TtJRKWTAN. 



TURKI8TAN. 



038 



go ztsaai v* portion of th* earth'* surface as TurkisUn is, sod 

 wfexfc wris* tram an risvatiesj of more than 18,000 feet above the 

 UrJ * the *sa lo about 81 feet below it, must necessarily present a 

 STMS variety of climate and geological structure, and, in consequence 

 of that variety, an equal diversity of vegetable and animal life. S. . 

 naU s portion of this ration has however been hitherto aooauible 

 t -'Se researeh, and the investigations of th* few scientific 

 > who have visited it have been distracted by so many 

 nta, that oar information on these points is niesgre in the 



The lias of perpetual mow in the neighbourhood of Sir-1-Kol 

 appear* to be above 17,000 feet In Wakhan on tho Amu (8000 to 

 10,000 feet above the .ea) the sssd-time i* in April, the harvest in 

 Jnly. Daring winter and spring a strong wind blows steadily down 

 the valVv from the north-east, which i* unfavourable to vegetation. 

 On th* 8th of April, 1839, according to Lieutenant Wood, not a leaf 

 of the mulberry-tree* was open at Khulm ; the plum-trees had blos- 

 somed at Kundns a month earlier. The harvest at Balkh is 50 days 

 trttf than at Pesbawur, and it is a fortnight later at Bokhara than at 

 Balkh. Between Balkh and Bokhara, Burnes observed that the ther- 

 mometer in the latter half of June rose to 103 in the day and 

 fell to 60* at night Fruit-tree* begin to blossom at Bokhara about 

 th* middle of February ; there are heavy rains in March ; the summer 

 neat is overwhelming ; there are two or three weeks of heavy rains 

 in October ; in January the ice is sometimes three or four inches in 

 ^hiflrff^. nd the snow sometimes lies fifteen days. The communi- 

 cation between Khiva and the Caspian is interrupted in summer by 

 the great heats. Snow lies on the Ust-Urt in the winter ; the Aral 

 b frosen so that the Kirghiz can pass on the ice from the mouths of 

 the Sir-Deria to the mouths of the Amu. The Amu too is some- 

 time* frosen as high up as Charjui (west of Bokhara), so that cara- 

 vans can cross on the ice. Along the Russian frontier the weather 

 is more inclement than the latitude and elevation of the, country 

 would lead one to expect. The most violent storms come from tho 

 north-west 



The vegetation of the upper part of tho valley of the Oxus is 

 noticed under BADAKSBAN. Groves of tolerably-sized firs occur in 

 the ravines of the Khnlm River, south of Kunduz ; but there are 

 no timber-trees on the Hindu-Rush. The assafaotida plant and the 

 furse of Tartary are the characteristic plants of the mountains south 

 of Balkh. The grass on the pastures around the Sir-i-Kol, and on 

 the high lands west of that lake and south of the Amu, is in general 

 vrry luxuriant Large quantities of wheat and other grains are 

 reared round Hazret Imam and Kunduz ; and apricots, plums, and 

 thT fruits in great abundance and of excellent quality at Kunduz, 

 Kulm, and Balkh. The almond and pistachio nut are natives of the 

 secondary ranges on the north face of the Hindu-Kush. The great 

 plain on both sides of the Amu is in most places a barren waste, or 

 thinly covered with straggling furze. Wherever there is water how- 

 evrr its clayey soil U easily rendered fertile by irrigation. In the oases 

 of Khulm, Balkh, Sereukhs, Merve, Kurshi, Bokhara, and Khiva, and 

 on the banks of the Gurgan, most kinds of fruit, vegetables, am: 

 grain are brought to perfection. The mouths of the rivers which fall 

 into the Caspian and Aral, and the borders of the salt lakes in the 

 Kirghiz steppe, which receive considerable rivers, are choked up with 

 gigantic reed* and other aquatic plants. The characteristic plant oj 

 these steppes is the sachsauL In the sands it is a shrub, in clayey 

 oil* it assumes the appearance of a tree. It is a dry desert plant, 

 invaluable to the wanderers of the steppe on account of the slow 

 ness with which it consumes, and the length of time which it remains 

 burning. On the Upper Islam there is a considerable extent o 

 Const land. 



