, at the next station Mai Libash situated in a
locality quite suitable for colonisation, a branch line, 4 versts in
length, links up the important waterway of the Syr Daria with the
Orenburg-Tashkent system, extending the facilities of the railway to
shipping which may be delayed through stress of bad weather in the gulf
or through inadequacy of the draught over the bar at the mouth of the
river.
The main line keeps to the Syr Daria, running through the steppe
along the post-road to Karmakchi or Fort No. 2. On leaving Karmakchi
it diverges from the post-road to wind round a succession of lakes
and marshes which lie at a distance of 50 versts from the river. The
railway continuing its original direction now runs along the basins of
the Syr Daria and the Karauzyak, a tributary which it crosses twice by
small bridges, each constructed with two spans 60 sagenes in length.
The character of the country from Karmakchi to Perovski, a distance
of 138 versts, differs considerably from the region preceding it.
The low-lying ground, broken by swamps, is everywhere covered with a
thick overgrowth of reeds; while the more elevated parts, watered by
ariks, are devoted to the cultivation of crops. The town of Perovski
is situated in flat country 1½ versts from the station. From there
to Djulek the line returns to the post-road and some distance from
the Syr Daria passes between the river and the Ber Kazan lakes to
Ber Kazan. At Djulek, the name being adopted from a small adjacent
hamlet, it diverges from the post-road to run direct to the village of
Skobelevski, one of those curious peasant settlements which located in
the uttermost parts of Central Asia preserve in their smallest detail
every characteristic of remote Russia. At such a place life savours so
strongly of the middle ages that one scarcely heeds the purely modern
significance which attaches to the Iron Horse.
Barely 30 versts from Skobelevski and situated close to the Syr Daria
there is the station of Tumen Arik, which gives place to Turkestan,
beyond which for 120 versts the line runs parallel with the post-road.
The station is 2½ versts to the north of the town of Turkestan, one
of the most important towns in the Syr Daria province and only 40
versts from the Syr Daria. The next station Ikan is associated with
the conquest of Turkestan, a famous battle having been fought about
the scene where the station buildings now stand. Twenty versts to the
north of the station, close to the post-road, there is a memorial to
Ural Cossacks who fell during the fight. Otrar the following station
is identified with the tradition, derived from the existence of an
enormous mound standing amid the ruins of the old-time city of Otrar,
that Timur when his army crossed the Syr Daria ordered each of his
soldiers to throw a handful of earth upon the ground at the point where
the river was crossed in safety. Beyond Otrar the line runs along the
right bank of the Aris river, crossing it at 1570 versts from Orenburg
by a bridge of 90 sagenes in three spans of 30 sagenes each. Aris
station is placed further along the river bank at a point where at some
future date branch lines between it and the town of Verni, as well
as to a junction with the Trans-Siberian system, will be laid. After
leaving it the railway, still ascending, ultimately crosses the pass of
Sari Agatch in the Kizi Kurt range, 267 sagenes above the sea.
The descent from the pass leads to Djilgi valley where the line crosses
three bridges; passing over the Keless river by a single span bridge of
25 sagenes, over the Bos-su arik by a bridge of 18 sagenes, and over
the Salar river by a bridge of 12 sagenes. Seventy-two versts further
the line runs into its terminus at Tashkent which is now classed as a
station of the first degree, although commercially it stands only sixth
among the stations of the Central Asian railway ranking with Andijan
and yielding priority of place to Krasnovodsk, Samarkand, Khokand,
Askhabad and Bokhara. It is proposed at Tashkent, which lies 1762
versts from Orenburg, 1747 versts from Krasnovodsk and 905 versts from
Merv and where it is evident that the needs of the railway have been
carefully studied, to double the track between Orenburg and Tashkent.
Large stocks of spare rails and railway plant are held in reserve in
sheds, one important feature of this very efficient preparation being
the possession of 20 versts of light military railway. The erection of
engine-sheds, waggon-sheds, workshops, supply stores and quarters for
the staff has followed a most elaborate scale, these buildings being
arranged in three groups around the station. The railway medical staff
and the subordinate traffic and traction officials occupy the first;
the chiefs of the traffic, telegraph and traction departments are in
possession of the second; the remaining employés securing accommodation
in the third set of buildings placed at the end of the Station Square.
