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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life of Yakoob Beg, by Demetrius Boulger
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Life of Yakoob Beg
+       Athalik Ghazi, and Badaulet; Ameer of Kashgar
+
+Author: Demetrius Boulger
+
+Release Date: September 12, 2010 [EBook #33712]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE OF YAKOOB BEG ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by The Bookworm, [bookworm.librivox AT gmail.com],
+Asad Razzaki and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned
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+project.)
+
+
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+
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+
+  Variations in spelling and hyphenation have been retained as in
+    the original.
+
+  Some typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected. A
+    complete list follows the text.
+
+  Words italicized in the original are surrounded by _underscores_.
+
+  Superscripted words are surrounded by {} brackets.
+
+  The 'oe' ligature is represented as oe.
+
+
+
+
+                  THE LIFE
+
+                      OF
+
+                 YAKOOB BEG;
+
+         ATHALIK GHAZI, AND BADAULET;
+
+               AMEER OF KASHGAR.
+
+                      BY
+
+          DEMETRIUS CHARLES BOULGER,
+
+      MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY.
+
+           _WITH MAP AND APPENDIX._
+
+                   LONDON:
+  W{M} H. ALLEN & CO., 13, WATERLOO PLACE, S.W.
+                    1878.
+
+          _[All rights reserved.]_
+
+
+                   LONDON:
+       PRINTED BY WOODFALL AND KINDER,
+         MILFORD LANE, STRAND, W.C.
+
+
+
+
+                  THE LIFE
+
+                     OF
+
+                 YAKOOB BEG.
+
+
+
+
+                TO MY FATHER,
+
+            BRIAN AUSTEN BOULGER,
+
+                 I Dedicate
+
+  THE FOLLOWING PAGES, AS SOME FAINT TOKEN
+     OF FILIAL AFFECTION AND GRATITUDE.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+The following account of the life of Yakoob Beg was written with a
+twofold intention. In the first place, it attempts to trace the career
+of a soldier of fortune, who, without birth, power, or even any great
+amount of genius, constructed an independent rule in Central Asia, and
+maintained it against many adversaries during the space of twelve years.
+The name of the Athalik Ghazi became so well known in this country, and
+his person was so exaggerated by popular report, that those who come to
+these pages with a belief that their hero will be lauded to the skies
+must be disappointed. Yakoob Beg was a very able and courageous man, and
+the task he did accomplish in Kashgaria was in the highest degree
+creditable; but he was no Timour or Babur. His internal policy was
+marred by his severity, and the system of terrorism that he principally
+adopted; and his external policy, bold and audacious as it often was,
+was enfeebled by periods of vacillation and doubt. Yet his career was
+truly remarkable. He was not the arbiter of the destinies of Central
+Asia, nor was he even the consistent opponent of Russian claims to
+supremacy therein. He was essentially of the common mould of human
+nature, sharing the weaknesses and the fears of ordinary men. The
+Badaulet, or "the fortunate one," as he was called, was essentially
+indebted to good fortune in many crises of his career. He cannot, in any
+sense, be compared to the giants produced by Central Asia in days of
+old; and among moderns Dost Mahomed of Afghanistan probably should rank
+as high as he does. Yet he gives an individuality to the history of
+Kashgar that it would otherwise lack. The recent triumphs of the Chinese
+received all their attraction to Englishmen from the decline and fall of
+Yakoob Beg, the hero they had erected in the country north of Cashmere.
+
+In the second place, the following pages strive to bring before the
+English reader the great merits of China as a governing power; and this
+object is really the more important of the two. It is absolutely
+necessary for this country to remember that there are only three Great
+Powers in Asia, and of these China is in many respects the foremost.
+Whereas both England and Russia are simply conquering Governments, China
+is a mighty and self-governing country. China's rule in Eastern
+Turkestan and Jungaria is one of the most instructive pages in the
+history of modern Asia, yet it may freely be admitted that the brief
+career of Yakoob Beg gave an interest to the consideration of the
+Chinese in Central Asia that that theme might otherwise have failed to
+supply. The authorities used in the compilation of the facts upon which
+the following pages have been erected are principally and above all the
+official Report of Sir Douglas Forsyth, and the files of the _Tashkent_
+and _Pekin Gazettes_ since the beginning of 1874. Mr. Shaw's most
+interesting work on "High Tartary," Dr. Bellew's "Kashgar," and
+Gregorieff's work on "Eastern Turkestan," have also been consulted in
+various portions of the narrative. A vast mass of newspaper articles
+have likewise been laid under contribution for details which have not
+been noticed anywhere else.
+
+In conclusion, the author would ask the English reader to consider very
+carefully what the true lesson of Chinese valour and statesmanship may
+be for us, because those qualities have now become the guiding power in
+every Indian border question, from Siam and Birma to Cashmere. Mr.
+Schuyler's "Turkestan," which still maintains its place as the leading
+work on Central Asia, although not treating on the affairs of Kashgar,
+has been frequently referred to for the course of affairs in Khokand;
+but, in the main, Dr. Bellew's historical narrative in Sir D. Forsyth's
+Report has been followed.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+  CHAPTER I.
+                                          PAGE
+  GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF KASHGAR       1
+
+  CHAPTER II.
+
+  ETHNOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF KASHGAR    14
+
+  CHAPTER III.
+
+  HISTORY OF KASHGAR                       22
+
+  CHAPTER IV.
+
+  THE CONQUEST OF KASHGAR BY CHINA         41
+
+  CHAPTER V.
+
+  THE CHINESE RULE IN KASHGAR              54
+
+  CHAPTER VI.
+
+  THE BIRTH OF YAKOOB BEG AND CAREER IN
+    THE SERVICE OF KHOKAND                 76
+
+  CHAPTER VII.
+
+  THE INVASION OF KASHGAR BY BUZURG KHAN
+    AND YAKOOB BEG                         92
+
+  CHAPTER VIII.
+
+  WARS WITH THE TUNGANI                   119
+
+  CHAPTER IX.
+
+  YAKOOB BEG'S GOVERNMENT OF KASHGAR      137
+
+  CHAPTER X.
+
+  YAKOOB BEG'S POLICY TOWARDS RUSSIA      173
+
+  CHAPTER XI.
+
+  YAKOOB BEG'S RELATIONS WITH ENGLAND     212
+
+  CHAPTER XII.
+
+  YAKOOB BEG'S LAST WAR WITH CHINA,
+    AND DEATH                             236
+
+  CHAPTER XIII.
+
+  THE CHINESE RECONQUEST OF KASHGAR       268
+
+  CHAPTER XIV.
+
+  THE CHINESE FACTOR IN THE CENTRAL
+    ASIA QUESTION                         277
+
+  APPENDIX.
+
+    THE POSITION OF LOB-NOR               303
+    TREATY BETWEEN RUSSIA AND CHINA       308
+    TREATY BETWEEN ENGLAND AND CASHMERE   315
+    TREATY BETWEEN RUSSIA AND KASHGAR     320
+    TREATY BETWEEN ENGLAND AND KASHGAR    322
+    RULES FOR THE GUIDANCE OF THE JOINT
+      COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED FOR THE
+      NEW ROUTE TO EASTERN TURKESTAN      330
+    A STORY FROM KASHGAR                  334
+
+
+
+
+YAKOOB BEG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF KASHGAR.
+
+
+The state of Kashgar, which comprises the western portion of Eastern or
+Chinese Turkestan, has been defined as being bounded on the north by
+Siberia, on the south by the mountains of Cashmere, on the east by the
+Great Desert of Gobi, and on the west by the steppe of "High Pamere."
+This description, while sufficiently correct for general speaking,
+admits of more detail in a work dealing at some length with that
+country. Strictly, the name Kashgar or Cashgar applies only to the city,
+and it was not until after the time of Marco Polo, when it was the most
+populous and opulent town in the whole region, that it became used for
+the neighbouring country. The correct name is either Little Bokhara or
+Eastern Turkestan, and the Chinese call it Sule. Recent writers have
+styled the territory of the Athalik Ghazi Kashgaria. It certainly
+extended through a larger portion of Chinese Turkestan than did any past
+native rule in Kashgar, the Chinese of course excepted. The definition
+given above of the limits of Kashgar states that on the north it is
+bounded by Siberia, but this is erroneous, for the extensive territory
+of Jungaria or Mugholistan intervenes. Jungaria under the Chinese was
+known as Ili from its capital, and now under the Russians is spoken of
+as Kuldja, another name for the same city. This very extensive and
+important district was included in the same government with Kashgar when
+the Chinese dominated in all this region from their head-quarters at
+Ili; but in the final settlement after the disruption of the Chinese
+power in 1863, while Kashgar fell to the Khoja Buzurg Khan, and the
+eastern portion of Jungaria, together with the cities of Kucha,
+Karashar, and Turfan south of the Tian Shan range, to the Tungani;
+Kuldja or Ili was occupied by the Russians. The frontier line between
+Kuldja and Kashgar is very clearly marked by the Tian Shan, and the same
+effectual barrier divides the continent into two well-defined divisions
+from Aksu to Turfan and beyond. Eastern Turkestan is, therefore, bounded
+on the north by the Tian Shan, and on the south the Karakoram Mountains
+form a no less satisfactory bulwark between it and Kohistan and
+Cashmerian Tibet. As has been said, on the west the steppe of Pamir and
+on the east the desert of Gobi present distinct and secure defences
+against aggression from without in those directions. There are few
+states in Asia with a more clearly marked position than that of which we
+have been speaking. Nature seems to have formed it to lead an isolated
+and independent existence, happy and prosperous in its own resources and
+careless of the outer world; but its history has been of a more troubled
+character, and at only brief intervals has its natural wealth been so
+fostered as to make it that which it has been called, "the Garden of
+Asia." This condition of almost continual warfare and disturbance during
+centuries, has left many visible marks on the external features of the
+country, and in nothing is this more strikingly evident than in the
+small population. A region which contains at the most moderate estimate
+250,000 square miles, is believed by the highest authorities to contain
+less than 1,000,000 inhabitants. In breadth Kashgaria may be said to
+extend from longitude E. 73 deg. to 89 deg., and in width from latitude N. 36 deg.
+to 43 deg.; but the ancient kingdom of Kashgar has been always considered to
+have reached only to Aksu, a town about 300 miles north-east of Kashgar.
+When the Chinese about fifty years ago conceded certain trade privileges
+to Khokand, they were not to have effect east of Aksu; this fact seems
+conclusive as to the recognized limits of the ancient dynasty of
+Kashgar. The capital of this district, which at one time has been a
+flourishing kingdom under a native ruler, at another a tributary of some
+Tartar conqueror, and then distracted by the struggles of his effete
+successors, and at a third time a subject province of the Chinese, has
+fluctuated as much as the fortunes of the state itself. Now it has been
+Yarkand, now Kashgar, and yet again, on several occasions, Aksu. The
+claims of Kashgar seem to have prevailed in the long run, for, although
+Yarkand is still the larger city, Yakoob Beg established his capital at
+Kashgar, and made that town known throughout the whole of Asia by the
+means of his government.
+
+Kashgar is situated in a plain in the north of the province, and the
+small river on which it is built is known as the Kizil Su. Immediately
+beyond it the country becomes hilly and mountainous, until in the far
+distance may be seen the snow-clad peaks of the Tian Shan, and the Aksai
+Plateau. Although the population is barely 30,000, there is now an air
+of brisker activity in the bazaars and caravanserais of this capital
+than in any other city in the country. The trade carried on with Russia
+in recent years has given some life to the place; but few, if any,
+merchants proceed more inland than this, whether they come from Khokand
+or from Kuldja. The town stretches on both sides of the river, which is
+crossed by a wooden bridge; but there are no buildings of any
+pretensions for external beauty or internal comfort. The _orda_ or
+palace of the Ameer, which is in Yangy Shahr, five miles from the city,
+is a large gloomy barrack of a place with several buildings within each
+other; the outer ones are occupied by the household troops and by the
+court officials, and the inner one of all is set apart for the family
+and _serai_ of the ruler himself. In connection with this is a hall of
+audience, in which he receives in solemn state such foreigners as it
+seems politic for him to honour. In the old days, Kashgar used to be a
+strongly fortified position, but the only remains of its former strength
+are the ruins which are strewn freely all around. Kashgar is, therefore,
+an open and quite defenceless town, and lies completely at the mercy of
+any invader who might come along the high road from Aksu or Bartchuk, or
+across the mountains from Khokand or Kuldja; but at Yangy Shahr, about
+five miles south of Kashgar, Yakoob Beg constructed a strong fort, where
+he deposited all his treasure, and this may be taken to be the citadel
+of Kashgar as well as the residence of the ruler. Yangy Shahr means new
+city, and as a fortification erected by a Central Asian potentate with
+very limited means, it must be considered to be a very creditable piece
+of military workmanship. The Andijanis or Khokandian merchants who have
+at various times settled here, form a very important class in this town
+in particular, and it was they who more than any one else contributed to
+the success of the invasion of Buzurg Khan and Mahomed Yakoob. It is,
+however, said that these merchant classes had become to some extent
+dissatisfied with the late state of things, whether because Yakoob Beg
+did not fulfil all his promises, or for some other reason, is not clear.
+If Kashgar under its late rule was not restored to that prosperous
+condition which excited the admiration of Marco Polo, and the Chinese
+traveller, Hwang Tsang, before him, it may be considered to have been as
+fairly well-doing as any other city in either Turkestan, while life and
+property were a great deal more secure than in some we could mention.
+
+Situated about half-way on the road to Yarkand is Yangy Hissar, a town
+which has always been of importance both as a military position and as a
+place of trade. It has greatly fallen into decay, however, but still
+possesses a certain amount of its former influence from being a military
+post, and from the exceptional fertility of the neighbouring country.
+
+Yarkand, about eighty miles as the crow flies, and 120 by road, to the
+south-east of Kashgar, is still the most populous of all the cities of
+Eastern Turkestan. It lies in the open plain on the Yarkand river, and
+its walls, four miles in circuit, testify to its former greatness. Under
+the Chinese it was quite the most flourishing town in the region, and
+even now Sir Douglas Forsyth estimates that it contains 40,000 people,
+while the surrounding country has nearly 200,000 more. The fruit gardens
+and orchards, which extend in a wide belt round it, give an air of
+peculiar prosperity to the country, and quite possibly induce travellers
+to take a too sanguine view of the resources of the country. In addition
+to the abundance of fruit and grain produce that is brought into the
+city for sale, there is a large and profitable business carried on in
+leather. Yarkand has almost a monopoly of this article, and the
+consumption of it is very great indeed. The Ameer himself took large
+quantities yearly for his army, for, in addition to that required for
+boots and saddles, many of his regiments wore uniforms of that
+substance.
+
+But, although Yarkand is the chief market-place of the richest province,
+and although its population is thriving and energetic, there is a
+general _consensus_ of opinion that it has become much less prosperous
+and much more of a rural town since the transference of the seat of
+government to Kashgar, and the disappearance of Chinese merchants with
+the Chinese ruler. A very intelligent merchant of the town replied as
+follows to questions put to him, as to the Chinese and native rulers,
+and it will be seen that it was especially favourable to the claims of
+the Chinese as the better masters.
+
+"What you see on market-day now, is nothing to the life and activity
+there was in the time of the Khitay. To-day the peasantry come in with
+their fowls and eggs, with their cotton and yarn, or with their sheep
+and cattle and horses for sale, and they go back with printed cotton, a
+fur cap, or city made boots, or whatever domestic necessaries they may
+require, and always with a good dinner inside them; and then we shut up
+our shops and stow away our goods till next week's market-day brings
+back our customers. Some of us, indeed, go out with a small venture in
+the interim to the rural markets around, but our great day is market-day
+in town. It was very different in the Khitay time. People then bought
+and sold every day, and market-day was a much jollier time. There was no
+Kazi Rais, with his six Muhtasib, armed with the _dira_ to flog people
+off to prayer, and drive the women out of the streets, and nobody was
+bastinadoed for drinking spirits and eating forbidden meats. There were
+mimics and acrobats, and fortune-tellers and story-tellers, who moved
+about amongst the crowd and diverted the people. There were flags and
+banners and all sorts of pictures floating at the shop fronts; and there
+was the _jallab_, who painted her face and decked herself in silks and
+laces to please her customers." And then, replying to a question whether
+the morals were not more depraved under this system than under the
+strict Mahomedan rule of the Athalik Ghazi, the same witness went on to
+say--"Yes, perhaps so. There were many rogues and gamblers too, and
+people did get drunk and have their pockets picked. But so they do now,
+though not so publicly, because we are under Islam, and the shariat is
+strictly enforced."
+
+This very graphic piece of evidence gives a clearer picture of the two
+systems of government, than perhaps paragraphs of explanatory writing;
+and, to return to the immediate subject before us, it shows that Yarkand
+has deteriorated in wealth and population since the Chinese were
+expelled from it fifteen years ago.
+
+Khoten is situated 150 miles south-east of Yarkand, and about ninety
+miles due east of Sanju. It lies on the northern base of the Kuen Lun
+Mountains, and is the most southern city of any importance in Kashgaria.
+Under the Chinese, it was one of the most flourishing centres of
+industry, and as the _entrepot_ of all trade with Tibet it held a
+bustling active community. The Chinese called it Houtan, and even now it
+is locally called Ilchi. In addition to the wool and gold imported from
+Tibet, it possessed gold mines of its own in the Kuen Lun range, and was
+widely celebrated for its musk, silk, and jade. It likewise has suffered
+from the departure of the Chinese; and the energy and wealth of that
+extraordinary people have found, in the case of this city also, a very
+inadequate substitute in the strict military order and security
+introduced by Yakoob Beg.
+
+Ush Turfan, New Turfan, is a small town on the road from Kashgar to
+Aksu, and is not to be confounded with the better known Turfan which is
+situated in the far east on the highway to Kansuh. This latter town is
+called Kuhna Turfan, or Old Turfan, to distinguish it from the other.
+Ush Turfan, without ever having been a place of the first importance,
+derived very considerable advantage from its position on the road
+followed by the Chinese caravans, and Yakoob Beg converted it into a
+strong military position by constructing several forts there.
+
+Aksu, one of the old capitals of Kashgar, may fairly be called the third
+city of the state, although it has, perhaps, more than any other
+declined since the expulsion of the Khitay. Before that event took place
+there was a road across the mountains to Ili, by the Muzart glacier, and
+relays of men were kept continually employed in maintaining this
+delicately constructed road in a state fit for passage both on foot and
+mounted. But all this has been discontinued for many years now, and not
+only is the road quite impassable, but it would require much labour and
+more outlay to restore it to its former utility. In the neighbourhood of
+this town there are rich mines of lead, copper, and sulphur. These
+have, practically speaking, been untouched in recent years. Coal is also
+the ordinary fuel among the inhabitants; and both in intelligence as
+well as in worldly prosperity, the good people of Aksu used to be
+entitled to a foremost position among the Kashgari. As a consequence of
+the blocking up of the Muzart Pass, the old trade with Kuldja has
+completely disappeared, and all communications with this Russian
+province are now carried on by the Narym Pass to Vernoe. This change
+benefits the city of Kashgar, but is a decided loss to Aksu. Aksu may
+still justly rank as an important place, and under very probable
+contingencies may regain all the ground it has lost. In conclusion, we
+may say that Yakoob Beg has converted its old walls and castles into
+fortifications, which are said to be capable of resisting the fire of
+modern artillery.
+
+We have enumerated six cities--Kashgar, Yangy Hissar, Yarkand, Khoten,
+Ush Turfan, and Aksu--and these constitute the territory of Kashgar
+proper. At one time, indeed, it was called Alty Shahr, or six cities,
+from this fact. In addition to these may be mentioned, in modern
+Kashgaria, Sirikul, or Tashkurgan, in the extreme south-west, which is
+principally of importance as the chief post on the frontier of
+Afghanistan. Near Sirikul are Badakshan and Wakhan, and it has been
+asserted that Shere Ali, of Afghanistan, viewed with a suspicious eye
+the presence of Kashgar in this quarter. It is quite certain that he
+would not have tolerated that further advance along the Pamir, which
+Yakoob Beg seemed on several occasions inclined to make. Sirikul
+commands the northern entrance of the Baroghil Pass, and has
+consequently been often mentioned in recent accounts of this road to
+India.
+
+Maralbashi, or Bartchuk, a military post of some strength, is
+strategically important, as being placed at the junction of the roads
+from Kashgar and Yarkand, which lead by the bed of the Yarkand river to
+Kucha. But it possesses greater interest for us, as being the chief
+town of the district inhabited by the extraordinary tribe of the Dolans.
+These people are in the most backward state of intelligence that it is
+possible to imagine human beings to be capable of. In physical strength
+and stature they are, perhaps, the most miserable objects on the face of
+the earth, but their social position is still more deplorable. Some of
+their customs are of the most disgusting character, and their dwellings,
+such as they are, are of the rudest kind and subterranean. Travellers
+who have seen them in the larger cities, say that all the rumours that
+have been circulated about them do not exaggerate the true facts of the
+case; and the most pitiable part of the matter is, that they have become
+so resigned to their degraded position, that they are averse to any
+measure calculated to improve their existence. They have been compared
+to the Bhots of Tibet, but these latter are quite superior beings in
+comparison with them. They are treated with contempt and derision by all
+the neighbouring peoples.
+
+Kucha is, or rather was, another very flourishing city which has never
+recovered the loss of Chinese wealth, and the subsequent disturbances
+during the Tungan wars. At one time Kucha had at the least 50,000
+people, and it was not less famed than Aksu for the resources and
+ingenuity of its people. But now it is almost a deserted city. The
+greater part of the old town is a mass of ruins, and during the nine
+years that have elapsed since the Tungani were crushed by the Athalik
+Ghazi, scarcely anything has been done to repair the damage caused in
+those very destructive wars.
+
+Korla, Kouralia, or Kouroungli, as it has been named, and Karashar, two
+towns which lie to the east of Kucha, have likewise never revived from
+the period of anarchy and bloodshed, through which the whole of this
+district has passed; but even the state of these places contrasts
+favourably with the far worse ruin wrought at Turfan. Turfan, perhaps
+more than any other, profited by the trade with China, for, although it
+may not itself have been as rich as either Aksu or Kucha, it derived a
+certain source of income as the rendezvous of all the caravans
+proceeding either east or west, or north to Urumtsi and Chuguchak. Very
+often a delay of several weeks took place, before merchants had arranged
+all the details for crossing the Tian Shan to Guchen, or for proceeding
+on to Hamil through the desert, and Turfan flourished greatly thereby.
+Now its streets are desolate, the whole country round it is represented
+to be a desert, and all its former activity and brightness have
+completely disappeared. Yakoob Beg had extended his rule a short
+distance east of Turfan, to a place called Chightam, but Turfan may be
+styled his most eastern possession.
+
+We have now given a somewhat detailed description of the chief cities of
+Kashgaria, and in doing so we have distinctly intended thereby to convey
+the impression to the reader that it is only these and their suburbs
+that were at all productive under the late _regime_. To those who have
+been to Kashgar, nothing has remained more vividly impressed on their
+mind, than the exceedingly prosperous appearance of the farms in the
+belt of country from Yarkand to Kashgar; but at the same time this
+wealth of foliage and of blossom has only made the barrenness of the
+intervening and surrounding country more palpable. The farms are
+certainly not small in extent, but rather isolated from each other, and
+surrounded by orchards of plums, apples, and other fruit trees, in which
+they are completely embowered. A Kashgarian village is not a main
+street with a line of cottages and a few large farms; but it is a
+conglomeration of farmsteads covering a very extensive area of country,
+and presenting to the eye of a stranger rather a thinly peopled district
+than a community of villagers. Again, although the soil is naturally
+fertile, the system of agriculture is of an exhaustive character, and it
+seems probable that only a small portion of the land on each farm is at
+all productive. But these settlements, which present an exterior of
+rural happiness and simplicity, are but oases in an enormous extent
+of barren country. If each proprietor seems to possess more land than
+he can require, and if the fertile soil produces bountifully that
+which is unskilfully sown therein, the total amount of land under
+cultivation is still very limited indeed. Worse still, the soil is
+gradually exhausted, and as the system of sowing but one kind of grain
+seems to have taken deep root among the people, it is to be feared that
+it may be perpetuated without hope of recovery. There is a constant
+difficulty to be overcome, too, on account of the meagre supply of
+water. The general aspect of the region is barren, a bleak expanse
+stretches in all directions, and in the distance on three sides the
+outlines of lofty ranges complete the panorama. The scarcely marked
+bridle track that supplies the place of a highway in every direction
+except where the Chinese have left permanent tokens of their presence,
+offers little inducement to travellers to come thither; nor must these
+when they do come expect anything but the most imperfect modes of
+communication and of supply that a backward Asiatic district can
+furnish. If we wish to imagine the scene along the road from Sanju to
+Yarkand, we have only to visit some of the wilder of the Sussex Wealds
+to have it before us in miniature. The spare dried-up herbage may be
+still more spare, and the limestone may be more protruding on the
+Central Asian plain; and the wind will certainly remind you that it
+comes either from the desert or from the mountain regions; but you have
+the same undulating, dreary expanse that you have above Crowborough. The
+miserable sheep watched by some nomad Kirghiz will alone forcibly remind
+you that you are far away from the heights of the South Downs. In the
+far distance you will see the cloud-crested pinnacles of the Sanju Devan
+or of the Guoharbrum, and then the traveller cannot but remember that he
+is in one of the most inaccessible regions in the world. But if these
+southern roads are scarcely worthy of the name, the great high road from
+Kashgar to Aksu, Kucha, Korla, Karashar, and Turfan is a masterpiece of
+engineering construction. It need not fear to brave comparison with
+those of imperial Rome herself, and remains an enduring monument to
+Chinese perseverance, skill, and capacity for government. In China
+itself there are many great and important highways, but there the task
+was facilitated by the possession of great and navigable rivers. In
+Eastern Turkestan no such assistance was to be found, and consequently
+this road, along which was conducted all the traffic that passed from
+China to Jungaria, Kashgar, Khokand, and Bokhara, had to be maintained
+in the highest state of efficiency. To do this we cannot doubt was a
+most expensive undertaking, and, not mentioning such an exceptional work
+as the Muzart Pass, one that required a very perfect organization to
+accomplish with the success that for more than a century marked it.
+
+The great drawback in the geographical position of Kashgar, is the want
+of a cheap and convenient outlet by water. The country itself suffers in
+a less degree from the same cause, but with a more perfect system of
+irrigation, the rivers, such as the Artosh, &c., which in spring carry
+down the mountain snows, might be made to give a more extended supply
+throughout western Kashgar at all events. The climate is equable, and
+the people suffer from no very prevalent disease, except in the more
+mountainous parts, and in Yarkand, where goitre is of frequent
+occurrence. The people themselves seem to be frugal and honest, but
+indeed there are so many races to be met with in this "middle land,"
+that no general description can be given of them all. The Andijanis, or
+Khokandian merchants, are the most prosperous class in the community,
+and they appear to be, from all accounts, possessed of more than an
+average amount of business capacity in the arts of buying and selling.
+The Tarantchis are the descendants of Kashgarian labourers imported by
+the Chinese into Kuldja in 1762, and there is still both in the army and
+in the state a large number of Khitay remaining, who were permitted to
+pursue in secret the observances of their religion. The other races are
+ill disposed towards them, and attribute all the vices they can think of
+to their doors. But these Khitay managed to efface themselves in the
+country, and although they formed a very important minority among the
+males, they never appear to have been regarded in the light of a
+possible danger when their brethren from China should draw near. In
+addition to the native Kashgari, and these two important elements just
+mentioned, there are numerous immigrants from the border states,
+particularly from Khokand, to the people of whom Yakoob Beg naturally
+manifested especial favour. We have now given at some length a
+description of the geographical features of Kashgar, and are about to
+follow it up with an ethnological description as well as a historical
+statement of the past features of the same region. It is hoped that
+these preliminary chapters will clear the way from some obscurity for a
+correct appreciation of the career of the late Athalik Ghazi.
+
+Kashgaria may be said to be a portion of Asia which possesses some great
+advantages of position and very considerable resources, but by a
+singularly hard fortune, except for the brief period of Chinese rule in
+modern times, it has been so distracted by intestine disturbances that
+it has retrograded further and further with each year. It is quite
+possible that its natural wealth has been too hastily taken for granted,
+and that it does not possess the necessary means of restoring itself in
+some degree to its former position. This is quite possible, but the best
+authorities at our disposal seem to point to a more promising
+conclusion, and to justify us in assuming that the position, natural
+resources, and general condition of Kashgar will enable a strong and
+settled rule to raise it into a really important and flourishing
+confederacy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+ETHNOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF KASHGAR.
+
+
+In the extensive region stretching from the Caspian and Black Seas to
+the Kizil Yart and Pamir plateaus, and from the Persian Gulf to Siberia,
+the two great families, the Aryan and the Turanian, have in past
+centuries striven for supremacy. The latter, embracing in its bosom in
+this part of the world the more turbulent and warlike tribes, succeeded
+in subjecting those who claimed the same parent stock as European
+nations. The Tajik or Persian is the chief representative in this region
+of the Aryan family, and he has now for many centuries been the subject
+of the Turk rulers of the various divisions of Western Turkestan. These
+latter are the personifiers of Turanian traditions. The Tajik appears to
+have been subdued, not so much by the superiority of his conqueror in
+the art of war, as by his own inclination to lead a peaceful and
+harmless life. The pure Tajik, hardly to be met with now anywhere in
+Asia, except in the mountainous districts of the Hindoo Koosh, is
+represented to us to have been of an imposing presence, with a long
+flowing beard, aquiline nose, and large eyes. He is generally tall and
+graceful; yet in Khokand and Bokhara the Tajik is at present viewed much
+as the Saxons were by the Normans. In those states, too, a man is spoken
+of by his race. He is an Usbeg, a Kipchak, a Kirghiz, or a Tajik, as the
+case may be, and by this means the rivalry of past ages is to some
+extent preserved down to the present time. It is the dissension spread,
+or rather the destruction of any sympathy between the various races
+caused, by these outward tokens of diversity in origin, that has made
+Western Turkestan the familiar home of intestine disturbance, which has
+in its turn led up to the easy dismemberment of the various Khanates by
+Russian intrigue and by Russian force. In Eastern Turkestan the rivalry
+of races has become less bitter, and in nothing is this better
+manifested than in the fact that there a man is described by his native
+town. He may be a Tajik, or an Usbeg, or a Kirghiz, or a Kipchak, too,
+but he is only known as a Yarkandi, or a Kashgari. And while we are at
+once struck by this broad and salient difference in popular custom, and
+consequently in popular sentiment also, between the Western and Eastern
+divisions of Turkestan, a slight inquiry is sufficient to show that the
+antipathies of the various races towards each other have become much
+more a thing of the past in Kashgaria than they have in the Khanates of
+Khokand and its neighbours. At all events, the antipathies that still
+prevail in that state are clearly traceable to other causes than
+Aryan-Turanian hostility, and are undoubtedly produced either by
+religious fanaticism, motives of personal ambition, or the hatred roused
+by Chinese pretensions on the one hand, and Khokandian on the other, to
+the supreme control of Kashgaria. Bearing these facts clearly in mind,
+it is evident that ethnographical descriptions will not make the
+political relations of the peoples of the state more easily
+intelligible; yet, as matter of historical import, these cannot be
+altogether passed over in silence.
+
+The inhabitants of the little known regions now variously known as
+Jungaria and Eastern Turkestan were, until recent years, considered to
+be of pure Tartar origin, and consequently members of the Turanian
+family. There are some still who believe that this definition is the
+most accurate. Others dispute it on various grounds, and with much
+plausibility. There is no question that the original inhabitants,
+historically speaking, were the Oigurs, or Uigurs, and these people
+were certainly Tartars. But frequently the Tajik merchants who traded
+with Kashgar in the earlier centuries of the Middle Ages, took up their
+abode in the country, and by degrees a large colony of Tajik immigrants
+was formed on the foundation of the original Oigur stock. These Tajiks
+gradually became Tartarised, but they still retained the unmistakable
+characteristics of the Aryan family. The two brothers Schlagintweit, and
+Mr. Shaw following in their footsteps, were the first to maintain this
+view, which is becoming generally accepted. We have, therefore, in
+Kashgar the strange spectacle of a Tajik people becoming not only
+unidentifiable from the Turanian stock with which it has been
+intermingled; but we have also a race tolerance that is unknown in any
+other portion of Asia. Undoubtedly the hostility of the settled and
+peaceful Andijani immigrant and Kashgari resident to the irreclaimable
+Kirghiz is deep-rooted, and, so long as the latter continues a source of
+danger to all peaceful communities, abiding; but even this sentiment,
+and the religious hatred that has at various epochs marked the political
+intercourse of Buddhist and Mahomedan, are probably less durable, and
+susceptible of greater improvement in the future, than the race
+antipathies that seem perennially vital among the tribes of Western
+Asia. The vast majority of the inhabitants of Alty Shahr are of Tajik
+descent. In the course of centuries the purity of their lineage has been
+leavened by much intermingling with Tartar blood, both at the time of
+the Mongol subjection and of the Chinese. In addition to these two great
+divisions, there are many Afghan and Badakshi settlers, who have flocked
+to Kashgar whenever the progress of events seemed to justify the
+expectation that military service in that state would prove a
+remunerative engagement. Many of these remained, and they have also left
+a clear impression on the features of the inhabitants. It is, however,
+to pre-historic times, or certainly to a period lost in the mist of
+history, that we must refer for that general exodus of the Aryan family
+from the Hindoo Koosh and the plains of Western Asia into the more
+secluded prairies of Kashgar, which took place when the Turanian nations
+first spread like destroying locusts over the face of that continent. It
+was at this period that Khoten, which in its name shows its Aryan
+origin, was founded.
+
+The great nomadic tribe of the Kirghiz, or Kara Kirghiz, as the Russians
+call them, to distinguish them from the Kirghiz of the various hordes
+who, by the way, are not true Kirghiz at all, has at all times played a
+fitful, yet important part in the histories of Khokand, Jungaria, and
+Eastern Turkestan. Preserving their independence in the inaccessible
+region lying west of Lake Issik Kul, and along the Kizil Yart plateau
+and range, this tribe has always been a source of trouble to its
+neighbours, whosoever they might be. On various occasions, too, they
+have joined the career of conquest to their usual avocation of plunder,
+and under the few great leaders that have arisen amongst them they have
+appeared as conquerors, both of Eastern and Western Turkestan. But their
+achievements have never been of a permanent nature. Like the irregular
+undisciplined mass of horsemen which constitute their fighting force,
+their chief strength lay in a sharp and decisive attack. They had not
+the organization or the resources necessary for the accomplishment of
+any conquest of a permanent kind. Their incursions, even when most
+formidable and most sweeping, were essentially mere marauding
+onslaughts. Their object was plunder, not empire; and having secured the
+former, they recked little of the value of the latter. At one time they
+were able to carry their raids in almost any direction with perfect
+impunity; but as settled governments arose around their fastnesses, and
+curtailed their field of operations, what had been a life of adventure
+through simple love of excitement, became a struggle for sheer
+existence. The region where they dwelt was far too barren to support
+throughout the year even the limited numbers of the Kirghiz, and yearly
+they had to issue forth against prepared and disciplined enemies in
+search of the sustenance that, to preserve their existence, had to be
+obtained. But for the intestine quarrels that were sapping the life
+strength of the Asiatic states slowly away, there is no doubt that the
+Kirghiz would have been gradually exterminated. Soon, however, they had
+the skill to avail themselves of these disagreements to sell their
+services as soldiers to the highest bidders; and although they were not
+equal to the Kipchak tribes in valour, their alliance was considered of
+importance, and on many a dubious occasion sufficed to turn the fortune
+of the day. By such measures of policy their existence has been
+preserved, and at the present time they perform much the same functions,
+and are regarded in much the same manner by their neighbours, as in the
+past.