Th* most important animals on the highlands of Pamir are the 

 yak, the argali, tho markhor, a large species of goat, wolves, foxes 

 and hare*. Eagles are numerous among the inferior ranges; larg< 

 flocks of the hooded crow frequent the hills in summer, and come 

 down to the plain* about Kunduz in whiter. House-sparrows, part- 

 ridges, and pheasants are found on the plains of the Amu, over which 

 also deer and antelope* roam in considerable numbers. In the northern 

 parts of the Kirghiz steppe an found the saiga, a kind of antelope, an 

 a specie* of (mall eagle, called berkut, which is trained for the chase 

 The steppe would seem to be the native country of the Mwida, whicl 

 are found there in almost every possible variety. The wild-bear inhabits 

 the reedy margins of the lakes and rivers ; and a tiger, supposed to be 

 the sun* as that of Bengal, frequents the delta of the Sir-Deria. Th 

 Upper Turgai swarms with snakrs. There is an astonishing quantit 

 of wstor-mskn in the lower delta of the Ural 



Tnrkiitan. or Tartary, is named from its predominant race, th 

 Tnrk, or Tartar, for they are the same or a kindred people. Th 

 Cirghix Tartars, properly to called, inhabit the high table-land o 

 mir, and its bordering mountains and valleys. They are nomad 

 The v an a people of low stature, with Mongolian countenances, thong 

 peeking a Turkish dialect, which differs little from that of the Uzbe 

 Tartar, of Kundns. The tribe* called Kirghiz by the Russians, wh 

 roam the *pfMs from the north dlivity of Pamir and the southern 

 shore of the Aral to the Ituuisn frontier, and from the Caspian to th 

 Chinese frontier, sre divided into the three great hordes. That whic 

 ranges tb country on the south-east acknowledge* the designator 



Kirghiz, and appears to resemble in most respects tho Highlanders of 



amir. The horde on the Siberian frontier, and that which roams 



rum tho Ural range to the Ust-Urt, call themselves Kassak, or Cossak. 



he men of the Middle Horde have less of the Mongolian features 



than the Kirghiz, and those of the Little Horde, as it is called, still 



ss. The Turkoman tribes range the deserts around tho Amu and 



Caspian, from the Ust-Urt to the frontiers of Persia and Balkh : these 



ribe* appear, from their lineaments as well as from their language, to 



>e more free from any mixture of Mongol blood than those previously 



mentioned. The Turkish clans possessed of political power in Khiva, 



okhsra, Kunduz, and Kokand, are called Uzbeks : in their lineament* 



ley bear a considerable resemblance to the Kirghiz, differing from 



icm mainly in those peculiarities which distinguish a people long 



ivilised from one which has scarcely emerged from savage life. A 



umber of tribes of alien lineage and language live intermingled with 



be Turkish clans. The Afghans, Jews, Hindoos, and other colonists, 



resent no uncommon feature in Asiatic society; but the Persian 



'ajiks, or agricultural settlers, and the Snrtis, or mercantile classes of 



be same race, who preponderate in Bokhara and some other towns, are 



remarkable as vestiges of an earlier population which possessed the 



ountry previous to the arrival of the Turks. In the cities west of 



'amir theee Persian tribes arc said to preponderate in number ; in the 



ities east of Pamir, on the other hand, the Turkish population would 



appear to be the most numerous. The predominant religion among 



all these tribes is the Mohammedan. 



The political divisions of independent Tartary ore : The steppes of 

 he Kassoks and Kirghiz ; the plain of the Turkomans, between the 

 Amu and the Caspian ; the territory subject to the Khan of Khiva ; 

 he territory subject to the Mir of Bokhara ; the territory subject to 

 he Khan of Kokhand; the territory subject to the Mir of Kunduz; 

 ,nd the territory east of Pamir, incorporated into the Chinese empire. 



