the commander of the garrison at the head of a few soldiers. They
insisted on being armed and formed into a new regiment under the
command of a ruffian, a pork-butcher by trade; and when this was done
they appointed new officials to succeed the murdered men. The soldiers
in the New City killed two of their officers and a panic ensued in
Kashgar, but the disturbances and looting were confined to the New
City. The administration was now controlled by the gang of gamblers,
who appointed all officials and took advantage of their power to levy
blackmail, mainly on Chinese officials. In the other centres there were
murders. The governor of Yarkand, among others, was singled out for
assassination; but an exceptionally violent storm, which turned day
into night, suggested to the Chinese gamblers that heaven forbade the
deed--and the official still lives to tell the tale.
In consequence of the unrest and lack of security caused by these deeds
of violence, the Russian Government despatched a force 800 strong
to protect Russian subjects. For some weeks after its arrival there
was no friction or cause of alarm, but the celebration of a Chinese
rite nearly gave rise to most serious consequences. On the day of the
Festival of the Departed Spirits it is the custom of the Chinese to
burn paper-money before the temples in order to ensure financial ease
for their deceased relatives. One of the temples in Kashgar was the
scene of this ceremonial, and a rumour reached the Russian consulate
that the bazar was on fire. Help was immediately despatched in the
shape of fifteen Cossacks, who, misunderstanding the situation,
forcibly put out the fires in which the paper-money was being burnt.
While this was being done some of the Cossack horses broke loose
and galloped back to the consulate, where considerable anxiety was
felt. The city gate was shut at the usual hour of 8 P.M., and, upon
its arrival, the Russian main body, under the impression that their
detachment had been cut off, blew it up with dynamite, and marching
through the opening found the Cossacks perfectly safe.
Not long after this the “Gambler” regiment was ordered to Urumchi,
and the officer commanding the Cossacks, who was disappointed at the
entirely peaceful attitude of the Chinese, decided to attack it, his
plan being to carry out night manœuvres to the east of the city
across the line of march--and to create a “regrettable incident.” But
he reckoned without Sir George Macartney, who, getting wind of this
typically Russian scheme, which received confirmation from the sudden
departure of the Cossacks, induced the Chinese authorities at the very
last minute to change the line of march from due east to north-west,
with a wide detour afterwards to the north. Thanks to this action by
our able representative the trap was set in vain. The regiment, which
had obeyed its orders with deep reluctance, finally reached Urumchi
with its numbers much diminished by desertion, and the ruffianly
pork-butcher was subsequently put to death. The Russian troops were
shortly afterwards withdrawn from Kashgar, and that city once again
settled down to its habitual drowsiness.
In conclusion, the old-world policy of China was to surround her
fertile empire with buffer states. At the end of the eighteenth century
these included Annam, Siam, Burma, Assam, Bhutan, Sikkim, Nepal, Ladak,
Kashmir and Khokand, together with the maritime provinces of Siberia.
But the nineteenth century, which saw the advance of Russia, the rise
of Japan, and also powerful strangers from the west thundering at the
watergates of the Middle Kingdom, brought heavy territorial losses to
China, and to-day her system of buffer states has been swept away by
the new powers. Great Britain has shown considerable activity and has
occupied or gained political ascendency over many of these states, and
at the present time marches with the Chinese Empire not only on the
confines of Burma to the south, but also on the borders of Ladak and
Kashmir.
Russia, on her side, has made a great advance, and now occupies
Khokand, Andijan and the Khanates generally, together with the Pamirs
to the west of Chinese Turkestan; to the north the Russian province
of Semirechia, through which is being constructed a railway that will
attract much of its commerce, overshadows the province of Chinese
Turkestan.
Thus the old order of isolation, on which China relied, is passing,
and the new order, which includes modern methods of communication,
is coming into force, hastened by the desire for progress which is
affecting large sections of mankind in Asia.
The future of Chinese Turkestan is not finally settled, but the World
War which has temporarily broken up the Russian Empire will undoubtedly
stimulate China to move along the path of progress. If so, there is
hope that the condition of this outlying province of her empire may
benefit, more especially by improved communications. At the same time
there are many parts of Asia which have reason to envy the peace and
plenty enjoyed by the inhabitants of Chinese Turkestan.
CHAPTER XVI
A KASHGAR FARMER
La latitude assez basse du Turkestan chinois combinée avec son
altitude considérable, la sécheresse de son atmosphère et ses saisons
nettement tranchées rendent le pays propre à des cultures très
diverses, à celles qui se contentent d’un climat tempéré comme à
celles qui exigent des chaleurs fortes et prolongées; mais excluent
les plantes qui craignent les froids hivernaux ou réclament une grande
humidité.--GRENARD, _La Haute Asie_, ii. 173.
The cultivator, who is the backbone of Chinese Turkestan, depends
entirely on irrigated crops, as there is no regular rainfall in the
country. Rain, termed the “mercy of Allah” in Persia, is considered to
be the opposite in Kashgar, partly because of the utter irregularity
of its incidence. If there be a heavy fall in the spring, the soil
cakes and the young plants cannot force their way through, and this
necessitates a fresh sowing. Rain at harvest time, or when the melons
ripen, is equally unwelcome, and when there is a heavy rainfall the
farmer exclaims, “What great crime has been committed that we suffer
such a calamity?” Snow is regarded with less disfavour. As a rule there
is plenty of water for every one in the Kashgar oasis, and fights for
it occur only in the spring, when each cultivator wishes to water his
land first, in order to secure an early crop for the market.
Owing to the abundance of water and the absence of hail-storms or other
serious climatic drawbacks, agriculture, except for rust and blight,
which are seldom experienced, is a certainty, in complete contrast to
the reputation it bears in countries that depend on the rainfall for
their crops. The life of the oasis, where every acre is cultivated and
where the agricultural population is comparatively dense, is quite
unlike that of Persia, where each village is surrounded by square
miles of uncultivated land, which furnishes grazing, fodder and fuel.
There are a few isolated villages, or groups of villages, in Chinese
Turkestan, but the country generally consists of extensive oases set in
a lifeless desert.
The chief crops are millet, rice, maize, wheat, barley, cotton, lucerne
clover, hemp, linseed, turnips, carrots and tobacco. Millet and rice
are regarded as the best-paying crops, the former occupying one-half of
the total area cultivated.
Of fruits and vegetables, apricots, grapes, peaches, nectarines,
quinces, cherries, figs, apples, pears, mulberries, pomegranates and
melons grow in great profusion, and pumpkins, which are the staple
vegetable, are supplemented by carrots, turnips, onions, cucumbers,
garlic and fennel.
The upper classes are less civilized than in Persia, partly because
they do not mix socially with the European colonies; good fruit trees
and seeds have therefore not been introduced. This state of affairs
reflects little credit on the merchants from Andijan, who could easily
introduce the magnificent fruit trees which are now grown at Tashkent.
The Chinese of the New City farm much better than the native Moslems,
and have introduced the curious plum-cherry, with its blue, white and
red varieties of fruit, beans of various kinds, beetroot, cabbages,
including kohl rabi, lettuces, potatoes, tomatoes and spinach; but
there is little contact between the Chinese and Moslem farmers, so that
the latter do not learn much from the efficient Celestials.
The trees in the Kashgar Oasis, other than fruit trees, include the
Lombardy and the spreading poplar, the latter growing to a great size,
and the Turkestan elm, of which a grafted species grows in a pyramidal
shape. The common willow and the Babylonian willow of two species--one
with an edible fruit resembling the Bohemian olive--are planted along
every irrigation channel and serve as fuel.
Next to agriculture the most important industry is the raising of
live-stock--horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep and goats. The
horses bred by the Kalmucks around Karashahr are the best, being
stronger than the Kirghiz ponies, because the Kalmucks do not drink
mare’s milk. They are usually geldings, standing about fourteen hands,
and are ideal for transport purposes. The Kirghiz pony is hardy and
enduring, but not strong or up to much weight. The Yarkandi, especially
a roan, was a favourite mount in India in the last century, and is
mentioned in Anglo-Indian novels of the period; it is still exported in
small numbers.
[Illustration: A LOAD OF CLOVER FROM ISA _HAJI’S_ FARM. _Page 302._]
Donkeys are found in thousands and take the place of the wheelbarrow
and the cart in England, besides carrying the bulk of the internal
trade. Camels, of the two-humped or Bactrian species, are highly
esteemed, especially by the Kirghiz, as they are not affected by
cold or deep snow, and can cross rivers that ponies have to swim.
Cattle-breeding is carried on mainly in the mountains and in the wooded
tracts along the courses of the rivers. The animals are small, and are
bred for milk and for ploughing. Sheep are usually of the fat-tailed
species, but in the southern districts there is also a short-haired
breed. All animals, as a rule, are miserably thin owing to the almost
entire absence of grazing.
I think it may be useful to select a typical farmer and study his
life closely; for by this means we shall get down to the bed-rock of
definite fact, which is preferable to vague generalizations about
agriculture. Isa _Haji_, the subject of this sketch, was a farmer, aged
75, who lived not far from the city wall. Helped by two of his five
sons, aged 18 and 16 respectively, he farmed 40 _mows_, or about six
acres of land, which is the average size of a farm close to Kashgar.