+
+The Kipchaks, another great tribe, who however are scarcely represented
+at all in Kashgaria, pride themselves on being the most select of all
+the Usbegs, but their day of power has passed by, for the present at all
+events. Thirty years ago they were at the height of their success, but
+they incurred the jealousy of other Usbeg tribes and of the Kirghiz.
+Owing to the abilities of their great chief, Mussulman Kuli, they
+succeeded in erecting in Khokand a powerful state, which was able to
+restrain the encroachments of Bokhara, at that time the great enemy of
+the former Khanate. But the plots that broke out against them in 1853,
+in conjunction with the advance of Russia on the Syr Darya, were crowned
+with success, and with the execution of Mussulman Kuli the Kipchak power
+was completely broken. Since that date, however, several of the more
+distinguished leaders who have appeared on the scene, such as Alim Kuli
+and Abdurrahman Aftobatcha, have been members of this clan. The eastern
+portion of the dominion of Yakoob Beg is almost exclusively inhabited
+by Calmucks, or tribes of Calmuck descent. The great majority of the
+inhabitants of Manchuria and Jungaria are of Calmuck descent, and even
+in Russia in Europe there are many settlements of this tribe along the
+Volga and the Don. None of these, however, possess any political
+importance except those who inhabit the country north of Gobi and
+between Eastern Turkestan and China, and the chief of these are the
+Khalkas. The Calmucks are attached by old associations to the Government
+of Pekin; and, although they have sometimes revolted against, and often
+caused trouble to, the Central Government, they have generally
+acknowledged their culpability and submitted to the Chinese authorities.
+In the revolt of the Tungani the Calmucks remained true to China, and
+performed very opportune service on various occasions. The Chinese army
+in Eastern Turkestan was mainly recruited from among these tribes, who
+became distinguished from the Tungani by their religion and fidelity.
+
+The origin of the Tungani, or Dungans, as the Russians call them, is
+much in dispute; and as they played so important a part in the loss of
+Kashgar and Ili by China, as well as in the history of the rule of
+Yakoob Beg, it may be as well to put the facts as they stand at some
+length before the reader. There is no question, we believe, that the
+Chinese in applying the term Tungani attach the meaning thereto of
+Mahomedan. There is equal reason for supposing that the term Khitay,
+literally meaning simply Chinese, has been applied to the Buddhists by
+general usage. If we acknowledge the validity of these two
+assumptions--and, so far as we have been able to ascertain, the best
+authorities have adopted them--there would be little difficulty in
+explaining who the Tungani were. Granting these, they would simply be
+the Mahomedan subjects in the eastern portions of China. But others
+believe that the Tungani are a distinct race, presenting peculiar
+ethnological features. According to this version, the tribe of the
+Tungani can be traced back as a distinct community to the fifth and
+sixth centuries, when they were seated along the Tian Shan range, with
+their capital at Karashar. The most recent investigations, under Colonel
+Prjevalsky, are believed to show no signs of there having been any
+important cities in this quarter. It may be convenient to mention here,
+that at that time they were Buddhists; but when Islamism broke over Asia
+in the eighth century, they were among the first to adopt the new
+tenets. This defection from the religion of China brought them into
+collision with the Emperors of Pekin, and many of these Tungani were
+deported into Kansuh and Shensi, where we are to suppose they continued
+a race apart, with their own religion and their own code of morality,
+for more than ten centuries. Even granting the possibility of such a
+consistency to a new religion, which history informs us was thrust upon
+them at the point of the sword, it seems scarcely credible that we
+should not hear more of this troublesome tribe in Chinese history.
+Frequent allusions are made in imperial edicts and other official
+proclamations to the Tungani, but always in reference to their religion,
+and not in any way as if they were any other but heretic Chinamen.
+Besides, even in this way little is heard of the Tungani until the
+sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when very sharp measures were taken
+against them by the emperors, solely because religious propagandists
+from their ranks were appearing as enemies of a Buddhist Government. The
+theory that the Tungani were a people and not a sect is new, but it is
+possible that it may be a true discovery. On the other hand, it is far
+more probable that it is only an ingenious attempt at elucidating what
+appears on the face of it to be a simple matter enough. The reader must
+decide for himself between the two versions. If the Tungani are to be
+considered a distinct race, then the majority of the inhabitants of
+Eastern Turkestan are not Calmucks, but Tungani; if the view taken here
+is adopted, then they are Calmucks who have at various times adopted
+Mahomedanism. These are the chief tribes of this portion of Central
+Asia; and in the following pages it may be as well to bear in mind that
+Khitay is applied exclusively to the Buddhist or governing class, and
+Tungani to the Mahomedan or subject race in Kansuh and its outlying
+dependencies. As race antipathies have not entered during recent times
+so much into the contests of the people of the regions immediately under
+consideration as religions, the difference as to the true significance
+of the term Tungani does not materially affect one's view of the general
+question.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+HISTORY OF KASHGAR.
+
+
+The great difficulty encountered in giving a description of the past
+history of Kashgar is to evolve, out of the series of successive
+conquests and subjections that have marked the existence of that state
+for almost two thousand years, a narrative which shall, without
+confusing the reader with a mere repetition of names that convey little
+meaning, place the chief features of its history before us in a light
+that may make its more recent condition intelligible to us. We may say
+in commencement, that those who desire a historical account in all its
+fulness of Kashgar must turn to that contributed by Dr. Bellew to the
+Official Report of Sir Douglas Forsyth on his embassy to Yarkand. They
+will there find ample details of the events that took place in this
+region of Central Asia from the commencement of our era; but a mere
+reiteration of the various calamities, with brief and intermittent
+periods of prosperity, each wave of which bore so striking a similarity
+to its predecessor, would not serve the purpose we have at present in
+view--viz., of considering its own history, for the purpose of better
+understanding its relations with its neighbours and with China, and how
+the state consolidated by the Athalik Ghazi was constructed on ruins
+handed down by an almost indistinguishable antiquity.
+
+For a considerable number of years anterior to the ninth century, the
+Chinese Empire extended to the borders of Khokand and Cashmere. But the
+dissensions that marked the latter years of the Tang dynasty were not
+long in producing such weakness at the extremity of this vast empire
+that the subject races and their proper ruling families were enabled to
+obtain either their personal liberty or their lost positions once more,
+unhappily without in any case achieving with the severance of their
+connection with China any perceptible amelioration in their lot--indeed,
+on almost every occasion only binding themselves with harder fetters,
+and sinking into a deeper state of servitude. When the petty princelets
+of Kashgar, Yarkand, Turfan, and the rest broke away from their
+allegiance to Pekin, and when the imperial resources were unable to
+coerce their rebellious subjects, the whole country passed under the
+hands of their feudatories, who split up into innumerable factions,
+waged continuous war, and sacrificed the happiness and welfare of the
+subject people to a desire to promote their own individual interests. As
+the barons and counts of Italy in the Middle Ages devastated some of the
+fairest provinces of Europe, so these Oigur princes fought for their own
+hand in the valleys of the Artosh and the Ili. It is very possible that
+this state of things would have continued until China became
+sufficiently strong and settled to reassert once more her dormant rights
+over her lost provinces, but that a new force appeared on the western
+frontiers of Kashgar. As early as 676 the Arabs, under Abdulla Zizad,
+had crossed over from Persia, and were carrying destruction and terror
+in their course along the banks of the Oxus. At that moment a beautiful
+and gifted queen, named Khaton, ruled for her son in Bokhara. She had
+not long been left a widow when her country was threatened by this
+unexpected and terrible invasion. Although assistance came to the queen
+from all the neighbouring States, including Kashgar, she was defeated
+twice in the open field, and compelled to seek safety within the walls
+of her capital. But the Arab leader was unable to take the city by
+storm, and slowly retired, with a large number of captives and an
+immense quantity of booty, back to Persia. Some years later the Arabs
+again returned, but withdrew on the payment of a heavy indemnity.
+Another chief, Kutaiba, was still more successful, for on one occasion
+he carried fire and sword through Kashgar to beyond Kucha. This was the
+first occasion on which the doctrines of Mahomed had been carried into
+the realms of China, and with so cogent an argument as the sword it is
+not wonderful that some hold was secured on the country. Subsequent
+expeditions in the next few centuries strengthened this beginning, and
+it was not long before the ruling classes of Kashgar became infected
+with the new doctrine.
+
+In the tenth century, Satuk Bughra Khan, the ruling prince of Kashgar,
+who had been converted to Islam, forced his people to adopt that
+religion, although it is tolerably clear that up to this time there had
+been no acknowledgment of supremacy to the representative of Mahomed on
+earth. A disunited state, which had on several occasions felt the heavy
+hand of the authority of its generals, and at whose very gates its power
+was consolidated, could not but be in some sort of dependence to the
+stronger power, as there was no ally to be found sufficiently powerful
+to protect it, now that the Chinese had retrogressed into Kansuh.
+Towards the end of the tenth century the Mahomedans met with a series of
+reverses from the Manchoo and Khoten troops, who still preserved their
+relations, political and commercial, with China. It was in the
+neighbourhood of Yangy Hissar that their general, Khalkhalu, inflicted
+the most serious defeat on the Mahomedan rulers of Kashgar, but within
+the next twenty years, assistance having come from Khokand, these
+defeats were retrieved, and Khoten itself for the first time passed
+under the rule of Islam. The family of Bughra Khan was now firmly
+established as rulers of Eastern Turkestan, and their limits were almost
+identical with those of the late Yakoob Beg.
+
+The Kara Khitay, who had migrated from the country bordering on the
+Amoor and the north of China, after long wanderings, had settled in the
+western parts of Jungaria, and, having founded the city of Ili, in
+course of time formed, in union with some Turkish tribes, a powerful and
+cohesive administration. Their chief was styled Gorkhan, Lord of Lords,
+and their religion was Buddhism. It was of this tribe, according to
+some, that the celebrated Prester John, or King John, was supposed to be
+the chief in the Middle Ages. Some neighbours who had been harassed by
+predatory tribes came to Gorkhan for assistance, which was willingly
+conceded; but, having successfully repulsed the Kipchaks and other
+tribes, this leader did not withdraw from the country he had occupied as
+a friend and ally. Not only did he then annex Kashgar and Khoten, but he
+crossed the Pamir into the province of Ferghana, and in a short period
+brought Bokhara, Samarcand, and Tashkent under his dominion. This
+extensive empire was of very brief duration however, and civil war was
+waged for more than half a century after the first successes of Gorkhan,
+in which Khiva, or Khwaresm, and the Kara Khitay fought for supremacy. A
+chief of the Naiman tribe of Christians, Koshluk by name, then entered
+the lists against the aged Gorkhan, who was, after some hard fighting,
+defeated and captured. This was in the year 1214. Koshluk's triumph was
+also, however, of very brief duration, for he now came into contact with
+one of the most formidable antagonists that the soil of Asia has ever
+produced, Genghis Khan.
+
+The Mongols or Mughols began to appear as a distinct tribe about the
+same time that the Kara Khitay migrated to Jungaria, and as early as the
+commencement of the twelfth century they had carried destruction into
+the Chinese provinces of Shensi and Kansuh. When Genghis Khan appeared
+upon the scene he found the tribe which he was destined to lead to such
+great triumphs in a state of singular strength, and its neighbours
+either at discord among themselves or only just recovering from a long
+period of anarchy. The Chinese were particularly divided at that moment,
+and Genghis Khan, who had family connections in that empire, soon found
+it an easy task to lead successful inroads into the heart of his rich
+but defenceless neighbour. Genghis Khan was born at Dylon Yulduc, in the
+year 1154. His father, Mysoka Bahadur, was a great warrior, and waged
+several successful wars with the Tartars. The earlier years of Genghis
+Khan were occupied exclusively in overcoming the difficulties of his own
+position. His tribe, divided into several distinct bodies, formed only
+one confederacy when a foe had to be encountered in the field. It
+required years to remove the dislike they experienced at submission to a
+distinct authority; and it was only when the renown of his military
+achievements threw a halo over his name that these tribes could be
+induced to acknowledge a supremacy which they had become powerless to
+resist. But during these years, when he led a life unknown and
+insignificant as the chief of a small nomad clan, he was all the time
+preparing for a wider career, and for a more extended authority. It was
+while he was residing in the remote district round the salt springs of
+Baljuna that he drew up the code on which his administrative system was
+founded. It was based on the fundamental principle of obedience to the
+head, on the maintenance of order and sobriety in the ranks of the
+warriors, and on the equal participation in the spoils of battle by all;
+but its regulations were so strict on the former points, and the gain of
+the individual had to be so completely sacrificed for the advantage of
+the many, that at first the establishment of this code of order had
+rather the effect of driving his followers from him, than of attracting
+to his standard zealots capable of the conquest of a world. It was not
+until the year 1203, when he was nearly forty-nine years of age, that
+Genghis Khan succeeded in bringing all the Mongol tribes under his
+leadership. No sooner had he accomplished this much than he embarked on
+military enterprises, which, in the course of a very few years, placed
+the greater part of Asia at his disposal. Having subjugated various
+Tartar and Tangut tribes, he included them in his military organization,
+and by making them embrace his system of compulsory service in the army,
+he found himself in the possession of an enormous following. Genghis
+Khan therefore ruled at the time we have specified over Kashgar,
+including Khoten, Jungaria, and the Tangut country; and there was no
+force capable of opposing his except, in the east China, and in the west
+the government of Khiva, at this period omnipotent in Western Turkestan.
+The rumours which reached the Shah of Khwaresm of the formation of this
+new confederacy in Mugholistan induced him to send an embassy to
+discover the true facts of the case, and accordingly, while Genghis Khan
+was prosecuting a war against the Chinese, there arrived in his camp the
+emissaries of Western Asia. Haughty and imperious as this conqueror
+undoubtedly was, he received the embassy affably, and with expressions
+of the deepest friendship. He sent them back with rich presents and the
+following characteristic message:--"I am King of the East. Thou art King
+of the West. Let merchants come and go between us and exchange the
+products of our countries." In furtherance of this wish he sent a
+mission composed of merchants and officials to represent the advantages
+that would be derived from mutual intercourse. But the Shah of Khiva,
+either incredulous of the formidableness of the adversary with whom he
+had to deal, or mistaking his own strength, did not reciprocate the
+amicable expressions of Genghis Khan, nor, when the merchants who had
+been despatched to his country were murdered, did he make any offer of
+reparation. Such treatment would not be tolerated by any civilized ruler
+of the nineteenth century, much less was it brooked by an irresponsible
+conqueror, whose will was his sole law, in the thirteenth. As soon as
+his campaign with China had closed with success, Genghis Khan made
+every preparation for the punishment of this act of treachery. It was
+then that Genghis Khan, with an armed horde of many hundred thousands,
+burst upon the astonished peoples of Western Asia like a meteor from the
+east. It was then that some of the fairest regions of the earth were
+given over to a soldiery to devastate, a soldiery who had raised the
+work of destruction to the level of one of the fine arts; and whose
+handiwork in Bokhara, Balkh, Samarcand, Khiva and the lost cities of the
+desert, is to be seen clearly imprinted in the ruins which mark the site
+of ancient capitals, even at the present moment, 700 years after the
+Tartar conqueror swept all resistance from his path. Afghanistan, and
+the mountain ranges which are now considered to be impassable by
+Russians, did not retard the progress of this "Scourge of God." Cabul,
+Candahar, Ghizni fell to the warriors of far distant Mongolia, as they
+fell not forty years ago to British valour, and as they must again fall
+when the onset shall be made with equal intrepidity and with equal
+discipline. And not content with having defaced the map of Asia, with
+having converted rich and populous cities into masses of ruins, and with
+having depopulated regions once prolific in all that makes life
+enjoyable, Genghis Khan carried the terror of his name into the most
+remote recesses of the Hindoo Koosh. He wintered in the district of Swat
+on our north-west frontier, a territory which is quite unknown to us
+except by hearsay, and which has only been occupied by the Mongol and
+Macedonian conquerors. From his headquarters on the banks of the
+Panjkora he sent messengers to Delhi; and it is uncertain whether he did
+not meditate the addition of an Indian triumph to those already
+obtained.
+
+A rebellion in the far eastern portion of his dominions distracted his
+attention from the Indus, and he was compelled to hasten with all speed
+to quell in person the rising that was jeopardising his position in the
+seat of his power. He hastily broke up from his quarters in Swat, and,
+by the valley of the Kunar and Chitral, he entered Kashgar, through the
+Baroghil Pass. Although he suffered much loss from a journey across
+mountain roads, which were scarcely practicable in the early spring, he
+succeeded in reaching Yarkand, with his main body, and hastening across
+Turkestan arrived at Karakoram, his capital, in time to quell the
+disturbance. After this his life was spent in conquering China, a feat
+which he never accomplished. But in several campaigns, extending over a
+period of about twenty years, he worsted the Imperial troops so
+continually, that before his death, in 1227, he had occupied all the
+northern provinces of that empire, with Pekin, and left to his son and
+successor, Ogdai Khan, the task of completing the work which he had
+commenced. On the death of Genghis Khan, his vast possessions were
+divided amongst his children, and Kashgar, including Jungaria, Khwaresm,
+and Afghanistan, fell to the lot of Chaghtai Khan. This ruler was able
+to hold during his life the extensive territory he had succeeded to; but
+on his death dissensions broke out in all quarters of the country, and
+produced a fresh distribution of the various provinces. It may be
+mentioned that, although Chaghtai was a fanatical Buddhist and a
+confirmed debauchee, he was a prudent and sagacious ruler, and no
+unworthy successor to his distinguished father. The dissensions that
+broke out on his decease continued, with more or less violence, for a
+period of almost 100 years after that event took place, and they finally
+only received a momentary solution in the formation of a new kingdom of
+Mugholistan, or Jattah Ulus, as it was more specifically called, under
+one of Chaghtai's descendants.
+
+As briefly and as clearly as possible, we will endeavour to lay before
+the reader the chief events of this troubled epoch, when the numerous
+progeny of Genghis Khan warred throughout the whole extent of Central
+Asia, and a term was only at last placed to their restlessness by their
+disappearance. In the first place, it may be as well to mention, that
+the religions of Christ, Buddha, and Mahomed, were equally tolerated in
+Eastern Turkestan during the greater part of this period. The Arab
+invasion and the advance of Islam, had been hurled back beyond Bokhara
+"the Holy," by the victorious arms of the great Buddhist conqueror,
+Genghis Khan; and for a long period after the Mongol conquests, little
+was heard of attempts at conversion to the tenets of the "true Prophet."
+But it must not be supposed that, although Genghis Khan, in the sack of
+Bokhara, had almost exterminated the race of Mahomedan priests, he was
+disposed to stamp out the new heresy from his realms. Having crushed its
+power in the field, he was quite content to let it live on or die out,
+so long as his imperial or personal interests were not affected. So we
+have the strange picture before us, of the three great doctrines of the
+earth flourishing side by side in Eastern Turkestan in the fourteenth
+century. The Nestorian Christians of Kashgar, who in the time of Marco
+Polo were rich and flourishing, were obliged later on to succumb to the
+violent measures of the other members of the community, and have
+entirely disappeared for many centuries.
+
+Shortly after the death of Chaghtai Khan, Kaidu, a great-grandson of
+Genghis, obtained the throne of Kashgar and Yarkand; and a few years
+later on, by a skilful piece of diplomacy, backed up by force, added
+thereto the greater part of Khokand and Bokhara. His triumph was,
+however, of brief duration, and he was displaced by other competitors.
+Dava Khan, the son of Burac, the great-grandson of Chaghtai, had been
+appointed governor of Khoten, but his ambition was not satisfied with
+less than the throne of Western Turkestan also. He eventually obtained
+his desire; but in a rash moment he threw himself in the path of the
+Chinese Emperor, Timour Khan, who was returning from a raid carried
+almost to the gates of Lahore. He was defeated somewhere in the
+neighbourhood of Maralbashi, and was compelled to acknowledge the
+supremacy of China. He is of some note to us, as having been the father
+of Azmill Khoja, who was selected as ruler by the people themselves,
+about the year 1310, and from whom descend that line of Khoja kings of
+Kashgar, who have clung to their hereditary claims for a longer time
+than any other royal Central Asian house. The last of the Chaghtai Khans
+who held the sceptre with any effective purpose, was Kazan Ameer. On his
+death another period of trouble broke out, and military governors and
+rival princelets of dubious titles advanced their pretensions to the
+vacant seat. Up to this all the rulers had, however, been Buddhists.
+Toghluc Timour, one of the few remaining representatives of the Genghis
+families, had only been saved by the pity of a leading man in Kashgar,
+from one of the most extensive massacres of his kinsmen, and for years
+he was obliged to lead an uncertain existence in the mountains or
+deserts bordering on the state. His associations were all Buddhist; but
+one day he was so struck by the definition of the "true faith" given by
+the descendant of a Mahomedan priest, spared by Genghis Khan at the
+destruction of Bokhara, that he made a vow to become a Mussulman when he
+had regained his rights. Not long after this the turn of events in
+Kashgar made people seek for some person with recognized claims to be
+their ruler, and none in this respect surpassed Toghluc Timour. He, on
+succeeding to the throne, openly owned his conversion to Islam, and in a
+few years he was gradually imitated by all the leading chiefs of
+Turkestan. From this time downwards to the present day, the religion of
+the majority in this state has been Mahomedanism, except perhaps during
+the Chinese rule, when the number of Chinese merchants, officials, and
+soldiers, put the minority of the followers of Buddha on a par with
+those of the rival religion. Toghluc died in 1362.
+
+It was about this time that the second great conqueror of Asia appeared
+upon the scene. Timour was born in 1333 in the Shahrisebz suburb of
+Kish. He was the son of Turghay, governor of that district and chief of
+the Birlas tribe, and on the death of his father he himself became
+governor of Kish also. During his earlier years he was hospitably
+received at the Court of Kazan Ameer, and that ruler, in addition to
+giving him several high and distinguished appointments, married him to
+his beautiful granddaughter Olja Turkan Khaton. Timour did not continue
+long in favour at Court. His restless spirit impelled him to fields of
+greater activity than any the Ameer could, or indeed felt disposed to,
+place at his disposal. He openly mutinied against the central authority
+in his government of Kish, and on being overthrown by the troops of the
+state, he sought safety with his wife among the Turcomans of the Khivan
+desert. Among these uncertain nomads he felt scarcely secure, and
+collecting round him a small band of desperadoes, he entered upon a more
+ambitious enterprise by undertaking a marauding expedition into the
+Persian province of Seistan. This was attended with considerable
+success, but he himself was wounded in the foot by an arrow. From the
+effects of this wound he never completely recovered, and was known
+henceforth as Timour Lang, Timour the Lame, whence the well-known name
+of Tamerlane. The _eclat_ obtained by this marauding expedition stood
+him in good stead, for shortly afterwards he was able to raise a
+sufficient force to invade Tashkent. He occupied the whole of what is
+now Russian Khokand including Ferghana, and he placed a fresh occupant
+on the throne, Kabil Shah, in 1363. In the following years he contended
+for supremacy with another chief named Husen, and in 1369 had so far
+been victorious that he threw off the mask, and declared himself king.
+He made Samarcand his capital, and converted that once populous city
+into the wonder and admiration of Western Asia. Having settled his
+internal affairs, he commenced operations against the states lying
+beyond his border. The mountaineers of Badakshan were the first to incur
+his wrath, and after several stubborn battles they were obliged to
+acknowledge his supremacy. He then turned his attention to his northern
+frontiers, beyond which the Jattah princes reigned in Jungaria. He
+overcame their prince, Kamaruddin, in several encounters, but not with
+complete success until his final campaign against him in 1390. As he
+advanced they retired to the fastnesses east of Lake Issik Kul, and only
+reissued from their hiding-places when the invader had withdrawn.
+
+To return to Kashgar, on the death of Toghluc, his son Khize Khoja was
+displaced and did not regain possession of his kingdom till 1383, when
+he was thirty years of age. He was a stanch Mussulman, and was on terms
+of as much amity and as close alliance with Timour as it was possible
+for any neighbour, wishing to preserve his independence, to be. Allied
+as he was with, yet not participating in the wars of Timour, against the
+Jattahs, he suffered in common with those people from the expedition of
+1389-90, when both sides of the Tian Shan were ravaged by the armies of
+that ruler. Although for the next fifteen years they maintained friendly
+relations, it can easily be imagined that Khize Khoja was not very
+comfortable with so formidable a suzerain just over his frontiers. The
+irksomeness of the position is well illustrated by the orders
+transmitted to Khize Khoja by Timour, to have corn planted and cattle
+collected at certain places for the immense army which he was levying
+for the invasion of China. It was while engaged in fulfilling these
+commands, that news reached the ruler of Kashgar that this "Scourge of
+God" had died suddenly on the 5th of February, 1405. Khize Khoja himself
+survived but a short time afterwards. For the second time within the
+short space of 150 years had the possessions of a great conqueror to
+undergo the process of redistribution. In Timour's case it was simpler
+than it had been in that of Genghis Khan, for the former ruler left no
+worthy representative of his cause as the Mongol conqueror had in Ogdai
+and Chaghtai. The branches of the great family of Genghis struck root so
+deeply, that down to modern times he has had descendants who perpetuate
+his name, but Timour left none such. With the death of his favourite son
+Jehangir, his hopes of having a worthy successor expired.
+
+Kashgar was in particular the scene of confusion and trouble, and it was
+not until about 1445 that any settled government was attained, when
+Seyyid Ali, grandson of the aged and patriotic minister Khudadar,
+restored some order and cohesion to the distracted country for a short
+period. He died in 1457. During these years Yunus, king of Jungaria,
+played a very prominent part in all the disturbances that were occurring
+on his borders. He is represented to have been a very enlightened
+prince, and emissaries from foreign nations returned from his court
+relating with surprise how they had found a courteous and refined man
+where they expected to have seen a coarse and savage Mongol. While Yunus
+ruled in Jungaria another striking individual was predominant in
+Kashgar. Ababakar, son of Saniz, who was the son of Seyyid Ali, ruler of
+Kashgar, was one of the few sovereigns of that state whose acts entitle
+them to consideration. During a long and troubled tenure of power he had
+the good fortune to overcome many difficulties, and although his career
+was to become clouded before his death, the brilliant years that
+preceded the catastrophe justify us in considering his career for a
+little while. He was a great athlete, hunter and soldier, and was so
+favoured by his mother on that account that he distanced his brethren in
+the race for supremacy. As governor of Khoten he soon absorbed Yarkand,
+and long and furious were the wars he waged with Hydar, the ruler of
+Kashgar, who was assisted by Yunus of Jungaria. Nor, although successful
+on several occasions in the field against the allied forces, could
+Ababakar hope to overcome the huge armies at the disposal of Yunus; and
+it was not until Hydar himself foolishly broke off from Yunus, that
+Ababakar succeeded in asserting his claim to all Eastern Turkestan. War
+then broke out between Hydar and Yunus, and the latter with the
+assistance of large reinforcements from Jungaria overthrew and captured
+his former ally. But these dissensions favoured the cause of Ababakar,
+and on the death of Yunus in 1486, his possession of Kashgar became
+undisputed. The first serious danger with which he was menaced after his
+complete possession of Kashgar, was in 1499, when Ahmad, the son of
+Yunus, or Alaja the "slayer," as he was generally called, invaded his
+territory at the head of the Jattah Mongols. The campaign was in the
+commencement indecisive, but Ababakar before long triumphed over his
+northern invader.
+
+During the next fifteen years Ababakar ruled in peace and prosperity in
+Kashgar, accumulating great riches and presenting an object of
+attraction to his covetous neighbours. During these years the country,
+although ruled in an arbitrary way, flourished, and, as one of the
+native chronicles put it, "A traveller could go from Andijan to Hamil on
+the borders of China without fear of molestation, and without having to
+make an extra long march in order to find a place wherein to rest and
+obtain refreshment." But in 1513 a storm broke upon his country that
+resulted in his complete overthrow. Said, son of Ahmad and brother of
+Mansur, who was ruling in Jungaria, undertook the invasion of Kashgar in
+that year, and it was not long before he occupied Kashgar, which,
+however, Ababakar left but a heap of ruins. His advance on Yangy Hissar
+was opposed, but, having defeated the army of Kashgar before that city,
+he occupied it without any further opposition, and thus secured what
+has been called the key of Yarkand as well as of Kashgar. For some
+months Ababakar remained shut up in Yarkand, but on the approach of
+Said's army he abandoned that position and fled to Khoten. But not long
+afterwards he retired still further into the mountainous country
+south-east of Kashgar, and halted some time at Karanghotagh. But being
+first plundered and then deserted by his attendants, he withdrew into
+the valleys and deserts of the Tibetan table-land. For many months he
+wandered, half-starved and solitary, in this deserted region, and at
+last it was reported that he had been found murdered by some of the
+mountaineers. Such was the end of the once magnificent Ababakar, a
+prince who in his fortunes reminds us very much of the great Darius.
+That he was avaricious is clear to those who read of the great treasures
+he had stored away; that he was bloodthirsty and cruel is impossible of
+denial; but that he possessed in his earlier years many of the virtues,
+with some of the vices, of a great ruler is equally incontestable. His
+son Jehangir, whom he had left in command at Yarkand, on the approach of
+the army of Said fled to Sanju, and was in a few months captured and
+executed. About this epoch the third great Asiatic conqueror was
+appearing on the scene. Babur was born in 1481, and was chosen to
+succeed his father Uman Sheikh on the throne of Khokand, by the nobles
+of that state, when he was only twelve years of age. This conqueror of
+India influenced but indirectly the fortunes or Kashgar. His career was
+in another sphere, and it is not necessary here to enter into any
+description of his life, such as has been given of his predecessors
+Genghis Khan and Timour.
+
+Said, having overcome Ababakar, employed himself in extending his rule
+over the neighbouring states. He was seized with the desire of occupying
+that mountainous region, which is divided into almost as many petty
+states as it contains mountain chains, lying between our Indian
+frontier and the Pamir and Badakshan. But although he employed all his
+resources in endeavouring to subject the Kafirs of Bolor, or Kafiristan
+as it is now called, he was unable to make any permanent additions in
+this direction. In other years he carried fire and sword into Tibet and
+Cashmere; and it was when returning from one of these expeditions, in
+the year 1532, that he expired from the effects of the rarefied
+atmosphere, near the Karakoram pass. His death was the signal for the
+outbreak of fresh disturbances. His legitimate sons were ousted by
+Rashid, the son of Said by a slave, who had already distinguished
+himself as a general in the wars against Kafiristan and Tibet, and on
+the death of Rashid after a brief reign, the confusion became, if
+possible, worse confounded. It would be tedious in the extreme to follow
+the variations that now took place. Benedict Goes, a Portuguese
+missionary and traveller, found a ruler named Mahomed Khan on the throne
+in 1603, by whom he was hospitably received; but as he had placed the
+sister of the Khan, when returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca, under an
+obligation to him, this is scarcely a fair criterion either of the
+personal merits of this ruler, or of the state of civilization to which
+the country had attained.
+
+It was now that the Khoja family appeared prominently upon the scene.
+Two factions were playing the parts of Montagu and Capulet in Eastern
+Turkestan in the earlier years of the seventeenth century. They were
+known as the Aktaghluc and Karataghluc, and in the course of their
+strife the leader of the former called in to his aid the Khoja Kalar of
+Khodjent, a descendant of Azmill before mentioned. It was in the year
+1618 that this Khoja first came to Kashgar, and his grandson,
+Hadayatulla, was the chief means of attracting the affections of the
+people to this family. That veneration has not disappeared to-day, and
+the Hazrat Afak, as he is generally spoken of, is scarcely inferior in
+the eyes of the people to Mahomed himself. The great miracles he is
+reported to have wrought, and the peculiar sanctity which attached to
+him during his life, gave him complete ascendancy throughout the
+country, and before his death he was entrusted with the supreme
+authority. His son, Yahya or Khan Khoja, succeeded him during his
+lifetime, but was murdered in a riot a few months after the death of
+Hadayatulla. Then recommenced with fresh vigour the old series of
+disturbances. Aspirant after aspirant appeared in the political arena,
+but, as each had little claim to lead on account of original merit, a
+successful rival always was forthcoming, and so this wearying cycle
+continued until 1720.
+
+The course of the history of Kashgar has now been brought down to the
+commencement of the eighteenth century, during which a fresh change
+occurred in the history of the country by the Chinese conquest. It may
+be well, therefore, before narrating that event and the causes which
+immediately produced it, to consider the chief lessons taught us by the
+history of Eastern Turkestan, as revealed in the preceding pages. The
+most cursory reader must have been struck by the fact, that only twice
+in the course of eight centuries did the country secure a firm and
+settled government, and they were when two conquerors, Genghis Khan and
+Tamerlane, reduced every semblance of authority to one bare level of
+subjection. At fitful moments there arose, indeed, some leader, Yunus,
+Ababakar, or the first Khojas, capable of preserving for a few years his
+frontiers against the inroads of hostile neighbours, and of maintaining
+an outward show of prosperity and tranquillity to foreign travellers;
+but even such gleams of sunshine as these were transitory on the dark
+horizon of the condition of mankind in Central Asia. With the fall of
+each pretender, too, hopes of an improvement became fainter in the
+breasts of the people; and when the successors of the Khoja saint showed
+themselves not less amenable to the errors and frailties of their
+predecessors than any past ruler had been, it was to some extraneous
+circumstance, we may feel sure, that the people looked for aid. There is
+an old saying in this part of the world, that when "the people's tithe
+of bricks is full, then comes a Moses in the land;" and it cannot be
+doubted that in the year 1720 the people of Kashgar had suffered much
+and for so long, that relief, so that it came effectually from some
+quarter or another, could not be otherwise than welcome. But the Moses
+who had been, for centuries almost, expected, had as yet not proved
+forthcoming, and as "hope deferred maketh the heart sick," so had the
+Kashgari lost the courage even to look forward to a period when their
+life of misery, under oppressive tyrants and exorbitant taxation,
+aggravated by every form of peculation in its levy, might be changed for
+a more favourable state of being. There can be no doubt that if the
+chaos which reigned throughout Jungaria and Kashgar had continued much
+longer those vast regions would have been completely exhausted. As it
+was the population decreased in alarming proportions, and the wealth and
+general resources of the country disappeared with no apparent means of
+supplying the gap. What is, perhaps, most surprising of all is that all
+these later rulers seem to have lived in a sort of fools' paradise with
+regard to the resources of their state. The thought never seems to have
+occurred to them that there must be an end some day or other to a realm
+distracted by continual wars and sedition, and that subjects who have
+been tyrannised over for centuries will at last rise up in arms and
+teach their tyrants, in the words of the poet, "how much the wretched
+dare." These Khans or Ameers of Central Asia are not worthy of one
+moment's consideration for their own sake; but, as some account of them
+is a proper preparation for the modern history of Kashgar, they have
+been described in this chapter. From the disappearance of Chinese
+authority in Central and Western Asia in the eighth and ninth
+centuries, down to the commencement of the eighteenth century, the
+history of Kashgar, in common with that of its neighbours, was a series
+of misfortunes. There is nothing to attract our sympathies in any of the
+rulers, with the exception perhaps of Yunus; and all our commiseration
+is monopolised for the unhappy races who peopled that region. We
+therefore have arrived at this crisis in a fit state to appreciate the
+feelings of the Kashgari at the changes that occurred in the eighteenth
+century; and before we consider, in a fresh chapter, those alterations
+we may close this without regret at the disappearance of a long line of
+Central Asian Khans, who possessed scarcely one redeeming quality among
+many vices.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE CONQUEST OF KASHGAR BY CHINA.
