98 
THROUGH ASIA 
Khans. The Afghans occupied Badakshan and Shugnan, 
overran Roshan and Wakhan, and in the last-mentioned 
district built strong posts of observation all along the 
river Panj. The Chinese took possession of the frontier 
districts on the east ; and the British established them- 
selves in Chitral and Kanjut. But the Russians -were 
not unobservant of vrhat was going on. In the year 1891 
Colonel Yonnoff, with a force of something like 1000 
Cossacks, and a long train of pack-animals, carrying 
commissariat and ammunition stores, and even machine- 
guns, started from Margelan, and marched right over the 
Pamirs to the Hindu-kush, as far as the Baroghil pass, 
where he came into collision with a small Afghan out- 
post. A short time afterwards he built, on the river 
Murghab, the fort Shah Jan, a name which was subse- 
quently changed to Fort Pamir. There he left behind 
a permanent garrison of two or three hundred Cossacks 
to watch over the interests of his country. 
This was the origin of the Pamir Question, the sub- 
ject of so much animated discussion in the immediately 
succeeding year. And thus the region of the Pamirs, 
hitherto shrouded, and almost forgotten, among the 
arctic-like severities of the heart of Asia, became the 
object of the liveliest interest, the focus of political and 
stratetric movements of a momentous character. 
Certain portions of the Pamirs were however left un- 
claimed, abandoned to the few Kirghiz who were content 
to stay there and struggle for existence against the bitter 
cold. These nomads acknowledged no man’s sovereignty, 
and paid no tribute ; although each of their neighbours 
around them laid claim to it, and possessed frontier 
garrisons strong enough to enforce their claim. But 
they were all fully conscious of the fact, that a movement 
in that direction by any one of them would be the signal 
for hostilities ; and though all the three powers were ready 
to fight, none wished to incur the grave responsibility of 
taking the first decisive step. 
During the course of my stay with Baron Vrevsky, 
governor- general^ of Russian Turkestan, we had many 