Here the manure obtained from the city enables the whole of the land
to be cultivated at once, whereas farther off, where little manure is
available, the farms are larger because a part of the land must always
be allowed to lie fallow. One half of the _Haji’s_ land was devoted
to lucerne clover, the remainder being sown with millet, wheat, rice,
cotton, melons and linseed. As a rule only one crop a year was taken
off the land; but millet, carrots and turnips were sown after the wheat
crop; in this case the millet did not ripen, but was valuable as green
forage; the clover was cut four times in the year. In one corner of
the farm were willow trees, which were pollarded every four years to
serve as fuel for the owners. Isa _Haji_, being an old man, merely
assisted in watering the fields, while his sons did all the ploughing,
harvesting and threshing. His two eldest sons kept a grain-shop in
Russian Turkestan, the third was a bricklayer, and the others, when not
at work on the farm, earned sixpence a day as labourers. The _Haji_
owned a yoke of plough-oxen and four donkeys, the former being fed
on cotton-seed and the latter on millet. His agricultural implements
included a primitive plough, a harrow, mattocks of two sizes, sickles,
_zambils_ or hurdles for carrying earth, a stone roller for threshing
rice and a shovel for winnowing. Manure, consisting of horse and cow
droppings, night soil and ashes, was bought in the city at the rate of
threepence per donkey load, and used freely on the land, which was a
rich alluvial loam; the frequent storms also deposited layers of dust
which were regarded as good for the crops.
The house, which Isa _Haji_ owned and had built room by room as he
could afford it, at a total cost (including the land) of £50, covered
a square of sixty feet. The guest-room, in which he lived during the
summer and in which the meals were cooked and served, was about twenty
feet square and was lighted by a hole in the roof. A mud platform
covered with felts, on which the family slept, occupied a prominent
position, and the chief piece of furniture was a carved box, which held
clothes and served as a bedstead. Above it was a shelf full of Russian
teapots. Off this room opened the store-room, in which grain was kept
for winter consumption and which served as the living-room in winter.
There was also a courtyard partly roofed in with matting during the
summer, in which grew a shady tree, and this was the chief working room
of the wife and daughters-in-law at that season. Here we noticed a
cradle, a spinning-wheel and various pans. Two small rooms belonged to
two unmarried sons, and the rest of the square contained stabling, an
oven and a store for dry fodder.
[Illustration: THE SONS OF ISA _HAJI_ PLOUGHING. _Page 304._]
The home was managed by the wife and her three daughters-in-law, who
cooked the food, looked after the children and made the clothes. They
did not work in the fields, but spun the cotton into yarn, which they
wove into the rough white calico of which most of the clothing of the
poorer classes is fashioned.
The staple food of the family was bread made from millet, a grain that
is held to be more sustaining than wheat or rice. Isa _Haji’s_ large
family consumed all his share of the crops, except the lucerne and some
of the melons, turnips, carrots and linseed, which were sold. The oil
of the linseed was used for cooking and lighting.
The chief meal of these peasant-farmers was eaten at sunset and
consisted of _suyukash_, a soup prepared from pieces of paste-like
macaroni and vegetables boiled in water. In the morning they took tea
with cream and salt, and fruit and bread were eaten at odd hours. Meat,
generally beef, appeared on their table only once a week. There was
plenty of this rude fare, supplemented by slices of pumpkin eaten hot
and by other delicacies; and Isa _Haji’s_ sons appeared healthy, their
teeth being noticeably fine and sound. They said that they suffered a
good deal from lack of warmth in the winter, as charcoal was dear and
had to be used sparingly. They placed a bowl of lighted charcoal under
a wooden frame, over which a quilt was thrown, and the family sat by
day and slept by night under this covering, with their feet towards
the centre.
Isa _Haji_ had been the tenant of the farm for more than ten years. It
included three small properties belonging to three Kashgar merchants.
Two-thirds of the lucerne, amounting in value to about five pounds, and
one half of the other crops, were paid over as rent. He had no security
of tenure, and could be turned out at will, but the prospect of this
appeared to him unlikely, and he expressed satisfaction with his lot.
The farm paid revenue to the extent of 105 lbs. of wheat, a similar
quantity of millet and 2100 lbs. of chopped straw, Isa _Haji_ and his
landlords each paying one half of the whole. There had also to be met
the demand of the Chinese authorities for forced labour on public works
and transport, but this was compounded for in money and might come to
the equivalent of two shillings per annum. Nothing was paid for the
use of irrigation water, and the taxation represented less than 5 per
cent of the two main crops. In the case of villages situated at some
distance from the city double this amount may be taken by the tax
collectors, who are more exacting in proportion to their distance from
headquarters.
To sum up, we have an oasis in which agriculture is not affected by
the rainfall, but depends entirely on the rivers. The peasants have
enough to eat, a good climate and neighbours in abundance. There are
few parts of the world where the people are so contented, and, although
discontent might perhaps bring an improvement of their lot, it is
pleasant to see such cheerful, friendly tillers of the soil leading a
healthy agricultural life, and to meet them returning home at night
singing their tuneful songs:
How happy he who crowns in shades like these
A youth of labour with an age of ease;
Who quits a world where strong temptations try,
And, since ’tis hard to combat, learns to fly.
CHAPTER XVII
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS IN CHINESE TURKESTAN
Straight and slender-waisted are the maids of Kashgar,
Short, with sack-like figures, are the maids of Yangi Hissar.
A goitre above and fat below are the maids of Yarkand.
Arranging apples on saucers are the maids of Khotan-Ilchi.
Wearing felt caps, with foreheads high, are the maids of Sarikol.
_The Maids of Turkestan._ (From an old ballad.)
The inhabitants of Chinese Turkestan are divided by the anthropologist
into four distinct groups. The first consists of the Sarikoli and
Pakhpo mountaineers, who are pure Aryans. The second is a desert group
including the mass of the inhabitants of the country, the basis of this
population being Aryan with some Uighur admixture, more especially
at Aksu in the north. The third group is formed of the Kirghiz, the
Dulanis and the inhabitants of Aksu; the fourth consists of the Chinese
and Mongols, whose differentiation from the Kirghiz is to be noted. The
Aryan type has been best preserved in the southern and south-western
parts of the province, with their rugged mountain areas which are
difficult of access. In the western districts Turkish influence is
evident, in the northern the Mongol zone begins, and this, as our
survey moves eastwards, gives place to the Chinese.
Throughout this work reference is constantly made to the people of
Chinese Turkestan, and here an attempt will be made to summarize their
character. They are distinctly to be classified as “tame,” in the
frontier officer’s sense of the word, being submissive, lacking in
spirit and ready to serve any master, provided that they can enjoy life
in their own way, with feasting, women and music. In their ballads they
complain of forced labour, with its separation from wife and family,
and they sing the praises of the home. But they are not faithful to
their wives: “Let every one follow his inclination and enjoy himself
with the woman he prefers. If the kings were just, every one would have
his beloved mistress at his side.” Lack of physical and moral energy
and dislike of hard, continuous work and, above all, of discipline,
are notable characteristics of these apathetic oasis-dwellers; but
against these imperfections, which they share, more or less, with
the neighbouring peoples of Russian Turkestan, must be set many good
qualities. Hospitality is found everywhere, strangers are welcomed and
the people are pleasant to deal with, their politeness being especially
marked. The Chinese rule, though supported by few troops, is a living
force, and this proves that the people are law-abiding. Moreover, there
is very little fanaticism, and the inhabitants of Chinese Turkestan,
although obedient to their spiritual leaders, are not easily excited
to rebellion. One inconsistent trait in this home-loving race is the
readiness they show to undertake a journey, though travelling is
generally hard and wearisome; but perhaps the chief cause of this
is curiosity, and, after all, relatively few travellers leave their
beloved province. “We love our festivals” is the general refrain of
this happy, but nonchalant, race of lotos-eaters.
During the months we spent in this little-known country, I employed
my spare time in collecting information regarding its manners and
customs, which, as is natural, bore strong traces of Chinese origin.
They were also influenced by the fact that the people were Buddhists
for many hundreds of years before their forcible conversion to Islam in
the tenth century, when they became Sunnis, looking up to the _Khan_
of Bokhara and, above him, to the Sultan of Turkey. Their holy places
remained unchanged so far as the sites were concerned, and on them
shrines in honour of Moslem saints have been erected. Ancestor-worship,
too, is inherited from the Chinese, with the result that the tombs are
visited with a frequency unknown elsewhere in Central Asia.
Girls, when they reach a marriageable age, visit one of the shrines
and pray as follows: “O Allah, O Lord of the Shrine, grant me a house
with a kettle ready placed on the stove, and a spoon in the kettle. May
it be a house with its four sides decorated with cloth, with carpets
and druggets ready spread, and with towels hanging from the pegs.
Grant me a husband whose father and mother are dead; and may he have
no other wife!” When the saint vouchsafes to hear this delightfully
naïve petition and a suitor appears on the scene, there is no formal
betrothal, although in the case of the wealthy large sums are paid by
the bridegroom and the bride is richly dowered. Costly gifts, too, are
given to the bride by the bridegroom and by relatives and friends. In
the case of a poor man, a payment of merely one or two pounds sterling
is made to the parents, who defray the bride’s outfit from the money.
The next step taken is to obtain a certificate from the _Imam_ of the
quarter, that the woman is free to marry, and after the payment of a
small fee a written permission for the marriage is given by the local
_Beg_.
Nowadays there is no special wedding-dress, and even the globular
wedding-cap of cloth of gold or silver has ceased to be worn. The
marriage ceremony is generally celebrated at the termination of a
feast which lasts until the evening. A _mulla_ reads the _fatiha_ or
opening chapter of the Koran, after which the agent of the bride goes
to the women’s apartment and asks her thrice whether she accepts the
bridegroom, and upon receiving her bashfully given consent, he returns
to the men to announce the success of his mission, thereby completing
the _nikah_ or legal ceremony. Two pieces of bread soaked in salt water
are then given to the bridegroom and bride respectively, and this, in
popular opinion, is the most important act of the marriage. Indeed many
marriages are contracted by the observance of this custom alone, bread
and salt probably symbolizing the inauguration of a new household,
although the meaning has now been forgotten.
As the bride leaves her old home, the mother laments: “O my black-eyed
darling! Alas, my child, my child! My sweet-voiced, soft-eyed darling!
My daughter leaves me, and I remain in an empty house. Alas, my child,
my child!”
