ASIA. 



the hollows they inclose. Turkestan is, for this 

 reason, bounded rather by the Gobi Desert, than 

 the ' roof of the world/ or Pamir steppe, which, 

 in recent maps, takes the place of the Bolor chain. 

 The country consists of the mountain-system 

 which ramifies north-east and west from the 

 Pamir table-land, and the low plains to which 

 these highlands sink on all sides. Two races 

 occupy Turkestan the Tajiks, or Aryan and Per- 

 sian speaking native population, who are agricul- 

 turists and inhabitants of towns ; and the Turks, 

 chiefly nomads, but to whom the ruling caste 

 belongs. They are Mongol in race and language, 

 and under their rule the independent states or 

 khanates into which the country has been divided, 

 have been the scene of perpetual strife and anarchy. 

 The Russians,' in those parts of Turkestan which 

 they have annexed, have found the subject popula- 

 tion, the Tajiks, industrious and frugal, remarkably 

 intelligent, and, like the Japanese, anxious to adopt 

 European habits, and to become acquainted with 

 the arts and sciences of Europe. 



The advance of the Russians in Northern Turk- 

 estan promises to confer inestimable benefits on 

 the country. In 1864 they took possession of 

 Tashkand, forming part of Fergana, long famous 

 for its beauty and fertility. A religious war 

 against the Russians followed the conquest, and 

 they added to their territory in 1868 Samarcand, 

 the old capital of Tamerlane and Baber vener- 

 ated all over the East, and especially in India, 

 as a holy city, only second to Mecca. The pos- 

 session of Tashkand and Samarcand enabled 

 Russia to control two of the chief Turkish khan- 

 ates. One remained, that of Khiva, at the mouth 

 of the Oxus, surrounded by deserts, and, in conse- 

 quence, deemed inaccessible. But in 1873 it too 

 was conquered, and a treaty was concluded with 

 the khan. The Russians have more recently sub- 

 jected Merv and other districts belonging to the 

 most savage people of the East the Turkomans, 

 who inhabit the northern frontier of Persia, and 

 who have converted the once beautiful Khorassan 

 into a desert, and destroyed all security for life 

 and property in Northern Persia. 



The chief cities of Turkestan are Tashkand 

 (pop. 90,000), and Samarcand (pop. 20,000), both 

 Russian. The other towns are small. 



Eastern Turkestan, or Kashgaria, which lies 

 east of the Pamir table-land, has only recently 

 become known to us from the works of Mr Shaw 

 and Dr G. Henderson. Shut up between the 

 Thian Shan and Kuen Lun Mountains and the 

 Desert of Gobi, geographers did not suspect that 

 in this part of Asia there existed a well-cultivated, 

 well-governed country, with three millions of 

 inhabitants. Although the inhabitants now 

 speak Turkish, they are said to shew many 

 Aryan characteristics ; and in the upper valley 

 of the Pamir table-land, recent travellers have 

 discovered what they believe to be pure Aryan 

 tribes. East Turkestan contains cities of 100,000 

 inhabitants, the chief of which are tKashgar 

 and Yarkand. In 1853 a rebellion broke out 

 in Kashgar, which ended in throwing off the 

 Chinese yoke ; and Kashgaria was an independ- 

 ent Mohammedan state till the death in 1877 of 

 Yakoob Beg, its first native prince. On the 

 accession of his son, the Chinese authorities 

 reasserted themselves ; and in 1879 the little 

 state was again a Chinese province. 



Afghanistan forms the north-eastern part of the 

 table-land of Iran already described. Its chief 

 slope lies towards the Persian desert, and it is 

 drained by the river Helmund, which falls into 

 the Lake of Seistan. In the north, the country is 

 traversed by ridges of hills, but to the south-east 

 it is more level. Everywhere the soil is arid ; but 

 the tracts lying along the streams are cultivated, 

 and considerable crops of rice, maize, sugar, cot- 

 ton, and tobacco are produced. The Tajiks, who 

 form about one-third of the population, are a<ri- 

 cultural labourers in a state of serfdom. The 

 Afghans, who form nearly another third, are the 

 ruling race. They are a tall, vigorous, and hand- 

 some people. The remaining third of the popula- 

 tion is chiefly composed of Mongols, including the 

 Hazareh and Eimak Mongols proper, and the 

 Turkoman tribe of Kuzzilbashes, who act as 

 domestic servants and soldiers. The Tajiks speak 

 Persian, the Afghans Pushtu, which, although an 

 Aryan language, is more akin to the languages of 

 India than of Iran. The chief towns of Afghanis- 

 tan owe their importance to their military position. 

 They are Candahar (pop. 50,000), Cabul (50,000), 

 and Herat (100,000). The city last named, and the 

 country surrounding it, are inhabited by a Persian 

 population, who differ, however, from the Persians 

 of Western Iran in professing the Sunnee rather 

 than the Shiite Mohammedanism. The Afghans 

 made their first prominent appearance in the 

 history of the East, on the death of Nadir Shah, 

 when Persia became finally dismembered. It 

 was then that Ahmed Khan Duranee seized 

 Candahar, and founded the dynasty, the Dura- 

 nces, who have since retained the throne. The: 

 law of succession in Afghanistan is, that the 

 Ameer shall select his successor from his gener- 

 ally numerous family ; and the consequence- 

 has been an interminable strife on the death 

 of every monarch, and such a record of fratri- 

 cidal crime and warfare as no other chapter 

 of history presents. The war with Britain in 

 1879-80 could hardly be expected to improve the 

 state of affairs. 



Beloochistan, south of Afghanistan, and east of 

 Persia, sinks to the low tracts adjoining the Indus 

 and the Indian Ocean. The climate of the high- 

 lands is cold for the latitude ; that of the plains,, 

 tropical and arid. The inhabitants are chiefly 

 pastoral, and there are no important towns. Two- 

 races occupy the country the Belooches, who 

 speak a Persian dialect, in the west ; and the: 

 Brahoes, who speak an Indian tongue, on the 

 east. The former are a powerful, bold, military 

 race, living in tents, and chiefly pastoral. The: 

 latter are a people of smaller stature, but patient 

 and laborious. They are agriculturists and 

 mechanics. The chief town is Kelat (pop. 

 12,000). The history of Beloochistan as an inde- 

 pendent state is quite modern, and the country 

 has been alternately considered as forming part 

 of India and of Persia. England has endeav- 

 oured, by granting a subsidy to the Khan of. 

 Kelat, to enable him to establish a powerful 

 government in Beloochistan, which may be made- 

 responsible for the conduct of the petty chiefs 

 along our frontier. 



Persia forms the middle part of the Iranian 

 table-land. It has an elevation of from 2000 to- 

 3000 feet above the sea-level. On the north it is 

 bounded by the Elburz chain, continued eastward 



m 



