2l8 



THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



Kirghiz, who together number about 

 3,000,000. The Kara-Kirghiz, or 

 "Black Kirghiz," who live on Great 

 Pamir and the Tianshan Highlands, 

 number only about 300,000. The 

 Kirghiz-Kazaks themselves have never 

 used the name Kirghiz, which was 

 given them by the Eussiaus in order 

 to distinguish them from their own 

 Cossaks. They are the lowlanders; 

 while the Kara-Kirghiz are the high- 

 landers, who have largely wasted their 

 energies in fighting among themselves 

 and with the Kirghiz-Kazaks, who 

 exercise the authority of lords and 

 owners over the vast steppes extending 

 from the Lower Volga to Zungaria, 

 and from the head-waters of the 

 streams that flow northward to the 

 shores of the Sea of Aral. The 

 Kirghiz-Kazaks are considered to fill 

 an intermediate position between the 

 Turki and Mongol races, possessing 

 many physical traits in common with 

 the Mongolian, but speaking a pure 

 Turki dialect. Originally they were 

 divided into three septs, or "hordes." 

 The Middle Horde retained the cities 

 Tashkend and Turkestan; the Great 

 Horde moved to the east; and the Lesser Horde to the west and north. 



In the year 1734 the subjugation of the Kirghiz-Kazaks by the Russians began; but 

 more than a hundred years of intermittent war and constant persecution were required to 

 make these wild wanderers of the plain recognise that they were in conflict with a mighty 

 and constantly increasing power, to which they must surrender some, at least, of their indepen- 

 dence. These people are generally short of stature, with round, swarthy faces, short noses, 

 small, sharp black eyes, and the tightly drawn eyelids which are seen in all races derived from 

 primary Mongolian stock. Flocks and herds are their only wealth. The summer they spend 

 on the higher slopes of the mountains where pasture can be found; in winter they descend 

 to the valleys. Members of the same tent-village, which they term an aul, are generally 

 kinsmen, and their flocks may graze on the same lands. So hardy are these people that they 

 can go without drink for a whole day and without food for several days. They are very fond 

 of mutton, but at their great feasts horse-flesh is eaten. Having no bread, they sometimes 

 make a kind of porridge of millet. Tea is a favourite beverage, but koumiss may be called 

 the national drink. It is made of mare's milk fermented, and is preserved in skins. Travellers 

 say it is very wholesome, and many medical men in England recommend it to consumptive 

 patients. 



The men all shave their heads and allow their small beards to grow. They wear immense 

 baggy breeches and a coarse shirt, the most noticeable feature of which is the wide, flapping 

 collar. The outer garment is like a dressing-gown, and two or three of these are some- 

 times worn together, according to the temperature. Men who are rich in flocks and herds 

 have magnificent velvet robes, richly embroidered with gold and silver. Embroidered skull-caps 

 arc worn, and over these oddly shaped hoods of sheep skin or conical felt hats. Belts, saddles, 



By permission of the Royal Geographical Society. 



A KARA-KIRGHIZ WOMAN. 