When conducted to her new home, the people of the quarter bar her path
by means of a fire, and demand gifts in the shape of handkerchiefs. The
groom, too, will not allow her to dismount from her horse until he
is handsomely fee’d, and finally, when the bride enters her husband’s
house, flour and cotton are set before her and given away to the poor.
This ceremony is termed _Ak-Yul-luk_ or “White Road,” and symbolizes a
happy journey through life. During the lifetime of the older generation
the bridegroom is called _kiau oghli_ or “son-in-law” by the parents,
and the bride _kelin_ or “daughter-in-law,” but she is spoken of as a
_chaukan_ or married woman by her neighbours.
There is an immense difference between the villagers and the
townspeople in Kashgar, both in the position of women and in their
morality. The villagers as a rule marry only one wife and rarely
practise divorce, and their wives take a high position inherited from
pre-Islamic days. For example, it is customary to agree, before the
reading of the _nikah_, that the wife shall be taken to the shrine of
_Hazrat Apak_ for _tawwuf_ or “circling” of the tomb when the apricots
are ripe, other stipulations being that the woman cannot be taken to
another town without her consent, and sometimes that the husband shall
not take another wife. The women may frequently be seen riding to
market on good horses and attending to business almost on an equality
with the men. In the city wives are constantly divorced, so much so
that the majority of them remarry many times. Temporary marriages,
resembling in effect _sigheh_ marriages in Persia, are also very
common, and some women systematically indulge in divorces in order
to gain money. They cannot remarry until after the expiration of the
_iddat_ of three months and ten days, but upon receiving two letters
of divorce--generally obtained in different towns--they can remarry
at once by using the older letter. It is an indication of the low
position held by women in the towns that a merchant, on starting off to
business, will sometimes return home if he first meets one of the fair
sex, this being looked upon as a bad omen.
Constant intermarriage, as in most Moslem countries, produces sad
results in the form of idiocy, deafness and dumbness in the offspring,
such visitations being especially noticeable among the rich, landed
classes, who intermarry generation after generation, in order to keep
the family property intact. So far is this policy pursued that in the
richest family of Kashgar many of the girls have perforce remained
single because there were not enough cousins to go round. It is
interesting to note that in this matter the Chinese go to the opposite
extreme, the whole nation being divided up into about one hundred
divisions, and no man being permitted to marry a woman of his own
division, although she be in no way related to him.
In Kashgar, marriage is not the chief event in a woman’s life, the
ceremony of _chachbagh_ or “braiding of the hair” being far more
important, although held at no fixed time after marriage, and not
depending on the birth of a child. It is celebrated by a great feast,
with dancing, which sometimes lasts for three days. Gifts, far richer
than those given at marriage, are bestowed on the wife, the parents in
many cases handing over landed property. The culminating point is the
appearance of the woman, who, attired in her richest clothes, takes the
seat of honour in the room; and then, in the presence of all, her hair,
hitherto worn in four or five plaits, is formally and for the first
time braided in two plaits, and she becomes thereby a _jawan_. She is
now entitled to wear five red semicircular strips of embroidery on the
right side of the neck of her gown, one below the other, and increasing
successively in length. In the case of the rich, Indian cloth of gold
is generally used.
One day a woman was seen weeping at a shrine, and her prayer was as
follows: “O Holy One! What shall I do? How shall I live? I have been
left an orphan. I am become a stranger. What shall I do? Am I to suffer
the hardships of an orphan? Am I to remain lonely? I have no father, no
mother. Every one is oppressing me. O Allah, I am lost among friends
and foes. Alas, my stranger’s fate! Alas, my orphan’s fate! O Holy One,
put love into the heart of my husband and make his mind just towards
me. O Allah, grant me the wish of my heart, give me a son, a son with
a long life. I have become a stranger. Thou hast left me an orphan. O
Allah, help me and make my enemies like dust.”
After this fervent prayer the suppliant, with her eyes shut, put her
hand into a hole in the tomb and drew forth a morsel of earth, which
she swallowed. Her faith was justified, and in due course of time
she began to make arrangements for an easy delivery, to ensure which
a visit was paid to a _bakhshi_ or magician. He played upon a drum
and chanted some incoherent gibberish, the woman meanwhile holding a
rope that hung from the roof, and dancing round it until giddiness
ensued. After this ceremony she paid a fee, gave alms to the poor, and
returned home with her heart at ease. Later on she visited the tombs
of her ancestors, taking with her an offering of food, and begged them
to intercede for an easy delivery and, above all, for the birth of
a son. She laid the offering near the grave, praised her ancestors,
lamented her own failings, walked round the tomb seven times and
finally distributed the food to the beggars. About a month before the
event, she went on foot to a place where there were seven water mills,
and after slowly crossing the seven ducts that fed them, returned home
with happy confidence in the special efficacy of the ceremony.
[Illustration: A MAGICIAN AND HIS DISCIPLE. _Page 314._]
When her hour was come, no one was allowed to leave the house unless
upon business that was urgent, in which case no harm was anticipated,
provided that some article of dress was left behind. The women of the
neighbourhood assembled to help, and during the delivery cried out
with the idea of keeping the birth a secret, a custom adopted from
the Chinese. The newly born infant, too, was carefully concealed from
visitors.
If former children belonging to the parents have all died, which is,
alas, a frequent occurrence, the father, dressed as a beggar, takes the
baby to the bazar and begs from the shopkeepers small pieces of calico,
which are made into a shirt, the idea being to avoid misfortune by thus
humbling himself. Special names signifying “solid” or “stay” or “may he
stay!” are in such cases given to the child when he is named, between
the third and seventh day, by a _mulla_, who first whispers the _azan_
or call to prayer into his ear. On the fortieth day the head of the
infant is shaved and the hair buried. A sheep is sacrificed and eaten
on this occasion, while its bones, which must not be broken, are buried.
The rite of circumcision, one of the most important of the “five
foundations” of Islam, is performed between the third and eighth
years. The barber operates, and in the case of the rich the event is
celebrated by a feast lasting two or three days, at which the boy
receives presents including hard-boiled eggs, with which he plays a
game by knocking them together.
Children of both sexes are sent to school very young, the idea being
that they will gradually pick up their letters. Education in Kashgar
merely consists of learning by heart a chapter of the Koran and its
Turki equivalent. The letters are taught, penmanship is encouraged, and
lessons are given in the forms of prayer and of ablution. Geography,
history (as distinct from legend), mathematics and foreign languages
are utterly neglected, and the girls leave school at about ten and most
of the boys a year or two later. The teachers are narrow-minded bigots,
and the parents are content to have it so, with the result that there
is not much progress in Kashgar.
We visited the chief boys’ school in Kashgar, where the master bade
his favourite pupils recite passages from the Koran. This they did in
a lugubrious sing-song, swaying backwards and forwards as if in pain.
The pedagogue and his scholars were then photographed, holding imposing
leather-bound and silver-embossed books, which on enquiry proved to be
commentaries on the Koran.
[Illustration: A KASHGAR SCHOOL. _Page 316._]
The death ceremonies are in general those common to Islam throughout
Asia, but there are also some customs peculiar to Kashgar. The body,
after being washed and shrouded, is laid out with the thumbs of the
hands and the big toes tied together, while the chin is also tied
up. It is then carried out of the house and, at seven paces from the
door, a spoonful of rice water is poured on the ground. At every seven
steps this is repeated, and the following verse recited:
_Zir_[16] has come, _Zabar_ has come,
From the centre of the earth news has come.
O swift dogs of the door of heaven,
Come, open the gates of paradise for this man.
This mention of dogs is due to Chinese influence; in Islam they occupy
a degraded position and are considered unclean. Contrary to the general
usage of Islam, white is the mourning colour, as in China. The funeral
procession to the grave is headed by professional mourners, and
accompanied by a _mulla_, who reads sentences from the Koran on the
way, and conducts the service at the grave.
Women do not attend at the graveside, but mourn at a neighbouring
mosque: “O my father! My brave father! My good father!” or “O my
mother! My beautiful mother with black eyebrows! Thou leavest us and
we are alone.” One curious custom is that of driving a stick into the
grave near the head of the corpse, which Grenard considers to be a
survival of the ancient practice of offering food to the dead. On the
third day a solemn feast is held in the house of the deceased. The
mourning lasts for forty days, and upon the termination of this period
a second feast is given, and the normal life is then resumed by the
mourners.
The system of medicine at Kashgar is based on the ancient Greek theory
as taught by Hippocrates, Galen and Plato, whose works were translated
into Arabic and Persian, especially by Abu Ali bin Sina, known in
Europe as Avicenna. Diseases are divided into the categories of “hot”
and “cold,” to be cured by medicines and food of the opposite category.
For instance, in the case of fever, cock’s flesh, which is “cold,”
is eaten, or fish. Hen’s flesh is considered “hot” in Persia, but in
Kashgar there is some difference of opinion among the faculty.
The Kashgar doctors believe implicitly in giving pigeon’s or duck’s
blood in cases of poisoning, and, moreover, prescribe the flesh of a
nestling sparrow torn in two to ease swellings in the groin; they stop
bleeding by means of a pad composed of burnt felt, or a bit of leather
covered with mud or filth. Rheumatism and dropsy are treated by burying
the patient in hot sand or by wrapping him in the skin of a recently
killed sheep, and abdominal complaints by sticking several lighted
candles into a loaf and placing it on the patient’s stomach.
So much for the doctors of Kashgar; but, as their reputation is very
low, recourse is had to other means of curing sickness. Among the most
common is the female diviner, who, when called in, kneads flour into
a ball, recites some gibberish in which the names of the archangels
and of Solomon are mentioned, and solemnly buries the ball under the
fire, reciting the names of all the holy men who are buried in the
neighbourhood. Whichever of these saints is being mentioned when the
ball bursts has to be propitiated. Oil is taken to his shrine, where
it is boiled and the steam is inhaled by the patient, after which
it is mixed with food, part of which is distributed to the poor and
part eaten for seven days by the sufferer. This ceremony is termed
_chachratku_ or “bursting of a ball of kneaded flour” and is regarded
as most efficacious.