Along the opposite face are the spacious workshops where between five
and six hundred men find daily employment; in juxtaposition with the
general depôt are the railway hospital, where there is accommodation
for 10 beds, the main supply stores and a naphtha reservoir with a
capacity of 50,000 poods.[3]
The country in the neighbourhood of Tashkent as seen from the railway
presents the picture of a bountiful oasis. For 20 versts there is no
interruption to a scene of wonderful fertility. Market gardens, smiling
vineyards and fruitful orchards, not to mention cotton-fields and
corn-lands, cover the landscape. This abundance in a measure is due
to careful irrigation and to the excellent system of conserving water
which has been introduced. In support of this 113 specific works have
been completed, each of which--and the giant total includes water-pipes
by the mile and innumerable aqueducts--was a component part of that
scheme of irrigation by which life in Central Asia alone can be made
possible.
Although work upon the Orenburg-Tashkent line began in 1900 immediately
after the completion of the original survey, wherever more careful
examination has shown an advantage to be possible alterations have been
made. The cost of construction, estimated at 70,000 roubles[4] per
verst, has been materially lessened by these means--a reduction of 24
versts equally divided between the Orenburg and Kazalinsk, Kazalinsk
and Tashkent sections having been effected. By comparison with the
old post-road the railway is much the shorter of the two lines of
communication, the advantage in its favour amounting to 134 versts on
one section of the road alone; the actual length between Tashkent and
Kazalinsk being by post-road 953¼ versts and by railway 819¼.
In its local administration the railway is divided into four sections:
No. 1. From Orenburg to the Mugodjarski mountains about 400 versts.
No. 2. From Mugodjarski mountains to the sands of Bolshiye Barsuki, 400
to 560 versts.
No. 3. From the sands of Bolshiye Barsuki to Kazalinsk, 560 to 845
versts.
No. 4. From Kazalinsk to Tashkent, 845 to 1762 versts.
In the northern section the line is supplied everywhere with fresh
water--in the first instance from the Ural river and then by the
smaller rivers Donguz, Elshanka, Ilek, Kulden, Kubele, Temir and Embi;
Koss lake and finally from wells.
Here are the Iletsk mines, famous for their rock salt. They despatch
annually to Orenburg more than 1,500,000 poods of salt. The deposits
cover a field 4 versts in extent with an unvarying thickness of more
than 85 sagenes. The section now in working contains 100 milliard poods
of salt. The annual yield may be reckoned at 7,000,000 poods. At the
present time considerably less than this output is obtained, the high
freight charges upon land-carried goods and the insufficiency of the
labour available being responsible for the disproportion.
In another direction the Iletsk district is of importance; the
veterinary station Temir Utkul, through which pass large herds of
cattle on their way to Orenburg from the Ural province, having been
established there. In the course of the year many thousands of cattle
are examined by the surgeons of the Veterinary Board--the existence
of the numerous cattle-sheds and the constant arrival of the droves
adding to the noise and bustle of Iletsk, if not exactly increasing its
gaiety. Further on, in the Aktiubinsk district of the Turgai province
and along the whole valley of the Ilek river, where much of the land is
under cultivation, wide belts are given over to the pasturage of these
travelling mobs of cattle. Upon both banks of the river, too, there are
Kirghiz villages. The area of the Aktiubinsk district is:
_Area._ _Population._
40,000 sq. versts 120,000
From an agricultural point of view this locality, on account of its
paucity of population and fertile soil, is regarded with high favour
by the immigration authorities. In the town of Aktiubinsk itself there
is a yearly market of cattle, corn, manufactures and agricultural
implements. This as a rule returns a quarter of a million roubles.
Now that the railway has been completed and opened to passenger and
commercial traffic, it is expected that it will give an immediate
impetus to this region and that it will be possible to carry out a more
careful examination of its mining resources, of which at the present
time there are only indications. Copper has been traced along the
Burt, Burl, Khabd and Kutchuk Sai rivers; deposits of coal have been
found near the Maloi Khabd, Teress Butak and Yakshi Kargach rivers;
iron has been located by the Burt river and naphtha on the Djus river;
while there is reason to believe that gold exists in the vicinity.