+
+
+Before continuing the narrative of the events that took place in Kashgar
+after the year 1720, until it fell into the hands of the Chinese in
+1760, it may be as well to consider briefly the history of China, in
+order that it may be intelligible to us how that power was induced to
+undertake such far distant enterprises, and how, moreover, it was able
+to accomplish them successfully. In the earlier years of the seventeenth
+century the dynasty of Ming was seated on the throne of Pekin, but its
+power had been shaken to its foundations by repeated disasters in wars
+with the Mantchoo Tartars, who had wrested the province of Leaou Tung
+from the Emperor Wan-leh, before his death in 1620. The Mantchoos are
+said to have been the descendants of the Mongol conquerors of the
+thirteenth century, who had been forced to take refuge in the wilds
+north of China when the native Chinese rose up and destroyed their
+power. Whether this very plausible suggestion be true or not, or
+whether, as some affirm, these were a new race issuing from the frozen
+regions of Kamschatka and driven south by the necessity for obtaining
+sustenance for their increasing numbers, matters little for our present
+purpose. It is certain that they were a warlike people at this time, and
+that they could bring considerable numbers into the field, and it is
+very probable that, when they had obtained some success, their ranks
+were swollen by recruits from their Tartar kinsmen of Eastern Jungaria.
+On the death of the Chinese Emperor Wan-leh, dissensions broke out in
+China as to his successor, and in the struggle that ensued the Mantchoos
+were invited in to support the cause of one of the claimants. Their aid
+turned the scale in his favour; but when the fortunes of war had been
+clearly manifested, the Mantchoos showed no disposition to take their
+departure as had been stipulated. As the Saxons in our own history, and
+the Mongols in the Chinese had acted, so now did the Mantchoos, and in
+1644 their first Emperor Chuntche was installed in the imperial
+dignities, as the first of the present ruling dynasty of Tatsing, or
+"sublimely pure," When Chuntche was crowned by his victorious soldiery,
+it must not be supposed that he had conquered the whole of China. During
+the seventeen years of his reign he was constantly engaged in warring
+with the native Chinese forces; but always with invariable success. In
+1661 Kanghi, his son, ascended the throne, and by a series of judicious
+measures and successful enterprises, firmly maintained the position won
+in China by his father. It was during this brilliant reign that Tibet
+was annexed to the Chinese Empire, and from Cochin-China and the
+frontiers of Birma to the River Amoor there was none to question the
+power of the Mantchoo Government. It cannot be doubted that the conquest
+of Tibet opened up fresh ideas in the minds of the Chinese as to their
+right to rule in Eastern Turkestan; and with the re-assertion of their
+old suzerainty over the Tibetan table-land, the remembrance of a similar
+claim, at a far distant epoch, over Jungaria and Turkestan would be
+forced on the minds of the Chinese people, until some ambitious ruler or
+viceroy might avail himself of the opportunity of distinction by
+acquiescing in, and giving effect to, the popular desire. Kanghi was too
+prudent to jeopardize his recently consolidated state by expeditions
+either into Jungaria or Turkestan; and was quite satisfied with the
+respect shown to his empire by the Eleuthian princes of those regions.
+On Kanghi's death, in 1721, his son, Yung-Ching, came to the throne,
+and during his short reign, the example of his two predecessors not to
+interfere in the troubles of the states lying beyond Kansuh, was closely
+followed. Yung-Ching died in 1735, and thus made way for his ambitious
+and warlike son, Keen-Lung. When Keen-Lung first commenced to reign for
+himself he found that he was irresponsible ruler of a most powerful
+empire, at peace within itself, and satisfied to all outward seeming
+with its _de facto_ government. His treasury was full; the country was,
+perhaps, at its very highest point of prosperity, and the sovereign had
+only to maintain in this wealth and vigour the nation which had been
+brought to such a pitch by the wisdom of his predecessors. To a warlike
+monarch, however, the career of ruler of a thriving, peace-loving, and
+domestic people, has never been a palatable one, and Keen-Lung thought,
+as have many other great sovereigns of our own age, that the only use of
+a wealthy and numerous subject race was to enable the ruler to undertake
+high-sounding enterprises, and to spread the terror of his name through
+distant regions. The reputation and the real strength of the Chinese
+Empire were so great at this time in Asia, that no single power, or even
+any possible confederacy, would have thought of entering the lists
+against it. Keen-Lung had, therefore, no just cause for hostilities with
+the neighbouring states, as they were always too willing to offer the
+amplest reparation for any cause of offence to the Imperial dignity. The
+conquest of Turkestan was therefore an object with which he would
+heartily sympathise; and when we remember his warlike disposition, and
+the exact condition of China at the time, possessing a superabundance of
+wealth, and of numbers sufficient to achieve far more difficult
+enterprises than the one in question, it is easier to understand the
+eagerness with which Keen-Lung intervened in the affairs of Jungaria,
+when the following opportunity, which we are about to narrate, offered
+for so doing.
+
+It is now time to return to Kashgar and narrate the events that were
+happening in that troubled district. The feud between the Aktaghluc and
+Karataghluc factions reached its height when Afak, who had been placed
+on the throne of Yarkand by the Calmucks, under Galdan, the chief
+representative of the Aktaghluc, succeeded in expelling all the
+prominent supporters of the rival clan. Afak ruled for some years, but
+with difficulty maintained himself in some parts of Kashgar, against the
+Calmucks, Kirghiz, and Kipchak. His sons had no better fortune, and the
+state was finally divided between a Kipchak and a Kirghiz leader. These
+quarrelled between themselves, but happily they each expired in the
+first encounter. Acbash, one of the sons of Afak, was executed at Yangy
+Hissar in the course of this contention; but he had previously called in
+to his assistance from Khodjent, in Khokand, a Khoja, Danyal, of the
+rival Karataghluc faction. This roused the enmity of the more bitter
+among the Aktaghluc, and, on this, Khoja Ahmad was brought in to
+represent their interests. Danyal was besieged in Yarkand, but, with the
+assistance of a contingent of Kirghiz, he was able to repulse his
+assailants. But, although successful in the field, Danyal was compelled
+shortly afterwards to flee, and leave his rival in possession of the
+state. He fled to the Calmucks, in Jungaria, and pleaded so well, that
+an army was lent him to regain Kashgar. Victory attended this
+expedition, but the Calmuck leader, who had captured Ahmad at the siege
+of Kashgar, instead of placing Danyal in power, took both him and his
+rival as prisoners to his capital of Ili. With so forcible a settlement
+of the question, little room was left for useless complaining to the
+ambitious Danyal, and from this time down to the Chinese conquest, the
+Calmuck rulers of Ili asserted their right to supremacy over Eastern
+Turkestan. Danyal, himself, was appointed, some years later on, governor
+of Kashgar, now called Alty Shahr, or six cities; but, under him, there
+was a local governor for each town, appointed by the Calmucks
+themselves. His power was more apparent than real. His eldest son was
+kept at Ili as a hostage for the good behaviour of his father, and
+Danyal, himself, had frequently to proceed to Ili to make his report on
+the state of affairs in Kashgar. Such was the condition of Kashgar, as a
+subject province of the Calmuck rulers of Ili, governed by Danyal, a
+member of the Karataghluc party, in the year 1740. On the death of
+Galdan, the son of Arabdan Khan of Jungaria, in 1745, two chiefs,
+Amursana and Davatsi, or Tawats, seized the governing power, and for a
+time they divided the authority fairly between them; but it was not long
+before they fell out, and resolved to advance their own interests at the
+expense of each other. Amursana was unable to cope with the armies of
+his rival, Davatsi, and, having been defeated in several encounters,
+fled from Jungaria to China. On his arrival at Lanchefoo he demanded
+permission to proceed to Pekin to lay his grievances at the feet of the
+Emperor, and to offer in his name, and in that of many of his
+compatriots, the districts of Ili and of Kashgar to his omnipotent
+majesty.
+
+The request was granted, and Keen-Lung received him with favour,
+promised to consider what he had stated, and, in the meanwhile, gave him
+titles and revenues within the Chinese Empire. Amursana's address was so
+insinuating, and he played so skilfully on the king's ambition and love
+for military renown, that at last Keen-Lung consented to lend him the
+forces, which he had been so lavish of promises to secure. In 1753, the
+Chinese army, under Amursana, appeared in Jungaria, and, after several
+desperate encounters, Davatsi was driven out of that state, and,
+according to one account, was delivered up to the Chinese by Khojam Beg,
+the governor of Ush Turfan. According to another version, he was
+captured in the field; but both agree that he was taken to Pekin and
+there executed. Amursana, having regained his position in Jungaria, now
+turned his attention to the conquest of its dependency, Kashgar. He was
+now supreme in Jungaria, with his capital at Ili; but his army, which
+maintained him in his position, was a Khitay force, owing allegiance
+solely to the Emperor of Pekin, and only obeying the instructions issued
+by his general accompanying the Eleuth prince Amursana. At this epoch
+Yusuf, a son of Galdan, had seized the chief authority in Kashgar, and,
+raising a cry that the true religion of Islam was in danger from the
+advance of the Khitay, endeavoured to rally to his cause in the struggle
+that he saw was approaching the Mahomedan governments of Khokand and
+Bokhara. Amursana, on the northern frontiers of Kashgar, was eagerly
+watching for the opportunity to arise for an active interference in that
+state, and Yusuf was prudent in seeking beyond his frontiers for allies
+that were able to assist him against the machinations of his foes. Yusuf
+had made himself the leader and representative of the Karataghluc party
+in the state, and Amursana accordingly resolved to put forward the
+pretensions of the rival Aktaghluc faction. In this design the Chinese
+general acquiesced, and, with the assistance of the Calmuck governors of
+Ush Turfan, and Aksu, no delay interfered with its prompt realization.
+The descendants of the ancient Khojas were consequently sought out, and
+Barhanuddin, son of Ahmad, was selected for the purpose. He, at the head
+of a mixed following, promptly seized Ush Turfan, and was there received
+with acclamation, and several of the minor tribes joined him at once.
+Yusuf was, however, hurrying up with a large force from Yarkand, and
+Barhanuddin's chances seemed to be more than doubtful, when Yusuf died
+on the way. His son Abdulla, who took the name of Khoja Padshah,
+hastened on, however, and besieged Barhanuddin in Ush Turfan. Abdulla
+then endeavoured to come to terms with Barhanuddin, and made overtures
+for the reconciliation of the Karataghluc and Aktaghluc parties to be
+cemented in a crusade against the invading Khitay. Barhanuddin, a true
+Mussulman, was personally inclined to accept the arrangement offered,
+but, as he was surrounded by Chinese officials and their allies, he was
+constrained to give instead the advice that Abdulla should surrender to
+the Chinese and acknowledge their supremacy. Abdulla was not at all
+willing to forfeit his independence without some struggle, and the siege
+of Ush Turfan was pressed on. In the camp of the besieging forces there
+were some who favoured the pretensions of Barhanuddin, and these
+deserting from the Karataghluc cause, the remaining forces of Abdulla
+were compelled to retreat with precipitation. Barhanuddin immediately
+advanced on Kashgar, where he was received with open arms. Yarkand soon
+afterwards fell into his possession, and the conquest of Kashgar by the
+descendant of the Khojas and the triumph of the Aktaghluc party were
+complete.
+
+So far the Chinese had been merely spectators of the progress of events
+in Kashgar. Amursana had induced them to approve of this enterprise of
+Barhanuddin, and they had given general support in the war with Yusuf
+and his son; and it was not until Barhanuddin, elated with his success,
+set their wishes at defiance, that they resolved to occupy the country.
+But before that, Amursana's career had been cut short. Although escorted
+by a large force of native Chinese troops, he had aspired, in 1757, to
+establish himself as an independent prince in Jungaria, and had broken
+loose from Chinese control. The forces he raised were, however, defeated
+with remarkable ease by the Chinese, and Amursana was compelled to flee
+once more from his home--this time with no certain refuge, as he had
+before in Pekin. The Russians were then in possession of Siberia, but
+their influence for good or for ill beyond their desert and almost
+impenetrable stations was practically _nil_; but, such as it was, it
+seemed to Amursana the only place affording any prospect of security.
+He died at Tobolsk, in 1757, soon after he arrived there; but the
+implacable Chinese haughtily demanded from the Russians his body as a
+proof of his decease, and the Russian government sent it to Kiachta for
+surrender to them. Such was the career of the ill-fated, but ambitious,
+Amursana, who was the immediate cause of the introduction of Chinese
+power into Eastern Turkestan.
+
+With so unmistakable a proof before his eyes of the power of the
+Chinese, it is strange to find Barhanuddin also proving contumacious in
+Kashgar, but so it was. In 1758, the very next year after the death of
+Amursana, this ruler and his brother Khan Khoja broke out in open mutiny
+to the Chinese. At Ili some Khitay officers were maltreated, and
+outspoken contempt was shown for Chinese commands. Such attitude could
+not be brooked by any established rule, and, to do the Chinese simple
+justice, never had been tolerated by them on any occasion; and
+accordingly a Chinese army was despatched from Ili to chastise this
+recalcitrant ruler, and to remind him that the arm of Chinese power was
+terribly long. Barhanuddin and his brother were defeated in several
+pitched battles, city after city opened its gates to the dreaded
+invader, and the last representatives of the Khojas were compelled to
+seek refuge in the isolated region of Badakshan. But even here they were
+not safe. The terror of the Chinese name had gone before them, and the
+sovereign of Badakshan, eager to propitiate the conqueror, sent the
+heads of the two brothers to the Chinese general, who was advancing from
+Yarkand. Only one of the numerous sons of Barhanuddin escaped the
+destruction wrought in the family of the Khojas by the victorious
+Chinese: his name was Khoja Sarimsak. The Chinese had now completely
+annexed all the territory north of the Karakoram and east of the Pamir
+and Khokand, and it does not appear that in doing so they had suffered
+any great loss. By availing themselves of Amursana's claims in Jungaria
+they had obtained a firm foothold in that state, and then by an equally
+skilful manipulation of the rival parties of Aktaghluc and Karataghluc,
+they had extended their authority over Kashgar as well. When their
+puppets, Amursana and Barhanuddin, became restive as Chinese vassals,
+and strove for independence, the Chinese forces were called into action
+and swept all opposition from their path. All this may seem the most
+unjustifiable ambition, nor do we wish to palliate in any way the
+terribly harsh repressive measures adopted by the Chinese. There is no
+doubt that, so long as there remained the shadow of any opposition to
+their rule, they did not temper their power with any exhibition of
+mercy. It is computed that almost half a million of people were slain
+during the wars of these two or three years, and that the great majority
+of these were the innocent inhabitants, who had been massacred. Nor,
+although we should be disposed to think that this is a greatly
+exaggerated number, have we any reason to doubt that the sword of the
+Chinese was called into use whenever any resistance was offered to their
+advance, and that the feelings of the soldiers were embittered to a
+great extent by religious fervour, in their encounters with the
+Mussulmans. The Chinese, having conquered Kashgar, turned their arms
+against Khokand, and entered Tashkent and the city of Khokand in
+triumph. As the year 1760 was drawing to a close, quite a panic was
+spreading through Western Asia at the advance of the Chinese.
+Afghanistan, then as now the only formidable Mahomedan territory left
+intact from foreign conquest, was implored by the suffering Islamites to
+check the Chinese advance. Then, as recently on a somewhat similar
+occasion, Afghanistan thought prudence the better part of valour, and
+confined her action to the invasion of Badakshan, which she coveted, in
+order to punish its ruler for the murder of the fugitive Khojas. But,
+having terrified Khokand, the Chinese wisely retired to the proper
+frontier of Kashgar, and then set about consolidating their rule there
+by an energy and administrative capacity which must excite the
+admiration of every governing nation.
+
+It was some years, however, before the conquest of Kashgar, which had
+been so rapidly accomplished, could be considered to have been
+altogether completed. Fresh troops had to be summoned from Kansuh, and
+military settlers imported in large numbers from Shensi and other
+Chinese provinces, to supply the place of the massacred Kashgari.
+Settlers were also brought from the neighbourhood of Urumtsi and Hamil;
+and with these and imperial troops sent from Pekin, the Chinese felt
+complete masters of the situation. It was only then that the Chinese
+viceroy considered himself sufficiently strong to place his army in
+detachments in the various cities. Up to that time it had been kept
+mobilised in one, or at most two or three stations, ready for instant
+action. When the Chinese withdrew from Khokand they imposed a tribute on
+that state, and then they turned their arms against the nomad tribes on
+the north of the Jungarian frontier. The various hordes of the Kirghiz
+nomads sent in their submission one after the other, and the Chinese
+invariably accepted their fealty, and as a rule rewarded their duteous
+behaviour with Chinese titles and rank Thus Ablai, Chief of the Middle
+Horde, was made Prince in 1766, and Nur Ali, of the Little Horde, went
+so far as to send special emissaries to Pekin, where they were
+favourably received, and returned with recompenses for the fidelity of
+their master. The Chinese had thus secured their position in Jungaria
+and Kashgar before the dose of 1765, and by their possession of Khoten,
+they had opened up communications with their province of Tibet. On the
+south they possessed an admirable frontier, and it was only in the
+south-west that any check seemed to be put upon their advance. As
+already mentioned, the Ameer of Afghanistan had overran Badakshan, in
+chastisement for the murders of Barhanuddin and his brother; and he was
+continually receiving applications to declare an open war against the
+Chinese. His own troubles with the rulers of Scinde and Persia were
+sufficient to keep his religions sympathies within due bounds. But he
+sent an embassy to Pekin, to point out that his fellow-religionists were
+suffering under the conquering sway of the Chinese forces in Central
+Asia; and on its return with an unsatisfactory reply, he appears to have
+stationed a large body of troops in Badakshan. The proud Durani monarch
+was probably eager to oppose the Chinese, but, wiser than his
+contemporaries in Turkestan and Jungaria, he accurately reckoned up the
+risks of the enterprise, and contented himself with the maintenance of
+the powerful empire he had erected on the ruins of the conquests of
+Nadir Shah. When the Afghans had done so much, and given promises of aid
+in the defence of Samarcand, it is not to be wondered at if the people
+of Kashgar thought they would do more, and risings took place in several
+parts of the state, notably at Ush Turfan. The Chinese measures were
+prompt and effectual; the rebellion was suppressed, the inhabitants
+massacred, and the town destroyed. This failure struck so complete a
+panic into the hearts of the people, that no inducements, for more than
+half a century, could encourage them to rise against the Chinese. The
+Chinese conquest of Kashgar gave an effectual solution to the rivalries
+of the numerous claimants to its sovereignty, and among other
+competitors to the Khojas, that is, to the descendants of that Sarimsak
+who alone survived the massacre of his family in 1760. While very
+possibly the people may have suffered that mental depression which must
+accompany the installation of a foreign rule, and despite the very harsh
+and unmistakable evidences given by the Chinese of their intolerance of
+opposition, there was some prospect, notwithstanding these, that the
+Chinese would prove permanent masters, and that their rule would
+consequently become milder and milder every year. It was this feeling,
+that things could not become much worse, that rendered the Kashgari
+apathetic in their resistance to the Chinese. They did not dare to
+expect much improvement in their lot; but at all events they might
+suppose that Chinese massacres would cease with the disappearance of
+resistance, whereas massacres by their own countrymen and tyrants had
+been for centuries an every-day occurrence.
+
+Before considering the Chinese occupation of Kashgar, it may be useful
+to give some description of the Aktaghluc and Karataghluc parties, of
+whose rivalry the history of Kashgar in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and
+eighteenth centuries is so full. It may be remembered that in 1533,
+Reshid, the younger son of Said, who had distinguished himself in his
+father's wars, seized the state from his brothers, to whom he was
+inferior both in age and in birth on his mother's side. In effecting
+this he availed himself of the alliance of the Usbeg rulers west of
+Pamir, and during the negotiations that were transacted between them,
+the distinguished divine, Maulana Khoja Kasani, of Samarcand, visited
+him. He was greeted with the most striking marks of Reshid's affection,
+and granted a large estate in Kashgar. He married and left two sons in
+that state to represent his interests and share his possessions. The
+elder son, whose mother was a Samarcand lady, was averse to the younger,
+whose mother was a native of Kashgar. In the course of time they each
+rose prominently in the service of the state, but they transmitted their
+antipathy to their descendants. Khoja Kalan, the elder, whose influence
+was greatest in Yarkand and Karatagh, was the founder of the
+Karataghluc, or "Black Mountaineers." Khoja Ishac, the younger, whose
+influence was greatest in Kashgar and Actagh, another form of Altai,
+was the founder of the Aktaghluc, or "White Mountaineers." The
+descendants of either of these Khojas, or priests, the sons of the great
+divine of Samarcand, claim the title of Khoja, but that must not be
+confounded with the more exclusive signification it possesses as
+representing the once ruling family.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE CHINESE RULE IN KASHGAR.
+
+
+The Chinese conquest of Jungaria and Eastern Turkestan having become an
+accomplished fact, what did the new rulers do to justify their forcible
+interference in Central Asia? What measures did they adopt to conciliate
+the subject peoples, and what to increase the prosperity of a vast
+region, naturally fertile, but impoverished by centuries of improvident
+government and of civil anarchy and war? Did they follow the precedent
+that had been set them by every past ruler of those countries, and leave
+the people to their own devices, to starve or to exist as best they
+might, so long as the tribute money was forthcoming? Did the Chinese
+Viceroys of Ili, or their lieutenants in Kashgar, Yarkand, Aksu, or
+Kucha adopt a policy of inaction, and pursue a line of conduct of
+unprincipled selfishness in advancing their own personal fortunes, and
+thus prove that they were of the same stamp as all other Asiatic
+despots, careless of the day and utterly regardless of the morrow? The
+best way to see how they acted, what they did, and what they did not
+that was possible, is to follow their rule in Kashgar with some
+attention. In itself this may be found to be no uninstructive lesson for
+us, who are also a great governing people; and from the perusal of what
+the Chinese administrators did in Central Asia we may arise willing to
+accord them high praise, because we are better able than other nations
+to appreciate the difficulties of their task.
+
+After the fall of Amursana, the Chinese, in the first place, organized
+their administrative system upon the following basis:--The supreme
+authority was vested in the hands of the Viceroy of Ili. Under him an
+amban, or lieutenant-governor, administered affairs in Kashgar. His
+place of abode was Yarkand. In internal matters the Yarkand Amban was
+without a superior south of the Tian Shan, but in external affairs he
+only acted in subordination to the Viceroy of Ili, who alone was in
+communication with Pekin. Under each of these potentates there were the
+usual deputy-ambans and Tay Dalays, or military commanders. All the
+cities had Gulbaghs constructed outside of them, and these forts were
+held by Chinese troops--that is, by a mixture of Khitay and Tungani. It
+is computed that 20,000 troops used to garrison Kashgar and the
+neighbourhood alone. The military posts were restricted to Chinamen, and
+the higher judicial and administrative offices were also withheld from
+the subjected race. But these were the only privileges retained by the
+Chinese.
+
+The Khan, or chief Amban, who resided in Yarkand, made all the
+appointments to the minor offices, which were filled almost exclusively
+by Mahomedans. The only precaution the Chinese seem to have taken was to
+refuse employment to a Kashgari in his native town, so that a Yarkandi
+would have to go to Aksu, or some other place away from his home, if he
+desired to participate in the government of his country. But beyond this
+there was no restriction, and nominally the Hakim Beg, the highest
+Mussulman officer, ranked on an equality with the Chinese amban. His
+subordinates were all Mahomedans, with the exception of his personal
+guard of Khitay troops. In the hands of these natives of the country lay
+all the administration of justice among their co-religionists, the
+collection of the revenue, and the levying of customs dues on the
+frontier and of trade taxes in the cities. It was only when cause for
+litigation arose between a Buddhist and a Mussulman that the amban
+interfered. We have therefore the instructive spectacle before us of a
+Buddhist conquest becoming harmonized with Mussulman institutions, and
+Chinese arrogance not content with tolerating, but absolutely fostering,
+a regime to which its hostility was scarcely concealed. This is the only
+instance of the Chinese exhibiting such more than Asiatic restraint
+towards Mahomedans; for their dealings with Tibet, a country of peculiar
+sanctity and Buddhist as well, is not a case in point. The scheme worked
+well, however. Chinese strength was husbanded by being employed only
+when absolutely necessary to be called into play, and the people, to a
+great degree their own masters, did not realise the fact of their being
+a subjected nation. Their first anxiety was the payment of their
+taxes--far from exorbitant, as it had been under their own rulers; but
+that task accomplished, they could free their minds from care.
+
+Very often their own countryman, the Hakim Beg, was a greater tyrant
+than the Chinese amban in the fort outside their gates; but against his
+exactions they could obtain speedy redress. When their Hakims, or Wangs
+as the Chinese called them, became unpopular in a district, the amban
+promptly removed them; even if he considered they were not much to
+blame, he always transferred them to some other district. The first
+object in the eyes of the amban was the maintenance of order, and he
+knew well enough that order could not be maintained, unless he resorted
+to force, which he studiously avoided, if the people were discontented.
+The people therefore could repose implicit trust in the Chinese amban
+securing a fair hearing and justice for them in their disagreements with
+their own leaders; and the Mussulman Wangs, who were the old ruling
+class, saw the unfortunate tax-payer at last secure from their tyranny
+through the clemency of a Buddhist conqueror. We are justified in
+assuming that the population saw the force of these patent facts, and
+that, if not perfectly to be relied on in any emergency, the Chinese had
+no danger to expect from the tax-producing and patient Kashgari.
+
+So long as the Chinese rule remained vigorous--that is, for about the
+first fifty years--the Ambans worked in perfect concord with the Wangs,
+and through them with the people. But the internal relations between
+these various personages became more complicated and less cordial
+through the importation, about the beginning of this century, of a fresh
+factor into the question. The Chinese had granted the cities west of,
+and including, Aksu very considerable privileges in carrying on trade
+with Khokand; and in the course of commercial intercourse a Khokandian
+element was slowly imported into these cities, when it became a people
+within a people, enjoying the prosperity to be derived from the Chinese
+Empire, but not experiencing any sentiment of gratitude towards those by
+whom the favours were conferred. After some years, when these Khokandian
+immigrants had become numerous, the Chinese acquiesced in their
+selecting a responsible head for each community, and this head, or
+Aksakal, was nominated by the Khan of Khokand, the only temporal
+sovereign these people recognized. The creation of this third power in
+the state, which was first sanctioned as a matter of convenience, was to
+be fraught with the direst consequences for the Chinese. The Khitay
+would be justified in saying that the Aksakals were "the cause of all
+their woe," in Kashgar at all events. The Aksakals were far too prudent
+to challenge the supremacy of the Chinese officials, and their first
+object was rather to make themselves independent of the Wangs than to
+compete with the Ambans. In this they were successful, for the Chinese
+neglected to take into account the dangers that might arise from these
+same bustling, intriguing, and alien Aksakals. The Wangs had always been
+obedient vassals, but the plausibility of the Aksakals put them on a par
+with their rivals. The Chinese washed their hands of the quarrel, and
+may have imagined that their rule was made more assured by divisions
+among the Mussulmans. In this they were mistaken. The Aksakals, who
+after a time repudiated their obligations to the Wangs, became the
+centre of all the intrigue that marked the last half-century of Chinese
+rule, and, puffed up by their triumph over the Wangs, did not hesitate
+to challenge the right of the Ambans to exercise jurisdiction over them.
+But of this more later on.
+
+While the Chinese adopted these liberal measures in their dealings with
+the Mussulman population, they did not neglect those other duties which
+belong to the government by right. The greatest benefit they could
+confer was of course the preservation of order, and to maintain the
+balance impartially between the numerous litigants was the first article
+in the creed of the Chinese viceroys. As tranquillity settled down over
+these distracted regions, trade revived. The native industries, which
+had greatly fallen off, became once more active; and foreign enterprise
+was attracted to this quarter, which Chinese power soon made the most
+favoured region in Central Asia. But the rulers did not rest content
+with the mere preservation of good order. They did not leave it to the
+inclination of an indolent people to progress at as tortoise-like a
+speed as they would wish; but they themselves set the example which the
+rest felt bound to imitate. Not only did the enterprising Khitay
+merchant from Kansuh and Szchuen visit the marts of Hamil and Turfan,
+but many of this class penetrated into Kashgar proper, where they became
+permanent settlers. These invaluable agents supplied the deficiency that
+had never before been filled up in the life of the state, for they
+brought the highest qualities of enterprise and practical sagacity,
+together with capital, as their special characteristics. In the train of
+these Khitay merchants came wealth and increased prosperity. Yarkand,
+Kashgar, Aksu, and Khoten became cities of the first rank, and the
+population of the country in the year 1800 was greater than it had ever
+been before.
+
+There was perfect equality too between all the various races in respect
+to trade. The Chinese did not demand special immunities for their own
+countrymen, as might have been expected. The Khitay, who came all the
+way from Lanchefoo in search of a fortune, must be prepared to compete
+in an equal race with the Khokandi, the Kashgari, or the Afghan. His
+nationality would obtain for him no immunity from being taxed, or could
+give him no advantage over the foreign or native traders. The main
+portion of the trade of the country remained in the old hands. Khokand
+benefited as much as Kashgar by the trade, and China, in a direct
+manner, least of the three.
+
+The Chinese have at all times been justly famous for their admirable
+measures for irrigating their provinces. The wonderful canals which cut
+their way, where there are no great rivers, in China proper are
+reproduced even in this outlying dependency. Eastern Turkestan is one of
+the worst-watered regions in the world. In fact there is only a belt of
+fertile country round the Yarkand river, stretching away eastward along
+the slopes of the Tian Shan as far as Hamil. The few small rivers which
+are traced here and there across the map are during many months of the
+year dried up, and even the Yarkand then becomes an insignificant
+stream. To remedy this, and to husband the supply as much as possible,
+the Chinese sank dykes in all directions. By this means the cultivated
+country was slowly but surely spread over a greater extent of territory,
+and the vicinity of the three cities of Kashgar, Yangy Hissar, and
+Yarkand became known as the garden of Asia. Corn and fruit grew in
+abundance, and from Yarkand to the south of the Tian Shan the traveller
+could pass through one endless orchard. On all sides he saw nothing but
+plenty and content, peaceful hamlets and smiling inhabitants. These
+were the outcome of a Chinese domination.
+
+The Chinese, besides possessing a dual line of communication with their
+own country, one north and the other south of the Tian Shan, had also a
+caravan route from Khoten to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. There was also
+some intercourse with Cashmere by this way. The jade, for which Khoten
+was justly, and is still, famous, was exported in immense quantities,
+both to Tibet and to China, through Maralbashi. This mineral was held in
+high esteem by Chinese ladies, and alone sufficed to make the prosperity
+of Khoten assured. Gold, silk, and musk, were other articles included in
+the commerce of this flourishing city. There was also, in the Chinese
+time, a very extensive manufacture of carpets and cotton goods. The gold
+mines, which, with two exceptions, have not been worked since the same
+time, are believed to be scarcely touched, and only await a fostering
+hand to be put in working order once more.
+
+The Chinese also devoted great attention to the coal mines in the
+vicinity of Aksu, and these were worked both by private enterprise and
+the Government. Coal was an article of common use in that city, but it
+does not appear to have been exported beyond the neighbourhood. It is
+known that the Chinese took greater interest in the development of the
+internal means of wealth of the country than in inducing foreigners to
+enter it. Thus, we see that mines, in a special degree, received state
+approval and support. The gold mines of Khoten, the coal of Aksu, and
+the zinc of Kucha, are all conspicuous instances of this; as, under all
+past, and the recent Mahomedan, rule, they have been most foolishly, but
+consistently neglected.
+
+Nor were those special trades for which Kashgar had in prosperous
+moments been renowned, neglected. The leather-dressers of Yarkand and
+Aksu, the silk-mercers of Kashgar and Khoten, were never so busy as in
+the warlike days of Keen-Lung, and the great mass of the people, the
+agricultural class in the villages, was equally prosperous and well
+governed. Trade was fostered on all sides, and the conquering power was
+content to stand aside and witness the steady progress of its subjects
+towards hitherto unattained and unattainable prosperity.
+
+Lastly, the Chinese directed their attention to the improvement of the
+means of communication between one part of the province and another. It
+was absolutely necessary to the security of their rule that there should
+be an easy and always open road between Ili and Kashgar. Therefore, a
+way was cut, at great expense, through the Tian Shan, north of Aksu, and
+this pass was known as the Muzart, or Glacier. So difficult was the
+country through which it passed, and such the danger from ice-drifts and
+snow-storms, that relays of men had to be kept constantly at work in
+order to prevent it getting out of repair for a day. The construction of
+this road was, in the first place, most expensive, but, perhaps, the
+cost of repairing was much more. This, the most striking engineering
+achievement of the Chinese, has become practically useless, through
+fifteen years of neglect. If China is to regain Ili, it will, no doubt,
+be restored. The passes west of this, by the Narym River to Vernoe, and
+through Terek to Khokand, were those selected by Yakoob Beg to supply
+its place.
+
+The next object to which the Chinese specially paid attention was the
+preservation of their road home to China. Thus the road in Tian Shan Pe
+Lu, and the other in Tian Shan Nan Lu, were kept in the most effective
+state possible. The former, north of the mountains, passed through Manas
+and Urumtsi to Hamil; the latter, south of them, through Aksu and Kucha
+to the same place. The alternative route from Kucha to Kashgar and
+Yarkand, through Maralbashi, was also much used, more especially,
+however, by those who desired to break off at that outpost in the desert
+to reach Khoten and Sanju. In each city there was appointed a committee
+to superintend the roads in the district, and this Road Board was a
+highly important and useful corporation. It was by such measures as
+these that the Chinese made their rule a blessing to Kashgar and
+Jungaria for more than fifty years. Of course, there was the fiscal side
+of these schemes of public utility. Roads could not be opened up and
+maintained in order, canals could not be dug, the state could not
+administer justice, promote trade, and make itself respected abroad,
+without an assured revenue, and this revenue, after the first ten years,
+was very productive.
+
+The principal taxes were the tithe on the produce of the land, called
+"_ushr_" and the _zakat_ (fortieth), on merchandise and cattle. Then, in
+the cities, there was a house tax, which was essentially, like our own
+income tax, a war tax, fluctuating in accordance with the military
+necessities, caused by foreign or civil war. From the mines, too, the
+state derived a large annual sum, which was generally devoted to some
+object of public utility. There was also the tribute money from the
+Kirghiz nomads, whose flocks and horses were numbered and taxed at a low
+rate, in return for which they were taken under the protection of China.