The power of the evil eye is firmly believed in by all classes,
and children usually wear round their necks a little leather case
containing a verse of the Koran as a protection against it. If a child
is believed to be possessed, an old woman recites the following:
“Allah is sublime. Praise be to Allah! There is no god but Allah. If
thou art an evil eye depart, as this place is not for thee. Go to a
deserted watermill; go to a deserted house; go to a grave; go to the
house of the _Kazi_. These are the commands of Allah, of Solomon and of
the Saint.” The evil eye cannot withstand this invocation and leaves
the sufferer forthwith.
In cases of possession by the devil, a magician is called in, and
chants as follows: “Another head has come to the head; another body has
come to the body. Your master has come; a jade lamp and blood sherbet
are here. You will soon be like ashes, for I have an iron knife to cut
you with and coal bullets to shoot you with.” The devil, hearing these
threats from the magician, quits the patient without more ado.
Among general remedies are the following: The eyes of sheep sacrificed
at the _Id-i-Gurban_ at Mecca are dried and kept as powerful charms for
sickness. When used they are moistened and applied to the forehead.
Another remedy consists of bread and meat, collected from seven bakers
and butchers. The food, when prepared, is taken, together with a doll,
to the grave of a saint, after which some of it is eaten and the
remainder distributed to the poor. This effects the cure. Yet another
curious treatment is to cover up the patient’s head while a man walks
round him with lighted straw, uttering certain special prayers during
the fumigation.
As to children’s ailments: if a child cries too much, straw is swept up
from three roads, dust is taken from the footprints of passers-by and
Syrian rue is collected from the desert; the mixture is then lighted
and the child is cured by being held over the smoke. If a child suffers
from deafness, one method is to call in the services of a trumpeter,
who spits into the ear, while another plan is to cut seven small twigs,
wrap them up in cotton and, on market day, to tie the little bundle to
the ear of a donkey loaded with salt. For other ailments, seven coral
beads are thrown into a spring; or, again, copper pieces are begged
from seven men named Mohamed, others are added by the parents, and a
charm is made to hang round the child’s neck.
Finally, there are certain shrines famous for the cure of specific
diseases. For skin disease a shrine known as the _Sigm_ is much
frequented. There mud is taken from a well outside and thrown at the
wall with a prayer to the saint, after which the suppliant walks away
without looking back.
[Illustration: A WOMAN THROWING MUD TO EFFECT A CURE. _Page 320._]
I conclude this brief account of the treatment of diseases in Kashgar
by a story entitled “The Clever Physician”:[17]
“Once upon a time there was a physician. When this physician entered
the room where the sick person was, he looked all about it, and
whatever met his eyes in the shape of an eatable, he looked at the
patient and said, ‘You have eaten such and such a thing and that is
what has done you harm.’ The physician had a pupil, and wherever the
physician went, there went his pupil with him. A rich man had become
paralysed, that is to say, unable to walk. Many physicians had treated
him, but his disease did not abate. At last, having heard that the
aforesaid physician’s pupil was a wonderful medical adept, he summoned
him to his house.
“When the physician’s pupil had entered the house and had carefully
looked round, he perceived that there was nothing at all in the shape
of an eatable in it, but in one corner of the room an old donkey-saddle
had been thrown down. When he saw this he exclaimed, ‘Oh, rich man!
you have eaten an old donkey-saddle, through which your disease has
increased and you have become paralysed.’ When he said this, the rich
man was very angry, and exclaiming, ‘Does one who is called a human
being eat donkey-saddles?’ sprang up in his rage in order to beat him
and--walked!
“The physician, poor fellow, was terrified and had fled away. The rich
man was struck with wonder and exclaimed, ‘This is a great man; for my
leg, which grew no better for any physician’s medicine, has now become
quite well through this person.’ He caused the physician’s pupil to
be summoned, apologized to him, and sent him away with many valuable
gifts.”
At the first fall of snow a man frequently calls on a friend with some
snow wrapped in an envelope, while in another are enclosed verses:
My dear friend with this document I throw you snow;
From joy of heart this game arose;
Cups and jugs we have collected and wooden trays;
And we have prepared sweetmeats.
The mandoline, violin, zither and tambourine we have made ready.
When snow has fallen in winter, do not people give entertainments?
If there are friends living around do not people invite them?
If you are clever enough to seize the man who has brought the snow,
Powder his face, paint him like a girl, and beat him severely.
The visitor places his verses secretly in the house and then decamps.
If the owner of the house catches him he beats him, paints his face
like a girl and leads him through the streets calling out, “This is the
punishment for the man who throws snow”; and the visitor is then bound
to give an entertainment. But if the owner of the house does not catch
the visitor, he himself must prepare a banquet. If he fails to do so
within a week, bulrushes are tied on the top of his door, and if this
hint is not sufficient, the bier from the cemetery is placed outside
his house.
Owing to Chinese influence, there is no Moslem country where respect
for parents and for superiors is so strong as in Kashgar. During the
lives of the parents they are never referred to by name by their
children, but are always addressed as “My Lord.” A son will never
sit in the presence of his father without special permission, but
will stand with the head bowed and hands folded in token of humility.
He would never dream of retiring to sleep before his father, nor of
smoking in his presence. To superiors deference is shown by dismounting
from horseback, and by always prefacing an answer with _taksir_ or
“fault,” which has come to be the equivalent of our “Sir.” Upon receipt
of a robe of honour, the recipient bows low, sweeping the arms in a
circle to stroke the beard. Women courtesy by bowing low with folded
hands.
The Kashgaris have few games, but kite-flying, an elementary form
of rounders, pitch-and-toss into a hole with walnuts or coins, and
a kind of tip-cat are favourite amusements. Grown-up men indulge in
ram-fighting and partridge-fighting, heavy bets being made on the
contests.
Music is extremely popular, the Kashgar peasants being distinctly
musical, and their refrains, sung in unison on returning from work, are
pleasing to the European ear. The usual instruments are the tambourine,
the mandoline and the four-stringed _rubab_. In Kashgar dancing is
regarded as improper, and is indulged in only by professional women
or boys; but in the Khotan oasis, among the Dulanis of Merket, the
Sarikolis and the Kirghiz, men and women dance together at weddings.
At entertainments the men and women sit on opposite sides and, when
the music commences, a woman rises and places a handkerchief in front
of a man, who thereupon rises also, sings a song and returns the
handkerchief. This is done by all present, and men and women then dance
together.
During my stay in Chinese Turkestan I sought for any custom which might
be a survival from the days of the Nestorian Christians. One such is
that horse-dealers, when a bargain is not concluded, make the sign of
the cross on the horse to avert the evil eye. It is interesting to note
that, owing to Chinese influence, black and dark grey are the favourite
colours for horses, whereas few people care to buy a roan, whose colour
is deemed unlucky.
CHAPTER XVIII
STALKING THE GREAT SHEEP OF MARCO POLO
Do you know the world’s white roof-tree--do you know that windy rift
Where the baffling mountain-eddies chop and change?
Do you know the long day’s patience, belly-down on frozen drift,
While the head of heads is feeding out of range?
It is there that I am going, where the boulders and the snow lie,
With a trusty, nimble tracker that I know,
I have sworn an oath, to keep it on the Horns of Ovis poli,
And the Red Gods call me out and I must go!
KIPLING, _The Feet of the Young Men_.
Life in the East, more especially away from important centres, lacks
most of the amenities which are taken as a matter of course in the
civilized West. Family life is broken up, society is restricted,
communications are bad, involving few and irregular posts, and health
frequently suffers from the climate and from indifferent food. So much
for the debit side. But fortunately there is a credit side, and for the
Englishman sport is a large item on this side and does much to brighten
the otherwise trying monotony of life in Asia. It also helps him to
maintain his energy and health, and with it that sane outlook which is
one of the main secrets of our success as a world-power.
When appointed to Kashgar I had hopes of fulfilling the ambition of a
life-time by stalking one of Marco Polo’s great sheep, the _Ovis poli_.
As a youth I had been fascinated by the record of the celebrated
Venetian traveller, and after joining the army had made considerable
efforts to travel in the Pamirs in 1891 and 1892. But the arrest of
Younghusband, mentioned in Chapter XV., closed the “Roof of the World”
to the private traveller, and it seemed as if I were not destined to
tread these mysterious upland valleys. But the fates were kind. On the
way to Kashgar I stopped at Petrograd, where a high Russian official,
whose colleague I had been at Meshed, said that he felt sure I should
wish to shoot an Ovis poli in the Pamirs. I replied emphatically in
the affirmative, and it was speedily arranged that I should receive
an invitation to travel in the regions which for so many years I had
longed to visit.
Before describing the _Ovis poli_, which confers the blue riband upon
the hunter of big game, both from the magnificence of the trophy and
the inaccessibility of its habitat, I will quote Marco Polo, who wrote:
“There are great numbers of all kinds of wild beasts [in the Pamirs];
among others, wild sheep of great size, whose horns are good six palms
in length. From these horns the shepherds make great bowls to eat from,
and they use the horns also to enclose folds for their cattle at night.”
The credit of Marco suffered through the ignorance of mankind, and it
was not until the nineteenth century that his character for accuracy
was vindicated by Lieutenant Wood, who, when he reached England in 1838
after his famous journey to a chief source of the Oxus, exhibited some
skulls with horns 4 feet 8 inches long, and on the strength of these
specimens the species was appropriately named _Ovis poli_ or “The sheep
of (Marco) Polo.”