On the second section, the line derives its water from springs in
the Djaksi mountains, the basin of the Kuljur river, the Khoja and
Tchelkar lakes. It abounds with Kirghiz villages but minerals do not
play an important part in it. A few seams of coal are believed to exist
in the ravine of the Alabass stream; and there are lodestone mines
in the Djaman mountains and in the Kin Asu defile. Cattle-farming is
more remunerative to the local settlers than cereal production; as a
consequence there is very little cultivation. The district, which is
160 versts in length, occupies:
_Area._ _Population._
127,300 sq. versts 85,000
On the third section, which extends from the sands of Bolshiye Barsuki
to Kazalinsk covering an area of 285 versts, the water-supply is
obtained at first from shallow surface wells; but 45 versts from
Kazalinsk the railway enters the Syr Daria valley, where water is
abundant. The southern areas of this belt alone possess any commercial
importance, owing to Kirghiz from the northern part of the Irgiz
district who, to the number of some 10,000 _kibitkas_, winter there.
The northern part is largely the continuation of a sparse steppe. The
Kazalinsk district, beyond which the Orenburg-Tashkent railway enters
Turkestan, is one of the least important divisions of the Syr Daria
province. It embraces:
_Area._ _Population._
59,550 sq. versts 140,598
Around Kazalinsk itself, however, there has been but little
agricultural activity. In the main, development is confined to the
fertile Agerskski valley and along the Kuban Daria, a tributary of the
Syr Daria. The return is meagre and the population has not sufficient
corn for its own needs. Large quantities of grain are annually imported
into the neighbourhood from the Amu Daria district by boat across
the Aral sea or by camel caravan. Railway traffic in this section
nevertheless will not rely upon the carriage of cereal produce--live
stock, which until the advent of the railway was sent to Orenburg
by boat along the Syr Daria and then by caravan-road to the city,
representing the prospective return which the district will bring to
the line. The population is composed of:
_Males._ _Females._ _Total._
4478 4002 8480
Orthodox Russians 2205
Dissenters 1165
Jews 115
Mahommedans 4995
In the town there are:
Private houses 578
Orthodox church 1
Synagogue 1
Mosques 2
Schools 4
Native universities 2
The revenue of Kazalinsk is 21,880 roubles. The town contains the
residences of a district governor and an inspector of fisheries,
together with district military headquarters, the administrative
offices of the treasury and the district court, besides a district
hospital and a public library. There are no hotels. In early days in
the conquest of Turkestan, when the Kazalinsk road served as the only
line of communication with European Russia, the town became a busy mart
for Orenburg, Tashkent, Khiva and Bokhara; even now the Kirghiz in
the district possess 770,000 head of cattle. Trade was obliterated by
the advent of the Central Asian railway; but it is hoped that now the
Orenburg-Tashkent line has been opened to traffic it may revive.
The village of Karmakchi which is situated on the banks of the Syr
Daria is another point in this district. It boasts only a small
population, in all some 300 odd, an Orthodox church, post and telegraph
office, two schools, hospital and military base office. Importance
attaches to the post as it is upon the high road along which is
conducted the winter trek of the Kirghiz.
The value of the annual export trade of the region is:
EXPORTS.
_Poods._ _Roubles._
Wool { Sheep }
{ Camel } 200,000 }
Hides 150,000 } 2,000,000
Lard 150,000 }
Cattle 400,000
The value of the annual import trade amounts to:
IMPORTS.
_Merchandise._ _Value._
110,000 poods 1,800,000 roubles.
With the opening of the line to traffic the transportation of fish by
the railway has shown a tendency to increase. It is believed that the
development of the fishing industry throughout the Aral basin is only
a matter of time. At present the yearly catch of fish there reaches
a total of 300,000 poods of which not less than one half is sent
to Orenburg, the trade realising about 1,000,000 roubles. Hitherto
little has been attempted. With the assistance of the railway a speedy
expansion of the trade is assured--the interests of the fishing
population and the general welfare of the river traffic having been
advanced through the construction of a harbour upon the gulf of Sari
Cheganak, in connection with the railway and only 5 versts distant.
Aral sea, the station at this point, is 790 versts from Orenburg.
The fourth and last division, from Kazalinsk to Tashkent, runs along
the valley of the Syr Daria. It is fully supplied with good water and
possesses a larger population than either the second or the third
sections. In it the line traverses the following districts of the Syr
Daria province:
_District._ _Area._ _Population._
Perovski 95,965 sq. versts 133,784
Chimkent 100,808 ” ” 285,180
Tashkent 40,380 ” ” 500,015
The Perovski district notwithstanding the good qualities of its soil
produces very little corn; its chief population consists of nomadic
Kirghiz who together own 990,000 head of cattle, the export cattle
trade for the district amounting to 2,000,000 roubles annually. Small
tracts of wheat and millet are cultivated here and there with the aid
of _tchigirs_, native watering-pumps. The water is brought up from the
river by means of a wheel, along the rim of which are fixed earthenware
jugs or cylindrical vessels of sheet iron. These vessels raise the
water to the height of the bank, whence it is very readily distributed.