+In addition to these great taxes there were several smaller ones, such
+as a fee on fuel sold in the market, and another levy on milch-kine kept
+in cities. A writer on Kashgar has said that these "proved a ready means
+of oppression, and a prolific source of that discontent which left the
+rulers without a single helping hand, or sympathising heart, in the hour
+of their distress and destruction." But this assumption of cause and
+effect is scarcely just.
+
+Of course, all taxes can be made a ready means of oppression by the
+tax-gatherer, who, in this case, was a Mussulman and fellow-countryman.
+But taxes are absolutely necessary to all good government, and when we
+consider what China did with her revenue, with what public spirit her
+representatives laid it out in plans for the advantage of the state, can
+we pronounce an opinion that she imposed unfair burdens on the
+subjected race? Moreover, no one denies the prosperity general
+throughout Kashgar in those days, a period looked back to with regret by
+the inhabitants during the most favoured years of Yakoob Beg's rule. It
+is not in accordance with facts, then, to imply that the Chinese ground
+Kashgar under them by severe taxation, and whatever petty tyranny there
+was, was carried on not by the Khitay Ambans, but by the Mahomedan
+Wangs.
+
+In the hour of distress and destruction the people, indeed, proved
+traitorous to their best friends, or, more generally, apathetic; leaving
+to the energetic Andijani element within their gates the task of
+crossing swords with Buddhist rule, to which the hostility of these
+immigrants had always been declared.
+
+The short-sightedness of the Kashgari played the game of the more
+fanatical and ambitious people of Khokand; but the rule of China did not
+pass out of Eastern Turkestan until the disturbances of forty years had
+generated ill-feeling that formerly was not, and had so embittered the
+relations of governing and governed, that what had come to be considered
+a lenient and impersonal government, assumed all the darker hues of a
+military and foreign despotism. Even then China did not fall until there
+was dissension within herself, when, split into three hostile camps, her
+sword dropped nerveless from her hand in Central Asia, 2,000 miles away
+from her natural border. To follow Chinese rule in Kashgar down to 1820,
+is to observe the monotonous course of never varying prosperity. From
+that year to 1860, the tale is of a different complexion, less
+monotonous but also less satisfactory.
+
+In 1758 and 1760 Chinese armies entered Khokand. Tashkent fell in the
+former year, and the capital in the latter. The Chinese then withdrew,
+after imposing a tribute upon Khokand. During the long reign of
+Keen-Lung--that is, down to 1795--the tribute was regularly paid. After
+that year, however, the payment became irregular, and border warfare of
+frequent occurrence between the two neighbours. At last, in 1812,
+Khokand, then under an able prince, refused to pay tribute any longer,
+and the Chinese acquiesced in the repudiation. Nor did the change in the
+relations between China and Khokand stop here; for, a few years
+afterwards, the Chinese found it expedient to pay Khokand an annual sum
+to keep the Khoja family, whose representatives were residing in
+Khokand, from intriguing against them. The amount of the subsidy was
+L3,500 of our money. In addition to this, the Khan of Khokand was
+permitted to levy a tax on all Mahomedan merchandise sold in Kashgar
+through Andijan merchants. This tax was collected by the Aksakals before
+mentioned, and was a very profitable source of income for the
+impecunious khans. But even these concessions and perquisites did not
+satisfy the Mussulmans of Central Asia, who saw in Chinese moderation an
+evidence of weakness and decline. The Aksakals, in these years of
+Mahomedan revival, became political agents of the greatest importance.
+It was they who gave a point to all the discontent there might be in
+Kashgar; it was they who attributed to the Chinese the blame for
+whatever evils this world is never wholly free from; and it was they who
+agitated for the return of the old Khoja kings, who were always
+destined, in their eyes, to bring the most perfect happiness. With such
+causes at work both within and without their position, the Chinese had
+not to wait long before their authority was more openly challenged.
+
+Sarimsak, the only member of the Khoja family surviving the massacre by
+the Chinese, had fled, as a child, into the impenetrable recesses of
+Wakhan. From thence, in later years, he had gone to settle in Khokand,
+where he married. This prince had three sons--Yusuf, Bahanuddin, and
+Jehangir, the youngest and best known. In 1816, the first outbreak
+against Chinese authority occurred, when a small rising took place in
+Tash Balik, a town to the west of Kashgar. This was speedily put down,
+and its leaders executed. It was but the forerunner of the storm.
+
+In 1822, Jehangir resolved to reassert his claims over Kashgar, and,
+while his eldest brother continued to reside in retirement at Bokhara,
+he joined the Kara Kirghiz. With a party of these, under the command of
+their chief, Suranchi Beg, Jehangir raided up to the city of Kashgar. He
+was there repulsed in the suburbs, and compelled to flee. He then joined
+the Kirghiz of Bolor round Narym, who were nominally feudatories of
+China, and, with their aid, commenced a petty sort of border war. A
+small Chinese force was despatched against him, and drove the Kirghiz up
+as far as Fort Kurtka. On their return from this successful attack, they
+were, however, surprised in one of the defiles, and almost all were
+destroyed. This was the first reverse the Chinese had ever met with in
+the field, and it was at once bruited about through all parts of Central
+Asia. It gave a life to the Khoja cause which it had hitherto lacked,
+and adventurers from all parts flocked to the standard Jehangir now
+raised on the borders of Kashgar. The Khan of Khokand so far assisted
+him as to send him a skilled general, Isa Dadkhwah, and extended over
+his cause that protection and sanction which Khokand has ever since
+thrown over the Khoja family.
+
+In the spring of 1826, Jehangir advanced in force against Kashgar, and
+the Chinese, despising their assailant, left their fortifications to
+encounter him in the open. A battle then ensued, of which the
+particulars have not come down to us, but which resulted in the defeat
+of the Chinese. Jehangir entered Kashgar in triumph, was received with
+acclamations by the people, urged on by the Aksakals, and proclaimed
+himself sovereign of the country, under the style of Seyyid Jehangir
+Sultan. His first act--the most significant exposure of the true
+sentiment of the Kashgarian people there well could be--was to order
+the execution of the Mahomedan Wang of Kashgar, by name Mahomed Seyyid.
+
+The fall of Kashgar was the signal to the Aksakals throughout Altyshahr
+to begin that work for which they had been long preparing. In Yangy
+Hissar, Yarkand, and Khoten risings at once took place. The Chinese,
+surprised and unarmed, were butchered in the streets, and the Gulbaghs,
+as the visible token of the foreign rule, were razed with the ground.
+
+The Gulbagh of Kashgar itself alone held out, but it at last fell, after
+sustaining a long siege, into the hands of Jehangir. His triumph
+completed, he had to concern himself more with his relations with
+Khokand than about the Chinese, who were mysteriously quiet. Mahomed Ali
+Khan, of Khokand, who thought that Jehangir's success was solely due to
+him, laid claim to a certain historical superiority over his vassal of
+Kashgar, to which the Khoja prince was not willing to assent. A large
+Khokandian army which had been sent to Kashgar returned, after losing
+1,000 men before the walls of the Gulbagh, and its withdrawal was the
+signal for plots and counterplots to break out in the palace of the new
+ruler. These he promptly repressed, reduced the intriguing general, Isa
+Dadkhwah, in rank, and had emancipated himself from his thraldom to
+Khokand, when the news came that the Chinese were at last returning.
+
+Although the western portion of Altyshahr had fallen away from the
+Chinese, Aksu and Maralbashi remained true to their allegiance. The
+Chinese still possessed the military keys of the country. Moreover,
+their possession of Ili gave them an enormous strategical advantage, and
+in the Tungan population they possessed an almost inexhaustible supply
+for recruiting "revindicating" armies. It is apropos here to state that
+China retained both of these advantages down to the time of Buzurg Khan
+and Yakoob Beg, and that, so long as she possessed them, the utmost
+Mussulman fanaticism and Khokandian patronage of the Khojas could do
+was futile against the arrest of fate. During six months Jehangir ruled
+in Kashgar, and during six months the Chinese viceroy made his
+preparations at Ili for a thorough revenge. An army of more than 100,000
+men, raised from the Tungani, the Calmucks, and the Khitay garrison, was
+despatched from Ili, and in January, 1827, entered Aksu. Here all the
+brigades were concentrated, and the Viceroy, in conjunction with the
+general under him, by name Chang-Lung, drew up the plan of campaign,
+which was as follows:--A small army of 12,000 men was sent against
+Khoten across the desert through Cay Yoli, while the remainder of the
+host advanced on Maralbashi. Here another detachment of 7,000 strong was
+directed against Yarkand, while the main body marched on Kashgar by the
+banks of the Kizil Su.
+
+Their advance was unopposed until they reached Yangabad, or Yangiawat,
+where Jehangir had concentrated an army computed at 50,000 men, but
+probably considerably less. When the armies sighted each other they
+pitched their camps in preparation for the decisive contest that was at
+hand. In accordance with immemorial custom, each side put forward on the
+following day its champion. On the part of the Chinese a gigantic
+Calmuck archer opposed on the part of Jehangir an equally formidable
+Khokandi. The former was armed with his proper weapons, the latter with
+a gun of some clumsy and ancient design, and while the Khokandi was
+busily engaged with his intricate apparatus, the Chinese archer shot him
+dead with an arrow through the breast. Of course, neither army would
+have acquiesced in the decree of the God of Battles as shown by the fate
+of its champion, but, in this case, it was true that--
+
+    "Who spills the foremost foeman's life,
+     His party conquers in the strife."
+
+After a sharp, but brief, skirmish, the Kashgarian army withdrew in
+confusion, and the following day the Chinese surrounded Kashgar on three
+sides. During the night the heart of Jehangir misgave him, and he fled
+to the Karatakka mountains. But here the snow had rendered the passes
+impracticable, and, after hiding for a few days in that difficult
+region, he was captured by the Chinese. His fate was that usually met
+with by traitors to that empire, for, being sent to Pekin, he was
+executed after torture. In this war Ishac Wang, of Ush Turfan, played a
+great part against the Khoja prince, and was rewarded for his good
+service by being appointed Wang of Kashgar. The Chinese constructed a
+fresh fort, Yangyshahr, in the place of the destroyed Gulbagh, and left
+a large Khitay garrison under Jah Darin. But Ishac Wang, who was given
+some such title as Prince of Kashgar, was soon afterwards deposed and
+recalled to China.
+
+The Chinese authority was re-established without difficulty in the three
+cities, and peace settled down over Eastern Turkestan. But the
+repressive and punitive measures that the Chinese felt compelled to
+adopt raised a bitterer sentiment in the minds of the people than had
+previously existed. The Chinese were, indeed, only employing the same
+weapons that had been used against themselves, but none the less did
+these reciprocal atrocities dissipate whatever friendship there had
+been. Among other acts the Chinese removed 12,000 Mahomedan families
+from Kashgar to Ili, and these, destined to play an important part in
+the history of that province, became known as Tarantchis, or Toilers.
+
+The Chinese resolved to punish Khokand as well. They broke off all trade
+with that state, and happy would it have been for them if they could
+have continued to preserve a closed frontier. But the Khan of that time
+was Mahomed Ali Khan, the most ambitious, as he was the ablest, of the
+princes of that country. He had just annexed Karategin, and had acquired
+some of the outlying provinces of Badakshan, which Mourad Beg, of
+Kundus, had absorbed about the same time. It was not probable that he
+would put up with the Chinese defiance. He was prudent enough to delay
+his advance until the main body of their army had been withdrawn. But,
+as soon as he was informed that the Chinese had gone back to Ili,
+Mahomed Ali, calling Yusuf, Sarimsak's eldest son, from his retirement
+in Bokhara, placed him at the head of an army, under the charge of his
+own brother-in-law, Hacc Kuli Beg. The Chinese were worsted at Mingyol,
+and all the cities west of Aksu turned against the Chinese, as before,
+and proclaimed for Yusuf Khoja. Then the massacres were repeated, and
+the invasion of Yusuf was that of Jehangir over again in exact detail.
+But Yusuf's triumph was still more brief. Whereas Jehangir had ruled for
+nine months, Yusuf only swayed the sceptre for three.
+
+The Chinese movements were delayed by small Mussulman revolts in Barkul
+and Shensi until the spring of 1831, but then, when they returned, they
+found that Yusuf and the Khokandian army had retreated some months
+before. The facts were that the moment Khokand invaded Kashgar, Bokhara
+attacked Khokand, and Hacc Kuli Beg had to be recalled to cope with
+matters more pressing than Khoja rights. With the general had gone
+Yusuf, far from anxious to encounter the Chinese alone. The return of
+the Khokandian army sufficed to dispel all danger from Bokhara, and, a
+few months after, Mahomed Ali Khan recommenced operations--in the east
+this time--against the Kirghiz under Chinese protection. The Chinese
+were thoroughly sick of these petty disputes, and made a treaty with
+Khokand, by which that state acquired fresh commercial privileges, in
+addition to the old ones, and by which the importance of the Aksakals
+rather increased than waned. Mahomed Ali Khan had acquired all he
+wanted, and discouraged the Khoja party, as, indeed, the terms of this
+treaty compelled him to do. The risings under Jehangir and Yusuf were
+undoubtedly a great blow to Chinese prestige. To all appearance each had
+nearly been successful, and the Chinese, whose prestige was enormous in
+Central Asia--quite as great as that of Russia is now--had been, on one
+or two occasions, openly defeated. But, after all, this was a little
+matter compared to the shock the sentiments, called into being by sixty
+happy years, had received. Between Buddhist and Mussulman, between
+Chinaman and Central Asiatic, all the old antipathy was revived in the
+butcheries of Yarkand and Kashgar. The Kashgari showed that they could
+not appreciate the benefits they had received from China, and the
+Chinese, enraged at the slaughter of their countrymen, and, perhaps,
+also at the ingratitude evinced towards them, retaliated in kind. They
+did not appreciate that moderation, which Europeans have not always
+shown under similar circumstances, and wrought out their revenge in
+their own ancient fashion. It is absolutely necessary that the reader
+should remember that the two rapidly succeeding invasions of Jehangir
+and Yusuf form a turning-point in the history of the Chinese rule in
+Kashgar. Up to that epoch it is difficult to find words sufficient to do
+justice to China's beneficent government there; after that year it would
+be absurd to employ the same language. For the change the chief blame
+must fall upon the fickle and ungrateful Kashgari themselves, and then
+on the intriguing Andijanis. The Chinese are justified, at least, in
+saying that, having for more than half a century ruled this people with
+justice, they only relaxed in their efforts to promote its well-being
+when their unarmed countrymen and soldiers had been surprised and
+butchered by thousands.
+
+Strange, and almost contradictory, as it may appear, there was a brief
+respite during which things seemed to have got into their old groove of
+happy prosperity; and the chief credit for this must be given to a
+Mahomedan sub-governor of the Chinese viceroy. Zuhuruddin, such was his
+name, had raised himself to the high post of Amban in Kashgar, a post
+never before held by any other than a Khitay. By birth he was of
+Kashgar, but he always represented himself as having been born and
+brought up in Khokand, where he had been imprisoned for a political
+offence. For seven or eight years he governed Kashgar to the perfect
+satisfaction both of the people and of the Chinese, and among some of
+his public acts may be mentioned the reconstruction of new forts outside
+the cities, in the place of those destroyed in the recent revolts. These
+were known now as Yangyshahr instead of Gulbagh. But in 1846
+Zuhuruddin's rule was disturbed by hostilities on the part of Khokand
+and the Khojas.
+
+In 1845 Khudayar Khan had been called to the throne after the death of
+Mahomed Ali, but his authority was not without its rivals. In the state
+of confusion that then ensued, Khokandian adventurers urged the Khoja
+princes, who were now represented by the sons of Jehangir, to renew
+their old attacks against the Chinese. To these advisers the Khojas
+turned a willing ear, and preparations were accordingly made for the
+enterprise. At that time Khokand was full of adventurers to whom Mahomed
+Ali had been able to give constant employment, but who now under the
+more peaceful rule of Khudayar idled their time in the cities of that
+khanate. Among these and the ever willing Kirghiz, it was not difficult
+for the princes of Kashgar to raise an army, formidable in numbers, if
+not remarkable for cohesion. At that time there were seven prominent
+Khoja princes in Khokand, of whom we may here mention Eshan Khan,
+usually called Katti Torah, Buzurg Khan, and Wali Khan. This inroad did
+not take its name from any one of these, but from them all combined;
+thus it was distinguished as Haft Khojagan, or that of the Seven Khojas.
+
+With his brothers and relations and a considerable following, Katti
+Torah advanced upon Kashgar, always the first object of these invaders,
+which fell after a siege of thirteen days through treachery. This was
+the only success they achieved; the other cities would have nothing to
+do with them; and after two months' indulgence in unbridled licence the
+Chinese beat them in a fight at Kok Robat, and drove them out of the
+country. For the first time there was an air of ridicule thrown over
+these Khoja invasions in the eyes of the Kashgari, while the outrages
+they had committed during their brief stay had raised bitterer feelings
+still. Zuhuruddin, who fell under the displeasure of the Chinese, was
+removed from his post, and fresh Ambans, once more Khitay, were
+appointed. For nine years the Khojas remained passive, but in 1855 Wali
+Khan and his brother Kichik Khan, began to bustle once more on the
+Kashgarian frontier. It was not until 1857 that Wali Khan succeeded in
+forcing the advanced guard of pickets maintained in the passes by the
+Chinese, but having accomplished that his triumph was rapid. Kashgar
+fell into his possession by a _coup de main_, and once more a Khoja
+prince was seated in the _orda_ at Kashgar. Artosh and Yangy Hissar fell
+into his possession, and he threatened Yarkand. But everywhere the
+Chinese garrisons remained unconquered in the forts, biding the
+exhaustion of their foe and the arrival of reinforcements. After a rule
+of nearly four months the armies of Wali Khan having been then defeated
+by the Chinese, the Khoja fled to the remote state of Darwas, where he
+was surrendered to Khokand by its chief Ismail Shah. This ruler, the
+most tyrannical, bloodthirsty, and licentious of all the Khojas, met the
+fate which he deserved long afterwards at the hands of Yakoob Beg. His
+temporary tenure of power is still remembered with dread by the people,
+who consider him to have been the most incarnate monster who ever held
+the destinies of their country in his hand. The Chinese were more severe
+in their punitive measures after this campaign than they had been after
+any other, but, notwithstanding the part Khudayar and his people had
+played in Wali Khan's affair, the old relations between "these
+incompatible people," as Dr. Bellew aptly calls them, were restored.
+After this event there was but one minor disturbance caused by an inroad
+of Kirghiz nomads, headed by the sons of one of the principal victims of
+Chinese vengeance, but this had no political importance.
+
+The invasion of Wali Khan was the last of those Khoja expeditions which
+took place prior to the Tungan revolt. In the thirty-two years that
+elapsed from the date of Jehangir's attempt to that of his son, there
+had in all been four of them. That of Jehangir himself being the first;
+of his elder brother Yusuf, the second; of Yusuf's eldest son, Katti
+Torah, the third; and of Jehangir's second son, Wali, the fourth. Not
+one of these is in any sense noteworthy, except for the crimes with
+which it was attended, and none of them did more than inflict an untold
+amount of misery and suffering on their own followers, as well as on the
+people they claimed to represent by right divine. It may also be noticed
+that with each enterprise there was a decline in moral character. Thus
+Jehangir was infinitely the best of them in every sense, and ruled
+fairly according to his lights. His brother Yusuf was of a more timid
+mind, but evidently not less imbued with some notion as to the sanctity
+of his mission. But from these to Katti Torah is a long descent. That
+prince seemed to aspire to securing his personal comfort and enjoyment
+alone, and disregarded all his subjects' complaints at the arbitrary
+rule of his deputies. But Wali Khan, the next of these Khoja kings from
+"over the mountains," excelled his cousin in vice, and tyranny, and
+utter want of purpose, not to speak of honour, quite as much as Katti
+Torah surpassed their sires. Nor can there be much hesitation in saying,
+from what Buzurg Khan did during the few months he held power, that, had
+not Yakoob Beg clipped his flight, he would have surpassed Wali Khan in
+his own peculiar vices. The reader will scarcely be disposed to take
+much interest in this irredeemable family, mad with the insanity of
+wickedness. But in justice to the Chinese, and to Yakoob Beg, it is only
+right that the rivals of the former should be made to appear in their
+true colours. All the sanctity that a peculiarly venerable descent from
+Hazrat Afak could give; all the stories told of the good deeds of some
+of their ancestors; all the affection that naturally attaches to a
+native rule, and all the dislike that must undermine a foreign, be it
+never so beneficent; all these things were destroyed by the weakness and
+ill success that attended the first two Khojas, and by the cruelty,
+indifference, and licentiousness that marked the last two. When Buzurg
+Khan came he found loyalty to the Khoja the heirloom of a few families,
+not of a people.
+
+Had the Chinese restrained their vindictive feelings after the war with
+Jehangir, and proclaimed a free pardon to every one save the Khokandis,
+and then devoted their attention with the old vigour to peaceful
+pursuits, we believe that the Chinese rule would have been permanently
+secured. At that moment the Chinese were strong enough to have defied
+Khokand, and to have broken off all intercourse with that state. By
+dismissing the Aksakals, and severing the connection between the two
+states, the Chinese would have dispelled a danger that was for forty
+years to be ever before them, and, in the end, when the Tungani also
+rose, was to overcome them. Even clemency after Yusuf's inroad, which
+was really caused by the Chinese repressions, might not have been wholly
+in vain, and would have consolidated their position, when reinvigorated
+by Zuhuruddin's tenure of power. But the Chinese did not appreciate the
+quality of mercy. They could be just and impartial in the ordinary
+avocations of life, but to those who revolted against their authority
+they showed no trace of human feeling. For a man to rebel against them
+was certain death; for a people, history tells us, the fate was not far
+different. Nor in dealing with such did they hesitate to supplement
+their military strength by the most despicable of artifices. Garrisons,
+accorded honourable terms, ruthlessly butchered; princes, who threw
+themselves on their mercy, deported to Pekin to be hanged or tortured
+out of life: these are frequent occurrences in the history of China, and
+of her career in Central Asia the tale is identical. Yet, while drawing
+a veil over these blots on an otherwise brilliant surface, should we not
+desire to conceal them wholly from the view. It is necessary that they
+should be stated to understand what Chinese domination means as a whole;
+of its great benefits there can be no doubt, if the people will remain
+quiescent. For fifty years, or for five hundred, China will rule an
+unmurmuring people with justice, and lead them into the paths of
+prosperity and peace; but if they rebel, if they openly defy authority,
+if they invite a hostile stranger within their borders, the punishment
+will be as sweeping, as cruel, and, in one and a higher sense, as
+wrongfully foolish, whether the association of the races may have been
+for fifty years or five centuries, as it was in the case of Kashgar.
+There is not much reason for hoping that China will deviate from her
+ancient custom, on the occasion now transpiring, of demanding "an eye
+for an eye" and "a tooth for a tooth."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE BIRTH OF YAKOOB BEG AND CAREER IN THE SERVICE OF KHOKAND.
+
+
+We have now traced the history of Kashgar and of the neighbouring states
+down to the year 1860, immediately before the last Khoja invasion under
+Buzurg Khan, and the Kooshbege, Mahomed Yakoob. Before giving an account
+of that enterprise it is necessary that the reader should know what the
+past career of the future Athalik Ghazi had been. The previous chapters
+have, it is hoped, thrown some light on the state of Central Asia, and
+will assist the student of the question in comprehending how it was that
+Yakoob Beg achieved success, and what claims he may have to be
+considered a great ruler, for having done a work that is unique in the
+annals of modern Asia.
+
+Mahomed Yakoob was born in or about the year 1820, in the flourishing
+little town of Piskent, in the khanate of Khokand. His father, Pur
+Mahomed Mirza, had, at various periods of his life, filled positions of
+responsibility in the government of the towns in which he resided. Thus,
+a native of Dihbid, near Samarcand, he had migrated to Khodjent, in the
+reign of Mahomed Ali Khan, with the intention of entering the priestly
+order. There, although he enrolled himself as a student in a religious
+seminary, for some reason or other, he appears to have changed his mind,
+and, instead of entering the Church, turned his attention to secular
+affairs. He was soon made Kazi of Kurama, a district and town of
+Khokand, and married a lady of that place. By this marriage he had one
+son, Mahomed Arif, who has since filled several posts of trust in
+Kashgar, notably that of Governor of Sirikul; but of late this
+half-brother of Yakoob Beg seems to have been, either for incompetence
+or some other reason, under a cloud. Pur Mahomed, or Mahomed Latif, as
+he was more usually called, changed his residence from Kurama to
+Piskent, about the year 1818, and he shortly after his settlement in his
+new abode married again, his second wife being the sister of Sheik
+Nizamuddin, the Kazi of Piskent. Yakoob Beg was the issue of this
+marriage. The family of Yakoob Beg's father seems originally to have
+come from Karategin, on the borders of Badakshan, but in the time of the
+Usbeg conquest of that district the father of Mahomed Latif, then an
+infant, took refuge in Khokand. It is uncertain whether Mahomed Latif
+was born before their arrival at Dihbid or afterwards; and it is now
+asserted that he claimed descent from Tamerlane. Whether this was a
+claim brought forward when his son was advancing in the world or not, it
+is impossible to test its accuracy. The parents of Yakoob Beg were
+therefore not without some pretensions, and it would seem that the bad
+fortune, from which for some generations they had been suffering, was
+beginning to disappear before the ability of Yakoob Beg raised it to a
+higher point than ever. In addition to the claims of his father and
+grandfather as Kazis of an important community, a sister of Yakoob Beg
+married Nar Mahomed Khan, Governor of Tashkent; and, as we shall see
+later on, this connection was very instrumental in promoting the
+interests of the youthful Yakoob.
+
+Piskent, Pskent, or Bis-kent, as it is sometimes spelt, is still a
+flourishing little community, fifty miles south of Tashkent, on the road
+to Khodjent. Its inhabitants are a thrifty, good-tempered set of people,
+who take great pride in the fact that the great Athalik Ghazi, the
+supporter of Islam, and the reputed terror of the Russians, was one of
+themselves. In this little settlement there are many Tajiks, and this,
+doubtless, with other reasons, induced Mahomed Latif, a Tajik himself,
+to take up his abode there. To the east of Piskent the mountains begin
+to rise, which stretch onward until they become the Tian Shan and the
+Kizilyart ranges, and in these elevated regions the Tajik descendants
+muster in strong numbers. The Tajiks are Persian in their origin, and
+consequently of the Aryan stock, in contradistinction to the Turk or
+Tartar ruling class in Western Turkestan. They have, however, for so
+many generations been restricted to a limited career in the organization
+of the state, that, quite unjustly as it is, they have come to be
+regarded as an inferior race. English writers have fallen into this
+mistake, and have accepted as correct the definition given by the Turks
+of this subject race. As a matter of fact the contrary holds true, and
+the Tajik is superior to any of his masters in point of mental capacity.
+They are represented to still retain the fine presence and long flowing
+beards which distinguish those of Aryan blood from their Tartar
+opposite; and in height and strength they quite eclipse every other race
+of Central Asia. It was of this race that Yakoob Beg was the
+representative, and, although the greater part of his life was passed in
+ruling nations almost exclusively Tartar, some of the more prominent
+among his supporters, as well as the flower of his army, boasted that
+they, too, represented that master race, whose birth-place was to be
+found in the Indian Caucasus. The Tajiks still speak a Persian dialect,
+and their Iranian origin is thereby rendered almost indisputable.
+
+Mahomed Yakoob's early years were passed at his home at Piskent, and it
+is said that it was intended that he should follow the profession which
+his father had repudiated. As a youth he was too wayward to submit to
+any check on his impulses, and the design of educating him as a
+"mollah," if it was ever seriously entertained, was abandoned long
+before he arrived at man's estate. He appears to have passed the first
+twenty years of his life in an idle, uneventful manner at Piskent, and
+then suddenly to have resolved to seek his fortune as best he might in
+the troubled waters of Khokandian politics. In 1845, we find him in the
+train of the newly seated khan, Khudayar, as "mahram," or chamberlain,
+and shortly afterwards, by the influence of his brother-in-law, the
+Governor of Tashkent, nominated a Pansad Bashi, a commander of 500. This
+was in 1847, about which year he married a Kipchak lady of Zuelik, a
+village in the district of Ak Musjid. He had three sons, of whom we
+shall hear more hereafter, by this marriage--Kooda Kul Beg, Kuli Beg,
+and Hacc Kuli Beg. Later on, in the year 1847, he was raised to the rank
+of Koosh-Bege, or "lord of the family"--more intelligibly described as
+vizier--and entrusted with the charge of the important post on the Syr
+Darya, called Ak Musjid, "White Mosque." This post he held with credit
+for six years, until 1853, when the Russians commenced that forward
+movement, of which we have not yet seen the close. At that time, Russia
+had not acquired one of the numerous strategic points now in her
+possession. The Syr Darya then was as far off from her frontier as the
+Oxus is now. Ak Musjid, built in the lower reaches of the river, and
+representing a Khokandian outpost of exceptional importance, was the
+grand obstacle in the path of the Russians operating from Kazalinsk, at
+the mouth of the Syr Darya. It was resolved, therefore, that this post,
+which, doubtless, encouraged all the marauders in the neighbourhood to
+continue their depredations against the Russian caravans, should be
+wrested from the hands of its owners, and either razed to the ground or
+converted into a Russian stronghold. General Perovsky was entrusted with
+this undertaking. The distance from Kazalinsk, or Fort No. 1, to Ak
+Musjid is not much over 200 miles, along the banks of the Syr Darya. Not
+many commissariat arrangements were necessary, nor did the distance to
+march require much time to delay the Russian officer in beginning his
+operations against the fort. The army with which he appeared before the
+walls may not have been large in numbers when compared with the armies
+of modern times, but, in all that makes a disciplined force formidable,
+it was exceptionally well supplied. The artillery was in greater
+strength than is usually considered necessary, and the expedition was
+still more efficient in engineers and cavalry. The garrison of Ak Musjid
+was, on the other hand, ill supplied, both in provisions and in
+ammunition, and the fort itself presented, neither in its position nor
+in its construction, any feature that an engineer officer would have
+considered calculated to make it capable of sustaining the attack of
+artillery for twenty-four hours. The Russian lines were constructed in
+the most approved method; but twice were their approaches destroyed, and
+twice their mines counter-mined. During twenty-six days the Russian
+bombardment was fast and furious, and during all that time the
+Khokandian defence was stubborn and persistent. But all the efforts of
+the garrison to break through the beleaguering lines were unavailing,
+and after so long a cannonade little more resistance could be expected
+from ramparts which were pierced in several places by wide and gaping
+breaches. The resolute commandant, who had done everything required by
+the most exacting code of military honour, confessed that there was
+nothing to be gained by a continued defence, and as it was known that
+the Russians were making preparations for an early assault, a messenger
+was despatched without delay to the Russian commander, expressing the
+willingness of the garrison to capitulate on honourable terms. General
+Perovsky, who had expected an easy triumph here, and possibly some more
+extended triumph in farther regions, was indignant at the resistance
+opposed to him by a paltry place like Ak Musjid, and received the
+messenger from the fort with ill-concealed impatience. Scarcely
+bestowing any attention on the letter, couched in humble terms as it
+was, of the commandant, General Perovsky petrified the astonished
+emissary with the declaration that on the morrow the fort would be taken
+by assault. This arbitrary assertion of his power, which was carried
+into practice, of course successfully, the next day, on an occasion when
+magnanimity ought to have been shown by the successful general, does not
+redound to the credit of the officer in question, and throws an
+instructive light on the latitude left to Russian generals in their
+instructions, and on the opinion felt for Central Asiatics by the
+civilizing representatives of the White Czar. To say that General
+Perovsky was urged to this act of gratuitous tyranny by a desire to
+obtain a cross of either St. Anne or St. George, is, after all, only to
+magnify the offence, and that Ak Musjid has taken the name of its
+conqueror, Fort Perovsky, is the means of perpetuating, not his fame,
+but his infamy, and the courageous conduct of the defenders. In the
+winter following its fall Yakoob Beg, with Sahib Khan, brother of the
+Khan of Khokand, attempted to retake the fort, but the _coup_ proved
+abortive, and the Russians have never receded from their new
+acquisition.
+
+Khudayar Khan had been elevated to the throne of Khokand in 1845, by the
+energy of Mussulman Kuli, a Kipchak chief, of singular astuteness, and
+aptitude for business. During his tenure of the post of Wazir, Khokand
+was peacefully and beneficently governed; but, as on every similar
+occasion in Central Asia, the ruler soon became jealous of the
+popularity acquired by his minister, although his own position was in
+reality confirmed by the wise measures of the very man to whom he had
+conceived a covert hostility. So with Khudayar Khan, the effeminate, and
+his minister, Mussulman Kuli, in the decade of which we are now
+speaking; as with Buzurg Khan, the debauchee, but correct representative
+of the Khojas, and his general and vizier, the Kooshbege, Mahomed
+Yakoob, in the following. In 1858, Mussulman Kuli was seized by order of
+Khudayar Khan, and barbarously murdered; and from that occurrence the
+decadence of this unfortunate ruler of Khokand can be traced until, at
+last, he became a mere pensioner on the bounty of the Russians. Although
+Yakoob Beg became, to a certain extent, notorious for his gallant
+defence of Ak Musjid, it would appear, from his being styled after that
+event simply "Mir," or chief, that he had sunk in grade in his official
+status. It is probable that the chief cause of this was his failure to
+retake it, and not his ill success in defending it. He was, however,
+entrusted with the charge of the Kilaochi fort, a post which he held
+down to the murder of Mussulman Kuli.
+
+Khudayar Khan had an elder brother, Mullah Khan, who had been passed
+over by Mussulman Kuli, when the state was put in order after the
+dissensions that arose on the death of the great ruler, Mahomed Ali.
+Now, on the death of Mussulman Kuli, who had given vitality to the
+regime of Khudayar, Mullah Khan and his partisans began to intrigue once
+more. Several Kipchak and Kirghiz leaders joined his cause, and Yakoob
+Beg at once became one of his most active supporters. Khudayar Khan was
+deposed, and retired into temporary seclusion. For his services to the
+new ruler Yakoob Beg was made Shahawal, an officer corresponding to a
+chamberlain or court intendant. He was soon restored to his old rank of
+Kooshbege, and appointed governor of the frontier fort of Kurama, the
+same place of which his father had been Kazi. And in 1860 he came still
+more to the front, when he was summoned to Tashkent to assist Kanaat
+Shah, the Nahib of Khokand, in making preparations in case the Russians,
+who had for some time seemed to be threatening Khokand, should cross the
+frontier. Mullah Khan was murdered at this time, having held the reins
+of power but for the brief space of two years, and Khudayar Khan emerged
+from his hiding place. He was welcomed both by Kanaat Shah and Yakoob
+Beg; and in return for their support he consented to forget the past.