It is the most splendid member of a splendid group, to which belong
also the _Ovis ammon_ of Tibet, with more massive but shorter
horns, and the _Ovis karelini_ of the Tian Shan, which is a smaller
sub-species of the _poli_, the “record” head, shot by E. W. Dixon,
measuring only 58½ inches. In the _Ovis poli_, the enormous horns are
longer and relatively narrower than in any of the other wild sheep,
forming a more open spiral and much more than one complete circle, with
the flat surface markedly angulated.[18] The summer coat is lightly
speckled and the legs are white, but in the winter the ruff becomes
pure white. The height at the shoulders exceeds 12 hands, and the
weight may be about 22 stone. The length of horns is enormous, one
specimen, believed to be the longest on record, measuring 6 feet 3
inches! Marco’s “six palms” may perhaps be the equivalent of 5 feet; so
that his estimate was in no way exaggerated.
The great distinction of being the first European to shoot an _Ovis
poli_ was won by Captain (the late Sir Henry) Trotter, who describes
the event as follows: “It was during a very tedious and long march of
thirty-seven miles, mostly through snow, that my attention was suddenly
called to the presence of some wild sheep about two hundred yards up
the hillside. My rifle was handy, and in a few seconds one of them came
rolling down. It was the first _Ovis poli_ ever shot by a European
sportsman, but it was unfortunately a very poor specimen.”[19] Since
that date British big-game shots, including the most famous of their
generation, have visited these remote upland valleys in pursuit of this
king of sheep.
When I actually visited the Pamirs I found that some of the
descriptions I had read did not convey a clear impression on all
points. Perhaps my chief disappointment was the aridity of the country,
for, travelling in June and July, I had expected to find rich meadows
decked with Alpine flowers. On the contrary, nowhere did I see anything
but the scantiest pasturage, and it remains a subject of wonder that
the huge _Ovis poli_ can find nourishment in such a barren land. A
second point which struck me was that the Pamirs were for the most part
open and easy to traverse, and the mountains, although actually rising
very high above sea-level, appeared almost insignificant when viewed
from the high altitude at which we were travelling. The one point on
which there was no mistake was the severity of the weather.
Starting from Kashgar in considerable heat on June 7, we crossed the
Katta Dawan twelve days later in equally considerable cold, and from
its crest, at an elevation of 15,250 feet, the Pamirs lay before us.
To the north the Trans-Alai range rose up in snow-covered peaks,
while almost at our feet a corner of the Great Karakul, the largest
lake of the Pamirs, was visible. Descending into the valley from the
storm-swept pass, I felt very happy that I had at last reached the
haunt of the _Ovis poli_, and my elation was increased by seeing three
small herds of females grazing on the mountain side as we passed down
the valley to our camp near the lake.
The following morning I started off to try for game, feeling as keen
and excited as I had done during my first shooting expedition more
than twenty-five years ago, when everything was “fair and new.” I had
fortunately secured the services of a good _shikari_, by name Nadir,
who has already been mentioned. He had travelled with other Englishmen
and quite grasped our methods of stalking, which utterly puzzle an
untutored Kirghiz. He was indeed a treasure; for, besides being a good
stalker, he understood how to manage the Kirghiz, who worked willingly
under him.
Followed by some ponies carrying bedding and food, we rode across the
level steppe to the foot-hills. By good luck we sighted a herd of six
or eight four-year old rams, which were grazing about a mile off to our
right, and before very long we saw their horns moving over a low ridge
about 400 yards away. I jumped off and, running up to the ridge, had an
easy shot and bagged my first _Ovis poli_. Though the head was a small
one, such a start was of good omen for the future.
We afterwards examined the ground for miles, but saw no tracks of big
rams; so we bivouacked in the hills and returned to camp the following
day, satisfied that the local _shikari_ was speaking the truth when he
explained that the veterans visited the range only in winter. There
was, indeed, no chance of a big head anywhere near the Karakul, and as
sport was merely a pleasant incident of the journey, not its object, we
marched on to Pamirsky Post.
[Illustration: _OVIS POLI_--THE 51-INCH HEAD. _Page 328._]
From this centre we were making for Sarikol, and, owing to it being
midsummer, when the Kirghiz were grazing their flocks all over the
country, the prospects of bagging a good head appeared to be small.
Nadir, however, knew of a _nullah_ to the south, and we determined
to give it a trial, and therefore made for the Uchak Valley, where we
camped at an elevation of 13,500 feet, some miles from the stalking
ground, for the sake of obtaining supplies and water. It was bitterly
cold at night, but we started off for our day’s stalking by 4 A.M.,
warmly wrapped up and riding the invaluable yak. Walking at these
high altitudes is trying to the heart, especially to the middle-aged,
and I decided, wisely I think, to save myself as far as possible. We
gradually made our way up the open but stony valley towards the skirt
of the main range, riding up the side of the mountain almost to the
snow line, where we dismounted to spy. The bare, open hillside was
littered with large and small boulders; there was little grass and no
cover to speak of; so I did not feel hopeful.
Fortune, however, was kind, and before very long a herd headed by a
really fine ram was sighted, slowly grazing its way uphill. For a long
while we watched our quarry, as at one time it bore away from us and
then again turned in our direction, until we finally saw that its line
lay about a mile from where we were in hiding. The stalk consisted
mainly in crawling round boulders; but although the wind was favourable
we were seen before we approached within the usual range for a shot, as
was indeed inevitable owing to lack of cover.
The only course left was to rely on my telescopic sight and risk a long
shot. But I could not see the quarry either from a lying or from a
sitting position, owing to the boulders, and at the distance a standing
shot would have been folly. Accordingly I told Nadir to bend down and,
using his shoulder as a rest, was able to aim steadily at the big ram,
which, after stopping for a moment to gaze at us, was moving off at a
slow pace. My _shikari_ was as steady as a rock, and, thanks to this,
I was able to hit the ram through the heart. It was a most fortunate
shot; for the distance was paced out at 300 yards.
Nadir and the Kirghiz, wild with excitement, raced off to the fallen
ram, while I, equally elated but far less active, slowly followed them,
panting for breath when I attempted to run. It was indeed a lucky day,
as the ram was a fine six-year-old specimen, standing as high as a
small mule, and with a perfect pair of horns measuring 51 inches.
On the following day I wounded a second ram in the shoulder by another
long shot, and tracked it until nightfall, leaving it when we were
about five miles from camp. Early the next morning we sighted it again
near the foot of a precipitous hill on a wide open plain where it had
joined some ewes. Stalking was out of the question, as concealment
was impossible, and we felt depressed until the Kirghiz told us that
a few miles off there was a man, the owner of two hunting dogs who
would run down the wounded quarry. In time he appeared on the scene
and handed over his dogs to the Kirghiz _shikari_, while I sat down
to watch. The Kirghiz showed great skill in separating the ram from
the ewes, and when the dogs were let loose he ran at their heels at
a remarkable pace. The ram went very fast at first, but then circled
and doubled, threatening the dogs at times. But its efforts to escape
were vain, and after a five minutes’ run the noble quarry was pulled
down and the _shikari_ cut its throat. The scramble down to the
valley was very steep and long, but my yak was equal to it, and I was
interested in watching some snowcock, which kept flying past us in
alarm, displaying their striking plumage to great advantage. When we
reached the bottom of the hill we found the ram to be a fine head, but
smaller than the one shot on the first day, which, according to our
information, was the biggest in that area, although not a first-class
head.
[Illustration: HUNTING-DOGS WITH KIRGHIZ OWNER. _Page 330._]
The dogs were not fed until they were rested, and to my surprise they
refused a piece of bread; but it was explained to me that bread was
such a delicacy among the Kirghiz that a dog never had a chance of
tasting it and so did not know what it was!
Their owner, like all the Kirghiz I met, was friendly and gave me his
views on life. He laid down emphatically that no man of substance could
be comfortable without four wives, and on my challenging this statement
he was quite contemptuous and said that the Prophet, on Him be Peace,
gave his commandments wisely when he permitted Moslems to marry four
helpmates, as two were needed to milk the yaks and the sheep, a third
to do the cooking and a fourth to sew and weave carpets. He ended up by
saying, “Praise be to Allah! I have four obedient wives, who spend all
their days in trying to please me!”
On the way home we passed a number of fine skulls lying about below a
bluff which the Kirghiz referred to as a “cemetery.” They said that the
_Ovis poli_ are hunted in the snow by packs of wolves and take refuge
on such steep places, where they are surrounded. In spite of their huge
horns the rams apparently never attempt to defend themselves, and as
their joints, heated by the pursuit, stiffen from the cold, they fall
an easy prey to their enemies.
* * * * *
As I sit at home surrounded by trophies gained in the plains of India,
in Kashmir, in Ladak, in Persia and finally in the Pamirs, each head
evokes pleasing memories of the stalk and recalls some of the happiest
days of my life. On no expedition does the golden haze lie deeper than
on the successful stalking of the great sheep of Marco Polo, in the
remote upland valleys of the “Roof of the World.”
