374 On the U'sbek State of Kokan, [Aug. 



Behadur Khan, son of Murad Be'g, is the reigning prince of 

 Bokhara and Samarkand, and their dependencies ; the last named city 

 is at present much reduced in both size and population : there are 

 several magnificent remains of the buildings erected by the famous 

 Timu'r, and there is among the rest, a block of blue marble or jasper 

 called the Riik-Tdrish, formerly used as a throne by the Tartar 

 emperors, and said to have been brought by Timu'r from one of Chen- 

 giz Khan's palaces in Mongol Tartary*, which to this day is an object 

 of great importance to the Chinese, who wish to take it to China from 

 some superstitious ideas they connect with it, and the prosperity of the 

 present Mantchu dynasty. 



The present Kha'n of Kokan is on terms of amity with the sovereign 

 of Bokhara. 



The part of the Russian Empire which touches on this territory is 

 dependent on the government of Orenburg and Tomsk. The boun- 

 dary of the two states is denned by the river called by the U' sbeks 

 the Kuk-Svi, or blue river, probably the Irtish. 



The political relations of this state with Russia are as follows : 



Much uncertainty having prevailed respecting the limits of the two 

 nations, and disputes having constantly occurred, owing to the Cossac 

 hordes of the one encroaching upon the Steppes occupied by those of the 

 other, and vice versa, about six or seven years ago envoys were deput- 

 ed by Russia to the Kha'n of Kokan, to fix the limits definitively ; these 

 envoys came from Orenburg, and brought with them as presents from 

 the emperor, (whom the U'sbeks call the Auk Khan, or White King,) 

 several mirrors of very large dimensions, a musical clock, and guns and 

 pistols. After some negociation, it was settled that the river called the 

 Kuk-Sii, or blue river, should be the boundary between the two states, 

 the Cossac hordes of Russia keeping to the north of it, and those of 

 either state not to pass that river to the south or north. Beacons also 

 were erected along the line of frontier. My informants said, however, 

 that within the last three years the Russians have encroached upon 

 those limits, and erected forts to the south of the river. The Khan on 

 this account lately deputed an envoy to St. Petersburg, with an elephant 

 and some Chinese slaves, as a present to His Czarish Majesty, of whose 



* The following is an account of this wonderful block of marble or jasper, as 

 given by Ba'ber in his memoirs : — " Towards the hill of Kohik, there is a small 

 garden, wherein is an open hall, within which is a large throne of a single block of 

 blue jasper, about 28 or 30 feet long, and 10 or 16 broad, and 2 in height. This 

 throne was said to have been brought from Chinese Tartary, probably from one of 

 ChengIz Kha'n's Urdus.*' 



