1834.] the Ancient Ferghana in Central Asia. 371 



decline and division of the Mongol Empire, under his successors, it was 

 conquered by the famous Amir Timu'r, who bequeathed it to one of 

 his sons : from whom it descended to the famous Baber, who reigned 

 at the city called at present Andejan, but which was formerly called 

 Almalij, or " The Place of Apples," from the number of orchards of ap- 

 ple trees, by which it was surrounded. Shortly after the accession of 

 Baber, about 1520*, the U'sbek Tartars were forced by the rising 

 power of the Russians to abandon the southern parts of Siberia, &c, 

 which had formed part of the Tartar kingdom of Kiptchak ; on their 

 way southward, under the command of their leader Shubani Khan, 

 they overran all the states of Central Asia, Bokhara, Samarkand, &c, 

 and after a brave resistance, Baber, among the rest of the princes of 

 that countrv, was obliged to abandon his patrimonial kingdom, and fly 

 to Kabul, where he fixed his government, and whence having con- 

 centrated his forces, he invaded India, took Delhi in 1526, and there 

 established the present Moghul dynasty ; ever since the flight of Baber, 

 the country of Kokan has been governed by U sbek princes, who trace 

 their descent from Chengiz Khan, and who transferred the capital 

 from Andejan to Kokan. 



The state of Kokan consists of eight extensive governments, each 

 deriving its name from its chief town ; these are — to the south-west 

 of the city of Kokan the fortified town of Urutippa, and its depend- 

 ent district ; to the west, the ancient city and dependancy of Kojend 

 on the Sihun or Jaxartes ; to the south-east, the districts of Uch and 

 Marghilan ; to the north-east, Nemengan and Andejan : to north and 

 north-west, the cities of Tashkend and Turkistan, with their districts : 

 these with Kokan form together eight distinct governments. 



The districts of Tashkend was till lately under a separate chief, who 

 was a Syed called Yonis KhojehI, but has been taken from his sons 

 by the present Khan of Kokan. 



The governors of all these provinces are appointed and removed by 

 the Khan, or king, at pleasure ; they are all military commanders, and 

 generally hold the rank of Ming-Bashis, or commander of one thou- 

 sand horse. The king is not, as in Persia, dependent for support on the 

 warlike tribes, butkeeps up a standing army of cavalry, which is support- 

 ed by an allowance of grain and forage from the districts in which they 



* They are called U'sbek from a descendant of ChengIz Kha'n, who was the 

 head of the golden horde, and so beloved, that they adopted his name. In like man- 

 ner the Noghai Tartars have obtained their peculiar appellation ; they belonged to 

 the Great Horde. 



t Khojeh is a title given by the Tartars to Syeds, as Sherif in Turkey, and 

 Meer and Shah in India. 

 2 B 2 



