722 



RUSSIA. 



tions Russia would remain at peace with them. 

 The embassy which had reached Fort Alexan- 

 der, and had afterward embarked on one of 

 the Caspian steamers, was not allowed to pro- 

 ceed beyond Temir Khan Chousa, a port on 

 the east coast of Daghestan. The embassy 

 expected at Orenburg was detained on its ar- 

 rival. Two conditions were then communi- 

 cated to the embassies as those on which Rus- 

 sia would agree to remain at peace. They 

 were 1. The immediate restoration of all 

 the prisoners ; 2. That the Khan should make 

 explanations to the Governor-General of Toor- 

 kistan in regard to the uncourteous replies 

 which he had made to the friendly overtures 

 of that officer. The terms having been made 

 known to Mahmet Amin, he replied that he 

 would send his son to inform the Khan of the 

 Russian demands. Mahmet Amin then re- 

 turned to Fort Alexander, leaving with Prince 

 Melikoff the letter from the grand-duke. 

 The ambassadors detained at Orenburg were 

 sent back, taking with them the letter of the 

 Khan to the Emperor, which had not been ac- 

 cepted. The Khan afterward dispatched an 

 embassy to the Viceroy of India, to ask for 

 his intervention. A similar embassy had been 

 sent, under similar circumstances, in 1839, to 

 Major Todd, at Herat, and the aid which was 

 asked had then been refused. But the Khan, 

 who labored under the impression, common to 

 the Tartar tribes, that the English and Rus- 

 sians are bitter enemies, was not deterred by 

 this fact, and acted in the fullest confidence 

 that the English would not neglect an oppor- 

 tunity to check a furthex* advance of their 

 rivals for supremacy in Asia. Lord North- 

 brook received the embassy, but answered 

 their request with a rebuff which is described 

 as very blunt and disheartening. He advised 

 the Khan to accede to the righteous demand 

 of the Czar, by releasing the prisoners, and 

 warned him that England would not allow 

 her friend, Russia, to be injured by him. 



In preparing for the campaign, the Russians 

 established their base of operations at Krasno- 

 wodsk, a well-fortified military colony situ- 

 ated on the creek of the same name on the 

 east side of the Caspian Sea. The contem- 

 plated commercial road to the Oxus, by which 

 it is expected that the time of transportation 

 from the interior of Russia to Central Asia 

 will be shortened one-half, is to start from 

 this point. A railroad is also projected to 

 connect the Oxus with the Caspian Sea, which 

 will be substantially a continuation of the road 

 spanning the Caucasus from Poti to Baku. 

 This route is practicable in fall, winter, and 

 spring ; and by it, a Russian army, if not op- 

 posed by a hostile force, could reach the banks 

 of the Oxus in ten days. But very few details 

 have been made public of the progress of the 

 campaign. A report which was circulated in 

 October, that the city of Khiva and the Khan 

 had been captured, proved to be false. The 

 expedition was unsuccessful, and its recall and 



return were announced in November. Since 

 that time, the Russian Government has been 

 busy with preparations for an expedition on 

 a more extensive and formidable scale, to be 

 commenced as early as possible in 1873. Since 

 the failure of the expedition against Khiva 

 became known, the Russian Government has 

 announced officially that it has completed 

 treaties with the Khan of Khokan, the Ameer 

 of Bokhara, and Yakoob Kushbegi, the ruler 

 of Kashgar, and that any breach of these trea- 

 ties will be punished with force. 



An elaborate narrative of Russian dealings 

 in Central Asia, and statement of the policy 

 of the Imperial Government, appeared in the 

 St. Petersburg Official Gazette of November 

 13th. It held up the accomplishment of the 

 expedition against Khiva as the one necessary 

 condition remaining, should negotiations fail, 

 to the fulfilment of a grand design for civil- 

 izing the whole interior of Central Asia. The 

 direct instruments in this scheme are' to be 

 the Russian merchants, whose operations the 

 empire is bound in honor to protect. Free 

 intercourse on both sides for the traders of 

 Russia and for those of the khanates if such 

 there be ; protection to be afforded to the 

 caravans by regularly-organized and responsi- 

 ble agents; leave to import into each of the 

 states of Central Asia such quantities of Rus- 

 sian goods as are fairly proportioned to their 

 respective populations: these conditions con- 

 stitute the programme which Russia would 

 undeviatingly press upon her neighbors. The 

 Khan of Khokan had accepted the conditions 

 early in 1868, under the conviction of his in- 

 ability to hold out- against them. The Ameer 

 of Bokhara, late in the same year, submitted, 

 after his defeats, to the imposition of a similar 

 treaty. In the direction of the borders of 

 China, the country of Chinese Toorkistan was 

 first opened to Russian trade under the treaty 

 of Peking, it being then, at least nominally, a 

 province of the Celestial Empire ; and Yakoob 

 Kushbegi, its new, independent ruler, had 

 frankly accepted this part of his obligations. 

 There remained only Khiva to be brought to 

 reason, in order at once to complete the secu- 

 rity and develop by trade the full resources of 

 the Russian possessions beyond the Caspian 

 Sea. General Kauffman, who had been so 

 successful with the other petty sovereigns, 

 would insist on the necessary terms being 

 early accepted. This he hoped to accomplish 

 by peaceful means, but, if these failed, force 

 would certainly be used for this highly-neces- 

 sary object. 



The prompt and decided refusal given by 

 the Viceroy of India to the application of the 

 Khan of Khiva for aid against the Russian ad- 

 vance called forth much comment in the Eng- 

 lish papers. The opposition journals assailed 

 the ministry for what they considered the 

 want of decision and cowardice of its attitude 

 toward Russia. The steady progress of Rus- 

 sian influence in the districts southeast of the 