INDEX
Aba Bakr, 268
Abdalis, 242
Abu Ali bin Sina (Avicenna), 318
Abu Nasr, 260
Achmet, 22, 24, 27, 40-41, 46
Afghanistan, Amir of: China and, 272;
Wakhan awarded to, 294
Afghanistan, trade with, 247
Afghans in Kashgar, 57
Afrasiab, Mt., 156
Agha Khan, the, 155, 157, 177
Agriculture in Chinese Turkestan, 300-307
Agri Su, shrine, 181
Ahmad Khan, Amir, 272
_Akhois_, 114-17, 125, 146, 149
Ak Langar, 203, 220
Ak Masjid taken, 276, 282
_Aksakals_, 105, 273;
of Guma, 197-8;
of Sarikol, 153, 157
Aksu, 240, 266, 280, 292, 295
_Ak Taulin_, 269, 270
_Ak-Yul-luk_ ceremony, 312
Alai range, 31
Ali Aralan, 93-5, 261
Almaligh, 265
_Alti Shahr_, 273
_Ambans_, Chinese, 126, 194, 198, 242, 279
_Amin-ul-Muminin_, 284
Amundsen, Captain, 4
Amursana, 271
Andijan, 21, 245, 272, 274, 299, 301
Apak, _Hazrat_, 68-70, 270-71, 312
Arabs, conquests by, 256-8
Architecture of Chinese Turkestan, 84-5
_Argon_, 117, 125
_Arslan_ Khans, 259
Aryans of Sarikol, 131, 153, 155, 157-60, 308
_Atalik Ghazi_, 279
Ata-ul-Vali, _Shaykh_, 181
Austrian prisoners, 19
Avicenna, 318
Badakshan, 145, 247, 272, 278
Badakshani horses, 28, 53, 114, 176-177, 194, 227-8, 247
Badrudin, _Khan Sahib_, 209-10, 212, 216-20
Bag-mouth rat, 88
_Baigu_, game of, 150-51, 165
Baths, Russian, 13-14
Beg Kuli Beg, 292
_Begs_, 25, 27, 92, 126-7, 139, 164-5;
of Tashmalik, 107, 109;
official powers of, 243-5
Bergen, 4-5
Besitun, Mt., 156
Bibi Anna, shrine of, 92-3
Bielka, 54, 230
Birds of Chinese Turkestan, 87-8, 161, 182, 221
Bishbaligh, 259
Black Mountaineers, 269
Bohlin, Mr., 51, 55, 65, 66, 72, 87, 88, 105, 171, 173
Bokhara, 269, 274, 279, 282-3
“Braiding of the hair” ceremony, 274, 313-14
Bridge of Gez River, 110-11
Britain and Chinese Turkestan, 293-4, 298;
Yakub Beg and, 285-290
Brownie, 54, 230
Buchanan, Lady Georgina, 10
Buddhism, 94, 153, 217-19, 241, 310;
in China, 252-3
Buddhist ruins, 84-5, 217-19
Buffer states, Chinese, 298
Bulunkul, Lake, 111, 165
Buzurg Khan, 277, 279
Camels, 15, 28, 79, 109, 112, 169, 302-3
Caravans, 25, 28, 89, 176
Carpets, 82, 116, 146-7, 213
Carts, native, 26, 176
_Chachbagh_ ceremony, 313-14
Chagatai, 265, 266
Chang Kien, 252
Chapman, Captain, 287
Chengiz Khan, 263-5
Chernaieff, General, 277
Chightam, 280-81
Childbirth ceremonies, 314-15
Children, 315-16
China: buffer states of, 298;
travel in, 102
Chinese Turkestan and, 55, 97, 186, 242-5;
during Revolution, 294-9;
struggle for suzerainty, 67, 249-53, 255-6, 257-8, 271-4;
Yakub Beg and, 70-71, 277-81, 290-93
Chinese: administration, 55, 97, 186, 242-5;
authorities, 37, 186, 242-5;
banquets, 72-3, 76-8, 199;
burial customs, 71-72;
cemetery, 70-72;
farmers, 301-2;
finger-nails, 73,96-7, 99;
foot-mutilation, 74-5;
forced labour, 55, 306;
games, 78;
habits unhealthy, 96-7, 99;
_hashish_ prohibited by, 172;
jade, 215-17;
kindness to animals, 100-101;
lying, 100;
marriage, 65, 99-100;
missionaries persecuted by, 52;
soldiers, 74, 95-6;
travellers, 28;
veneration for age, 76
Chinese Turkestan: administration, 55, 97, 186, 242-5;
agriculture, 300-307;
art, 82-4;
boundaries, 235-6;
climate, 56, 239-40;
deserts, 236-8;
flora, 87, 128, 149-50, 169, 210;
halting-places, 35;
hospitality, 102;
justice, 245;
loess formation, 36, 56-7, 86, 91;
marriage, 189;
population, 240-42, 308-10;
religions, 94, 153, 217-19, 241-2, 310;
rivers, 258-9;
road-making, 228;
taxes, 243-4, 306;
trade, 245-7, 289
history of: Chinese rule, 67, 70-71, 249-53, 255-6, 257-8, 271-4,
277-81, 290-93, 294-9;
Huns and Yue-chi, 249, 252-3;
Juan Juan, 254;
Western Turks, 254-5;
Arabs and Tibetans, 255-6, 257-8;
Uighurs, 258-9;
Turks, 260-62;
Chengiz Khan, Timur, Tamerlane, 263-8;
Chagatai Khans, 267-9;
Zungars, 270-71;
Khojas, 269, 270, 272-274, 278;
Yakub Beg, 70-71, 276-81, 290-4;
Britain and Russia, 275-6, 282-6, 293-4, 299
_Chini Bagh_, 39-40, 81
Chitral occupied, 293
Christian tribes, 263-4
Christianity in Chinese Turkestan, 190;
Nestorian, 94, 256, 323
Circumcision, 315-16
Cobbold, Captain, 134
Consulate premises, 39-40, 81, 170-71
Coronation Chapel, Moscow, 11
_Corvée_ system, 55, 306
Cossacks in Kashgar, 46, 52, 79-80, 81, 297-8;
in Pamirs, 133, 135, 140, 141-3;
Kirghiz descended from, 240
Croquet, 46
Czaplicka, Miss, 120
Dalai Lama, 270
Dalgleish, 223
Dancing, 323
Daoud _Akhun_, 41, 50, 160, 165, 168, 171, 176
Deasy, Captain, 40, 77
Death ceremonies, 316-17
Deserts, 175, 236-8
Devanchi Pass, 291
Divorce in Chinese Turkestan, 65, 212
Dixon, E. W., 326
Dogs, pariah, 101
Donkeys, Kashgari, 89, 101, 176, 302
Dughlat tribe, 265, 267-8
Dulanis, 223, 225, 241, 281, 323
_Dumba_, 26, 44
Dunmore, Lord, 111, 143, 230
Eagles, hunting with, 182, 222
Education in Kashgar, 316
Elburz Range, 136
Embroidery, 83
English Hospital in Petrograd, 10
Etherton, Lieutenant, 184
Evil eye, charms against, 319
Fa-hien, 217, 219, 253
Falconer of the Mehtar of Chitral, 177
Falconry, 177-8
Ferhad, 156
Finger-nails, Chinese, 73, 96-7, 99
Finland, 8-9
Fish, poisonous, 43;
Kirghiz fishing, 152-3
Flax cultivation, 172-3
Flora:
of Chinese Turkestan, 87, 128, 149-50, 169, 210;
of Pamirs, 145-6
Forsyth mission, 287-9
“Four Garrisons,” 255-6
Freshfield, Mr. Douglas, 146
Games:
Chinese, 78;
Kashgari, 323;
Kirghiz, 122, 150-51, 165
German prisoners, 19
Gez River, 107-11, 166
Gilgit occupied, 293
Goat game, 122, 150-51, 165
Gobi, the, 175, 236, 258, 290
Goez, Benedict, 270
Goitre:
in Khotan, 212;
in Yarkand, 184-5, 192
Gordon, Sir Thomas, 155, 287, 289
Governor of Kashgar, lunch given by, 72-6;
of Tashkurghan, 155;
of Yangi Shahr, 97, 99
Great Karakul Lake, 130, 132, 134, 327-8
Grenard, 242, 261, 317
Grombohevsky, Captain, 293
Guchluk, 262, 264
_Gul Bagh_, 71
Guma, 197-9
_Gur Khan_, 261, 262
Haidar, _Mirza_, 240, 266 (_note_), 268
Hakim Khan Torah, 292
Haldan Bokosha, Khan, 270
Han dynasty, 249-50
Hasan Boghra Khan, 260-61
Hasan, _Sayyid Khoja_, 269
_Hashish_, 172, 185
Hawks, 87-8;
white, 177-8
Haydon, Mr., 141
Hayward, 287
_Hazrat_ Apak, 68-70, 93, 270-71, 312
Hemp, 246
Hindus:
in Kargalik, 194;
in Yarkand, 183, 185, 186
Hiong-Nu tribe, 249, 254
Hiuen Tsiang, 129, 196, 197, 207, 217, 237, 251, 254
Hoa tribe, 254
Höegberg, Dr., 52, 184, 190;
Mrs., 189, 190
Holdich, Sir Thomas, 129
Horsemanship:
Cossack, 79-80;
Kashgari, 80, 99
Horses:
Badakshani, 28, 53, 114, 176-7, 194, 227-8, 247;
Kalmuck, 302;
treatment of, 151-2
Hospidset Hotel, 4
Howorth, Sir Henry, 270
_Hsien Yin_ or Sub-Governor, 242
Hsin-Chiang, Chinese name for Chinese Turkestan, 235, 271
Humayun, 112, 175
Huns, 249-50, 252, 254;
White, 253-4
_Id_ festival, 229
Iftikhar Ahmad, _Khan Sahib_, 105, 158, 168, 175, 196, 224
Ilak Khans, 258, 261
Ilohi, native name for Khotan, 212
Ili, 265, 270, 271, 272, 280, 294
Ili Tartar General, 243
India:
trade with, 246;
Yue-chi invade, 249, 252
Indian Empire and Yakub Beg, 286-290
Indians in Chinese Turkestan, 183, 185, 186, 194
Insects of Turkestan, 88-9, 107, 171
Intermarriage, results of, 313
Irkeshtam, 33, 293
Isa _Haji_, 303-7
Isan Bughs, 265
Ishan Khan _Khoja_, 273
Islam:
rise of, 256, 260-61, 262;
supplants Buddhism, 266, 269, 293, 310
Issak Boulak, 161