+Yakoob Beg, as his reward, received the governorship of Kurama. It was
+during these troubles that Alim Kuli, a Kirghiz chieftain, appeared upon
+the scene. He possessed many of the attributes that distinguished his
+predecessor Mussulman Kuli, and his successor, in the eyes of the
+people, Yakoob Beg. He had undoubtedly a great capacity for intrigue,
+but was inferior to the former in administrative capacity, and to the
+latter in military skill. He now set Shah Murad, grandson of Shere Ali
+Khan, up as a claimant to the throne, and was speedily joined by Yakoob
+Beg, who once more abandoned the cause of Khudayar Khan, who, it must be
+remembered, had always treated Yakoob Beg in a friendly way, and who in
+their early days had been his boon companion. This conspiracy was
+unsuccessful, and Yakoob Beg, who had yielded up Khodjent, with the
+defence of which he had been entrusted by Alim Kuli, on the approach of
+the forces of Khudayar Khan, took refuge in Bokhara. Here he was
+favourably received, and resided as a noble attached to the court. In
+1863 the Ameer of Bokhara, Muzaffur Eddin, marched a large army into
+Khokand for the purpose of restoring his brother-in-law, Khudayar, to
+the throne, for he had again been deposed by the intrigues of Alim Kuli;
+Yakoob Beg accompanied this force, and once more appears, for the last
+time, on the troubled arena of Khokandian politics. The Bokhariot army
+was soon recalled, and Khudayar Khan was left to face the difficulties
+of his position unaided. In a few months an arrangement was come to
+between Alim Kuli and Yakoob Beg and other leading nobles against
+Khudayar. Sultan Murad, who had first been supported and then murdered
+by Alim Kuli, having been thus effectually removed, this king-maker had
+set up Sultan Seyyid in his place. Yakoob Beg so far profited by this
+new confederacy that he was restored to his old offices and
+perquisites, and sent once more to hold his former post as governor of
+Kurama. He collected as many allies as he was able, and brought them
+with him to assist in the capture of Khodjent. On this important town
+being secured the regent Alim Kuli passed through Kurama on his way to
+seize and settle the capital, Tashkent. He appointed a connection of his
+own, Hydar Kuli, with the title of Hudaychi, as governor of Kurama, and
+took Yakoob Beg in his train to Tashkent. Shortly after their arrival at
+Tashkent, news came of the Russian occupation of Tchimkent, and the
+survivors of the force driven out by Tchernaief soon appeared with a
+confirmation of the intelligence. This was in April, 1864, and until
+October of that year, when the Russians appeared before the town, Yakoob
+Beg was engaged in strengthening the fortifications of the capital. When
+the army of General Tchernaief did appear in the neighbourhood, Yakoob
+Beg, with a rashness that cannot be too strongly condemned, went forth
+to encounter it in the open. As might have been expected, the Russians
+were victorious, and Yakoob Beg was compelled to seek refuge with his
+shattered forces within the walls of Tashkent. The Russians themselves
+had suffered some loss, and either awed by the bold demeanour of their
+old antagonist, or, as is more probable, encountering some difficulty in
+bringing up supplies, and being unprovided with a siege train, thought
+the more prudent policy would be to retire to Tchimkent until
+reinforcements and other necessaries should arrive. Alim Kuli, in the
+course of a few days after this reverse, arrived at Tashkent in person
+with a large body of troops, and employed all his energies in
+strengthening the defences before the return of the Russians. It is very
+certain that on this occasion, the first on which Yakoob Beg had a
+command of any consequence, he permitted his natural impetuosity to get
+the better of his discretion, and that it was the height of madness on
+his part to enter into an engagement in the open with the disciplined
+and formidable forces of Tchernaief, when, by leaving that general to
+undertake the siege of Tashkent, he might have had it in his power to
+inflict a serious, and for the time conclusive, blow against the
+Russians when the reinforcing army of Alim Kuli came up. With half his
+army discouraged by defeat, Alim Kuli found himself restricted to a
+policy of inaction, through the over-hastiness of his lieutenant. The
+Russians did not return until after the departure of Yakoob Beg for
+Kashgar, but when they did they found that Alim Kuli had made every
+preparation in his power to receive them. On the first occasion they
+were again forced to retreat after a skirmish which the Khokandians
+claim as a victory; but in 1865 they appeared before the walls in
+greater force. Alim Kuli, with a gathering vastly superior in numbers to
+the Russians, attacked them a few miles to the north of Tashkent, and
+the fortunes of the day hung in the balance, until the fall of Alim
+Kuli, who, whilst boldly leading a charge of Kirghiz cavalry, was
+pierced in the chest by a musket ball. He was carried from the field by
+a faithful officer, and expired that night in Tashkent. Alim Kuli
+appears to have been actuated to some extent by a disinterested
+patriotism, as much as by more personal motives. With his fall, and the
+departure of Yakoob Beg for another sphere of operations, all hope of a
+continued state of independence for Khokand was dissipated. After this
+severe defeat the Russians laid close siege to Tashkent. The Khokandians
+in their distress applied to Bokhara for aid, and the Russians hastened
+to occupy Chinaz to intercept it. The Bokhariot army was routed by the
+Russian army under General Romanoffski at the battle of Irjar, in May,
+1866, eleven months after Tashkent had been occupied by Tchernaief. It
+was during this period of anarchy, with a hostile Russian and an allied
+Bokhariot force on his soil, that Khudayar Khan once more supplanted the
+nominee of Alim Kuli, Sultan Seyyid, and at the close of the campaign
+Khudayar was left in possession of the southern portion of Khokand. This
+Khan appears to have been of an unambitious nature, for, during his
+various exiles, he devoted himself to private business with an energy he
+had never shown in the management of the public affairs, and when he at
+last sank into private life and became a pensioner of the Russian Court,
+on the complete annexation of his state, he is said to have acquired not
+only a happiness, but many virtues unknown to him in his more elevated
+lot. The unfortunate Sultan Seyyid, after wandering for some years out
+of Khokand, was, when he ventured to return in 1871, executed. Many of
+the partisans of Seyyid on the defeat by the Russians, and on the
+overthrow of his rivals by Khudayar, sought refuge in the mountains of
+the Kizilyart, whence they proceeded to join Yakoob Beg in Kashgar,
+where they arrived at a most opportune moment as will be seen.
+
+To return to Yakoob Beg. After his defeat before Tashkent he was
+employed under Alim Kuli in repairing the defences of that town and
+collecting troops from the whole district, but his reputation had been
+lowered by that reverse. There was a certain jealousy between the
+Kirghiz chief and the Tajik soldier of fortune. Yakoob Beg saw in Alim
+Kuli an obstacle to his further promotion, and Alim Kuli recognized in
+the Kooshbege a possible rival and successor. Any excuse therefore to
+keep Yakoob Beg in the background, or indeed to get rid of him
+altogether, would be very welcome to Alim Kuli. We hear little more of
+the unsuccessful general until his departure for Kashgar a few months
+afterwards. He had to wipe out in other regions and against other foes
+the stain he had incurred in his encounters with the Russians.
+
+While these events were in progress at Tashkent, an envoy arrived there
+from Sadic Beg, a Kirghiz prince on the frontiers of Ili and Kashgar. He
+brought intelligence that his master had availed himself of the
+dissensions among the Chinese, to seize the city of Kashgar, and he
+requested the Khan of Khokand to send him the heir of the Khojas, in
+order that he might place him on the throne. As the facts really stood,
+Sadic Beg had only laid siege to Kashgar, and, finding that he was met
+with a strenuous resistance, had recourse to the plan of setting up a
+Khoja king to strengthen his failing efforts, but of the true state of
+affairs in Kashgar it is evident that everybody in Tashkent was
+primarily ignorant. The Khokandian policy had always been, however, to
+maintain their interests intact in Eastern Turkestan, and to weaken in
+every possible way the credit of the Chinese. An envoy bringing news of
+a fresh revolt in Kashgar was, therefore, sure of a friendly reception
+at Tashkent, even if he did not return with some more striking tokens of
+amity. But on this occasion the danger from Russian movements was so
+close at hand, and all the efforts of the state were so concentrated in
+preparations for defence, that Alim Kuli, whatever he may have thought
+of its prospects, and however much he may have sympathized with its
+object, was unable to give the Kirghiz emissary any aid in his
+enterprise. When, however, Buzurg Khan, the only surviving son of
+Jehangir Khan, either of his own free will, or instigated, as some say,
+by Yakoob Beg, offered to assert his claims on Kashgar, Alim Kuli
+expressed his approval of the design, and gave his moral assistance so
+far as was compatible with no active participation therein. He, however,
+gave Buzurg Khan the services of Kooshbege Mahomed Yakoob to act as his
+commander-in-chief, or Baturbashi. Thus did Alim Kuli free himself from
+his troublesome subordinate, and despatched on an errand which seemed
+likely to end in disgrace and defeat, but which really led to empire,
+the only native whom he dreaded as being capable of supplanting him.
+
+Yakoob Beg had up to this point given little promise of future
+distinction. He had, indeed, earned the reputation of being a gallant
+soldier, if a not very prudent one; and in the intrigues that had marked
+the history of his state for twenty years, he had borne his fair share.
+But no one would have dreamt of prognosticating that he possessed the
+ability necessary to win campaigns against superior forces, and then to
+erect a powerful state on the ruins that fell into his possession. The
+most favourable opinion would have been, that he would have died
+manfully as a soldier, and as a true Mussulman. When he embarked in the
+enterprise of conquering Kashgar, he was no longer in the first flush of
+youth, but was a man who covered his fiery spirit and great ambition
+with a cloak of religious zeal and diplomatic apathy. Twenty years'
+experience in the most intriguing court in Central Asia had placed every
+muscle at his complete command, and even in the most disastrous moments
+in his career, he is always represented as being calm and
+collected--calm in his belief in Kismut, and collected in a persuasion
+of his own resources. One fact that will account for the slowness with
+which he advanced into notoriety is that he was entirely dependent on
+his own capacity for promotion. He had no wealth, no large following,
+and in the two leaders, Kipchak and Kirghiz, Mussulman and Alim Kuli, he
+had competitors of almost equal merit with himself, while they each
+possessed personal power and family connections that placed them far
+beyond the reach of the hardy soldier and court chamberlain. Some of his
+detractors had availed themselves of his impecuniosity to circulate
+stories of his having had dealings with the Russians; but these,
+although invested with circumstances originating in non-Russian
+quarters, are probably without any truth. The chief charge, to be taken
+for what it is worth, is, that the weakness of his defence of the Ak
+Musjid district, after the fall of the fort, was owing to his having
+received a large bribe from the Russians. Another is, that in 1863,
+after his return from Bokhara, he neglected to retard the Russian
+movements for a pecuniary consideration. In both cases the sum mentioned
+is very large; and besides the apparent falseness of these rumours, we
+have only to consider that he was not worth a bribe, and that his
+opposition to the Russians was marked by all the want of foresight of
+religious zeal. All these considerations make such rumours appear in
+their true light; and although we are aware that a follower of Yakoob
+Beg confirmed, if he did not originate, these charges, it seems to us
+that the Russians, if there had been truth in the report, would long ago
+have placed the fact before the peoples of Asia, and required Yakoob Beg
+when Ameer of Kashgar to have acted in a more friendly way towards his
+former employers. But the simple reason that Yakoob Beg could not have
+rendered any service to the Russians worth the thousands of pounds he is
+said to have received, ought to demolish the whole fabrication. If
+Yakoob Beg's life proves one thing more than another, it was that he was
+a most fanatical Mussulman, and as such hating the Russians, as the most
+formidable enemy of Islam, with the most intense hate his fiery nature
+was capable of. This man's whole life must have been the greatest
+hypocrisy if he was not genuine in his religious intolerance, and that
+intolerance rendered any connivance with Russian measures an
+impossibility. Owing to his early connection with the church, and his
+maternal grandfather's high position therein, Yakoob Beg was always
+distinguished for the strict orthodoxy of his views. Through all his
+life he seems to have made it his chief object to keep the church on his
+side. When he was reduced to the most desperate straits in his after
+life in Kashgar, when some of the most faithful of his followers fell
+off from him, and when even Buzurg Khan, the man whom he had placed upon
+a throne, declared him a rebel and a traitor, he never lost heart so
+long as the ministers of the church held by him; and, on the other
+hand, they, recognizing the fidelity of their champion, supported him
+through good and ill repute. Whilst residing at Bokhara "the holy" he
+had attached to his person several of the most distinguished preachers
+of Islam throughout Asia, and he had taken all the vows that give a
+peculiar sanctity to the relations that connect the layman with his
+priest. It was here that he publicly announced his intention of going on
+pilgrimage to Mecca; an intention which he repeated on several occasions
+during his rule of Kashgar, but was obliged, by the position and
+precarious existence of that state, always to perform by deputy. When he
+had established himself as ruler, his first measure was to re-enforce
+the Shariat and to endow several shrines that had been erected to the
+memory of the chief Khoja saints. It was by such means that he at every
+crisis of his life had striven to make his interests identical with
+those of his religion, and when he became a responsible and successful
+prince his past life stood him in such good stead, that he easily came
+to be regarded throughout Asia as the most faithful and redoubtable
+supporter of Islam.
+
+At this period of his life he is described by one who knew him as being
+of a short but stoutish build, with a keenly intelligent and handsome
+countenance. He had, during the vicissitudes of his career in Khokand,
+been so often near assassination, or execution, that the result of the
+morrow had, to all external appearance, become a matter of secondary
+consideration to him, and his features, schooled to immobility by a long
+career of court intrigue, appeared to the casual observer dull and
+uninteresting. When, however, the conversation turned on subjects that
+specially interested him, such as the advance of Russia, the future of
+Islam, or the policy of England, he threw aside his mask, and became at
+once a man whose views, with some merit in themselves, were rendered
+almost convincing by the singular charm of his voice and manner. He was
+honourably distinguished at all times by the simplicity of his dress,
+and his freedom from the pretension and love of show characteristic of
+most Asiatics; and at the very highest point of his power he was only a
+soldier, occupying a palace. As was well said of Timour, the Athalik
+Ghazi placed the "foot of courage in the stirrup of patience," and he
+evidently set himself to copy the great lessons of military success that
+might be learnt from the careers of Genghis Khan, Timour, and Baber.
+Such is some account of the commander-in-chief to the expedition of
+Buzurg Khan. The Khoja, himself, was a man about the same age as his
+lieutenant, but in every other respect as different as he well could be.
+Personally a coward, fond of show and every kind of luxury, and of the
+treacherous, fickle nature that marked his race, he had done nothing
+during his past life to compensate for the want of the most ordinary
+virtues. Although he participated in the expedition of Wali Khan, he
+showed no possession of merit, and in the subsequent occupation that the
+Khojas maintained in Kashgar during a few weeks, he, perhaps more than
+any other of his kinsmen, disgusted the people by his open and unbridled
+licentiousness. Such were the two men who, in the latter days of 1864,
+set out from Tashkent for the recovery of a kingdom. Of their chances of
+success few would have ventured then to predict a settlement in their
+favour; none, certainly, such as was obtained by Yakoob Beg. It is now
+time for us to relate how they fared in Eastern Turkestan.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE INVASION OF KASHGAR BY BUZURG KHAN AND YAKOOB BEG.
+
+
+The Chinese were on several occasions, as we have seen, threatened in
+Eastern Turkestan by the pretensions of the Khojas, and the secret or
+open machinations of Khokand. But they had at all times triumphed over
+every combination of circumstances, so long as they themselves were
+united. The temporary success of Jehangir Khan was obliterated by the
+excesses which characterized his occupation of the country, and by the
+energy and large display of force, with which the Chinese pacified the
+state on his flight; and the last, under Wali Khan, can scarcely be
+dignified by any other appellation than that of a marauding incursion.
+But a great and important change had occurred in the few years that had
+elapsed since 1859. The Chinese no longer presented a collected force to
+the onslaught of an assailant. In every quarter of their empire,
+victorious rebels had established themselves, and had detracted in an
+immeasurable degree from the effective strength of the Government. A
+Mahomedan ruler swayed over the Panthays, in Yunnan, from his capital at
+Ta-li-foo; the Taepings round Nankin were at the summit of their career,
+just before the appearance of Colonel Gordon, when, in 1862, a fresh
+danger broke out in the provinces of Kansuh and Shensi. From a remote
+period there had been extensive Mussulman settlements in these
+provinces, and so early as the seventeenth century they had been the
+cause of trouble to the great Kanghi. The Emperor Keen-Lung, indeed, at
+one time attempted to settle the question for ever by ordering the
+massacre of every Mahomedan over fifteen years of age. Even this
+sweeping measure did not have the desired effect, and whether
+persecution was the means or not of giving vitality to the cause, it is
+certain that they had become more numerous, more resolute, and more
+confident in their own superiority to the other Chinese by the middle of
+the present century. These Mahomedans were known as Tungani, Dungani, or
+Dungans, while the Buddhist Chinese are spoken of as Khitay. Many
+writers are not satisfied with this simple explanation of the name
+Tungani, and will have it that they were a distinct race, who were
+either transported to China at some period of Chinese conquest, or were
+compelled to seek refuge there by some advancing barbarian horde. They
+even assert that they can trace the name and origin of this people to a
+tribe dwelling in the country of the lower waters of the Amoor; but
+while there is complete uncertainty on the subject it seems simpler to
+accept the signification that the word Tungani conveys to the Chinese,
+and that is Mahomedan. We know, for certain, that these people had
+resided in Kansuh and its neighbouring province for centuries--that they
+were remarkable for a superiority in strength and activity over the
+Khitay, and that they possessed the virtues of sobriety and honesty.
+They were also not infected by the disease of opium smoking, and we
+should imagine them to have been a quiet, contented, and agreeable
+people at their most prosperous period. Their physical superiority to
+the Khitay would probably be owing to their abstention from "bang" and
+opium, and we need not suppose that they were the descendants of a
+stronger race, who had issued from the frigid north, when we have an
+explanation so much simpler and more natural at hand. They were found by
+their Khitay rulers to form excellent soldiers, policemen, and other
+Government servants, such as carriers, &c. In this last employment many
+found their way to Hamil, thence to Turfan and Urumtsi, and their
+numbers were increased by discharged soldiers, who remained as military
+settlers sooner than return to Kansuh. In the course of a few
+generations their numbers became much greater, until, at last, in the
+cities we have named, they formed the majority of the inhabitants. In
+Kuldja, too, they were very numerous, but south of the Tian Shan they do
+not seem to have advanced westward of Kucha in any great force. At Aksu
+the Andijan influence, supreme in Western Kashgar, presented an
+impassable barrier to the Tungani, who, it must be remembered, had no
+sympathy with Khokand. The Tungani were, therefore, Mahomedan subjects
+of China, originating in Kansuh, but who had also, in the course of
+time, spread westward into Chinese Turkestan and Jungaria. They were
+employed in the service of the country without restriction, nor can we
+find that they were subjected to any unfair usage, after the measures
+taken against them in the earlier days of Keen-Lung. They may not have
+been as highly favoured as the Sobo tribes, and they may have been
+subjected to some ridicule in Kansuh; but in Jungaria they were on an
+equality with all the other Chinese, and immeasurably better placed in
+the political scale than the Andijanis or Tarantchis. The Chinese had
+just grounds for believing that no danger to their rule in Eastern
+Turkestan or Jungaria would ever be caused by the Tungani, and it is not
+easy to explain how their reasonable anticipations were falsified. The
+Tungani were fervent, if not the most orthodox in form of, Mahomedans,
+and it would appear that they were not free from a belief in their own
+superiority to the Khitay. This feeling was fostered by the "mollahs,"
+or priests, who became very active within the Chinese dominions, when
+these had been extended by conquest into the heart of Asia. As if in
+retaliation for a Khitay conquest the Mahomedan religion was undermining
+the outworks of its rival's power slowly, but surely. The impulse given
+to trade by the security and patronage that accompanied Chinese rule
+was, at least from a purely Chinese point of view, neutralized as an
+advantage by the admission into the empire of energetic and eloquent
+preachers of the superior merits of Mahomedanism. It required many
+generations before the effect of their efforts became perceptible, and
+it was not until the power of China fell into an extraordinary
+decline--a decline which many thought, with some show of reason, was to
+herald the fall, but which later events have seemed to make but the
+prelude to a more vigorous life than ever--that these Mahomedan
+missionaries among the Tungani knew that the time to reap what they had
+sown with patience and persistency was at hand. It is impossible not to
+connect this event in some degree with that unaccountable revival of
+fanaticism among Mahomedans, which has produced so many important events
+during the last thirty years, and of which we are now witnessing some of
+the most striking results.
+
+In 1862, a riot occurred in a small village of Kansuh; it was suppressed
+with some loss of life, and people were beginning to suppose that it
+possessed no significance, when a disturbance broke out on a large scale
+at Houchow, or Salara. The Tungani had risen, and the unfortunate
+unarmed Khitay were massacred right and left. The rising soon assumed
+the proportions of a civil war, and the infection spread to the
+neighbouring province of Shensi. Then ensued scenes of the most
+atrocious barbarity. The Khitay, who all their lives had lived at peace
+and as neighbours with the Tungani, were butchered without mercy. The
+Mahomedan priests seized all the governing power into their own hands,
+and set their followers the example of unscrupulous ferocity. The
+movement, even if we make allowance for the difficulties besetting the
+government in other regions, must be considered to have been attended by
+unexpected success. It can only be accounted for by the supposition that
+the Khitay were taken completely by surprise, and realized neither the
+extent nor the nature of the danger to which they were exposed. Before
+the end of 1862, a Tungan government was established in Kansuh, and its
+jurisdiction was for a time acknowledged in Shensi. The priests formed
+an administration amongst themselves, and set themselves to the task of
+consolidating what they had won, and of preparing for the time when the
+Chinese should come for vengeance. The events happening in Kansuh were
+naturally of interest to the Tungani in the country lying beyond it, and
+it was not long before the example set them was followed in Hamil,
+Turfan, Urumtsi, Manas, and other cities of that district. The same
+success attended the movement here as in Kansuh. The Chinese power was
+subverted, the Khitay massacred with greater circumstances of cruelty,
+if possible, and a new Tungan state was formed in those cities. Each
+district retained a nominal independence, under the headship of a
+priest, or body of priests, or of one of the native Tungan princes, and
+then the movement spread with irresistible strides to Karashar, Kucha,
+and Aksu. There it stopped, and south of the Tian Shan the Tungan revolt
+proper never extended west of Aksu.
+
+In Altyshahr and Kuldja for some months longer the Chinese maintained
+the external show of power, but all their communications with China were
+cut off, and neither in numbers nor resources had they sufficient means
+to cope with the Tungani unaided. They would have accomplished as much
+as could have been expected from them if they succeeded in keeping
+possession of that which they still occupied. The Tungan element in
+Kucha and Aksu was not predominant. It had to share power with the
+Khojas, and, as we shall see later on, the Khojas of these two cities
+seized the governing power for themselves. It was the appearance of the
+Tungan sedition in these cities, which occupy a middle relation to the
+purely Chinese cities of Hamil and Urumtsi, and the almost totally
+Khokandian cities of Yarkand and Kashgar, that roused the Kashgari to a
+full appreciation of the importance to themselves of this movement, and
+the Chinese garrisons and settlers to an equally just realization of
+their own danger. The Kashgari, not free from the fanaticism of all
+their co-religionists, and naturally elated at the successes of the
+Tungani, forgot, with their well proved fickleness, all the benefits
+they had received from the Chinese, and waited eagerly for a favourable
+opportunity to come for them to imitate the example set them by their
+eastern neighbours. Nor had they long to wait, although it was not from
+them that came the first spark that lighted the firebrand of civil war
+and anarchy throughout the length and breadth of Altyshahr.
+
+It will be remembered that the Khokandian government had the right to
+nominate in each city, where they received dues on Mahomedan
+merchandise, an agent or tax-collector to look after the proper levy of
+the tax. In some of the larger cities this official would require a
+considerable staff of assistants, and thus a certain number of skilled
+Khokandian officials were permanently located on Kashgarian or Chinese
+territory. After the failure of the expedition of Wali Khan, in which
+these officials seem to have disappeared, either having become merged in
+the body of his partisans or sacrificed during the massacres of that
+time, a fresh batch of Khokandians was installed, and occupied, in a
+legal sense, the same position as their predecessors. It would appear,
+however, that the natural result of their aid to Wali Khan followed, and
+that the Chinese Ambans regarded their presence with scarcely concealed
+dislike, and proclaimed that these Khokandian tax-gatherers were
+devoting more of their attention to the propagation of heretical
+religious and political doctrines than to the collection of dues on silk
+and other articles of commerce. It would require but the slightest
+untoward circumstance to fan this ill-feeling into the most insatiate
+hatred and hostility. The danger was rendered the more serious when the
+Chinese Ambans perceived for the first time that the sympathies of a
+large portion of their Tungan soldiery were estranged from them. It was
+doubtful whether the Tungan regiments could be relied on against a fresh
+Khoja revolt, and it was certain that they would not combine in any
+repression of the Mahomedan religion, even though the sufferers should
+only be Andijanis. Such was the state of the public mind in Altyshahr in
+1862, when the Tungani revolted and obtained success in Kansuh and
+Shensi.
+
+As early as 1859 the hostility of the Chinese Ambans to the Andijani
+tax-collectors received a forcible illustration in the town of Yarkand.
+At that time Afridun Wang was governor, and, whether there was any
+personal enmity at the root of the action or not, he found little
+difficulty in convincing both himself and the other Chinese residents
+that the Andijani agent had been stirring up discontent against them in
+the town. Accordingly, as self-preservation is the first law of nature,
+this Khokandian official, with his attendant, was arrested and executed.
+There may have been some foundation for the accusations made by Afridun
+Wang against his rival: more probably there was none; but on referring
+the matter to the Viceroy of Ili for decision it was decided that the
+governor should be removed. The Khokandian government sent fresh agents,
+and it is not stated that any reparation was given to the families of
+the sufferers. From this it would appear that the post of tax-collector
+in Altyshahr for His Highness the Khan of Khokand was not a very
+desirable position. Afridun Wang retired to his native town of Turfan,
+where, three years later on, he contributed more than any one else to
+the success of the Tungan movement. His policy, if anti-Khokandian, was
+pro-Mahomedan or Tungan, and his case is very typical of the nature of
+this rising. In Turfan he continued to be one of the chief men, until,
+six years later on, it fell to the Athalik Ghazi.
+
+His successor in the governorship of Yarkand did not interfere with the
+Khokandian officials, but for this moderation he made up by the
+exactions he committed on the residents, more particularly on the
+Mahomedan portion of them. His extortions and cruelties had the effect
+as much of disgusting his own followers as of rousing a spirit of
+opposition among the oppressed. It was while things were in this
+uncertain state at Yarkand that the governor received secret notice of
+the Tungan revolt in Kansuh, and he at once perceived that, when this
+important intelligence became known, not only would his own Tungan
+troops become more openly mutinous, but that the Khojas might seize the
+opportunity to assert their claim to the country once more. In this
+special case, in addition to the general apprehension that would be felt
+by any Chinese governor at the aspect of affairs, there was personal
+fear for the unjustifiable acts of his government, and the Amban, in his
+trepidation, resolved on the most strenuous precautions to avert the
+danger from himself. He summoned a council of war of his Buddhist
+lieutenants, and stated the exact position to them; how the Tungan
+portion of their forces could not be depended on; how the Tungan
+settlers would join them; and how the Andijani agents would do their
+utmost to unite in one cause against themselves all those who followed
+the teaching of Islam; and how all these events, which before were
+possible, had been rendered probable by the Tungan successes in the
+east. He dwelt on the fact that no time was to be lost in the execution
+of such precautions as they thought necessary; that at any moment the
+news might arrive, and then they would be in a minority; and he did not
+attempt to conceal the purport of his address--that he was in favour of
+sharp measures, of going to the root of the evil at once, and of
+massacring every Mussulman in the town. The council of war was not
+prepared to endorse such a violent proceeding without careful
+consideration. There were many dissentients, and the meeting was
+adjourned. It reassembled, and, on this occasion, although the
+supporters of more moderate measures had decreased, it adjourned once
+more before deciding. The danger evidently appeared more appalling to
+the governor than to his subordinates; perhaps also there was some
+personal dislike for their chief even among his Khitay following. At the
+second meeting they seemed, indeed, more willing to acquiesce in his
+proposed strong measures, and this may have been caused by their
+observation of the state of public opinion in the interval. But even
+then no final decision could be arrived at, and the Khitay never had a
+chance after that of making any defence in Yarkand. The Tungan troops
+were not long in hearing, through their chief officer, Mah Dalay, that
+there was a plot on foot among the Khitay to disarm, or, as others said,
+to massacre them, and they then learnt of the Mahomedan revolt in China
+and along the road thither. They immediately determined to be beforehand
+with the Amban and his lukewarm council, and no weak hesitation marred
+the execution of their plot, as it had that of the Chinese governor.
+
+The Khitay troops, unarmed, were surprised during the night, and cut
+down without quarter, and the small body of survivors sought refuge in
+the Yangyshahr fort. This was in August, 1863, and no fewer than 7,000
+Khitay soldiers are computed to have fallen on this single occasion. The
+Tungan troops were thereupon joined by the townspeople, and the question
+then to be decided was, who was to be supreme, the Tungani or the
+Andijan-Kashgari Mahomedans. The former were simply an unlettered and
+rather savage soldiery; the latter possessed keen intellects for
+manipulating a fanatical people, and for improvising an administration
+of a superficial character. The balance of power was evenly distributed
+until reinforcements arrived from Aksu and Kucha to the anti-Tungan
+party. Two Khojas who had been banished from Kucha, for endeavouring to
+promote their own interests in the name of Khokand, had fled to Aksu,
+where they met the same fate. In this latter flight many of similar
+principles joined them, so that when they reached Yarkand they had a
+numerous force at their back. The Khojas in the first place joined their
+forces to the Tungani, to storm the remaining Khitay in the Yangyshahr.
+The Khitay after a gallant resistance perceived that further opposition
+was impossible. Then occurred one of those deeds, which, if Europe
+instead of Asia had been the scene, would have been handed down to
+posterity as a rare example of military devotion and courage, but which,
+although not unique even in the annals of the campaign we are entering
+upon, having occurred in little-known Eastern Turkestan, is not realized
+as an event that has actually taken place. It is a myth of the myth-land
+to which it belongs. And yet, when we read how the Amban summoned all
+his officers to his chamber, where he sat in state surrounded by his
+wives, his family, and his servants; how all were silent, and yet sedate
+and prepared; how, at the given signal that all were present, and that
+the foe was at the gate, the aged warrior dropped his lighted pipe into
+the mine beneath; how the exulting foe won after all but a barren
+triumph; and how the Khitay taught the natives that if they had
+forgotten how to conquer they had not how to die, we feel that there is
+an under-current throughout the story, that, apart from the admiration
+it must command, has claims to our own special sympathy. The Chinese, as
+we did in India in the dark hours of 1857, asserted their superiority
+over the semi-barbarous races under their sway, even when all hopes of a
+recovery seemed to be abandoned. After the fall of the citadel the
+Khoja element was supreme in Yarkand, and a priest named Abderrahman
+was set up as king.
+
+The other cities of Altyshahr promptly followed the example of Yarkand,
+and the Chinese power was completely subverted on all hands. The Khitay
+were massacred whenever they fell into the hands of the Mahomedans, and
+the only places that still held out were the citadels, notably the
+Yangyshahr of Kashgar. The inhabitants of this city appear to have been
+unable to keep their advantage over the Chinese, for they appealed to
+the Kirghiz to come in and assist them. These nomads, under their chief,
+Sadic Beg, were nothing loth to join in expelling the Chinese, as such a
+change could only increase their advantages by substituting an unsettled
+for a settled government. Siege was accordingly laid to the citadel of
+Kashgar, but the irregular troops of the new allies were unable to make
+any impression on the fort, defended as it was by a large Khitay
+garrison. If the Chinese commander had assumed a more active policy, he
+might have destroyed his opponents, but he was waiting for the arrival
+of reinforcements, which he expected before many months. In not relying
+solely on his own resources he proved himself unable to read the changed
+signs of the time; if, indeed, he was not already meditating that
+surrender, which he ultimately concluded with Yakoob Beg. Sadic Beg,
+finding himself unable to take the fort, and knowing that it was
+uncertain how long the Kashgari would remain friendly to himself,
+resolved to play the part of king-maker, and sent the embassy to
+Tashkent for a Khoja to come and rule Kashgar, only he omitted to say
+that Kashgar was not conquered.
+
+We can now return to Buzurg Khan and his commander-in-chief. When they
+left Tashkent they had only a following of six, among whom were Abdulla,
+Pansad; Mahomed Kuli, Shahawal; and Khoja Kulan, Hudaychi. All of these
+played a very prominent part under Yakoob Beg. From Tashkent they went
+to Khokand, where their numbers rose to sixty-eight. Here the final
+preparations were made, and during the first days of January, 1865, this
+band of adventurers crossed the Khokand frontier into Eastern Turkestan.
+The mountain forts seem to have been deserted, for no opposition was
+encountered in the passage of the Terek defile. Several small bodies of
+troops joined them, and they reached Mingyol in the neighbourhood of
+Kashgar with increased numbers and confidence. Sadic Beg had conceived a
+more sanguine view of his situation by this time, and half repented that
+he had invited the Khojas in at all, more particularly when he found
+that the Khoja had a following of his own, and a skilled commander and
+minister in Yakoob Beg. He then strove to dissuade Buzurg Khan from
+proceeding further with an enterprise fraught with great peril, for he
+represented the Chinese as sure to return, when summary vengeance would
+be exacted. But his arguments were unavailing. Either Buzurg Khan or his
+adviser, Yakoob Beg, was deaf to all entreaty. The enterprise they had
+embarked on must be continued to the bitter end. They could not think of
+returning to Khokand with nothing accomplished, with the stigma
+attaching to them of a retreat when there had been no foe. Sadic Beg
+could not but submit with the best grace possible; and Buzurg Khan was
+accordingly placed on the throne of his ancestors.
+
+In his "_orda_" or palace he administered justice and received the
+congratulations of his own followers and of the Andijani townspeople.
+The court rules were drawn up on the model of those in use in Khokand,
+and while the expedition had but established itself, in an uncertain
+manner, in one city it was thought necessary that etiquette should be as
+strictly defined and enforced as if all this were taking place in a
+brilliant and luxurious capital. In a few days Sadic Beg, on finding
+that he played but a secondary part, revolted, and set himself up as
+ruler at Yangy Hissar. It was now that Yakoob Beg came to the front,
+and assumed the control of affairs until the fall of the contemptible
+Buzurg. With great difficulty after the desertion of their Kirghiz
+allies was a force of 3,000 men collected around the new Khoja in
+Kashgar. Sadic Beg advanced on the capital with a much larger army, and
+Yakoob Beg had for a time to remain on the defensive. Each day, however,
+brought in recruits to his camp, while, the army of the Kirghiz leader
+presenting no object of sympathy to the people, his rival's remained
+stationary, if it did not decrease. An encounter at last commenced
+between the two forces which was made general by the intrepidity of
+Abdulla. The Kirghiz levies of Sadic were unable to withstand the
+vigorous charges that were led against them, and broke after a short
+combat into headlong flight. In the mountains the Kirghiz gathered
+around their chieftain in force, and, hovering on the northern districts
+of Kashgar, presented a danger that must be removed by Yakoob Beg before
+he could advance farther. His troops were therefore directed to proceed
+against the Kirghiz in their fastnesses, and it was not long before the
+Kirghiz, driven into a corner, turned at bay on their pursuer. The
+forces on either side were about equal, some 5,000 men in either army.
