1895.] H. G. Raverty— Tibbat three hundred and sixty-jive years ago. 99 
territory of Yar-kand, and to the west of it is Kash-mlr. I was accom¬ 
panied by Sikandar Sultan [Sultan Sa‘Id Khan’s son], while the Khan 
himself proposed to proceed by the route of Khutan into the Altun-cl 
Tibbat, which is a dol-pah , or, in other words a dasht (steppe). 1 
“ I set out towards the close of the month before mentioned, and on 
the Jst of Safar (the second month of the following year, 939 H.), we 
reached Nubrah, which is a territory dependent on Tibbat. A mes¬ 
senger was despatched into the whole of these parts to invite the people 
to embrace the Musalman faith. 2 Most of them accepted the invitation 
with submission, with the exception of these black-faced ones of Nubrah, 
who manifested a contumacious and rebellious spirit, and all betook 
themselves to their forts and strongholds. Borq-pa, who was the 
greatest of the chiefs among them, and whose fort was Hdndar, which 
is the principal stronghold of that part, shut himself up therein. I in¬ 
vested him there ; and was occupied for some days in preparing the 
necessary materials for laying siege to it, such as manjaniqs (balistas), 
tords (mantelets), etcetera, and on the day fixed upon, moved towards it. 
Confusion and disorder, however, arose among the enemy, and they 
evacuated the fort and took to flight, pursued by the Musalmans as far 
as it was possible to follow them, and not one of the tribe entertained 
a hope of escape. Borq-pa, with all the males having been killed, a 
mandr of the heads of these contumacious rebels was raised, and a 
monument to the infidels of these parts towered upwards to the sky. 
Their territory was taken possession of, and troops occupied their forts ; 
and from thence we entered the territory of Mar-yol. Here there are 
two Hakims or rulers, one was Lat Ju Ghadan, and the other Ma 
SIngun; and both of them came and presented themselves, and sub¬ 
mitted. At this time the sun changed from Virgo and entered the sign 
Libra; and in Libra throughout all Tibbat, the severity of the cold is 
so great as not to be equalled in any other part in this season of the 
year. Consultation was now held with the Amirs along with me, as to 
what part of Tibbat was the best for us to make our qishldq , or winter 
quarters, 3 and where forage for the cattle and food for the men would 
1 From the context this refers to the table land of Tibbat, rather than to a 
dasht or steppe. 
2 In other words, they were called upon to “ come in ” — something after the 
manner recently, and now being practised on the frontier of Afghanistan towards 
the purely Afghan tribes—and allow themselves to be “annexed” against their 
will, but their religion is not interfered with. 
3 Any one who has been in the Af gh an state, especially its northern part, 
ought to know the proper meaning of qishldq or qishldyh (‘ q * and ‘ gh’ being per- 
mutable in the Turk! language), and most people who have been in those parts do 
know that it simply means a, place or tract in which the nomad people take up their 
