1895.] H. Gr. Raverty— Tibbat three hundred and sixty-five years ago. 93 
Mughals, 1 in which some of the branches of Dol-bah Canbahs, or 
nomads, already noticed, work ; bnt on account of the excessive coldness 
of the air they are not able to work more than forty days in each year. 
The shafts (adits ) open on level ground, in such wise that a person can 
enter them ; and the shafts are numerous, and most of them lead one 
into the other. It is affirmed that as many as three hundred families 
at a time continue at all times to dwell in these shafts or holes. 
The passage of some Mu gh als happened to lie that way, and being 
perceived by the Dol-bah from a distance, when they drew near, 
these people crept into the shafts so that the Mu gh als could not find 
one of them. In these shafts, likewise, they do not burn any oil, only 
clarified fat of sheep, in which no tallow is contained. They bring the 
earth in sieves to the mouths of the shafts and wash it, and it is said 
that from one sieve-full of earth, as much as ten misqals (each misqal 
being about one dram and a half) are on an average produced. The 
same person digs out the earth, brings it out, and washes it himself; 
and in the course of a day can fill and wash twenty sieves-full. 
Although this matter has not been verified and tested by me, neverthe¬ 
less, the statement agrees in every way with the reports current in 
Tibbat, and therefore it has been recorded here. 
“ Another territory is Kokah, which contains some two hundred 
forts. Its length is three days’ journey; and there is gold to be found 
in every part of it. They dig out a certain quantity of earth and 
spread it out on the face of a cured hide, and pick out the gold there¬ 
from which is in grains. Some of these grains are of the size of lentils, 
or peas; and it is said, that, sometimes, nuggets of the size of an egg 
and even of the size of a sheep’s liver, or even larger are found. 2 At 
1 Altiin or Altan is the Turk! for gold, but not “ Altyng ; ” and Altun-ci Tibbat 
refers to the northern parts thereof, near the “ recently discovered, Altyn moun¬ 
tains.” 
2 All the rivers issuing from these mountains bring down gold — the Indus, 
the Kunar, the Yar-kand river, as its name indicates, namely, Zar-Afshan— the 
Scatterer or Diffuser of gold — and several others. 
Among the rarities despatched by the Cingiz or Great Khan to Sultan 
Muhammad, the Khwarazm Shah, was a larger nugget than this one by far. The 
author of the Tabaqat-i-Ndsiri states (page 966) that, “ Among the rarities and 
presents sent to the Sultan was a nugget of pure gold, as big as a camel’s neck, 
which they had brought to him [the Cingiz Khan] from the mountain range of 
Tamghaj, so that it was necessary to convey that piece of gold upon a cart.” 
The ruler of Tamghaj in the time of the Cingiz IGian was styled The Altan 
Kh an, altan or ditun in Turkish signifying gold. Tamghaj is described as the 
name of a territory of Turkistan, i.e., the country inhabited by Turks, and the name 
generally applied to the Badshahs or sovereigns of Tibbat and Yughma ; and Tam gh aj 
and Yughma are said to have been “ the names of cities giving names to coun¬ 
tries also.” 