+But, as is customary in the East, the Kirghiz army put forth a champion,
+Suranchi by name, who had obtained great renown for his extraordinary
+height and strength. The challenge did not remain unanswered, for
+Abdulla stepped forward to the encounter. The fight, though furious, was
+short, and the smaller Khokandian warrior was victorious over his more
+ponderous antagonist. The Kirghiz power after this reverse was broken
+up, and Sadic Beg took refuge with Alim Kuli at Tashkent. Yakoob Beg's
+first campaign against the Kirghiz, who had sworn alliance with him, and
+by whose invitation he was present in Kashgar, had thus ended
+victoriously, and he was now able to resume the main purpose of
+conquering Kashgar. Having rendered Kashgar secure from surprise on the
+north, and leaving a force to maintain their hold on it, and to keep in
+check the Khitay garrison, Buzurg and Yakoob proceeded south to occupy
+Yangy Hissar. The town was occupied without difficulty, but an attempt
+to storm the citadel in which the Khitay had taken refuge was repulsed
+with loss. Sending Buzurg Khan back to Kashgar, Yakoob Beg resolved to
+go on to Yarkand and endeavour to bring that city under their immediate
+influence.
+
+At this period he loudly proclaimed that there should be no differences
+among the Tungani, or Mahomedans, in their war with the Buddhists, and
+that Khojas and Tungani had but one interest in common. As we have seen,
+the Tungan disturbances broke out first in Yarkand of any city of
+Altyshahr, and accordingly an earlier settlement founded on a compromise
+had been attained there, than was the case in its northern neighbours,
+Kashgar and Yangy Hissar, where an ambitious Kirghiz chief had sought to
+carve a kingdom for himself. After Abderrahman Khoja had been made king
+or ruler in Yarkand, and after the Khitay had been destroyed with their
+citadel, a fresh arrangement was agreed upon between the Tungani and the
+Khoja party. By its terms the Tungani maintained possession of the
+citadel, and the Khojas held jurisdiction in the city. Neither of them
+would be disposed to view with any friendly eye the appearance of a
+claimant to supremacy in the person of a Khoja sovereign of the whole
+country, and it was as the representative of such a person that Yakoob
+Beg resolved to visit Yarkand. His march was delayed as much as
+possible, and it was not without some difficulty that he at last
+obtained admittance with his small following into the city. Yakoob Beg
+was naturally incensed at this inimical treatment from his
+fellow-religionists, and he soon set himself to the task of humbling the
+dominant Khojas of Yarkand. During a street riot that was probably
+instigated by the wily Khokandian, the leading Khojas were seized, and
+their followers expelled from the city. With a force of only a few
+hundred men, Yakoob Beg had established himself as master in the largest
+city of the country; his success on this occasion was very temporary. As
+ill fortune would have it for him, a fresh army of 2,000 men from Kucha
+had arrived at Tagharchi, and, there joined by the forces from Yarkand
+and the neighbourhood, presented a very formidable appearance. They
+marched on the city at once with complete confidence in their superior
+numbers, and Yakoob Beg, always in favour of the boldest course, marched
+out to meet them. In a skirmish, however, the detachment under Abdulla
+was badly cut up owing to the rashness of that officer, and Yakoob Beg
+at once recognized the necessity for a prompt retreat. During the
+following night he made a forced march and arrived the next day at Yangy
+Hissar with no very great loss in men, but without any baggage whatever.
+The enterprise to Yarkand then appeared in its true light as a rash
+venture.
+
+The Khitay in the fort of Yangy Hissar still held out, and Yakoob Beg
+resolved to overcome them before he attempted any fresh enterprise. He
+called up reinforcements from Kashgar, and pressed the siege with
+renewed vigour, and alter strictly environing it for forty days the
+garrison surrendered. Although Yakoob Beg himself seemed desirous of
+showing moderation to the prisoners, more than 2,000 Chinese were
+massacred. During all these petty events, which had not produced even
+the results of past Khoja enterprises, there had been discontent and
+division within, as well as opposition from without. At this time a
+fresh danger was appearing on the horizon. A Badakshi army was advancing
+with hostile intent on Sirikul, and although Yakoob Beg disregarded its
+approach while he pressed on the works against the citadel of Yangy
+Hissar, when that fort fell it attracted his attention once more. The
+Khitay garrison in the Yangyshahr of Kashgar was also a source of danger
+to the newly founded dynasty, and, although its inactivity had continued
+for a long period, it was uncertain at what moment it might pass off. We
+can only account for the extraordinary lethargy of the Chinese commander
+by supposing that he was in complete ignorance of what was passing in
+the country. At many moments it must seem to an observer of the facts
+that the Chinese governor, who had under him 6,000 or 7,000 disciplined
+troops, could have crushed all the opposition of such heterogeneous
+crowds as those fighting under or against Yakoob Beg were up to this
+time. With the destruction of the Yangy Hissar garrison the prospects of
+Yakoob Beg greatly improved, and less opportunity was left to the
+Chinese governor for assuming the offensive, than when he possessed an
+ally in so close a position as Yangy Hissar. Yakoob Beg also resolved to
+press the Khitay still more in this their last stronghold, and before he
+encountered other opponents to crush the Khitay, as he already had the
+Kirghiz. At this point Sadic Beg reappears in Kashgar at the head of a
+Kirghiz force to oppose Yakoob Beg, and for a moment it seemed as if he
+were to have better fortune on this occasion. But Abdulla, the most
+trusted as well as the most courageous of Yakoob Beg's lieutenants,
+collected such forces as he could, boldly threw himself in his path,
+and, having routed Sadic in a sanguinary engagement, prepared to press
+that unfortunate chieftain into flight or ruin. Yakoob Beg, in want of
+allies and soldiers however, interfered and suggested an alliance
+instead of a war _a outrance_. The thwarted Sadic was only too glad to
+get off on such favourable terms, and joined his forces to those of his
+late enemy now besieging the Khitay with renewed vigour. This merciful
+termination of a difficulty, that might have become serious had it not
+been cured in time, was a performance very creditable in a diplomatic
+sense to Yakoob Beg. In a small way it may be compared with Frederick
+the Great's action at Pirna, where he received the services of 40,000
+Saxon troops. But, perhaps, still more remarkable was the manner in
+which Yakoob Beg averted the danger from the Badakshi army. The
+Badakshi, like their kinsmen the Afghans, may be considered, _caeteris
+paribus_, to be superior soldiers, on account of their larger build and
+more active habits, to other Asiatics, so that Yakoob Beg with his
+half-disciplined followers would have had some difficulty and must have
+incurred considerable loss in overcoming these new invaders. He made
+overtures to them, and the Badakshi, seeing that he was likely to give
+them exciting and profitable employment, entered into negotiations with
+him. The result was that they took service under him; and Yakoob Beg for
+the first time found himself at the head of a large army, composed of
+Khokand, Kashgar, Kirghiz, and Badakshan levies. It was fortunate for
+himself that he had been able to arrange his affairs so satisfactorily,
+for a fresh danger was approaching from the east.
+
+The reader may have observed that we have said little of Buzurg Khan
+during the operations of the campaign up to this point. Indeed, there is
+little or nothing to say of the movements of that prince, for he had
+been mainly stationary at Kashgar, where he passed his time in his
+harem, or besotted under the use of drugs. Yakoob Beg had from the very
+commencement come to the front as responsible chief, and as events
+progressed the people and the army came to look upon him as their future
+ruler. But Yakoob Beg, it would seem, was really in earnest in
+supporting the Khoja prince, for on several occasions not only did he
+give Buzurg the most salutary advice, but he also compelled him to take
+an active part in the public business. Such fits of action were most
+distasteful to the effeminate prince, and he always returned with
+renewed zest to the illicit pleasures in which he indulged. One of the
+occasions on which Yakoob Beg endeavoured to instil into his sovereign
+some idea of the responsibilities of his office was this invasion by the
+Khoja-Tungani power of Altyshahr. Early in the summer a large force,
+estimated at 40,000 men, collected by the cities of Aksu, Kucha, and
+Turfan, appeared at Maralbashi, whence it equally threatened Kashgar or
+protected Yarkand. Yakoob Beg's utmost efforts, if we are to credit the
+native report, only availed to bring some 2,500 men into the field; but
+it is more reasonable to suppose, that, with his Kirghiz, Kipchak, and
+Badakshi auxiliaries, he had many more troops under him, perhaps 12,500
+instead of 2,500 men. Be the exact numbers of the forces what they may,
+however, it is certain that he was greatly outnumbered by the invader,
+and that the diverse elements of his army detracted very much from its
+effective strength. The Tungan army advanced from Maralbashi on Yangy
+Hissar, where Yakoob Beg had concentrated his army. He had drawn Buzurg
+Khan and such of the court followers as he could from their ignominious
+inaction in the capital to encounter the dangers and risks of a field of
+battle. Both sides were eager for the encounter, which took place in the
+neighbourhood of Yangy Hissar. The tactical disposition made by Yakoob
+Beg of his forces was such as would command the approval of skilled
+officers, and, having done all that mortal man could do to insure the
+result, he commended himself and his cause to Allah. The battle was long
+and stoutly contested. During hours it was impossible to say to which
+side the balance of victory was inclining; at last the Kirghiz troops,
+half-hearted in their fighting, were driven from the field, and the
+Badakshi division, which had up to that moment stubbornly held its
+ground, immediately followed the shameful example thus set it. There now
+only remained the division under the immediate orders of Yakoob Beg to
+withstand the onset of a whole army victorious in two different quarters
+of the field. The situation, on which the fate of the whole enterprise
+depended, might have filled the boldest heart with momentary despair.
+Yakoob Beg had, however, so braced himself to the effort, that no more
+than ordinary emotion was permitted to betray the disturbed mind within,
+and with the exclamation that "Victory is the gift of God," he inspired
+his soldiery to continue the fight throughout the afternoon. The enemy,
+dismayed at the dauntless courage shown by this mere handful of men, and
+having incurred great loss in his effort to crush them, drew off his
+weakened forces towards evening; and Yakoob Beg, boldly seizing the
+opportunity for assuming the offensive, drove them from the field in
+disorder and with considerable loss. In addition to the loss in killed
+and wounded, more than 1,000 Tungan soldiers enlisted under the standard
+of Yakoob Beg, and that general found himself on the morrow of one of
+his greatest battles, with a greater force under his command than he had
+just before it commenced. This great triumph gave fresh lustre to the
+Khoja family, and redounded to the military renown of Yakoob Beg. Nor
+should it be forgotten that on this occasion he showed that he
+possessed, besides military genius of some merit, qualities of an
+estimable character. For the first time in the annals of these wars the
+prisoners were treated with some consideration. For some reason or other
+this victory was not followed up, and the defeated Kucha army retired on
+Maralbashi, which it continued to hold for some months longer. The
+indirect results of this victory were scarcely less important, however,
+than the immediate and direct consequences of it.
+
+Buzurg Khan, who had been present at this battle, was among the first to
+seek refuge in flight; and when he received intelligence of the final
+success his satisfaction was almost eclipsed by his personal chagrin and
+mortification. Up to this event he had been content to let Yakoob Beg
+act the king so long as he could indulge undisturbed in his
+debaucheries; but from this date there became mingled with his wounded
+vanity a conviction that Yakoob Beg was becoming so powerful and so
+popular that he might prove a dangerous subject. The weak-minded prince
+then permitted himself to be made the tool of every rival that the
+success of Yakoob Beg had raised up for himself either in the court or
+in the camp, and listened to tales brought him of his lieutenant's
+plots, when the conspirators most to be feared by himself were the
+ambitious chieftains in whose power he was placing his person and his
+crown. After the defeat of the Kucha army, the ruling parties in Yarkand
+thought it would be wise to come to terms with their victorious and
+aggressive neighbour, and accordingly an embassy was despatched to Yangy
+Hissar by the Khojas of Yarkand to tender their submission to the
+sovereign of Kashgar, and to ask to be favoured by the nomination of a
+city governor, who would be agreeable to Buzurg Khan and his vizier,
+Yakoob Beg. It is suggestive to watch how the name of the vizier
+occupies almost as prominent place in all their addresses as that of his
+master. The Tungan governor in the Yarkand Yangyshahr, not to be
+behindhand in his worship of the rising sun, immediately sent a similar
+expression of obedience to Kashgar.
+
+The course of events once more takes us back to Kashgar, where the
+Chinese still held the citadel against all comers. But with each fresh
+success of Yakoob Beg over his numerous opponents, and with the spread
+of the Tungan power into Jungaria, hope almost completely deserted the
+unfortunate Khitay, who, in this solitary fort, alone maintained the
+name of Chinese authority. Treason, within the walls, was now to aid the
+efforts from without. Kho Dalay, the superior officer in the citadel,
+although not the commandant, came to an arrangement with Yakoob Beg, by
+which honourable terms were conceded to the garrison; and 3,000 Khitay
+troops surrendered and settled in Kashgar. They were required to
+acknowledge formally the supremacy of the Khoja, and to make a
+profession of Islamism. But they were never really interfered with in
+the observance of their own rites among themselves, and had nothing to
+complain of in their duty. They were called after their recantation
+"Yangy Mussulmans," or "New Mussulmans." These were the last Khitay
+troops who surrendered to the new conquerors, and with them every
+vestige of Chinese authority disappeared from every part of Jungaria and
+Eastern Turkestan. Even among this garrison, reduced by a long siege and
+its attendant deprivations to despair, there was a small minority who
+preferred death to the dishonour involved in surrender. Chang Tay, the
+commandant, refused to be any party to the arrangement made between Kho
+Dalay and Yakoob Beg. When the day approached for the entry of the
+Kashgarian army, this resolute Amban withdrew to his palace, and having
+collected his family and dependents around him blew them all up with the
+explosion of a mine that he had constructed underneath. In the confusion
+that arose from this incident, the enemy broke into the fort, and it was
+not for some hours that Yakoob Beg succeeded in obtaining control over
+them once more. During that interval of insubordination many Khitay were
+murdered, but not without resistance. Kho Dalay and almost 3,000 men
+remained to take service in the conquering army, as already explained.
+The new alliance was cemented by the marriage of Yakoob Beg to the
+beautiful daughter of Kho Dalay, by whom he has had several children,
+too young as yet to take any part in public affairs. Perhaps Yakoob
+Beg's moderation to the Khitay is to be explained by this circumstance,
+and it is certain that down to the very end his Khitay wife exercised
+great influence over her husband.
+
+This was in September, 1865, nine months after his first arrival in
+Altyshahr, and in that period he had worked, if not very rapidly, with
+considerable thoroughness. The Khitay destroyed, the Kirghiz subdued,
+and the Tungan influence checked in its aggression against Western
+Kashgar, such was the tale of his achievements. Several battles and
+sieges successfully brought to an issue, and a numerous army formed out
+of the diverse fragments of conquered and conquerors. Personally, too,
+Yakoob Beg had done much towards preparing the public mind for the
+assumption of power by himself, and the reigning chief had done still
+more by his neglect of duty and abandonment to pleasure. Buzurg Khan
+might stand for the typical _roi faineant_, and Yakoob Beg was a more
+than ordinarily resolute and determined _maire du palais_.
+
+The citadel of Kashgar had not long surrendered when messengers arrived,
+reporting the near approach of a large body of men from Khokand, but who
+they were, or with what intention they came, none knew. These were the
+unsuccessful conspirators against Khudayar Khan, who, after the death of
+Alim Kuli, had obtained his power once more; and these having been
+driven out of Khokand by his armies, were compelled to seek refuge in
+Kashgar. Yakoob Beg sent them the laconic message, while they were
+hovering on the frontier, that "if they came as friends, they were
+welcome; if as foes, he was ready to fight them." Until the arrival of
+this declaration there appears to have been some hesitation among the
+Khokandians what to do, as some were wishing to attempt the conquest of
+Kashgar in their own interests; but when so clear a statement was sent
+them by Yakoob Beg, and when they learnt more definitely of the
+permanence of his success, they threw off their reserve and joined the
+confederacy of Kashgar. In the meanwhile fresh disturbances were
+breaking out in Yarkand, and thither he proceeded in the later months of
+1865 to quell them, taking Buzurg Khan with him. On his arrival before
+the town both the Khojas and the Tungani hastened to profess the
+greatest desire to fulfil his wishes, although they kept him outside
+their gates. It is probable that neither party could have offered any
+prolonged resistance to him, had they not been encouraged to do so by
+Buzurg Khan. That prince had for some time been fretting against the
+iron will of his lieutenant, and, now, in an ill humour at being carried
+from his amusements and idleness at Kashgar to suffer the deprivations
+of a camp life before Yarkand, broke loose from all control, and plotted
+in his own camp, and in the enemy's, to free himself from his
+troublesome general. The plot among the Tungan soldiery had assumed
+alarming proportions, and all was ready to put an end to the career of
+Yakoob, when it was fortunately discovered by his faithful friend
+Abdulla. Precautions were taken, and the plot in the camp was
+effectually thwarted; but Yakoob Beg was not strong enough then to show
+his resentment. This danger was only removed to give place to another.
+The Tungani soldiers in Yakoob's service now opened up communications
+with their kinsmen in the Yangy-Shahr, and they formed the following
+plan to destroy the remaining portion of the Kashgarian forces. The
+garrison was to simulate a desire to yield into the hands of Yakoob Beg
+both their own persons and the fort, and when he, unsuspecting any
+covert design, should be lulled into a false sense of security, the
+Tungani in his service could join the Tungani in the fort in making a
+night attack on the other forces. The plan promised well. Yakoob Beg was
+deceived by the friendly overtures of the Tungani, and relaxed his
+precautions, and, during the night that was to precede the surrender of
+the Tungani, the conspirators marched out of the fort, and being joined,
+as had been arranged, by the other confederates, surprised Yakoob Beg
+and his immediate followers. A desperate resistance was offered by the
+half-armed men, but the Tungani were victorious, and Yakoob Beg had much
+difficulty in collecting around him on the morrow a few hundred
+soldiers. Among those, however, was Abdulla and some of his more trusted
+companions. The Kirghiz under Sadic Beg could not be trusted, and it
+seemed that that chief was still inclined to play for his own hand. At
+this, the most critical period of his life, Yakoob Beg's tact and
+resolution were most conspicuous. When he was surrounded on every hand
+by hostile factions, and could count on the fidelity of scarce five
+hundred men, he triumphed over every obstacle, and rose omnipotent over
+the petty jealousies and dissensions of those who sought to crush him.
+Buzurg Khan seized the moment of this disaster to draw off into a
+separate camp with a large body of troops and all the Kirghiz, and it is
+very possible, as has been asserted, that he instigated the successful
+Tungan _coup_. There is no evidence that he did, and I am personally of
+opinion that it originated among the Tungani themselves, and that Buzurg
+Khan only rejoiced at its occurrence, as he would have done at any other
+reverse to Yakoob. The position now was as follows:--In the citadel were
+the victorious Tungani, and in the town they shared the distribution of
+power with the townspeople. Outside in one part was Buzurg Khan, with a
+force that was equivocal in its sympathies, and that might at any moment
+become hostile, to Yakoob Beg; and in another part was Yakoob Beg
+himself and his attenuated following. Affairs could not look less
+hopeful, and if the three parties could have accommodated their own
+differences for but the short space of twenty-four hours, Yakoob Beg
+must infallibly have been destroyed: as it was, they did nothing with an
+enemy like Yakoob Beg in their proximity, and permitted him to redeem
+all he had lost by his too great credulity in the good faith of his
+brother Mussulmans. Let us now see how he saved himself. The first point
+to do was to restore the courage and self-confidence of his own
+soldiers, and to do that, it was necessary to strike a sharp blow that
+was sure of success. The fort could not be taken by a _coup de main_,
+but the city, large and straggling, presented a more inviting aspect for
+such an attempt. Abdulla, the Murat of the army of Kashgar, with the
+most determined intrepidity, carried it by assault, although here again
+he attacked without awaiting the arrival of the other contingents. Like
+Edward Bruce,
+
+    "Such was his wonted reckless mood,
+     Yet desperate valour oft made good,
+     Even by its daring, venture rude,
+     Where prudence might have failed."
+
+This achievement put an end to the rejoicings among the Tungani, and
+compelled them to recognize what a terribly energetic and enterprising
+foe they had to deal with. But, at this moment, a severe mishap occurred
+which almost neutralized the advantage thus gained. Buzurg Khan, unable
+either to crush Yakoob Beg or to enjoy the indulgences to which he had
+enslaved himself, resolved to secure the latter, happen what might. He
+accordingly fled from Yarkand with many followers, and retired to his
+palace at Kashgar. There, not content with pillaging the palace of
+Yakoob Beg, he proclaimed him a traitor and rebel, and offered a reward
+to whomsoever should bring him his head. Another general was appointed
+to the command of the army, and preparations were made for defending
+Kashgar against any attempt of Yakoob Beg to attack it. But fortunately
+the Tungani in the citadel of Yarkand were not aware of this dissension
+among the Kashgari, and as they were struck with admiration for the
+valour of Yakoob Beg, they surrendered to him soon after the flight of
+Buzurg. He was then able to turn his undivided attention to his
+refractory chief. Yakoob Beg had always, as we have said, befriended the
+church; he was now to experience some benefit for that very commendable
+respect. Among the first means of crushing Yakoob Beg that Buzurg Khan
+had employed was an appeal to the Sheikh-ul-islam of Kashgar to proclaim
+his Baturbashi outside the pale of the law. This the ecclesiastic
+refused to do, and asserted, on the contrary, that Yakoob Beg had
+deserved well both of his country and of the Mahomedan world. Foiled in
+his effort to stir up a religious feeling against his general, Buzurg
+Khan was reduced to the more cogent, but in his hands quite useless,
+argument of the sword. Nor was the field, limited as it must appear to
+us, free from other pretenders. Sadic Beg, instead of coalescing with
+Buzurg Khan, set up his own pretensions to rule the country; and the
+Kucha Khojas and Tungani began to collect troops in view of possible
+eventualities.
+
+The army of Buzurg Khan, which had marched out to oppose the entry of
+Yakoob Beg, was outflanked and defeated by Abdulla in the country
+between Yangy Hissar and the capital; and Yakoob Beg, pressing on with
+irresistible strides, was received in Kashgar with the acclamations of
+the people and of his soldiers. He was then publicly proclaimed ruler,
+and his friend the Sheikh-ul-islam ratified the people's choice. Buzurg
+Khan, who had taken refuge in the Yangy-Shahr, was seized in his palace
+there, after a very slight resistance. Some of the more prominent of
+Yakoob Beg's rivals were executed, and Buzurg Khan himself was placed in
+a state of honourable confinement. He still persisted in futile
+intrigues, and so long as he remained in Kashgar was a source of endless
+trouble to the new government. For more than eighteen months he was
+permitted to remain however, and then, being detected in instigating the
+murder of Yakoob Beg, was banished to Tibet. After wandering for some
+years, he found his way to Khokand, where he is believed to be still
+residing with a large family. He may be considered to have been the last
+Khoja prince ruling Kashgar, for it is scarcely probable that, in any
+future settlement of that country, a restoration of the old reigning
+family will be supported by any one. He is no exaggerated type of the
+rule among Central Asian despots, who present to our gaze a long series
+of petty tyrants and debauchees, until for a few years they are
+displaced by a successful soldier such as the Athalik Ghazi, or by a
+skilful minister such as Mussulman Kuli was in Khokand.
+
+The Kirghiz chief, Sadic Beg, did not long hold out against the
+consolidated power of Yakoob Beg; and the Kucha movements were
+suspended. In a little more than twelve months Yakoob Beg had occupied
+Kashgar, Yangy Hissar, and Yarkand. Sirikul and Khoten also acknowledged
+his rule; but his further operations against them will be narrated
+by-and-by. He felt now so secure in his seat that he permitted the
+Badakshi contingent to return home, presenting each soldier with a large
+present. Ever since that time Yakoob Beg seems to have maintained some
+influence in Badakshan, and to have been inclined on several occasions
+to compete with Shere Ali of Afghanistan for the possession of that
+province. His ambition was never fully revealed in this quarter; but it
+is certain that Shere Ali regarded him with scarcely concealed suspicion
+and dislike.
+
+With the assumption of personal power by Yakoob Beg, on the deposition
+of the Khoja Buzurg Khan, the first part of the enterprise undertaken in
+the later days of 1864 was brought to a termination. In the more
+extended operations of Yakoob Beg against the Tungani and Khoten, may be
+perceived the effects of events outside his immediate sphere upon, this
+energetic ruler, who, until his last years, never realized the strength
+of the Russians, and who had, up to the year 1870 when Kuldja was
+occupied, convinced himself that he could retard the progress of the
+great Northern power. It was that idea, besides a thirst for military
+renown and excitement, that urged him on to the construction of what he
+fondly believed might prove a formidable and extensive state. As ruler
+of Kashgar, he could not be anything but a kind of vassal of the Khan of
+Khokand; as monarch of Eastern Turkestan, he might treat on terms of
+equality with the Czar of Russia or the Emperor of China. It was no
+unworthy ambition, and Yakoob Beg, created Athalik Ghazi, Champion
+Father, in 1866 by the Ameer of Bokhara, accomplished so much of it as
+was possible.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+WARS WITH THE TUNGANI.
+
+
+Yakoob Beg, having deposed Buzurg Khan and suppressed all resistance on
+the part either of the Tungani or of the Chinese in Western Kashgar, had
+some leisure to make a careful survey of his exact position. The result
+of the desultory fighting of the previous twelve months had been
+eminently satisfactory to himself; but, to say the least, it was dubious
+how long this state of things might last. Former adventurers had
+accomplished as much as he had, but the Chinese had always returned with
+renewed vigour. How was Yakoob Beg to know that the rumours were well
+founded which asserted that that empire had been sore stricken in other
+fields than against the Tungani, and that even the victories over the
+Taepings were not considered a complete set-off to the disasters in
+every other quarter of the empire? European critics predicted that the
+last hour of the Chinese Empire was fast approaching; but Yakoob Beg,
+with far more imperfect means of intelligence at his disposal, feared
+still, even when the citadel of Kashgar surrendered, that the Khitay
+would return for revenge. His fears were not groundless, as we now know,
+but he anticipated events by more than ten years. Yakoob Beg was not so
+sanguine in his own resources or good fortune that he believed that he
+should not have to encounter the danger that had overwhelmed all his
+predecessors, and his first object accordingly was to gather all his
+strength together in a compact mass to resist the Chinese when they
+should come. But the dissensions that had, during the conquest of
+Altyshahr, manifested themselves so palpably in the ill-assorted
+conglomeration which had gathered round the standard of Buzurg Khan
+brought home to the mind of Yakoob Beg the disadvantages of a divided
+people. He accordingly determined that, whatever else he might fail or
+succeed in achieving, his most resolute effort should be to weld into
+one cohesive and effective whole Andijani and Tungani, Kashgari and
+Khitay. It was no mean ambition; but to cement such discordant elements
+a policy of "blood and iron" was required. Yakoob Beg did not shrink
+certainly in its application; but when he had accomplished the task he
+had set himself to bring about he discovered that the cost had been so
+great that the state, both in population and in wealth, was at a lower
+point than it had ever been before. But in the earlier days of 1866 no
+doubt crossed his mind on this latter point. It must be remembered that,
+strange to say, the great success of Yakoob Beg in Kashgar had alienated
+the sympathy of the government of Khokand from his cause; and, although
+this may be explained by the antipathy of Khudayar Khan, now firmly
+seated on the throne, who could not entertain any amity for a subject
+who had on several occasions deserted his cause, it is impossible to
+attribute to that sentiment alone a fact which must have had some deeper
+and less personal explanation. At all stages of the history of these
+petty princes of Asia are we met by the spectacle of mutual jealousy and
+recrimination, whenever any one of themselves seemed about to exalt
+himself above his fellows, either by the success of his arms or by the
+beneficence of his rule. Rarely, indeed, had any of them shown that he
+possessed more than ordinary ability or courage; but, whenever the
+phenomenon did appear, he was at once proclaimed by his neighbours to be
+a dangerous innovation, and as such to be thwarted and opposed. The
+practice has come down to our own day, and during the long wars that
+Russia has waged in Asia we have never beheld two states, no matter how
+insignificant, combine to oppose the common foe. The Khokandians have
+never aided the Bokhariots or the Khivans, nor have the Afghans or the
+Kashgari the Khokandians. They have kept the ring, so to speak, as each
+of them has gone down singly before the prowess of the Muscovite, in a
+manner that ought to excite the admiration of all those who preserve the
+memories of the traditional honours of the prize ring; but, as their own
+existence has been the penalty, it is questionable whether their
+conduct, inspired by regard for no law of chivalry, but simply by mutual
+antipathy, has been very prudent. Over such petty jealousies had Yakoob
+Beg to triumph before he could hope to complete his dream of an united
+Kashgaria. His path was beset with difficulties. In satisfying himself
+with too little he might imperil what he had secured, but in attempting
+too much he might jeopardize everything he had won. Under such
+circumstances the boldest man might have stood uncertain, and the most
+resolute inactive until hurried into action by the progress of events.
+For some months Yakoob Beg seems to have remained uncertain what should
+be his next move.
+
+In 1865, before his last advance on Yarkand, he had seized Maralbashi or
+Bartchuk, and by so doing not only had he secured communication between
+Aksu and Yarkand, but also between Aksu and Khoten. This position, lying
+200 miles to the east of Yangy Hissar, has always been and is still very
+important, and Yakoob Beg is supposed to have fortified it very
+strongly. This success was the permanent result of his great victory
+over the Tungani from Aksu and Kucha in the neighbourhood of Yangy
+Hissar, and it effectually secured his flank during further operations.
+It was not, however, until he turned his attention to the southern city
+of Khoten, that the importance of this acquisition was made
+incontestable. Then it enabled him to devote his attention exclusively
+to the extension of his sway southward to the mountains of Karakoram
+and Kuen Lun, beyond which he might expect no enemy. In Khoten the Mufti
+Habitulla had been invested with supreme control, after the deposition
+of the Chinese authorities; and during his government of the city and
+district, order appears to have been maintained without unnecessary
+exactions. When Yakoob Beg made his first appearance in Yarkand, after
+his earlier successes round Kashgar, it will be remembered that the
+Yarkandi acknowledged the supremacy of the new Khoja king. Their example
+was speedily followed by Habitulla of Khoten, and it is not stated that,
+even during the progress of hostilities with Yarkand, this ruler
+repudiated the arrangement into which he had entered. It is true that he
+was far removed from the immediate sphere of action, but that will not
+alone account for an indifference to the progress of events in Kashgar,
+which Khoten had never manifested on any previous occasion. Khoten may,
+therefore, be considered to have been exceptionally well behaved towards
+the new Khoja dynasty located at Kashgar; and when Yakoob Beg advanced
+to the south of Yarkand, Habitulla hastened to send representatives to
+the camp of the conqueror. They were received with consideration, but
+deep down in the breast of Yakoob Beg there lurked either an inveterate
+distrust of, or dislike to, the Mufti Habitulla. Dissembling his true
+feelings, Yakoob Beg sent a message requesting the presence of the Mufti
+in his camp. The Mufti, deluded by the friendly treatment bestowed on
+his emissaries, came with many of his relations and followers into the
+camp of the Kashgarian general. At first, we are told, they were treated
+with every mark of respect and kindness; they were feasted and clothed
+in precious garments, but all these honours were but the preliminaries
+to the concluding ceremony. During the progress of the evening meal they
+were disarmed, and led out to execution, while an attack was made from
+several quarters on the town. Even then the resistance was prolonged,
+and the slaughter by the infuriated soldiery of the Athalik Ghazi
+continued long after all serious opposition had ceased. It is impossible
+to exonerate Yakoob Beg from the chief blame on this occasion, and if he
+had been a civilized European general, we should have made use of the
+phrase, that "It must ever remain a blot on his career;" but it would be
+the height of irony to apply such a phrase to this unscrupulous Asiatic,
+who, if not worse than the school in which he was brought up, was
+certainly not much better in a moral sense. As the fact stands, the
+seizure of Khoten, and the massacre of the unarmed leaders of that city,
+appear to have been acts as unnecessary as they were unjustifiable.
+Khoten may have seemed to the Athalik Ghazi of exceptional importance
+for several reasons, and he may have felt doubtful of the fidelity of
+Habitulla and his followers; but, so far as we are aware, the reasons
+for this action are shadowy in the extreme, even regarded from the point
+of view of political expediency. Down to the present day, too, the
+memory of this massacre, needless even in the eyes of a people
+accustomed to the shortest cuts to power by wholesale slaughter, has
+rankled in the minds of the inhabitants of Khoten and Sanju, and the
+Athalik Ghazi was least popular in that part of his state in which,
+according to the traditions of his predecessors, his action had been
+most sweeping, and accordingly most safe. This was early in the year
+1867, and the Athalik Ghazi had now an opportunity for settling his
+relationship with his eastern neighbours, the Tungani.
+
+The Tungan movement proper originated, as explained in the last chapter,
+in the Chinese provinces of Kansuh and Shensi, and then extended with
+scarcely a check to Turfan south of the Tian Shan and to Urumtsi north
+of that range. The flame soon spread from Turfan to Karashar, Kucha, and
+Aksu, and at all of these towns it was fomented by the appearance of the
+new element of the Mahomedan Khokandian, and native settlers, acting in
+combination with the Chinese Tungani. North of the Tian Shan the
+movement received a temporary repulse; and it is necessary to say
+something in explanation of the course of the Mahomedan revival in Ili
+before we proceed to discuss the earlier wars of Yakoob Beg with the
+Tungani. As early as 1860 serious complications had arisen in that
+province, although the Chinese had always been more firmly situated
+there than in Kashgar. In that year a plot was concocted to murder the
+Chinese viceroy and to upset the existing government. It was discovered,
+however, and fell through. There appear to have been more causes at work
+in Ili to produce discontent than in the southern state, and it was not
+so much a question here between Khitay and Tungani, as it was between a
+people clamouring for work, for less taxation, and for payment for what
+they had done, and an administration that was unable to satisfy the
+demands made upon it from all sides. That last resource of a government
+at its wits' ends for money, the depreciation of the current coin and
+the issue of fictitious paper, was adopted by the Viceroy of Ili. The
+measure, which it had been expected would lessen the difficulty, only
+added fuel to the flame. The situation of affairs was becoming
+desperate; the people were encouraged by the disasters of the Chinese in
+the neighbouring states to increase the number of their demands; and the
+Chinese officials appear to have lost their heads in the storm that was
+gathering from all sides around them. They were but the effete
+representatives of a system which in its vigorous days had claims to
+general admiration, and they are only saved from incurring our contempt
+by the possession of courage, the sole virtue left them. When the
+Chinese first conquered Eastern Turkestan they brought from Kashgar a
+large number of settlers, and placed them in the country round Ili. They
+became known as Tarantchis, and, in the course of two or three
+generations, had increased into a very numerous community. These were
+always at heart disaffected to the Chinese, but, as they occupied a
+very subordinate position, would probably never have thought of revolt
+had not a large division of the conquerors set them the example of
+insubordination. So soon as the discontent among the working classes had
+assumed formidable proportions by the pecuniary embarrassment of the
+Chinese, and the Tungan successes in the east of Jungaria had raised a
+fanatical feeling to swell the hatred against a declining and Buddhist
+rule, the Tarantchis were not backward for their part in reviving their
+almost forgotten grievances, and in joining in a defensive and offensive
+alliance with the Tungani. Each party collected such forces as they
+could, out in the encounter that ensued the disciplined soldiers of the
+Viceroy overcame the far more numerous mob by which they were opposed.
