The Russians in Central Asia : Their Occupation of the Kirghiz Steppe

ASIA (Jfdcttell Httiuetatti} Ilibrarg iltltara, Jfrm âth CHARLES WILLIAM WASON COLLECTION CHINA AND THE CHINESE THE GIFT OF CHARLES WILLIAM WASON CLASS OF 1876 1918 The date shows <</ „ ,..,.] Cornell University Library To renew thif^booj q^ a51.M62 "'''*''-"- »î^-^'' t^l "* Th, Russans In Central Asia :their occu 3 1924 023 159 621 a /<, : THE RUSSIANS IN CENTRAL ASIA: THEIR OCCUPATION OF THE KIRGHIZ STEPPE AND THE LINE OF THE SYR-DARIA : THEIR POLITICAL EBLATI0N8 WITH KHIVA, BOKHARA, AND KOKAN ALSO DESCRIPTIONS OF CHINESE TURKESTAN AND DZUNGARIA. BY CAPT. VALIKHANOF, M. VBNIUKOF, AND OTHER EUSSIAN TRAVELLERS. ffiranslattU from tfje Eusstan BY JOHN AND ROBERT MICHELL. LONDON: EDWARD STANFORD, 6 CHARING CROSS, 1865. M %b\% PREFACE. The valuable contributions to the geography and political history of Central Asia printed from time to time at St. Petersburg are almost entirely lost to this country^ owing to their being published in the Russian language. The great interest which Central Asia has lately attracted, in consequence of recent political events in the Khanat of Kokan, and the comparative ignorance which has prevailed in England respecting the true position of Russia in those distant regions, have induced us to make a collection of the most important of the Russian materials relating to ' the subject, and to present them to the public in an English form. The several chapters composing this volume, on their original appearance at St. Petersburg, excited considerable interest, and their several authors are well-known Russian travellers and geographers, who have made Central Asia their special study. IV PREFACE. Among the accounts of journeys and travels in Cen- tral Asia here presented to the reader, those of Captain Valikhanof in Dzungaria and Eastern Turkestan occupy a prominent position. Since the days of Marco Polo and the Jesuit Goez, no European, with the exception of A. Schlagintweit, has, to our knowledge, penetrated into those countries. The fear and jealousy of Europeans and the religious fanaticism of the people made that country quite inaccessible to modern explorers, and the mournful fate of the enterprising traveller at Kashgar is an illustration of the danger with which any attempt to reach it is beset. The travels of Valikhanof through Dzungaria and Chinese Turkestan were performed under singularly favourable circum- stances. Although an officer in the Russian service and a man of good education, he is the son of a Kirghiz Sultari and a native of the Steppes. He is consequently well acquainted with the language and customs of the people of Central Asia, and could go amongst them without exciting the least suspicion of being connected with Russia. He succeeded in reaching Kashgar in the train of a Kokan caravan, under the assumed character of a Marghilan merchant. His description of Kashgar, and of the political state of Eastern Turkestan, will be acknowledged as an im- PUEl'ACE. portant addition to the scanty information we as yet possess concerning that country. The chapters descriptive of the political relations of Russia with the different Khanats, and of the manner in which the power of Russia has been consolidated in the Kirghiz Steppe, and on the line of the Syr-Daria or Jaxartes, will, it is hoped, enable the English public to form a correct idea of the present attitude of Russia in Central Asia; and in presenting to our readers these Russian narratives and descriptions, we cannot omit to point out that, as the work of geographers and men of science, it has been executed with impartiality and without any political object. The recent capture of some Kokan towns and for- tresses, and the formation of a new province with the title of Turkestan, have increased the apprehensions that have been entertained by a portion of the English public of hostile intentions against British India. The junction of the line of the Syr-Daria with that of Eastern Siberia has certainly added a considerable piece of territory to the frontier of Russia, on which a distinct military frontier may now be drawn from the Gorbitza mountains on the Amur River to the mouth of the Jaxartes in the Sea of Aral. Before that junction was effected by the capture of Turkestan and Chem- VI PREKACE. kent, the military colonies on the Syr-Daria had no communication with the garrison of Fort Vernoe, the southernmost point on the frontier of Eastern Siberia, except by the circuitous route of Orenburg. The obligation which Russia has incurred of protecting the pastoral Kirghizes under her allegiance against the marauding expeditions of the subjects of the Khan of Kokan, frequently necessitates measures of retaliation and chastisement. It was, therefore, not the gain in territory, but the necessity of establishing a continuity of communication, and a consolidation of power with a view to tranquil possession, that prompted the recent encroachments of Russia on the dominions of the Khan. There is no doubt that Bokhara and Khiva, as well as Kokan, are entirely at the mercy of Russia, and will probably, in the course of time, become subject to