Jade of Khotan, 215-17, 270
Jafar Bai, 26-7, 30, 40-41, 43, 50, 77, 95, 108, 112, 117-18, 152,
160, 165, 173, 175, 183, 195, 204, 222, 228
Jahangir, 267, 272
Jam-i-Taghai-Agri-Su, 181
Johnson, Mr., 286
Juan Juan, 254
Justice in Chinese Turkestan, 245
Justinian, Emperor, 214
Kalmuck tribe, 270;
horses of, 302
Kamar-u-Din, 267
Kanishka, 252
Kan Ying, 251
_Kaptar Mazzar_, 205-7
Karakash River, 209
Kara Khitai dynasty, 261, 262
Kara Koram, 236, 246
Karakoram, capital of Uighurs, 259
Karakul Lake, Great, 130, 132, 134, 327-8;
Little, 164
Karashahr, 241, 255, 280, 292;
horses, 302
_Kara Taulin_, 269
Kargalik, 193-4, 288
Karungi, 7-9
Kashgar:
agriculture, 170, 172, 301-2, 303-7;
bazar, 57-63;
birds, 87-8;
British mission at, 288-9;
Buddhist ruins, 84-85;
cemetery, 68-9;
childbirth, 314-15;
Chinese Republic, disturbances in, 295-8;
climate, 56, 230-31, 239-40;
crops, 170, 172, 301-2;
death ceremonies, 316-17;
donkeys, 89, 101, 302;
education, 316;
farmers, 303-7;
food available in, 43-4;
fruit, 170, 179-80, 301;
handicrafts, 82-4;
insects, 88-9, 107, 171;
laundry difficulties in, 45-6;
marriage and divorce, 64-5, 310-13;
medical science in, 317-21;
millers, 90;
Oasis, 37, 54-5, 240, 300-302;
population, 245-246;
prices, 44-5;
revenue, 244;
Russian colony in, 46-51, 79-84, 105;
sandstorms, 56, 239-40;
shrines, 92-5, 320;
sunsets, 91-2, 231;
Swedish missionaries, 37, 44, 51-3;
trade, 245;
trees, 86-7;
wall, 67-8;
winter in, 280-81
history of:
Huns drive Yue-chi from, 249;
Pan Chao conquers, 66-7, 250-51;
Yue-chi regain, 252, 253;
Buddhism reaches, 253;
China recovers, 255;
one of “Four Garrisons,” 255, 257;
Christianity and Zoroastrianism in, 256;
Arab raids reach, 257;
Ali Arslan defeated, 94, 261;
Turkish rule, 261;
Sadi visits, 262;
Marco Polo in, 265;
Timur’s capital, 266;
under Dughlat Amirs, 267-8;
_Khojas_ established in, 269;
_Hazrat_ Apak rules, 68, 270-71;
Chinese masters of, 271-3;
attempts of _Khojas_ to regain, 272, 273-4, 277;
Yakub Beg rules, 277-8, 279-91;
Russian designs on, 283, 285;
British mission in, 287-90;
Chinese overthrow Yakub Beg, 97, 290-92;
Revolutionary disturbances in, 295-8
Kashgari:
costumes, 29, 58-9, 83, 193;
cruelty to animals, 100-101;
dirtiness, 44;
farmers, 303-7;
games, 323;
health, 99, 173;
horsemanship, 80, 99;
lying, 100;
medical mission and, 52-53;
music, 63-4, 323;
peasants, 60;
pleasure expeditions, 92, 95;
religious observances, 68-9, 92, 95, 314-315;
superstitions, 69, 318-21;
women, 58-61, 64-5, 83, 92-3, 122, 310-15;
workmen, 29, 31, 58
Kashmir, 269;
Maharaja of, 293
Kasia Mountains, 236
Katta Dawan, 128-31, 133, 327
_Katta Tura_, 273
Kaufmann, General, 18, 285
Kaufmann, Mt., 134
Kaulbars, Baron, 284
_Kazis_, 243, 245
Keen Lung, Emperor, 271
Keraits, 263
Khanates of the Sir Darya, 275, 283, 299
Khargush Pamir, 134-9
Khiva, 275
_Khojas_, 269, 270-71, 272-3, 274, 277-8, 280
Khokand, 20-21;
submits to China, 272, 273;
Russian advance on, 276, 277, 279;
Russian rule established, 282, 283, 299;
revolt, 283, 285
Khotan:
ancient cities of, 217-19;
carpets, 82, 116, 146-7, 213;
history, 94, 253, 255, 261, 279, 286, 292;
jade, 215-17;
oasis, 323;
population, 240, 246;
products, 213-17, 246;
women, 211-12
journey to:
the caravan, 175-8;
Yangi Hissar, 178, 180;
Yarkand, 182-90;
Posgam, 192-3;
crossing the desert, 195-7, 201-208;
arrival, 209-11;
Merket, 221-5;
return to Kashgar, 225-9
Khudadad, Amir, 268
Khudayar Khan, 276, 277
Kirghiz, 240-41, 308;
_akhois_, 30, 114-17, 125, 146, 149;
character and customs, 113-14, 118, 123-5, 164-5, 331;
features, 57, 113;
fishing, 152-3;
goat game, 122, 150-51, 165;
headgear, 25, 118, 133, 148;
hunter, 330-31;
Karakoram captured by, 259;
marriages, 119-22, 323;
ponies, 302;
religion and superstition, 125, 163;
submit to China, 272;
women, 23, 114, 118-22, 133
Kizil Art, 236
Kizil Su River, 35, 55, 238
Korla, 292
_Koumiss_, 122
Kucha, 280, 292
Kuen-lun range, 205, 236
Kuli, 165
Kulja, 271, 293
Kungur, Mt., 40, 164
Kuntigmas, 166
Kuropatkin, 291
_Kutass_ riding, 162-4, 166-8
Kutayba ibn Muslim, 257
_Kvass_, 9
Labour, forced, 55, 306
Ladak, 268, 269, 286
Lalmoi marsh, 238
_Lapis lazuli_, 247
Leh route to India, 246
Little, Mrs. Archibald, 75
Littledale, Mrs. St. George, 209
Little Lake Karakul, 164
Liu-Kin-tang, 97-8
Loess formations, 36, 56-7, 86, 91
Macartney, Lady, 38-39, 45, 54
Macartney, Sir George, 3, 37, 52, 78, 102, 231, 298
_Makhdum-i-Azam_, 269
Manichaeism, 259
Maralbashi, 238, 239
Marmots, 136, 144
Marriage:
Chinese, 65, 189;
Kashgar, 64-5, 310-13;
Khotan, 212;
Kirghiz, 119-22, 323
Master of the Horse, 176-7
_Mazzars_, 92-5, 205-7
Medical missionaries attacked, 51-2
Medicine in Kashgar, system of, 317-21
Melons, 179-80
Merket, 221-5, 241
Meshed, 51, 325
Mestchersky, Prince, 46, 48;
Princess, 46, 48, 75, 79, 80
Metal-work, 83
Millers, 90
_Ming Bashis_, 25, 141, 144-5, 243
Miniol, 37, 170
Mithradates II., 249-50
Moghulistan, 235, 265, 267
Mohamed of Khwarazm (Khiva), 262
Mongols:
of Karashahr, 241;
races of, in Chinese Turkestan, 308;
rise of, 263-5;
Tombs of the, 95
Mon Wang, 249
Moscow, 11
Moslems deported, 271, 272, 273;
rebellions of, 280
Mountain sickness, 138, 149, 168
_Muezzins_, 91
_Mullas_, 52, 58, 61, 173
Murghab River, 130, 141
Mussalman Kuli, 276, 277
Muztagh Ata, 40, 111, 148, 160, 163, 164, 166, 180, 231
Nadir, the huntsman, 108, 117, 119, 131-2;
his sheep taken by wolves, 124-5;
stalking _ovis poli_, 133, 135, 140-41, 328-30;
at home in Tashkurghan, 153, 156-7
Naiman tribe, 264
Narin, Fort, 283
Nestorian Christianity, 94, 256, 323
Niaz Hakim Beg, 291
Nomad tribes, 240-41, 243
Norwegians, 4-5
Oases, 240, 301-2, 306
Opal, 169-70
Opium, 247
Ordam-Padshah, 94, 261
Oriental slackness, 40, 42
Osh, 23-6
_Ovis ammon_, 326
_Ovis poli_:
horns, 143, 326;
stalking, 131, 135, 146, 324-32
Pamirs:
British mission in, 289;
Russian authority in, 293-4, 299, 325
travel in:
preparations, 103-5;
journey begun, 105-7;
Gez River crossing, 107-11, 166;
daily routine, 112-13;
among the Kirghiz, 113-27;
Katta Dawan crossed, 129-31, 133, 327;
Karakul Lake, 130, 132, 134, 327;
_ovis poli_ stalking, 133, 135, 327-8;
Khargush Pamir, 134-9;
fossils found, 141;
Pamirsky Post, 141-3, 328;
Uchak Valley, stalking in, 144, 329-31;
with the Sarikoli, 148-60;
Ulughat Pass, 166-8
Pamirsky Post, 139, 141-3, 328
Pan Ghao, General, 67, 250-51
Paper manufacture, 198
Parthia, Chinese missions to, 249, 251
Persia:
agriculture, 301;
character of people, 190;
China and, 253, 256;
deserts, 236
Peter the Great, 270
Petrograd, 3, 9-10
Philip of France, 178
Pigeon Shrine, 205-7
Polo, Marco, 129, 196, 205, 265, 324-5
Posgam, 192-3
_Potais_, 178-9, 196, 204
Pottery, 82
Prester John, 264
Przemyzl, capture of, 17
Ptolemy, 236
Races of Chinese Turkestan, 308
Rainfall, 239, 300
Ramazan, fast of, 125, 165, 171, 173-4
Raquette, Dr., 51-2
Rashid Khan, 269
Rémusat, 212, 215, 219
Revenue system, 243-4, 306
Revolution, Chinese, 294-9
Roads in Turkestan, 25, 27, 30-32, 228
Roche, Major, 143
Romanoff, M., 17, 81-2, 87
Russia, journey through, 9-15;