+The fortress of Bazandai, however, within the next few days, fell into
+the power of the insurgents, and that achievement more than compensated
+for the disaster in the open field. Ili itself surrendered in January,
+1866, and a Tungani-Tarantchi government was formed. The Chinese viceroy
+had in the meanwhile destroyed himself and many of his followers and
+assailants by setting fire to a mine of gunpowder under his palace. The
+Tungan element gradually superseded the Tarantchi in the administration
+of the state, and the five years of independence, which continued until
+the Russians came in 1871, were chiefly marked by petty disagreements
+which had no influence on the progress of events in this part of Asia.
+The trade with Ili fell off, and many other valid reasons for Russian
+intervention were accumulated during those few years of national
+existence.
+
+With the beginning of 1867, Yakoob Beg, secure on the south and on the
+west from aggression, found himself in a position to cope with the
+disjointed but allied Tungan states on his north and east. The hostility
+of the Tungani and Khojas of Aksu and Kucha had been already
+demonstrated, and it was to be surmised that they were only waiting to
+recover from the disastrous campaign of 1865 to renew their efforts to
+drive the Khokandian adventurers out of Kashgar. The facts that they
+acknowledged the same religious tenets, and that they had overcome, to
+some extent, a common enemy in the Chinese, and that they certainly had
+each to fear most from their return, seem to have weighed little with
+either the Tungani or the Athalik Ghazi. To do the latter simple
+justice, it must be remembered that the Tungani had been the aggressors,
+and that their attitude never ceased to be unfriendly towards himself.
+It is certain that he made some efforts to effect an amicable
+arrangement with the ruling party in Aksu, but his advances were
+received with coldness, and both the Khojas and the Tungani of that city
+held aloof from all intercourse with the new-comer. Both parties
+remained watching each other for some time, each waiting for the other
+to take the initiative. The Tungani had experienced the weight of the
+military power of Yakoob Beg, when they had taken the offensive in the
+earlier days of his appearance at Kashgar. It was, therefore, not very
+probable that they would repeat the experiment when he presented a far
+more formidable and united presence to their attack. Practically
+speaking, Yakoob Beg was safe from invasion from the east so long as he
+maintained order within his own frontier; and the Tungani in Ili on his
+north had manifested no special hostility against his state. Secure from
+any aggression on the part of the Tungani, Yakoob Beg might with some
+reason have declined to push to extremities his relations with them. It
+was certainly inconvenient that an antagonistic state should exist on
+his very borders, but, as he was in a very strong position for defence,
+the disadvantages of abandoning it to assume an offensive policy were
+all the more apparent. What necessity could be alleged to justify a
+scarcely excusable attack in a moral sense, and a quite unnecessary in a
+political? The proximity of Aksu was in a strategic sense more than
+neutralized by the possession of Maralbashi, and, with the lapse of
+time and the return of peace, the trade route from Kashgar to Aksu might
+be expected to revive once more. But such temporizing measures as these,
+involving the endurance of Tungan indifference, could not be brooked by
+the Athalik Ghazi. The orthodoxy of these Mahomedans was not above
+suspicion, and to so devout and energetic a Sunni as Yakoob Beg these
+differences were scarcely less offensive than if they had been believers
+in a rival religion. Dictatorial announcements were made to the
+Khoja-Tungan rulers of Aksu; and, on their persisting in defiance,
+Yakoob Beg collected his forces to chastise them. The doctrines of the
+Tungani were impeached as not being in strict accordance with the
+Shariat, and the religious fervour of the Sunnis was appealed to, to
+bring these recalcitrant people to an acknowledgment of the error of
+their ways. In addition to the semi-religious element thus imported into
+the question, Yakoob Beg also laid claim to the country up to Kucha as
+part of the old territory of the Khoja kings.
+
+In the spring of 1867 his army set out in two divisions for Aksu. The
+Tungani appear to have been paralyzed when the danger that had for many
+months appeared menacing came upon them. The resistance encountered at
+Aksu, naturally and artificially a very strong place, was not prolonged,
+and Yakoob Beg swept on against Kucha. Here the Tungani, having somewhat
+recovered from their trepidation, made a desperate stand, and with the
+reinforcements that had arrived from Turfan presented a sufficiently
+formidable appearance. The ruling authorities in Kucha were Khojas, who
+in the time of the Chinese had the custody of a shrine sacred to the
+memory of a Mahomedan saint, but who at the outbreak of disturbances
+left the temple for the council chamber, and the offering up of prayers
+to the memory of the saint for the more difficult task of issuing edicts
+for the management of a people. Unhappily for their reputation in our
+eyes, they had specially distinguished themselves in the massacres of
+the Khitay. Their brief tenure of power seems to have been fairly
+beneficent, and, in the lull that succeeded the deposition of the
+Chinese and preceded the invasion of Yakoob Beg, they obtained without
+doing anything very noteworthy the approval and affection of their
+subjects. At Kucha, therefore, more than 500 miles distant from his own
+capital, with a long line of hostile country in his rear, Yakoob Beg
+found himself opposed by the full power of the Tungani. Previous to
+advancing beyond Aksu he had sent back officers to Kashgar to bring up
+fresh levies, and he had resorted to that doubtful expedient of drafting
+into his army many of the Tungani captured at Aksu. Arrived in front of
+Kucha he was unable to prosecute the siege with any vigour until the
+arrival of his reinforcements. The moment of delay was attempted to be
+turned to account by Yakoob Beg and some of the more prudent of his
+counsellors; but the Tungani, whether unwilling to acknowledge their
+inferiority or incredulous of the good faith of the Athalik Ghazi,
+refused to enter into negotiations that they asserted were unnecessary.
+Yakoob Beg had invaded them in their possessions, and he had annexed
+Aksu; the only condition in which they could acquiesce was a withdrawal
+of his army. All the efforts of the more peaceful and the more prudent
+on either side were unavailing, and each party used every exertion to
+bring up fresh troops to decide the question of superiority between
+Tungani and Kashgari. For several weeks the two armies stood facing each
+other, the one stationed on the hills to the north and west of the city,
+commanding the main road from Aksu, the other in the environs and the
+fortifications of the city itself. The Tungani were far the more
+numerous, but in the quality of his main body, and in general efficiency
+both of weapons and of experience among the officers, the advantage was
+completely on the side of Yakoob Beg. The nucleus of his force comprised
+Afghan, Khokandian, and Badakshi troops, veterans in the wars of the
+two previous years. The Tungani were either the assassins of helpless
+Chinese, or the fugitives of Aksu or Yangy Hissar. They were imperfectly
+armed, without any organization, and without any competent leaders.
+Above all, the cause they were fighting for was vague, and many of them
+in their hearts sympathized more with Yakoob Beg than they did with
+their own chiefs. The Kashgarian army, on the other hand, was encouraged
+by a long series of brilliant achievements, and looked forward with
+eagerness to the fray as the means of exalting their own religion, and
+as affording them an opportunity for advancing their own personal
+interests by the plunder of so rich a city as Kucha. The reinforcements
+were consequently eagerly expected, and some of the more ardent spirits
+demanded that they should be led without delay against the enemy. Yakoob
+Beg was so far prudent that he refused to be urged into premature action
+by the impetuosity of his followers, and the arrival of reinforcements
+sooner than was anticipated enabled him not only to keep the excitement
+of his soldiery within due bounds, but also to commence active
+operations at an earlier date than had seemed possible. The Tungan
+leaders, deluded by the inaction of Yakoob Beg into a belief that he was
+unable to prosecute the enterprise he had undertaken, assumed the
+offensive, only to be worsted in several minor engagements. The Tungan
+troops were driven within the walls, and the siege was prosecuted with
+the closest rigour. The garrison of Kucha was not sufficiently numerous
+to guard in proper strength the wide-stretching suburbs and extensive
+fortifications of the existing Kucha, and the cities that had in olden
+days stood upon its site. Not many days elapsed before Yakoob Beg
+perceived that the defence was confined to a limited portion of the
+fortifications, and that several points were entirely neglected. He
+resolved, therefore, to put an end to the slow process of a siege by
+carrying the town by a general assault. With the whole of his available
+force he attacked the city on three sides; but the Tungani resisted
+strenuously, and all his direct attacks were repulsed with heavy loss.
+To his son Khooda Kul Beg he had entrusted an attack in the rear of the
+city, and on the success of that movement now entirely depended the
+result of the assault on Kucha. That division by great good fortune and
+the gallantry of its leader was victorious, and, although this promising
+son of Yakoob Beg, then only a little more than twenty years of age, was
+killed in the confusion that ensued on the entrance into the city, Kucha
+fell. The triumph was, perhaps, not too dearly purchased. The Tungan
+power had received a blow, which took the sting out of its menace, and
+effectually protected Kashgar from any possible confederacy among the
+Tungan cities. Yakoob Beg followed up the success of Kucha with all his
+usual promptitude, but his power was not yet sufficiently matured to
+justify him in carrying on extensive operations at such a distance from
+the base of his resources. But another reason at this time combined to
+recall his attention to another part of his dominions. The Russians were
+advancing both in Khokand and in the district of Vernoe to the west of
+Kuldja.
+
+It was evident that prudence demanded a prompt return, and for the
+present all further triumph must be abandoned. However, before Yakoob
+Beg returned to regulate events in the western portion of his dominions,
+he had the satisfaction of receiving the submission humbly tendered by
+the ruling bodies of Karashar, Turfan, Hamil, and Urumtsi. After this
+brilliant campaign, he slowly retraced his steps through Kucha to Aksu.
+Then he turned into the mountains, and reduced Ush Turfan, which in his
+onward march he had passed by; and, after this acquisition, the Tungani
+of Ili expressed a desire to enter into terms of amity with one who had
+brought his empire into direct contact with their state. All these
+events occurred during the year 1867; and, although now and then
+uncertain rumours reached England of these changes in Eastern
+Turkestan, the world in general, even the Russian world, remained
+indifferent to the progress of events of which it is now difficult to
+trace the exact course. But, with the close of this first Tungan
+campaign, and with the extension of the new state up to the walls of
+Kucha, the Russian Government, as will be seen in a later chapter,
+endeavoured to arrive at some clear view on the exact condition of the
+newly formed confederacy to which they in their career of conquest were
+approaching so rapidly.
+
+This commencement of foreign interest in, nay, almost supervision of,
+his actions in Eastern Turkestan, imposed some restriction on the
+hitherto unrestrained caprice of Yakoob Beg, and the country beyond
+Kucha up to Turfan was saved for a short time from the depredations from
+which in 1871-73 it suffered so much. On his return to Kashgar after
+this triumphant progress, and after having annexed the three important
+cities, Aksu, Kucha, and Ush Turfan, the danger which had seemed to
+threaten the state from Russia passed off, and Yakoob Beg proceeded to
+consolidate his hold on what he had secured. Aksu and Kucha were
+fortified, and various small forts were constructed in the passes
+leading to Khokand and Kuldja. Every precaution was taken that he had it
+in his power to observe, to ensure the safety of his little kingdom from
+without, and for the moment all murmur within seemed to be hushed by the
+loud acclamations at the victories of the Athalik Ghazi. He had, indeed,
+accomplished no slight task, and could afford to regard his handiwork
+with some complacency. To erect a powerful state on the ruins of the
+Chinese power, and to unite in some sort of settled government turbulent
+races and antagonistic sects, was no mean achievement; and to all the
+credit due to such Yakoob Beg has indisputable claims. But for him,
+confusion and disunion would have settled down over Eastern Turkestan,
+until either the Russians or the Chinese had come to establish a
+respectable government; but for him Kashgar would have lapsed into a
+state of almost hopeless disorder, and Russian triumphs would have been
+facilitated. But, when Yakoob Beg returned to find that he was not
+seriously threatened in Kashgar, he experienced deep regret and
+mortification that he had abstained from prosecuting his wars with the
+Tungani with a greater vigour. He eagerly looked forward to an excuse
+for resuming his discontinued operations against them. In the interval
+that elapsed, he waged a small war in the mountainous region of his
+territory extending into Badakshan and the Chitral. Sirikul had, ever
+since the appearance of the Badakshi army in the service of Kashgar,
+acknowledged a certain kind of obedience to Yakoob Beg; but in 1868, the
+governor hitherto supported by the Athalik Ghazi broke out into revolt,
+and committed several acts of depredation in the contiguous districts of
+Sanju and Yarkand. Yakoob Beg without delay despatched a small force
+against him, and, by the help of some mountain guns and the judicious
+employment of a small but select body of cavalry, was successful in
+overcoming all resistance with very slight loss. In February, 1869,
+Yakoob Beg, having tried several milder alternatives, formally annexed
+this district, and carried the inhabitants into Yarkand. He resettled
+the territory with Kirghiz nomads and Yarkandis. Once more, he was able
+to turn his attention to the east, and in 1869 commenced those final
+campaigns against the Tungani which only ceased with the reappearance of
+the Chinese. The great blot in the career of Yakoob Beg is the
+resumption of hostilities against the Tungani. In 1867, when he first
+engaged with any vigour the Tungani, some excuse may be found for that
+unforeseeing action, in the fact that the Tungani were unbroken, and
+might have proved formidable neighbours. But in 1869, they had been
+hurled back on Korla, and, although it may be true that they were
+inconvenient neighbours, robbing caravans and molesting travellers, it
+is difficult to justify the later campaigns of Yakoob Beg against them,
+especially as they were conducted by himself and his lieutenants with
+exceptional ferocity. But, however weak may have been the impulse, and
+however disastrous in the result may have been his crusade against the
+Tungani, it was not difficult to discover a plausible excuse for
+proceeding to extreme measures with his troublesome neighbours. In the
+autumn of 1869, Korla fell before his triumphant arms, and it would
+appear that he then turned north into the valleys of the Tekes and the
+Yuldus, two rivers rising in the Tian Shan, and flowing through
+Jungaria. This movement aroused the susceptibilities of the Russians,
+and afforded a very simple excuse for the acquisition of Kuldja. In that
+state, disturbances had arisen between the Tungani and the Tarantchis,
+and it must have fallen an easy prey to the Athalik Ghazi had he been
+permitted to advance. The Russians had, however, in 1871, entered
+Kuldja, and explained their action by asserting that they had only done
+so to restore order, and to prevent its falling into the hands of Yakoob
+Beg. They merely held it in trust for the Chinese, so they said, and
+would restore it to them, its rightful owners, so soon as they should be
+able to keep permanent possession of it. While Yakoob Beg despatched a
+large detachment into the country of the Tian Shan, his main body was
+prosecuting with vigour the war against Karashar and Turfan. Yakoob Beg
+did not always conduct the war in person, for his two sons, Kuli Beg and
+Hacc Kuli Beg, were now growing up, and they, assisted by some of the
+older lieutenants, triumphed in various actions over the Tungan rulers
+of Turfan and Hamil, while even the princes of Urumtsi and Manas over
+the Tian Shan were unable to oppose the valour and energy of their
+adversary. The glory of these military achievements was tarnished by the
+ruthless manner in which the district was laid waste, and the
+inhabitants were massacred; and the senselessness of these proceedings
+only required an hour of trial, such as the Chinese invasion, to prove
+how fatal it would be to the enacters of these atrocities. Without any
+great cessation, their operations were carried on down to the end of
+1873, and it does not appear that Yakoob Beg derived any benefit
+whatever from these costly and remote undertakings. Although the Tungan
+chiefs of Urumtsi and Hamil were on several occasions defeated by the
+armies of the Athalik Ghazi, their cities were never occupied, and they
+consequently escaped that desolation which stretched from the walls of
+Kucha to the regions north of Lake Lob. Chightam, a small town lying
+half way between Turfan and Hamil, was the extreme point to which the
+Kashgarian forces penetrated. The noble families of Urumtsi, Turfan, and
+Hamil were almost totally destroyed in the fall of Turfan; and their
+place in their own cities was seized by Tungan generals and adventurers,
+who began to retreat westward from Kansuh, on the rumours of Chinese
+preparations for invading Jungaria.
+
+The wars against the Tungani certainly served one useful purpose in
+enabling Yakoob Beg to collect a large and disciplined force round his
+standard; but the attractions of service in his army lost much of their
+value in the eyes of the hardier clans of Turkestan and the neighbouring
+states, when it became known that the prospect of loot and prize money
+in districts impoverished by several years of hostilities had
+diminished. The rigour of the discipline maintained, too, was irksome to
+nomads and irregulars accustomed to the easier service and freedom from
+restraint of the other Asiatic princes; and during the later years of
+his rule there were many desertions, and a difficulty was encountered in
+inducing recruits to enter his army. The old practice, employed with
+such success in the earlier years of his rule, of inducing the conquered
+to combine with the conqueror, was no longer possible, for
+extermination had become the order of the day. The Usbegs, Kirghiz, and
+other tribes, could not supply in sufficient numbers the requirements of
+the state, and the Tungani, who should have comprised the largest
+portion of the subjects of the Athalik Ghazi, were coerced into
+subjection with an undiscriminating severity. The result was really a
+paralysis through sheer want of people, and it was not known until the
+hour of trial came how weakened his forces had become. Every inducement
+was held forth to Afghan, Badakshi, and, above all, to Indian soldiers
+to join, but these, although they formed a nucleus of trustworthy and
+efficient soldiers, were far too few to constitute a formidable army. We
+are justified in assuming from the facts that these Tungan wars,
+conducted in an unsparing manner, were the greatest mistake that marked
+the career of Yakoob Beg. So far as his occupation of Kucha goes, he
+could at least say that he had secured a valuable prize. He had acquired
+every part of what could be considered Kashgar, and his kingdom was
+effectually guarded, and his revenues prospectively increased, by the
+possession of the great cities of Aksu and Kucha. He might exclaim with
+justice that he had eclipsed all his predecessors in military prowess,
+and if he had been wise he would then have turned his attention to the
+well government of his state, and by so doing have demonstrated that he
+was of a higher capacity for ruling a people, as well as for commanding
+an army, than any Khoja prince of the past. Had he abstained from
+prosecuting with such unflagging persistency his inveterate dislike of
+the Tungani, he might easily have come to terms with his neighbours, and
+the harm they could have done him would have been infinitesimally small.
+But the chief advantage of that more prudent policy would have been
+visible when the Chinese advanced to chastise the Tungani. Not only
+would the Tungani have been more capable of resisting the Khitay, not
+only would Manas and Urumtsi have been capable of offering a more
+determined defence, but the Tungani could have retired on Turfan, and
+held the country round that town, as well as Karashar and Korla, for a
+protracted period against General Kin Shun. The Athalik Ghazi with
+untouched resources could have awaited with just confidence the advance
+of the Chinese upon his strong frontier city of Kucha, and, as the
+Chinese accomplished the difficult task of crushing the Tungani, he
+would have had the satisfaction of knowing that in all probability the
+Chinese effort would have been spent before it reached his own borders.
+
+It is impossible to judge men except by the results of their actions,
+and the result of Yakoob Beg's incessant and unnecessary interference
+with the Tungani was that the Chinese army was able in a few months to
+dissipate the remaining Tungan communities, and to encounter in the full
+flush of their triumph the numerically weaker forces of Yakoob Beg. It
+is, therefore, impossible to exonerate the ruler from great blame in
+hastily undertaking operations which a little consideration ought to
+have shown to be unwise. Having traced Yakoob Beg's wars with the
+Chinese Mahomedans, it is time to consider his rule of Kashgaria proper,
+and the events that during these years were transpiring in other
+quarters of the state.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+YAKOOB BEG'S GOVERNMENT OF KASHGAR.
+
+
+Yakoob Beg's chief claim to our consideration is that, for more than
+twelve years, he gave a settled government to a large portion of Central
+Asia, and that, however faulty his external policy may have been in
+critical moments, his internal management was founded on a practical and
+sufficiently just basis. As a warrior he had done much to justify
+admiration, and had proved on many a well-fought field, and in many a
+desperate encounter, his claims to be considered a fearless and resolute
+soldier; but in this quality he was equalled, if not excelled, by his
+own lieutenant, Abdulla Beg, the Murat of Kashgar, while some of the
+deeds of his son, Beg Bacha, will rank in daring and surpass in ferocity
+anything achieved by the Athalik Ghazi. But in capacity for
+administration Yakoob Beg far surpassed his contemporaries, and the
+merit of his success was enhanced, not so much by the originality of the
+method adopted, as by the unique vigour and perseverance with which it
+was put into force. The secret of his power can only be discovered by
+constantly bearing in mind the fact that he had constituted himself the
+champion of the Mahomedan religion in Central Asia. The Ameers of
+Bokhara and Afghanistan might trifle with the seductive promises of the
+Russians, and might consent to sacrifice the interests of their religion
+for a transitory advancement of their worldly possessions; but to such
+degradations the Athalik Ghazi--true "champion father" as he was--never
+stooped. With whatever imaginary power the sympathy and good-will of
+the Mahomedan peoples of Turkestan may have clothed this ruler, there is
+no question that his attitude towards the Muscovite would have warranted
+the assertion of greater power than was ever attributed to him; and the
+secret of this delusion, an attitude of defiant strength without any
+solid foundation for so bold a course, can only be unravelled by
+remembering that the Athalik Ghazi strove to represent, not so much
+Kashgaria, as the whole Mahomedan world of Central Asia. The necessities
+of his own position, when, having conquered Kashgar, he found that he
+had aroused the susceptibilities of the Russians, compelled him to seek
+in every direction for aid, and to have recourse to every artifice for
+increasing his strength, or its semblance, in order to avoid the
+dissolution of his state and a subjection to the Czar. So well did he
+succeed in his efforts, and so prompt were his movements and so fearless
+his attitude, that the Russians were deluded into a belief--which was,
+as we emphatically insist, unfounded--that Kashgar would prove a more
+formidable antagonist than either Bokhara, or Khokand, or Khiva.
+
+The interior management of a state, which, young in years, yet seemed to
+tower among its fellows, might be supposed to be a very interesting
+topic to dilate upon; but on this subject there is less direct evidence
+than could be wished. Even Sir Douglas Forsyth, in his official report,
+is not able to throw as much light as is desired on the inner working of
+the administrative system of Yakoob Beg. Still, such as it is, with the
+exception of the Russian writer, Gregorieff, he is the only authority on
+the subject.
+
+To commence with the court and the immediate surroundings of Yakoob Beg,
+we are struck by two inconsistencies. In the first place, there were no
+great nobles, or indeed adherents or his family; those chiefs who,
+whether they were Khokandian nobles or Kirghiz or Afghan adventurers,
+had proved their fidelity to his rule, and their capacity for service,
+were actively employed as governors of districts, or as commandants of
+fortresses in the wide-stretching dominions of their imperious master.
+Periodically they came to pay their respects in the capital, and at
+frequent intervals Yakoob Beg, in his journeys to the frontier, visited
+them, and superintended their operations in person; but, in so active a
+community where there was a dearth of mankind, the intellectually gifted
+members of the society were too valuable to be permitted to devote their
+energies and their attention to the object of becoming palace ornaments.
+Yakoob Beg had forced himself on a people who regarded him with
+indifference, and he had to maintain himself in his place by a never
+relaxing vigour. To make this possible, he required a large staff of
+efficient and trustworthy subordinates, who may be divided into three
+classes of various capacities, viz., soldiers, administrators, and
+tax-gatherers. Until the last few months of his reign there was no
+symptom that his system was declining in vigour, or that his supply of
+competent officials was limited and susceptible of being exhausted. Even
+in his most prosperous years, however, there was always a difficulty in
+obtaining a full supply; and in all inferior posts the disaffected
+Khitay had to be employed. The Tungani of Kucha and Aksu were scarcely
+more to be trusted in an emergency than their Buddhist kinsmen. Yet the
+extensive civil service of the state, which undertook the education, the
+religion, the civil order, the local administration of the people all
+into its own hands, had to be kept in working order, whatever else might
+happen. It can at once be perceived that, when a government which never
+obtained any deep hold on the affections of the people had only a
+limited population to draw upon, it was only a question of time to solve
+the difficulty by an exhaustion of the supply of suitable brain
+material, or by the uprising of an, at heart, dissatisfied people. No
+one will ever understand the secret of Yakoob Beg's rule unless he
+constantly bears in mind that his strict orthodoxy as a Mussulman, and
+his still stricter enforcement of the laws of his religion within his
+borders, were elements of strength only in his external relations; in
+his internal affairs they placed him in the light of a tyrant, and
+prevented his people ever experiencing any enthusiasm for his person and
+rule. It is doubtful whether outside the priesthood and the more
+fanatical Andijanis there was any great religious zeal at all, and it is
+quite a delusion to speak of the Kashgari, as a whole, as being
+fanatical Mahomedans, in the same degree that it is true to say so of
+the Bokhariots or Afghans. In addition to there being no noble or
+wealthy official class in the city of Kashgar, there was also the
+strange inconsistency of an intensely strict etiquette being enforced
+side by side with extreme plainness in costume and ceremonial. It is
+rare indeed to hear any traveller to Kashgar speaking of the richness or
+finery of court functionaries. Even Hadji Torah, or the Seyyid Yakoob
+Khan, as he is now called, and Mahomed Yunus, the governor of Yarkand,
+two of the most trusted and prominent followers of the Athalik Ghazi,
+were not to be distinguished from a host of minor luminaries in the
+court circle by any external insignia of their elevated position. Some
+of the military, officers of the household troops, wore a device of a
+dragon's head worked in silk over their plain uniform of leather; and
+this seems to have been a custom surviving the disappearance of the
+Chinese. Hadji Torah--who recently visited this country, and who had on
+previous occasions travelled in Russia, Turkey, and India--however,
+alone among Kashgarian notables, had introduced into his household some
+of the comforts and luxuries of European life. His example was not
+imitated by many others, and, after a brief period of fashion, the
+improvements he had striven to make popular died out and were lost sight
+of. The ordinary dress of a person above the rank of gentleman is a
+large blanket-like cloak worn over a close-fitting tunic and breeches;
+and the dress of the peasant is similar, only his cloak is usually a
+sheepskin. The Ameer himself set the example of exceeding plainness in
+his costume, and his followers were far too skilled courtiers to vary
+their practice from that of their ruler. But what his court lacked in
+pomp it gained in impressiveness by the perfect system of etiquette
+enforced, and by the external show of reverence to the ruler and to his
+religion, manifested in every petty detail of the palace ceremonial. The
+Ameer received publicly in his audience-chamber every day, when all
+petitions and stringent punishments were submitted to him. His
+_shaghawals_, or foreign secretaries, made their report to him on
+whatever business might be most pressing, whether it was concerning his
+relations with India or Russia, with Afghanistan or the Tungani; and the
+local governors, who might happen to have arrived at the capital, were
+received in audience, either to present their personal respects to the
+ruler, or their reports of the government of their provinces. But with
+the exception of a few of his kinsmen, and more intimate associates,
+such as Abdulla, none were permitted to be seated in his presence. Even
+these could not sit within a certain distance of their sovereign. All
+subjects who were allowed to approach his person had to do so in the
+humblest manner, and with the deepest expressions of humility and
+subjection. His son, Kuli Beg, was still more particular in his
+intercourse with his subjects. Even his cousin, Hadji Torah, a man whose
+experience and lineage entitled him to exceptional consideration, never
+placed himself on an equality with this youthful despot, and always
+clothed his words and thoughts when in conversation with him in an
+outward show of humble respect and deferential obsequiousness. It will
+be at once surmised, and, so far as our information warrants an opinion,
+with correctness, that all this terrorism alienated any good feeling
+from the ruling family that its prowess in the field and the cabinet
+might have secured for it. In Kashgar we have a forcible proof of the
+truth of Tennyson's line, that "he who only rules by terror doeth
+grievous wrong;" and yet, founded as it was on a military system, and on
+the deepest distrust of the subject races, it could not well have been
+otherwise.
+
+The most unmistakable proof of how Yakoob Beg's rule was founded, and
+how it was maintained, is to be seen in the fact that his _orda_, or
+palace, was one large barrack, the interior compartments of which were
+devoted to the accommodation of the royal household. His out-houses were
+filled with cannon of every description, from antiquated Chinese irjirs
+to modern Krupps and Armstrongs, and his select corps of artillerymen,
+clothed in a scarlet uniform, seldom left the chief cities, except for
+serious operations against foreign enemies. At the Yangy-Shahr of
+Kashgar, too, he kept his military stores, and it was said that in his
+workshops there he was able to construct cannon and muskets in
+considerable numbers in imitation of the most perfect weapons of
+European science. But it must be noted that we have no record of any of
+his home-made weapons being used in actual hostilities, while the supply
+of arms received from Russia, or this country, is known to have been
+made the most of. Besides the natural aptitude of his subjects of
+Chinese descent for imitation, he had in his service, particularly in
+his artillery, many sepoys who had deserted our service either at the
+time of the mutiny or since. These soldiers, valuable either as
+non-commissioned officers or in higher ranks still, combined with a
+large number of good troops from Khokand and the mountain tribes of the
+neighbourhood, gave a cohesion and vigour to the whole army that was
+simply inestimable. That army, it may be here convenient to say, was
+divided into two classes widely differing from each other, and called
+upon, except in an emergency, when all the resources of the state were
+summoned to take part in its defence, to perform duties as opposite as
+their own composition. The army of the Ameer, founded on that confused
+assemblage with which he conquered Kashgar, was divided into two bodies,
+the _jigit_ or _djinghite_, the horse soldier, and the _sarbaz_, or foot
+soldier. The former of these was the more formidable warrior, being
+selected for personal strength or skill. The _jigits_ were trained to
+fight on foot as well as on horse, and were armed with a long
+single-barrelled gun and a sabre. Their uniform was a serviceable coat
+of leathern armour mostly buff in colour, and to all intents and
+purposes they correspond with our dragoons, or, perhaps, still more
+closely with the proposed corps of mounted riflemen. The _sarbaz_, among
+whom are included the artillerymen, presented greater varieties of
+efficiency than his mounted comrade; still he had gone through some
+regular drill and training, and resided in barracks. He was a regular
+soldier, and might be trusted in defence of his country up to a certain
+point. In numbers it is impossible to state accurately how many _jigits_
+and _sarbazes_ there were in the service of the state; some months ago
+they would have been placed as high as 50,000 or 60,000 strong, possibly
+at a higher number still; now we are wiser on the subject, and we have
+gone to the other end of the scale. It is probable, however, that Yakoob
+Beg never had 20,000 perfectly trustworthy soldiers in his army, and
+that after the conclusion of the Tungan wars, half that number would
+more accurately represent his force of _jigits_ and _sarbazes_. But in
+addition to the more or less effective main body, there was a
+nondescript following of Khitay, Tungani, half-savage Kirghiz, and rude
+degraded savages like the Dolans, that in numbers would have presented a
+very formidable appearance. The Khitay must at once be struck out of the
+estimate, for they were never permitted to go beyond the immediate
+vicinity of Yarkand and Kashgar, where they kept themselves apart, and
+were employed as military servants, as sentries, and as workmen in the
+military shops and factories. The Tungani, who enrolled themselves at
+various epochs in the service of Kashgar, were more than dubious in
+their fidelity to the state; besides they were of such questionable
+courage, that they were no allies of any importance. Even as compared
+with one another, these were of varying kinds of efficiency; the Tungani
+who joined Yakoob Beg in the earlier portion of his career seeming to be
+the best of them. Those who joined after the fall of Aksu and Kucha,
+less efficient and more ambiguous in their fidelity; and those who dwelt
+in the country from Korla to Turfan and Manas, were totally inefficient,
+and not to be trusted to any degree whatever. The Kirghiz and Kipchak
+nomads were rather a source of danger to their friends than of dread to
+their foes. Yakoob Beg had, therefore, at his orders but a very limited
+force to maintain his own dynasty against the machinations of Khoja and
+Tungan, and to defend a long and vulnerable frontier against many
+powerful and ambitious neighbours. It was absurd for him to think of
+venturing single-handed across the path of Russia, and to do him justice
+he never deluded himself into the idea that he could. All he seems to
+have aspired to was to resist to the uttermost any invasion of his
+territory by them, and to die sooner than surrender. Limited in numbers
+as his regular forces were, they seem to have had every claim to be
+placed high in the rank of Asiatic soldiers. They were certainly not as
+formidable a body as the Sikhs or Ghoorkas, probably not as the Afghans;
+still they were infinitely superior, except in numbers, to any forces
+the Ameer of Bokhara or the Khan of Khokand could place in the line of
+battle. To Yakoob Beg alone belongs the credit of their organization.
+
+Yakoob Beg's system of administration was simple in the extreme. A
+_Dadkwah_, or governor, was appointed for each district, and in his
+hands was vested the supreme control in all the affairs of his province.
+Yet he was no irresponsible minister who could tyrannize as he pleased.
+Tyrannize in small ways, undoubtedly, many of them did, but, as the life
+of the subject could only be taken away by order of the ruler himself,
+the most powerful weapon in the hands of an unscrupulous viceroy was
+removed.
+
+At stated periods, too, he had to proceed to Kashgar to give a report of
+the chief occurrences in his province, and on such occasions petitions
+containing charges against the Dadkwah were formally considered in his
+presence. It may be said that this proceeding was a farce, and it is
+probably true that a favoured viceroy could laugh at any ordinary
+accusation against his character. But that would be an exceptional case.
+Many Dadkwahs were reduced in official rank, for malpractices, and some,
+such as Yakoob Beg's own half-brother, were removed for incompetence in
+their charges. Side by side, too, with the Dadkwah, ruled the Kazi or
+Judge, who, if of course not on a par in rank with the viceroy, was
+still invested with complete authority in all legal decisions on crime.
