TURKISTAN. 



775 



the Council of Justice. In the end of 1860 he 

 was nuiilr 11 pallia. with the rank of vizier, be- 

 iiii, r named (iovernor of NJSMI, to \\liii-h were 

 .sul).sc.|iu 'iitiy added the districts of Uskul and 

 1'ri.sivnd. In 1S04 he was appointed (imernor- 

 Genernl >f the Vilayet of the Danube (geo- 

 graphical Bulgaria). Subsequently he became 

 S.iu-rmir <i. -n ral >t' lijigdad, then member 

 :-.inl President of the Council of Justice, and, 

 later still, for a short time grand-vizier. On 

 his resumption of the presidency of the Coun- 

 cil he played a prominent part in dethroning 

 Abdul- Aziz, and shortly after escaped from the 

 assassin of Hussein Avni Pasha. (Both events 

 have been referred to in a preceding page.) He 

 is regarded as one of the most energetic states- 

 men of Turkey. Among the many examples 

 which are related of his energy, an incident in 

 his administration of Bulgaria is of special in- 

 terest. Having carefully watched the secret 

 movements of the Panslavists in Bulgaria, he 

 had several of the chief agitators arrested whom 

 he thought to be Russian emissaries. Ignatieif 

 at once interceded in behalf of the prisoners, 

 and the timid Grand- Vizier of that time, Ali 

 Pasha, instructed Midhat by telegraph not to 

 proceed any further against the prisoners, but 

 to send a full report of their case to Constan- 

 tinople. Midhat laconically replied by tele- 

 graph : " To-day two culprits convicted, sen- 

 tenced, and executed. Report will be sent." 

 The threatening remonstrances of Ignatieff in- 

 duced the Grand-Vizier to send a second more 

 urgent telegram, to which Midhat, with undis- 

 turbed laconism, replied : " Two other culprits 

 sentenced, and executed. Report by mail fol- 

 lows." Frightened at the rage of Ignatieff, 

 Ali Pasha telegraphed to Midhat : " I forbid 

 you to take any other step, upon penalty of de- 

 position and severe punishment. I expect tele- 

 graphic report." To which Midhat replied: 

 " Report sent by courier ; the explanations will 

 be found satisfactory. Quiet has been restored. 

 The four last culprits will be executed immedi- 

 ately." 



.TURKISTAN is the name given to a region 

 of Central Asia extending from the Caspian 

 Sea eastward, half-way across the desert of 

 Gobi, bounded on the north by the Russian 

 dominions, and on the south by Persia, Af- 

 ghanistan, India, and Thibet. It is divided 

 naturally by the lofty table-land of Pamir into 

 the two divisions of East and West Turkistan. 

 Western Turkistan comprises the khanates of 

 Khiva and Bokhara (both of which have been 

 brought under Russian influence), the former 

 khanate of Khokan (now annexed to Russia), 

 Wakhan, Badakhshan, Koondooz, including 

 Khooloom, and Balkh (lately incorporated into 

 Afghanistan). Eastern Turkistan, also called 

 Chinese Tartary, comprises the region east of 

 the table-land of Pamir, of which Kashgar is 

 the principal state. The most important events 

 in the history of Turkistan during 1876 relate 

 to the annexation of Khokan to Russia, and to 

 the movements of the Emir of Kashgar in 



maintenance of his asserted independence of 

 the Chinese Empire. 



K Imkan^ or A'hokand, until recently one of 

 the three great khanates of West Turkistan, 

 was annexed to Russia early in 1876, when 

 it received the name of Ferghana, after the 

 historic name of the valley of Ferghana. Its 

 area is about 28,270 square miles. Its popula- 

 tion is estimated by the Russians at about 

 960,000 souls; but Mr. Eugene Schuyler, in his 

 "Turkistau," thinks this is far too great, and 

 that 600,000 souls would be a large estimate. 



The exports from Khokan to Russian or Si- 

 berian markets amounted in 1872 to 2,189,836 

 rubles, and the imports from Russian territory 

 to 1,273,520 rubles. Khokan, the chief town 

 and capital of the khanate, has 500 mosques, 

 and about 75,000 inhabitants; Andijan has 

 about 20,000, and Marghilan about 80,000 

 inhabitants. General Kaufmann, having been 

 ordered to ravage the territory between tlie 

 Naryn and the Sir Darya, the seat of the trou- 

 blesome Kiptchaks, set out from Namanghan 

 on January 6th, with a command of 800 men. 

 He marched up the northern bank of the Sir 

 Darya, and on January 14th reached Sarkha- 

 ba, having destroyed everything on his route. 

 He then proceeded to Andijan, near which 

 place the enemy were massed in force. After 

 several engagements and a short bombardment, 

 he occupied this city on January 21 st, the enemy 

 retreating toward Assake. General Scoboleff 

 advanced toward that place on January 80th, 

 and took it after a hard struggle. The towns 

 of Shahrikhana and Marphilan then sent in 

 their submission. On the 1st of February, 

 Abderrahman, leader of the insurgents, made 

 proposals for a conference, which was held on 

 February 5th. The result was the uncondi- 

 tional surrender of himself and several otl.er 

 chiefs. Pulad Beg, another leader of the in- 

 surrection, was driven to the Alai Mountains, 

 where he was captured shortly after the an- 

 nexation of Khokan to Russia, and was brought 

 to Marghilan and hanged for the murder of 

 twelve Russian soldiers whom he had taken 

 prisoners. Nasr ed-Din, the new Khan of 

 Khokan, who had been driven away by the in- 

 surrection, returned to Khokan by invitation of 

 his subjects, on February 2d. Although Nasr 

 ed-Din had formerly been recognized by the 

 Russians, General Scoboleff was ordered to 

 occupy the city of Khokan, and did so on 

 February 20th. Nasr ed-Din Khan, Abderrah- 

 man Aftobatcha, and other troublesome per- 

 sons, were sent prisoners to Tashkend. On 

 the 2d of March the Czar of Russia issued a 

 ukase declaring that he had thought it proper, 

 in order to assure the safety of the southeast- 

 ern borders of Turkistan, to annex the terri- 

 tory of the khanate of Khokan, and ordered 

 it to be organized into the province of Fer- 

 ghana, as a part of the general government and 

 military district of Turkistan. The command 

 of the province was assigned to the Governor- 

 General of Turkistan, assisted by a military 