peasants, 14;
soldiers, 9, 10, 14;
the steppes, 15, 16, 22;
trains, 6, 13, 15, 17
policy of:
Sir Daria entered, 275-6;
hostilities with Khokand, 276, 277, 282, 283;
Turkestan province formed, 276;
Ili province occupied, 280;
Yakub Beg and, 282-6, 290, 291, 292;
treaty with Chinese, 293;
Pamir delimitation, 293-4;
troops in Kashgar, 297-8;
territories acquired, 299;
trade with, 245, 246, 247, 284
Russians:
colony in Kashgar, 46-51, 79-81, 105;
devotion, 11-12;
hospitality, 24, 47-9;
outposts in Pamirs, 133-5, 140, 141-3, 154;
primitive customs, 33-5;
Sarts and, 18, 19, 21
Russian Turkestan, journey through, 17-35
Sadi, 262
Sadik Beg, 277, 278
Safdar Ali Khan, 187
Said, Sultan, 268
Sakas, 249
Samara, 13-14
Samarkand, 216, 269
Sandstorms, 56, 239-40
Sanjar, Sultan, 262
Sarikol annexed, 280
Sarikolis, 131, 149, 153, 155, 157-160, 177, 308, 323
Sarts, 18-21
Satok Boghra Khan, 260
Sattur, 41-3, 50, 88, 113, 139, 158, 160-61, 166, 171, 172, 176
_Sayyids_, 92
Schlagintweit, Adolph, 274, 286
Semirechia, 299
Shah Murad Khan, 277
Shah Rukh, 268
Shakir Padshah, _Imam_, 206
Shamshir, 120-21
Shaw, Robert, 286-7
Sheep:
fat-tailed, 26, 44, 303;
Osh district, 26,44;
Yarkand, 185-6;
wolves and, 114, 124-5, 331;
wild, of Marco Polo, 131, 143, 146, 324-32
Shirin, 156
Shrines, 68-72, 92-5, 205-7, 310, 320
_Sigm_ shrine, 320
Silk industry of Khotan, 213-15
Sir Daria, the, 20, 275-6
Snakes, 88
Snow-throwing custom, 321-2
Spiders, 88-9
Stein, Sir Aurel:
researches of, 76, 84, 94, 98, 107, 218-19, 242, 259;
returns from desert, 101-2;
helps in Pamir preparations, 105, 106;
bound for Persia, 166
Steppes, 15-16, 22
Stockholm, 5
“Stone Sheep-folds,” 114
Sturgeon, 8
Subashi, 162
Superstitions of Kashgari, 69, 318-320
Swedes, 5, 7-8
Swedish missionaries, 37, 44, 51, 52-53, 180, 184, 188-9, 190
Tagharma, 149, 152, 153
Taghdumbash Pamir, 155
Taghliks, 241
Taiping rebellion, 279-80
Tajiks, 242
Takla Makan desert, 84, 175, 195-7, 201-8, 236
Tamerlane, 216, 266-8
Tang dynasty, 255
_Taotai_ of Kashgar, 295-6
_Taoyin_, or Governor, 242, 244
Tarantchis, 272, 280
Tarikh-i-Rashidi, 266
Tashkent, 18-20, 276, 277, 282;
fruit, 301
Tashkurghan, 149, 153-5, 177
Tashmalik oasis, 106-7
Taxes in Chinese Turkestan, 243-4, 306
Temple of Liu-Kin-tang, 97-8;
of Pan Ghao, 67
Terek Dawan, 30-32, 36, 273
_Thum_ of Hunza, the, 187
Tian Shan, the, 25-37, 291
Tibetan invasion, 255, 257-8
_Tims_, 84
Tiznaf River, 192
_Togkrak_ tree, 225
Toghril, 263-4
Tokharistan, 252
Tombs of the Mongols, 95
Tora, _Haji_, 284
Torgut Mongols, 270-71
Tornea, 9
Trade of Chinese Turkestan, 245-7, 289
Trains, Scandinavian and Russian, 6, 13, 15, 17
Trans-Alai range, 134, 327
Treaty of St. Petersburg, 293
Trotter, Capt., 287, 326
Tsar’s prohibition edict, 9, 24, 47
Tse Wang Rabdan, 270
Tughluk Timur, 265-6
Tuman Su River, 55, 66
Tunganis, 200, 241-2, 271, 278-9, 280-81, 295
Turfan, 235, 250, 253, 255, 260, 280, 291
Turkestan, city of, 17
Turkey and Yakub Beg, 284-5
Turki:
farriers, 62;
language, 261;
uncleanliness, 43
Turks:
Chinese Turkestan under, 261;
Northern, 255;
Western, empire of, 254, 255
Uchak Valley: _ovis poli_ stalking in, 144, 329-31
Uighurs, 253, 258-9, 308
Ulughat Pass, 166-8
Urumchi, 242, 245, 259, 280, 290;
Chinese Revolution in, 294-5, 297-8
Uzbegs, 268
Victoria, Queen, 289
Vyborg, 9
Wakhan incident, 145, 293-4
Wakhijir pass, 247
Wali Khan _Khoja_, 273-4, 286
Wang Khan, the, 264
Whistling, 12, 64
White Huns, 253-4
White Mountaineers, 269
Wolves, 114, 124-5, 331
Wood, Lieutenant, 129, 143, 325
Women:
Chinese, 74, 75, 99-100;
Dulani, 223, 226-6;
Kashgari, 58-61, 64-65, 83, 92-3, 122, 310-15;
Khotan, 211-12, 253;
Kirghiz, 23, 114, 118-22, 133;
Moslem, 26, 40, 64-5, 92-3, 264-5;
Persian, 61;
Russian peasant, 14;
Sarikoli, 159;
Takla Makan, 200;
Tashkent, 20, 22;
Yarkandi, 187-9
Wu Kung, 258
Yagello, Colonel, 144, 145
Yaks, 123-4, 143;
riding, 162-4, 166-8
Yakub Beg:
army of, 281-2;
Britain and, 286-90;
Buddhist monuments destroyed by, 67, 84;
conquests of, 67, 71, 278-281;
fort of, 213;
garden belonging to, 188;
overthrown by Chinese, 58, 70, 290-92;
rest-houses built by, 181;
Russia’s relations with, 282-6;
tomb destroyed, 70
Yangi Hissar, 178, 180, 278
Yangi Shahr, 95-9, 240
Yarkand:
arrival at, 182-4;
bazars, 185-7;
Goez in, 270;
goitre, 184-5, 192;
horses, 302;
_Khojas_ beaten at, 273;
mission colony, 188-9;
oasis, 181, 191;
population, 240, 246;
Shaw at, 286-7;
women, 187-9;
Yakub Beg captures, 278-9
Yarkand River, 225, 226, 238, 239
Yelui Tashi, 261
Yezdigird III., 256
Yezid, 242
Yonoff, Colonel, 293-4
Yotkan, 218-19
Younghusband, Sir Francis, 136, 236, 293-4, 325
Yuan-Shih-Kai, 295-6
Yue-chi, or Indo-Scythians, 249, 250-53
Yurungkash River, 217
_Yuz Bashis_, 243
Zarafshan or Yarkand River, 238
Zawa oasis, 206, 208, 219-20
Zoroastrianism, 155, 256
Zungars, 270-71
THE END
_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_.
[Illustration: MAP to illustrate AUTHORS’ ROUTES.]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Tashkent, Kashgar, Cossacks.
[2] The monarch in question was actually Khusru Parviz.
[3] _Iusce_ is _Yu-shih_ or Jade stone.
[4] To offer tea is a symbol of apology.
[5] _Si-Yu-Ki_, by S. Beal, ii. pp. 324, 325.
[6] _Tarikh-i-Rashidi_, p. 303.
[7] _La Haute Asie_, ii. 308.
[8] Most of these terms are new, the old titles having been abolished
after the Revolution.
[9] There is considerable uncertainty about this date, which good
authorities give as some decades earlier.
[10] _Cathay and the Way Thither_, vol. i. p. 101 (Cordier edition).
[11] Boghra signifies a male camel--names of animals being used by
Turks as tribal names. It is an interesting form of totemism; _vide_
“La Légende de Satok Boghra et l’histoire,” _Journ. Asiat._, Jan.-Fév.
1900, pp. 24 _et seq._
[12] This province generally signifies the country lying to the north
of the Tian Shan, but, as used in the text, the term includes the whole
of the eastern division of the _Khanate_.
[13] The writer was _Mirza_ Haider, Gurkhan, who wrote a history of
his ancestors, and also graphically described the events in which he
sometimes played a leading part.
[14] “Journey to Ilchi Khotan (1866),” _J.R.G.S._ vol. 37 (1867).
[15] The text of the treaty is given in _The Life of Yakub Beg_, by D.
G. Boulger.
[16] _Zir_ is the mark for the sound “i,” and _zabar_ for the sound
“a”; their inclusion is apparently unmeaning.
[17] Vide _The Eastern Turkestan Dialect_, by G. Raquette.
[18] Vide _The Sheep and its Cousins_, by the late R. Lydekker, who
termed the _poli_, _Ovis ammon poli_, and the _karelini_, _Ovis ammon
littledalei_.
[19] “The Amir Yakub Khan and Eastern Turkestan in Mid-Nineteenth
Century,” by Colonel Sir Henry Trotter, K.C.M.G., C.B. (_Journal of the
Central Asian Society_, vol. iv., 1917, Part IV.).
Transcriber's Notes:
Italics are shown thus: _sloping_.
The Index entry for Chinese Turkestan: taxes, has been corrected
to page 306 from page 366 which does not exist.
Variations in spelling and hyphenation are retained.
Perceived typographical errors have been changed.