The best corn-lands are situated in the Djulek sub-district; but
the primitive methods of agriculture existing amongst the nomads, in
conjunction with the deficiencies in the irrigation system, explain at
once the lack of cereal development in these areas.
[Illustration: KIRGHIZ ELDERS]
Perovski was taken by Count Perovski on July 28, 1853, and in honour of
the occasion by Imperial order the fortress was renamed Fort Perovski.
Close to the town there is a memorial to the Russian soldiers who fell
during that engagement.
The present population comprises:
_Males._ _Females._ _Total._
3197 1969 5166
Orthodox Russians 1050
Jews 130
Dissenters 210
Tartars 450
Sarts and Kirghiz 3326
The town contains:
Private houses 600
Orthodox church 1
Synagogue 1
Mosques 5
Schools 3
Military hospital 1
together with district administrative offices similar to those
established at Kazalinsk. The water-supply is drawn from the Syr Daria
by means of wells. There are no hotels. The town revenue is only 12,350
roubles; although the importation of various goods from Russia into the
Perovski district represents an annual sum of 2,900,000 roubles. With
the advent of the Central Asian railway the commercial importance of
Perovski, once a point through which caravans destined for Orenburg or
Tashkent passed, waned. Now its trade is dependent upon the numerous
Tartars and Ural Cossacks who have settled there. The place is
unhealthy, and the settlement is affected by the malaria arising from
the marshes which surround it. In spring and summer the lagoons swarm
with myriads of mosquitoes and horse-flies; so great is the plague that
the Kirghiz together with their flocks and herds after wintering along
the Syr Daria beat a hurried retreat into the steppe, driven off by the
tiresome insects. Many months elapse before the nomads return; it is
not until the cold weather has set in that they appear in any numbers.
Quite close to Perovski there are two immigrant villages--Alexandrovski
and Novo Astrakhanski--erected in 1895, where the inhabitants are
occupied with cattle-farming and the sale of hay in winter time to the
Kirghiz. The district possesses nothing save a pastoral population
and a small settlement of 200 souls at Djulek. This place, formerly a
fortress founded in 1861 and now half destroyed by the floods of the
Syr Daria, contains the administrative offices of the commissioner of
the section, with a postal and telegraphic bureau and a native school.
To the south of Djulek there is Skobelevski, another small village
founded by immigrants in 1895 and containing some fifty-six houses. It
is watered by the Tchilli arik. Skobelevski is rapidly developing into
a trade-mart, the source of its good fortune being contained in the
advantageous position which it fills in the steppe. Throughout this
region, plots of land with a good quality soil and well watered have
been granted to colonists.
The Chimkent district similarly possesses a rich and fertile soil,
derived in the main from its network of irrigating canals. Its
population is more numerous than other adjacent settlements and it
supports altogether seventeen immigrant villages with a population of
5135. Chimkent contains in itself all the features necessary to the
development of a wide belt of agriculture; but at the present time the
most extensive tracts of wheat land are along the systems of the Aris,
Aksu, Badam, Buraldai, Burdjar, Tchayan and Bugun rivers. In the valley
of the Arisi, along the middle reaches, there are rice-fields; and in
the country round Chimkent the cotton industry has begun to develop.
Experiments are being tried in the cultivation of beetroot as the soil
and climatic conditions of the district are especially favourable
to its growth. The present quality of the Chimkent beetroot is not
inferior to that grown in the Kharkoff Government; so that Chimkent
may well become, in the near future, the centre of a sugar-producing
industry not only for Turkestan but for the whole of Central Asia,
which so far has imported its sugar exclusively from European Russia.
[Illustration: KIRGHIZ WOMEN]
The district town of Chimkent, formerly a Khokand fortress taken by
the Russian forces under the command of General Chernaieff September
22, 1864, lies upon the eastern side of the railway. Its population
comprises:
_Males._ _Females._ _Total._
6887 5554 12,441
Orthodox Russians 768
Jews 150
Natives 11,523
There are in the
_Russian Quarter._ _Native Quarter._
Houses 105 Houses 1886
Orthodox churches 2 Schools 3
Mosques 34 Native schools 16
Government offices similar to those in other towns are also found.