1. The Kirghiz and Kossaks number about 400,000 tents or families ; 

 if these 75,000 belong to the Great Horde : they encamp on the rivers 

 Sara-Su and Tshui, on the middle course of the Sir-Deria, and around 

 he lakes on the west side of the Chinese province of Songaria. The 

 tliddle Horde numbers 165,000 tents : its families encamp on the 

 treams and lakes north of the sources of the Turgai and Sara-Su. 

 The tents of the Little Horde amount to 160,000, which are scattered 

 over the delta of the Sir-Deria and the country west of the Turgai, 

 >etween the Russian frontier and the southern termination of tho 

 Jst-Urt Along the Chinese and Russian frontiers an uncertain 

 lefereuce is paid to the injunctions of these governments. 2. Tho 

 Turkomans number about 366,000 families or tents, including a 

 number of tribes subjected by the khans of Khiva. 3. KHIVA. 4. 

 JOKHABA. 5. Kokatid extends on the north to within 45 miles of tho 

 south bank of the Tshui : its most western station is Urutuppah, for- 

 merly a frontier town of Bokhara ; on the east it is bounded by tho 

 Chinese frontier, and on the south all the wandering Kirghiz of the 

 Pamir profess to be subjects of the Khan of Kokand. The government 

 of this state much resembles in its character that of Khiva ; it is how- 

 ever less favourably situated for participating in the gains of tho 

 Turkoman and Kirghiz slave-trade, and for levying black-mail on 

 caravans, and is therefore less heard of. 6. Chinese Turkistan forms a 



hinese province, under the designation of the Country of the New 

 frontier. Chinese garrisons are placed in all the towns along the base 

 of the Thian-ihan, iu Kashgar and Yarkand, and lines of pickets keep 

 up the communication between these principal stations. Double rows 

 of custom-houses are placed along the frontier of the province to 

 examine strangers and act as a check upon each other. The adminis- 

 tration of justice and the exercise of the local police is left to the 

 Uzbek authorities ; the general military and civil authority is vested 

 in Chinese or Mantchu officers. The public revenue is employed to 

 defray the expenses of the provincial administration, and any surplus 

 is sent to Hi. 7. The Mir of Kunduz exercises an authority much 

 of the same kind as that exercised by the khans of Khiva and Kokand. 

 His dominions extend on the west to a station nearly midway between 

 Khulm and Balkh ; on the south to Sykan, north of Bamian, and 

 farther west to the crest of Hindu- Rush ; on the east to the Chinese 

 frontier. North of the Amu he exercises a precarious authority over 

 all the settlers who are so unfortunate as to live within reach of his 

 chupaos, or predatory incursions. The forces of the Mir consist chiefly 

 of cavalry : he can bring together on a surprisingly short warning 

 15,000 horsemen inured to predatory warfare. He has razed every 

 hill-fort in his country ; the fastnesses on the plain arc held by mem- 

 bers of his own family. Within his own territories he is strict and 

 impartial in tho exercise of justice, and subjugated tribes are on tho 

 whole leniently dealt with. Besides these states, there ore at least 

 four towns, with their adjoining territory, in Turkistan, which may 

 bo considered independent of any external government Maimanu, 

 Andkho, Shibbergan, and Sir-i-Pul. They are all situated in oases 

 formed by streams from the Hazareh Mountains, south of tho plain of 

 the Oxus. The chief of Maimanu cm raise 6000 horse among his 

 Turkoman adherents; the chief of Sir-i-Pul can raise 1000 Uzbeks; 

 the chiefs of Andkho and Shibbergan 500 each. The chief of Audkho 

 is an Afshar Turk ; the rest are Uzbeks. 

 Turkistan is formed by nature to be the scene of a transit commerce 



between the countries which surround it on ail sides, rather than of a 

 trada iu its own, productions. Balkh, Bokhara, and Kokand produce 