it; but a perusal of this book will afford some evidence of the present uselessness of such conquests to an Empire already too large and unwieldy, thinly peopled at its centre, and just entering upon a long and perhaps troublesome process of political reorganisation. De- signs, however, on British India may quite as well be entertained with a force on the Caspian as with an army at Bokhara. The same distance would have to PREFACE. VU be passed by the invading force before reaching Afghanistan, and the same dangers would have to be encountered by it from a British army rapidly moved on by railways and riversj and famished with abundant supplies. On the other hand; the security and development of the Russian trade with Central Asia must eventually benefit England. Bokhara at present supplies B,ussia with cotton, dried fruits^ and other goods, and imports their value from Russia, half in hardware, wooden boxes, and coarse prints, and half in specie. That specie is all that the Central Asiatics have to offer in return for English manufactured goods, which they highly esteem, but which they cannot buy with their inferior products. As prosperity, coming in the wake of tranquillity, becomes more general in the plains of Turkestan, so will the demand for English manufac- tures and the means of purchasing them, now almost absent, become available. In the meanwhile, and apart from all political considerations, the continued efiforts of Russian men of science to throw light on a region of the world so little known and so highly interesting, cannot but meet with the sympathy of the English public, and merit its warm approval. The engravings which illustrate the book are from Vlll PREFACE. photographs taken on the spot during General Ignatiefs last mission to Khiva and Bokhara, and the accom- panying map has been carefully compiled from the most recent Russian sources; while for the introduction we are indebted to the late Mr. Hume Greenfield, formerly Assistant Secretary to the Royal Geographical Society, whose valuable assistance in editing the work and conducting it through the press we cannot suffi- ciently acknowledge. J. AND R. MiCHELL. iQth March, 1865. — CONTENTS. CHAPTEE I. Introduction. , PAGE. Persian and Russian acquisitions—Russian Invasion—TheUst- Urt—Khanat of Khiva—Khanat of Bokhara—Khanat of Kokan—Chinese Turkestan. 1 —22 CHAPTER IT. Abridged Nwrrative. of a Juv/rney to KMva, with Historical Particulars relating to the Khanat during the Government of Seid-Mohammed Khan, 1856—1860, ly K. Kiihlewein. Passage of A.ibugir Lake—Entry into Kungrad—Devastations by the Turkmen—Tedious Passage by Water to Khiva Unsettled state of the Country— Recent History of Khiva —High Officers of the Khan of Khiva—Tribes inhabit- ing the Khanat of Khiva — Turkmen Insurrections Metallic Currency of Khiva — Astronomical position of Khiva. 23—45 — CONTENTS. CHAPTEE III. General View of Bzungaria, ly Captain Valikhanof. PAGE. I'orlorn condition of Central Asia—Brutal Amusements of the llulers— Sufferings, &o., of European Travellers—Oppres- sions of the Chinese—Explorations of M. Semenof—Fauna and Elora of Dzuugaria—Ornithology of Dzungaria—Extir- pation of a whole race of Deer—Propagation and Suppres- sion of Christianity—Ethnology of Central Asiatic B^ces UigurLanguage unknown in Europe^Documentary History ofKashgar. 4(3—70 CHAPTEE IV. Travels in Dzungaria, hy Captain ValikJianof. Visit from the Sultan—Passage of the River Hi—Costume (if a Kirghiz Spearman—Interior of a Kirghiz Dwelling Filthy Habits of tlie Kirghizes—A Eeast—Habits and Customs of the Kirghizes—Primitive relations between the Sexes— Predatory Habits of Bursuk—Speculations as to the Origin of the Kirghizes —Traditions among the Kirg- hizes—Original Country of the Kirghizes—Importance of an Ethnographic Inquiry—Evidence of Genealogical Tra- ditions—Heroic Traditions of the Kirghizes —Epic Poems current among the Kirghizes—Distribution of the Dikoka- menni — Serious misunderstanding — Affray — Encounter with the Buruts. .... 71—108 CHAPTEE V. On the Condition of Alty-shahr, or the Six Eastern Towns of the Chinese Province of Nan-lu {Little Hohhard) in 1858—1859. Physical features of the Desert of Gobi — Table Land of Syrt — Caravan Eoads of Eastern Turkestan — Eiver System of Eastern Turkestan—Arrangements for accom- modating Carav;ms—Route from Pckin to Aksu—Various Ccua\an Routes to Yarkcud —Thcrmomcti ica Observations —— CONTENTS. XI PAGE. in Kasligar— Singular dread of Thunder Storms—Geniality luid Salubrity of Khotan— Gold-washing at Kaiâ—Mineral Wealth and Gold Mines of Kokan—Vegetation on the Tian- Shan Range—^Vegetation of Little Bokhara—Decline of Agriculture in Little Bokhara—Animals indigenous to Little Bokhara—Grain found in Kokan and Turkestan Domestic Animals of Little Bokhara—Exterior Aspect of a Little Bokharian Town—Description of the City of Kashgar — Municipal Buildings of Kashgar — Tombs of Mussulman Saints near Kashgar—Description of Yany- shahr and Yarkend — Settlements in the Province of Yarkend— Statistics of Khotan District and Trade—Ush- Turfan District described.

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