The town revenue is 11,760 roubles.
The trade returns of the Chimkent district amount to 5,000,000 roubles.
_Exports._ _Imports._
Wool } Manufactured goods }
Hides } Iron } 3,000,000
Lard } 2,000,000 Agricultural Implements } roubles
Butter } roubles Tea }
Wheat } Sugar }
Santonin }
Through Chimkent passes a road from Tashkent to Verni. In the northern
part of the district the line runs close to the ruins of the ancient
town of Sauran and the fortress of Vani Kurgan, from where it proceeds
to Turkestan. This was occupied in 1864 by the Russian forces under the
command of General Verevkin.
Turkestan is situated 40 versts to the east of the right bank of the
Syr Daria, at a height of 102 sagenes above sea level. It is watered
by canals diverted from springs and small rivers which flow from the
southern slopes of the Kara mountains. The combined population of the
place comprises:
_Males._ _Females._ _Total._
7624 6461 14,085
Orthodox Russians 441
Dissenters 31
Jews 460
Natives 13,153
The outward appearance of the town is extremely handsome. There is
much vegetation, many wide streets and large open spaces.
[Illustration: NATIVE QUARTER, TASHKENT]
There are:
_Russian Quarter._ _Native Quarter._
Houses 73 Houses 2140
Orthodox churches 2 Schools 5
Synagogues 2 Native schools 22
Mosques 58 Medresse 1
Military hospital 1
together with the administrative bureau of the sectional commissioner,
besides district military headquarters, a district court and a post and
telegraph office.
In respect of trade Turkestan occupies a prominent place. The great
bulk of the raw products of the nomad cattle-farming industry is
brought to it for the purpose of exchanging with articles of Russian
manufacture. The yearly returns of the bazaars amount to 4,000,000
roubles; an increase upon this sum is expected now that in the
Karatavski mountains, which are close at hand, lead mines have been
discovered. The town revenue is 19,350 roubles.
The Tashkent district is more densely populated and possesses a more
productive soil than Chimkent. The mineral resources, too, present
greater promise while the trade returns reach a total of 50,000,000
roubles a year. Merchandise comes from Siberia into Orenburg and
Tashkent; while, in addition, there are the local products and those
from the interior of European Russia. The line serves, also, as the
shortest route between Tashkent and the rich corn region at Chelyabinsk
and Kurgan. Undoubtedly it will assist to supply the whole of Turkestan
with Siberian corn, thereby setting free some of the land now under
corn for the cultivation of cotton. Further, it connects Tashkent with
the centre of the mining industry in the Ural mountains; and dense
streams of Russian colonisation and trade pass by it into the heart of
Central Asia.
The prosperity introduced both into Orenburg and Tashkent by the
creation of railway communication between these two centres will
exercise a very beneficial effect upon the capacity of their markets.
Already improvement has been marked, the flow of fresh trade through
these new channels following closely upon the advance of the
construction parties. The period available for statistics does not
represent the effect of the new railway upon local trade. The work
of construction had not begun at the time the returns, which are
given below, were drawn up. At that moment the commercial activity of
Tashkent was shown by the following table:
_Table of Imports--1901_
Manufactured goods 204,530 poods.
Iron and steel 68,501 ”
Dried fruits 101,156 ”
Raisins 49,233 ”
Black tea 20,718 ”
Green tea 6,061 ”
Wine grapes 14,105 ”
Kerosene 104,317 ”
Naphtha refuse 23,402 ”
Refined sugar 85,246 ”
Sanded sugar 23,905 ”
Salt 24,442 ”
Military stores 112,506 ”
_Table of Exports--1901_
Wheat 378,058 poods.
Rice 194,574 ”
Skins and undressed hides 44,409 ”
Hemp seed, flax seed, and grasses 19,784 ”
Spirits 26,620 ”
Undressed sheep-skins 57,899 ”
Cotton 241,484 ”
Military stores 108,794 ”
The passenger traffic into Tashkent over the Central Asian line was:
1901
_Arrivals._ _Departures._
48,515 47,213
During the few years which have elapsed since the figures were
compiled the Orenburg-Tashkent railway has been opened, this happy
accomplishment at once becoming a factor of the greatest economic
importance in the commerce of Central Asia.
[1] 1 Verst = ⅔ mile English.
[2] 1 Sagene = 7 feet English.
[3] 1 pood = 36 lbs.
[4] 1 rouble = two shillings.