+This prominence given to the legal authorities had a good effect on the
+public mind, for, although the Kazi, as a rule, might not dare to thwart
+the wishes of the Dadkwah, the effect of the law being supreme was
+scarcely detracted from. And what was that law? it may naturally be
+asked. Precisely the same as the law of every other Mahomedan state,
+with a few innovations traceable to the influence of the Chinese. The
+Shariat, the holy code of the Prophet followed in all the Sunni states,
+was enforced by Yakoob Beg, with particular severity; and in its working
+no sense of mercy was permitted to temper the harshness of its
+regulations. Crimes committed by women were punished with greater
+inflictions than the same committed by men; and the ordinary
+punishments, whipping, mutilation, and torture could be inflicted by
+order of the Dadkwah. Only in capital cases had the decision to rest
+with the sovereign. Thieves, beggars, and vagrants found wandering about
+the streets at prohibited hours were immediately locked up, and brought
+before the Kazi, who would either administer a caution, or a whipping,
+if the accused had previously offended. Another check on the abuse of
+power by the officials was to be found in the following regulation. A
+charge to be visited with a severer punishment than twenty heavy strokes
+from the _dira_--a leather strap, fixed in a wooden handle--had to be
+investigated by a member of each official rank; so the Kazi passed a
+culprit on, with his comments, to the Mufti, the Mufti to the Alim, and
+the Alim to the Dadkwah. If any of these officials dissented from the
+remarks of his subordinate, and the matter was found impossible to
+arrange by mutual concessions, it was either referred to the sovereign
+for solution, or was permitted to fall through. The Dadkwah had also to
+be present at every punishment within his jurisdiction, and was directly
+responsible to the Ameer for any miscarriage of justice. The Kazi Rais,
+or head judge, had the right to decide all minor matters for
+himself--for instance, in his patrols through the streets, if he met a
+woman unveiled he could order her to be struck so many times with the
+_dira_; or if he found a man selling adulterated food, or using light
+weights, he could confiscate his goods, or in some other manner mulct
+him in addition to administering a certain number of strokes. He and his
+attendants were particularly energetic and zealous in compelling idlers
+about the bazaars to repair to the mosques at prayer time, and in a very
+paternal and authoritative manner did the Rais exercise his petty power
+for the good of his people. Even on his despotism there was some check,
+as he had no authority to inflict more than forty blows with the _dira_
+for one offence. Intimately connected with the administration of justice
+was the police system, which in its intricate ramifications permeated
+all sections of society. Much as we may feel admiration for the judicial
+code, which, up to a certain point admirably administered, ensured a
+certain kind of rough justice throughout the Athalik Ghazi's dominions,
+the police laws and discipline have greater claims to our favourable
+opinion, as evidences of an astonishing capacity for government. In his
+legal code, Yakoob Beg simply adopted the laws enforced on all true
+believers by the Koran, and he had no claims to originality as a
+lawgiver. But as a ruler adopting all those checks on sedition which lie
+at the disposal of an unscrupulous sovereign, and which were brought to
+such a pitch of perfection under Fouche and the Second Empire, Yakoob
+Beg has reason to be placed in the very highest class of such
+potentates. In this achievement, too, he was not a plagiarist, and, as
+he must have been ignorant of similar regulations existing in Europe, he
+must be allowed the credit of having originated a system of police in
+which it is difficult to find a single flaw. In China, indeed, something
+of the same kind has at all times existed, and at periods when the
+Emperor grasped the sceptre firmly, and made his individuality felt in
+the management of affairs, the police were one of the most active tools
+of power. But even in that empire there is no record of their having
+attained so complete a control over the actions and sentiments of the
+people as in Kashgaria during the last decade. It appears, too, that in
+superiority of system lay the sole pre-eminence of the latter; for the
+Tungan, or policeman, of China was, individually man for man, a superior
+class to the Kashgarian and other constables of Yakoob Beg. In short,
+the whole credit of their existence belongs to that ruler.
+
+Let us now give some account of this important body. It was divided into
+two chief divisions quite distinct from and irrespective of each other,
+secret and municipal. The _secret_ was not, like ours, a perceptible
+class of detectives, acting in combination with the municipal, to which
+was entrusted the discovery of crimes and conspiracies. It may loosely
+be described as consisting of every member of the community, for all
+desired to stand well with the powers that be, and the easiest way to
+attain that object would be to place all confidential information at
+their disposal. But it is evident that even in a state of irresponsible
+power, like Kashgar, a clear encouragement, such as this, to invent
+libels of one's neighbours, could only end in unprofitable litigation
+and confusion. There was certainly a check on the too zealous
+imaginations of the subjects, and, although there is not much evidence
+on the subject, it appears to have been twofold. In the first place a
+libeller incurred the risk of receiving very severe punishment,
+particularly if the person libelled were of saintly lineage, or if he
+filled any official post. This operated as a check on too hasty
+accusations, especially when it became known that the reward for such
+service was seldom speedily forthcoming, and scarcely ever answered the
+expectations of the informer. But this check, which alone seems to have
+been adopted in the earlier years of Yakoob Beg's authority, was found
+to be insufficient as his power became consolidated. The secret police
+then became organized to a certain degree; that is to say, they so far
+formed a distinct corps that a member had to be approved of either by
+the Dadkwah or the Rais. So well, however, was the secret of their
+individuality maintained that few of them were generally known to the
+people. Suspicion was wide-spread throughout all ranks of society, and
+the governor in his _orda_, or the Rais in his hall of justice, or the
+shopkeeper in his booth, or the artisan in his hut, never felt safe that
+his neighbour, the man with whom he was holding the most friendly
+converse, was not dissecting his expressions to discover whether they
+contained anything treasonable. Members of this formidable body were
+always attached to the suite of either foreign envoys or merchants; and
+their presence in the rear of the _cortege_, always effectually closed
+the mouths of the inhabitants, or only induced them to open them to give
+false or contradictory replies.
+
+There can be no doubt that this secret organization, brought to a high
+pitch of perfection during the later years of his reign, gave a
+consistency and strength to Yakoob Beg's tenure of power that was
+wanting to all his predecessors. In leaving this part of the system, it
+is as well to point out in conclusion that this detective force was
+only useful in discovering what was about to occur in the state among
+Andijani or Tungani, and that it was powerless to attempt the repression
+by force of any outbreak of popular feeling. Its members were simply
+spies, and as a body its value vanished when its members became
+generally known. Constant changing, and the introduction of fresh
+members, were the sole effectual means of preserving the _incognito_ of
+a large body of men, and women even, who preserved official
+communication only with the local governor or judge.
+
+The municipal police were subdivided into urban and suburban, and they
+present a complete contrast to the vague body we have just attempted to
+describe. Their functions were known and recognizable. They were the
+functionaries who put into practice the behests of the Kazi, and they
+maintained order in the streets and bazaars, much as our own do. The
+_Corbashi_ is the head of this body, and his subordinates are styled
+_tarzagchi_. They wore a distinct uniform, and had drilling grounds
+attached to barracks, in which, however, they were not all compelled to
+reside. They were essentially military in their rules, and presented a
+powerful first front to all evil-doers and would-be rebels. It was they
+who accompanied the Kazi Rais in his daily circuit of the streets and
+market-place, and it was from their weapon, the _dira_, that the
+ordinary punishment was received. Their principal avocation seems to
+have been to maintain order in the towns during the night-time, for in
+the day we only hear of a few of them being detailed for personal
+attendance on the Dadkwah and Kazi. With sunset their true importance is
+more visible, for not only were they stationed in all main
+thoroughfares, squares, and other open places of the city; but until
+sunrise patrols at frequent intervals throughout the night visited all
+the chief quarters of the town. The power vested in their hands during
+these hours was very great, and it was dangerous for any stranger to
+venture out after prohibited hours. All persons found in the streets
+after sunset were arrested and incarcerated until the morning, when, if
+they could give a satisfactory account of themselves, they were
+released, with a caution not to keep such unseemly hours for the future.
+If, however, they were unable to explain their business, a further term
+of imprisonment was imposed; and it was a matter of some difficulty for
+a stranger to obtain his complete liberty for some time afterwards. The
+suburban police fulfilled much the same duties, and on all the country
+roads patrols passed up and down during the night, while pickets were
+stationed at the cross-roads. In the same manner as in the towns all
+travellers, except those armed with a passport, were interned for a
+minute investigation into their affairs in the morning. And "thieves,
+beggars, and wanderers" were chastised at the discretion of the local
+magistrate. The vagrant laws were as much enforced, too, as they were in
+this country in the days of Queen Elizabeth, and in a general mode of
+interference with the thoughts and actions of its subjects, the
+Kashgarian government had attained a height of excellence that would
+entitle it to rank with the Inquisition. Still there was order. No riots
+occurred to distract the harmony of the public weal, and to an external
+observer, especially to one belonging to a country where order is
+considered the greatest _desideratum_, the government of the Athalik
+Ghazi seemed to be the perfection of an Asiatic state, and that order a
+reason for attributing all other virtues to its originator.
+
+Travellers, however, who were provided with a passport, were accorded
+privileges of transit, and were permitted, if they felt so disposed, to
+continue their journeys during hours interdicted to less privileged
+mortals. In each chief town there were offices for the issue of these
+permits to travel. Not many obstacles were thrown in the path of those,
+who left permanent guarantees in the shape of property behind them for
+their return, in accomplishing their desire for travel; but rarely was
+permission granted to any one, not blessed with these worldly
+advantages, to proceed farther than the neighbouring district. Indeed in
+all cases leave to visit foreign states, other than Khokand or Bokhara,
+was a matter of difficulty to be obtained, and only in the most
+exceptional cases was it granted. But it appears that there were some
+evasions of this regulation by a simulation of religious zeal, for the
+Sheikh-ul-Islam had it in his power to grant permits to leave the
+country on pilgrimages to Bokhara the "holy," or to Mecca. In themselves
+the passports were simple in phraseology. They merely stated the name
+and address of the traveller, the nature of his business, and his
+destination. Having obtained the consent of the Dadkwah, and the
+authority of the Kazi, no difficulty was experienced in procuring the
+necessary slip of paper. Infractions of this permission, by too long an
+absence, or by proceeding in some forbidden direction, were visited on a
+first offence with a fine. On a repetition of it, however, the
+punishment became more severe. It would be interesting to know how these
+protectors of the public peace were paid, and by what means. But on this
+point there is little trustworthy information. We, however, know of one
+tax which was devoted to the support of the urban police, but of the
+funds from which the suburban were remunerated, we have no authority for
+any assertion. A weekly tax was levied from all the shop and booth
+owners, to go towards the payment of their protectors; but it is not
+supposed that this amounted to a sufficient sum to maintain the large
+force in the more important cities. The difference was probably paid out
+of the state coffers under the head of justice. Judging from this we
+cannot be far wrong in assuming that a similar tax was levied on the
+farmers and country residents for the support of the suburban police;
+and as the secret police required less outlay in the country than in the
+cities, it is possible that that tax more nearly defrayed the total
+cost, than it did in Yarkand or Kashgar. The police supervision and the
+military terrorism, freely resorted to on all occasions offering an
+excuse for such an extreme measure, have not been without their effect
+in leaving traces of their existence and influence in the daily life of
+the Kashgari, and on the countenances and sentiments of the subject
+peoples. Where formerly lived a light-hearted and happy race there now
+seemed as if a never-to-be-removed gloom had settled down on the face of
+the land, and neither the assurance of security nor the irregular
+encouragement of the ruler to commerce could remove the blight that had
+fallen upon the energies and happiness of the people. As one of them
+expressed it, in pathetic language, "During the Chinese rule there was
+everything; there is nothing now." The speaker of that sentence was no
+merchant, who might have been expected to be depressed by the
+falling-off in trade, but a warrior and a chieftain's son and heir. If
+to him the military system of Yakoob Beg seemed unsatisfactory and
+irksome, what must it have appeared to those more peaceful subjects to
+whom merchandise and barter were as the breath of their nostrils? All
+the advantages of a perfect police system, heavily weighted by the
+incumbrance of a costly addition of spies and tale-bearers, would seem
+as nothing compared with the loss incurred by the fetters placed on
+individual motion and enterprise. Considered by itself, the police
+organization of Kashgar was, perhaps, the most perfect design achieved
+by Yakoob Beg, and his community of spies will rank with anything in
+effectiveness that has ever been accomplished by any potentate. But as a
+permanent addition to his strength it is permissible to doubt whether he
+really secured his rule by employing the latter, or obtained much more
+by the formation of the former than the services of a trained body of
+trustworthy, courageous men. The restrictions imposed on trade by the
+severance of all communications with the East by the Tungan wars and by
+the limited amount of liberty granted the native Kashgari, proved most
+deterrent to all mercantile adventure, and placed in the hands of
+Khokandians or Russians on the north, and of Cashmerians and Punjabis on
+the south, most of the trade still carried on with Eastern Turkestan.
+
+The trade carried on by the Athalik Ghazi's state, if we are to judge
+solely by amount, with foreign countries, was greatest with Russia and
+her dependencies; but if we investigate the matter more closely we find
+that the result is a little more satisfactory to ourselves. The direct
+trade that was carried on by way of Leh with Khoten and Sanju was
+steadily increasing, while that of Russia by Khokand had for some time
+remained stationary, if it had not even decreased. And then much of the
+Russian trade has to be scored to this country, for in the marts of
+Kashgar, underneath Russian exteriors, were very often to be found
+English interiors, and the brand of well-known Manchester and Liverpool
+makers was discovered beneath some gaudy and brilliant-looking cover
+hailing from Moscow or Nishni Novgorod. Besides, recent investigations
+have proved that some of the goods exported from Shikarpore, in Scinde,
+through the Bholan Pass find their way through the mountainous districts
+that intervene into the territory of his late Highness the Ameer of
+Kashgar. Nor had Yakoob Beg totally neglected all means for inducing
+merchants to enter his state; indeed, his chief objection seemed to have
+been, not that they should have entered his state, but that they should
+leave it. Serais were built in all the chief towns for the accommodation
+of such merchants as might take up a temporary abode within his
+territory, and the Andijani Serai, or hotel, specially constructed for
+merchants from Khokand, was one of the largest and most striking
+buildings in the city of Kashgar. Yakoob Beg had even detailed off to
+take care of the serai and its occupants a large number of the old
+Khitay, or Yangy Mussulmans, who were generally employed throughout the
+city as domestic servants. When we come to the description of the
+relations of Yakoob Beg with England and with Russia we will speak more
+fully of the details of those treaties of commerce which were ratified
+on several occasions, and whose ostensible object was the promotion of
+trade and other friendly intercourse.
+
+We have now considered the army, the police, the administration of
+justice, and the court of Yakoob Beg, and the only chief subject that
+remains to be discussed are the principles of finance adopted by the
+Ameer. To keep any state, even an Asiatic state, in a fit condition for
+preserving its independence, a settled revenue is requisite, and Yakoob
+Beg, whose atmosphere was one of almost continual warfare, was on
+several occasions pressed for money in a manner difficult to be
+conceived by us. His military operations languished for the want of the
+sinews of war, and we are told on credible authority that many of his
+soldiers received only payment out of the spoil taken at the sack of
+Turfan and other places. So long as his ordinary expenditure was
+increased by the addition of an extraordinary war outlay, so long was he
+unable to make his receipts and expenditure balance. On the cessation of
+hostilities against the Tungani, and the partial revival of trade in
+consequence, his fiscal affairs assumed a brighter aspect, and it is
+possible that during the last few years of his reign his revenue showed
+a surplus. But to obtain that success, a most joyful one to every
+embarrassed potentate, Yakoob Beg had to resort to many strange
+expedients, and to manifest much patience and long-suffering; and in
+overcoming petty obstacles and minor details, he proved himself to be a
+man of more than average ability, no less than he had previously by the
+skilful manipulation of armies and intriguers. Here again he erected a
+structure distinct and separate from that handed down to him by the
+Chinese. Comparatively speaking, the Chinese had been wealthy to the
+Athalik Ghazi, and they received in moderate imposts on merchandise
+alone almost a sufficient sum to defray the total cost of their
+administration. Yakoob Beg had no such certain source of revenue; he had
+to raise from an impoverished and only half-conquered state a sum almost
+as large as that required by the Chinese. That he did it remains the
+chief proof of his skill as a finance minister, and is another reason
+for our regarding this extraordinary ruler with admiration. We may feel
+sure that if we could follow closely the history of his fiscal efforts,
+and the numberless plans that proved abortive, we should have revealed
+one of the most instructive and interesting narratives of modern Asia.
+There are no materials out of Kashgar, if there are such there, for such
+an investigation however, and we can only follow as best we may be able,
+the thread of events by the light of such authorities as are at our
+disposal. In court and personal expenditure he set an example that might
+with advantage be followed by other rulers in Asia even at the present
+day, and in a strict economy and supervision of the petty sums that in
+the aggregate make all the difference in any state between a surplus and
+a deficit, were to be found the two guiding principles of his conduct.
+Kashgaria might be in a very backward state of cultivation, and years of
+commotion and warfare had undoubtedly thrown it back in the ranks of
+prosperity and civilization, but the Athalik Ghazi was persuaded of the
+truth of the Latin philosopher's saying, that "Parsimonia magna
+vectigalia est." It must be remembered that Yakoob Beg set himself a
+different task to accomplish than had the Chinese. Their idea was not so
+much to extend their empire, although there has always been a tendency
+with the Chinese to be aggressive against small neighbours, as to
+acquire a territory that could be made a paying thing: much as the
+pioneers of Anglo-Saxon conquest have made their impression in every
+quarter of the globe in search of wealth and adventure, did the Chinese
+by a seemingly irresistible impulse spread over the continent of Asia.
+In doing so they were actuated as much by calculation of possible profit
+as by any desire for military renown. The Emperor Keen-Lung himself was
+flattered by the triumphs achieved beyond Gobi; but his lieutenants and
+viceroys aimed at more mercenary objects, and but for the golden promise
+held forth by a permanent conquest of Turkestan would have induced their
+master to direct his efforts to some more profitable undertaking. The
+Chinese, having acquired Kashgar, were far too sagacious to use up its
+resources by an organized system of pillage, and they accordingly, let
+it be granted chiefly with a view to their own personal aggrandizement,
+devoted their attention to the development of its natural wealth by
+means already detailed in a previous chapter. For three generations the
+officials grew rich on the prosperity of their dependency, and for the
+same period the people themselves were scarcely less flourishing. The
+Chinese had accepted no slight responsibility in undertaking the
+government of Kashgar on principles identical with those by which they
+held authority in Tibet; but, owing to wonderful perseverance and good
+management, they triumphed over every difficulty. The revenue raised for
+state and local purposes was very great, and it sufficed to preserve
+good order for many years, and to add permanent improvement to the state
+in every direction. The task voluntarily undertaken by the Chinese was
+far more onerous than that Yakoob Beg found he had to execute; but they
+came to it with many advantages that he wanted. They had a large and
+faithful army; he had only an uncertain gathering, which might flee or
+desert on the first symptom of disaster: they had the resources of a
+great and powerful empire at their back; he had nothing but his own
+energy and determination: and above all, they had a reputation that
+added to their strength and facilitated their undertakings, while he was
+regarded as a mere military adventurer, receiving the contempt of Tungan
+and Khoja alike. The very nature of things made the Chinese turn most of
+their attention to commerce, while for years Yakoob Beg's sole thought
+was to consolidate his military strength and form a large standing army.
+For many years, then, Yakoob Beg only spent money on the drilling of
+soldiers and the purchase of weapons. Now and then, when some danger
+seemed to threaten him, either from Russia, Afghanistan, or the Tungani,
+he would devote considerable sums to the construction of forts in the
+line of the menaced position. But his chief expenditure was confined to
+his army, and the maintenance of his dynasty by his police system. The
+administration of justice required a certain sum of money, and the
+Church for its support came in for a fair share of the good things that
+were going. It is clear that his expenditure, if not very great in our
+eyes, would severely tax a population of 1,000,000 people in no very
+high state of prosperity. The chief source of wealth in the past had
+always been the trade with China, and when that was broken off, the
+slight increase in intercourse with Russia and India was not a
+sufficient compensation. In fact, the country was very poor, without the
+ingenuity and commercial instincts of the Khitay. During the days of the
+war under Buzurg Khan, the only means of obtaining the necessary revenue
+was by despoliation and enforced levies on the occupied portion of the
+territory. When the western portion of Kashgaria was subdued, Yakoob Beg
+found himself without any money in his exchequer, and no easy means of
+filling it presented itself to him. In these straits he had recourse to
+an expedient that, if not very novel, was at all events very effective.
+He issued a proclamation to his faithful subjects to the effect that as
+conqueror he was landowner of the whole state; but that he was
+willing--eager would have been the more correct expression--to sell it
+to them at a cheap rate. He, however, exempted from this the old
+possessions of the Chinese Wangs and Ambans, and distributed their
+extensive domains among the more prominent of his followers, who in
+return acknowledged their liability to military service. The system was
+an exact copy of the old feudal regime, and Yakoob Beg was vested with
+all the rights and authority of the feudal lord of the Middle Ages. The
+parallel is still further maintained by the large reward that the Church
+received for its aid to the new ruler. The old revenues, devoted to the
+support of the temples and religious seminaries in the past, and which
+had miscarried during the troublous period of the war for the possession
+of Turkestan, were restored, and fresh possessions were added thereto,
+to demonstrate the generosity of the sovereign and his veneration for
+the religion of Mahomed. His old friend the Sheikh-ul-Islam was still
+more fortunate, and a large estate was set apart for his special
+enjoyment. Nor does it appear that the Mussulman priests abused the
+fresh power and advantages they thus secured; for among the toilers in
+Kashgaria none were more energetic than they in educating the people,
+and in extending their influence over their minds, both for the benefit
+of their religion and for the security of the power of the Athalik
+Ghazi. But in one respect, and it is impossible to exaggerate its
+importance, Yakoob Beg's endeavours to found a strong military class,
+bound to him by ties of past favours and others yet to come, were
+abortive; for with rare exceptions his followers refused to fill their
+new avocation of landed proprietors. Instead of devoting their attention
+to the questions arising from agriculture and other rural pursuits, they
+sub-let all their possessions to Andijani immigrants, and, residing in
+their city _ordas_, gave themselves over either to lascivious pleasures
+or to complete indolence. Even so distinguished a warrior as Abdulla
+Beg, the slayer of more than 12,000 persons, as his panegyrists boasted,
+suffered from the pervading effeminacy on the cessation of active
+hostilities; and in the lower ranks of the service such deterioration in
+energy was still more manifest. This change in the spirit of his earlier
+supporters, among other things, obliged Yakoob Beg to depend the more on
+the Andijani merchants and shopkeepers, and conduced to his adopting
+more favourable views on foreign trade in the later years of his power.
+
+The sum of money which he immediately received by the sale of lands
+placed him in a condition to undertake those wars against the Tungani,
+which added so much to the extent of his territory and to the
+responsibilities of his position. Indeed, for several years after its
+first enforcement it continued to bring in a certain amount to the
+coffers of the State. But even this resource was transitory, and the sum
+of money received by this means and in the shape of spoil, from Yarkand,
+Kashgar, Khoten, and other places, was not sufficient to meet the
+expenditure caused by the formation of a large army. Neither of these
+practices could be regarded as a permanent means of obtaining a revenue,
+for the former would scarcely admit of a repetition, and the latter soon
+exhausted itself. So when his rule had become a little settled, and
+these modes of raising money, in addition to the still more
+reprehensible practice of robbing foreign merchants, had become out of
+date to a certain degree, the Athalik Ghazi had to place his fiscal
+arrangements on a more practical and honourable basis. While he laboured
+under some disadvantages, already enumerated, as compared with the
+Chinese, he had the great advantage over them that he strove for an
+object more easily accomplished than the restoration of Kashgar to its
+pristine welfare; and in his budget he had only steadily to keep in view
+how much he required to maintain so many _jigits_, and so many police in
+his pay, and to keep in his exchequer a small surplus for any untoward
+emergency. He left the roads to take care of themselves; the irrigation
+works, sadly wanted in various parts of the state, must be reserved for
+his successors; and all proposals for the amelioration of the people
+were shelved for a more opportune occasion. But so many thousand
+_jigits_ must be in the ranks; so many fresh guns and cartridges must be
+placed in the arsenals; and so many adventurers must be induced by good
+pay to take service in the army as non-commissioned officers, in order
+that the rank and file should be well drilled. The very necessities of
+his position compelled Yakoob Beg to make all these military
+preparations; but the cost was great, and the sacrifices thus imposed on
+ruler and on people were a terrible strain. Recent events make us
+inclined to believe that a less active military and foreign policy, and
+a more peaceable and domestic one, would have tended to have added more
+strength to the Athalik Ghazi's rule than the somewhat ostentatious
+military parade to which he had recourse. Be that as it may, Yakoob Beg
+instituted in 1867 two taxes, which may be supposed to represent the two
+chief classes of receipts during his tenure of authority. The first of
+these was a tithe on all the cereal produce of the country; this tax was
+called the _Ushr_. The second, called the _Zakat_, was a customs due
+levied on all merchandise entering Kashgar. The _Ushr_ was payable on
+all land except that occupied by the Church, or by those who owed
+military service to the crown instead of other payment; and even those
+who rented land from the noble classes were obliged to surrender a tithe
+to the ruler. It would appear, therefore, from this that it was not so
+much the land as its legal possessor who was exempt from liability to
+the usual obligations of citizenship. The danger contained in the
+acquisition of all the crown lands by Andijani merchants, and the
+gradual displacement of his more immediate followers through the energy
+of these people, was not imperceptible to Yakoob Beg, and he accordingly
+adopted measures for preventing his nobles selling their land without
+his sanction. The receipts from this _Ushr_ were very considerable, and
+it was the main source of his revenue for years. We have some idea of
+the approximate value of land in Kashgar. The method of measuring land
+for sale, and consequently also for taxation, is peculiar. It is not by
+any given size that it is computed, or, indeed, strictly speaking by the
+amount of crop it produces; but at a rate in accordance with the amount
+of wheat with which it had been planted. The average rate was about a
+pound for as much land as was sown with 20 lb. of wheat. The tenant, as
+has been said, paid the government dues and handed over three-fourths of
+the net produce to the landlord as rent, receiving for his portion only
+the one-fourth remaining. Under this system it was only in very
+prosperous years that any but very large tenants made sufficient to earn
+a competent livelihood. In bad years it is possible that the landlord
+had to satisfy himself with a smaller share, if he was not induced to
+surrender his claim altogether for the disastrous period. But the
+tax-farmers, entrusted with the collection of this rate, were eager to
+become rich, no less than to earn a good name with the authorities for
+bringing in a list with no defaulters. The unfortunate people were
+completely at their mercy, and without any means of ascertaining the
+accuracy of the claim, or of opposing extortionate demands on the part
+of the tax-collectors. They paid without a murmur, perhaps without a
+suspicion of the imposition that was being practised upon them, the sum
+demanded of them, if they were able; and as their dues were payable
+without delay and on demand before anything else was taken out of the
+total sum of the produce, the Athalik Ghazi received his share with
+regularity, and his tax-collector pocketed the excess sum for his own
+satisfaction. In many cases it is known that the amount claimed by the
+official exceeded by threefold the legal demand. Such a system was no
+less hurtful to the ruler than it was ruinous to the people. That in one
+tax alone a larger sum should be extracted from the people for the
+benefit of the officials than was contributed for the necessities of the
+state, exhibited a very loose system of supervision on the part of the
+sovereign, and is a strong piece of evidence that in many ways Yakoob
+Beg was a mixture of contradictions. We can scarcely persuade ourselves
+that he was aware of these occurrences, and yet how could he be ignorant
+of them?
+
+In addition to the _Ushr_ there was another tax on home produce, viz.,
+the _Tanabi_, or tax on land devoted to the production of vegetables or
+fruit. The Tanab is, by the way, a lineal measure of forty-seven yards,
+and a Tanabi is a piece of land forty-seven yards square. On this extent
+of land cultivated for vegetables, or fruit, a small tax was raised.
+More than any other tax did this vary according to the character of the
+district, and to the quality of the year's crop. It was seldom less than
+a shilling a Tanabi, even in the least renowned district, whereas in
+some parts, in good years, it was five shillings, or even more. Here
+again, however, the middleman interfered, and exacted as much as he saw
+there was any possibility of his obtaining. This tax undoubtedly ought
+to have produced a large sum, as a larger portion of the soil is laid
+out as fruit and vegetable gardens than for crops; but whether it was
+more difficult to raise, or there was more peculation _in transitu_ from
+the tax-payer to the imperial exchequer, it is certain that we hear much
+less of this tax than we should be disposed to imagine. The two great
+taxes on home productions were therefore a corn due and a fruit due. The
+rate was not in itself excessive, and could be paid by any community
+without embarrassment. It is uncertain to what extent the avarice of the
+officials had made the conditions of these two taxes more onerous,
+although, on the most favourable supposition, the citizen was mulcted in
+no inconsiderable sum. A more serious question for the ruler was, how
+did it affect his own position with regard to his subjects? Did Yakoob
+Beg appear in the eyes of the Kashgari as an exacting and oppressive
+tyrant on account of these heavy impositions?
+
+It is impossible to speak on this point with any degree of certainty,
+but it is only natural to expect that such was the case. No tiller of
+the ground can feel grateful to a sovereign who required him to hand
+over almost one-third of his receipts before he made use of one penny of
+them, even for the payment of his rent. It is scarcely probable that
+Yakoob Beg approved of such enormous profits going to his officials;
+but, that having tolerated petty exactions in his earlier days, he found
+himself unable to attempt the task of coping with the evil when it had
+assumed such alarming proportions. It is impossible to believe that he
+remained in ignorance of what was occurring under his very eyes, and
+there is some evident foundation for the accusation that he participated
+in the division of the profits of his tax-gatherers. We should be loth
+to admit the accuracy of such a charge, and yet the arguments in its
+favour are too plausible to admit of a very confident contradiction. It
+would not speak well for the efficiency of his secret police if he had
+remained in ignorance of a fact which was losing him the sympathy of his
+subjects.
+
+The gold mines at Khoten were worked after the fall of that city in
+1868, and continued productive down to the present time. There is no
+information on the quantities of the precious metal that are there
+turned out in the year, but it is probable that they are not very great.
+The coal mines near Aksu and Kucha are no longer made use of, except by
+a few individuals, and the copper mines in that district have, since the
+departure of the Chinese, only been very partially explored. The jade
+that used to come in great quantities from Aksu and Khoten, is still to
+be found throughout Kashgar; but although it is probable that it still
+nearly all comes from those cities, the Kashgari themselves tell a
+hesitating tale as to its place of production. A visitor to Kashgar, on
+going the round of the bazaars, soon found that the people's tongues
+were tied by the presence, in his train, of a number of the secret
+police, who had been specially told off to prevent the Feringhee
+obtaining any troublesome information on the state of the people, or the
+resources of the state. A striking instance was given him of the close
+attention paid by these guardians of order to the veriest trifles. The
+traveller inquired in one stall where the jade, which was the chief
+commodity of the merchant in question, came from, and received the
+reply, Aksu. Proceeding to another shop in the street, he repeated the
+question, when he was informed that it was imported from Khokand. But
+the traveller said, your neighbour told me it came from Aksu. The
+shopkeeper, taken aback by this abrupt remark, became confused, and
+admitted that it came from Aksu. Warned by a look from the official, he
+then repeated his original assertion that it came from Khokand. The use
+of all this absurd shuffling, and attempt to throw dust in strangers'
+eyes, is impossible to discover; for it was a matter of little moment
+whether jade came from Aksu, or Khokand, so long as we knew that it
+formed an important commodity, both in the rough and in the chiselled
+state, in the cities of Kashgaria.
+
+The customs tax, or _Zakat_, is sanctioned by the Shariat, and was
+levied at all the border posts on the various roads leading into the
+state. Up to the ratification of the treaties with Great Britain and
+Russia, its regulations were vague and elastic in the extreme. In fact,
+any merchant who might have been so foolhardy as to venture into Kashgar
+would have had reason, before these events, to think himself fortunate
+if he escaped the penalty of his rashness; for assuredly his luggage
+would not, but would have been confiscated for the special benefit of
+his Highness the Ameer. So late as 1869, Russian merchants were robbed
+of their baggage, and personally ill-treated, and only after long years
+of negotiation did the Russian Government obtain any satisfaction for
+the injuries and loss inflicted on one of their subjects. And then how
+did the Athalik Ghazi send the sum of money he agreed to pay for the
+loss the merchant had incurred?--why in a depreciated Chinese currency,
+part of a large number of coins that he had found in a disused temple in
+Kashgar! Before this, all the external trade had been carried on with
+Khokand and Bokhara, Afghanistan and Badakshan, and the receipts from
+_Zakat_ were quite insignificant, barring such treasure trove as the
+spoliation of a merchant from Tashkent, or from Leh. But with the
+persistent efforts on the part of the Russians on the north, and of the
+English native merchants on the south, to pierce the gloom hiding the
+country of Eastern Turkestan, it became impossible for Yakoob Beg to
+maintain much longer the incognito he was so jealous in maintaining.
+Perhaps also the prospect of deriving an income from _Zakat_, that
+should smooth down many of his difficulties, was not without some
+influence on his mind when he came into direct contact with civilized
+empires. His expectations were far too sanguine, and he seems to have
+once more, during the last twelve months of his life, become indifferent
+to the advantages or disadvantages of trade with his neighbours. In
+fact, when he placed his customs on a fair footing, he found that it
+would require many years to recoup him for the excessive exactions he
+surrendered. The merchants who first attempted to commence intercourse
+with Kashgar became speedily discouraged by the dangers of the route,
+and the small opening for a large remunerative trade in a country whose
+wealth and population had been magnified tenfold. In a country where the
+richest merchant in the chief town possessed only a capital of L8,000,
+not much could be expected in the way of fortune; and although the legal
+dues on all merchandise were fixed at an _ad valorem_ rate of 2-1/2 per
+cent., it was soon discovered that if the ruler happened to be in want
+of cash he would not scruple to take what he could from the stranger.
+Both to the ruler, and to the foreign merchant, the new arrangement
+contained distasteful matter. The former perceived that he had
+surrendered some of his imperial rights, and that he was not to be
+recompensed by his receiving more money, and the latter knew that the
+treaty stipulation would not save him from having to pay excess fees.
+
+The _Zakat_, far from showing the expected disposition to increase,
+seemed rather inclined to remain stationary, if not to decrease; and
+the foreign merchant had obtained some promise on the part of the ruler
+of personal protection, and of assistance in the disposal of his wares.
+His discontent at the stagnation in the customs soon showed itself by
+his exacting excess dues, sometimes on British, sometimes on Russian,
+but more often on Khokandian and Afghan merchants. Instead of increasing
+his receipts, these strong measures only threw them back, and left him
+in a worse plight than he was in before. He had not the patience
+necessary to enable him to wait with confidence the fuller development
+of trade, nor had he the perseverance or tact to place fresh inducements
+in the path of merchants to renew their intercourse with him and his
+state. Many visited Kashgar with merchandise a first time; but few,
+indeed, repeated the visit. The ruler was off-handed in his reception of
+them. They were scarcely accorded any liberty in their movements, and
+the profit of their journey was greatly reduced by the payment of a due
+of 5 per cent. instead of the stipulated condition of 2-1/2 per cent. It
+is a pure fiction, therefore, to say that trade with Kashgar had
+increased during the rule of the Athalik Ghazi through his friendly
+inclination. If the amount of merchandise imported into his state had
+increased, it was owing only to the necessities of its inhabitants, and
+was a fact that must have taken place either by intercourse direct, or
+through native states, with the two great providers of Central Asia. The
+exaggerated enthusiasm that it was endeavoured to raise up in this
+country about this same mythical ruler of Yarkand never spread far, and
+there was always some scepticism, if there could be no disproof, of the
+reports of the formidableness of this new kingdom. Looking calmly at the
+real state of Yakoob Beg's position, even at the height of his power, we
+find him to have always been a pecuniarily embarrassed ruler, glad of
+the smallest windfall in the shape of the spoil of a single merchant.
+The _Zakat_, his advisers pointed out to him, might be made a most
+productive source of revenue, if foreign merchants could be induced to
+bring their wares into the country. The loss the people had felt in the
+departure of the Chinese might be amply repaired by the appearance of
+Russian and English merchants to supply the same place that they filled.
+If his aspirations were disappointed, and the _Zakat_ did not show any
+signs of possessing that elasticity which had been predicted, it is
+probable that in his impatience, heightened by the perception that
+foreign trade might lead to foreign complications, he did not give the
+scheme a sufficient time for a fair trial. His other sources of revenue,
+_Ushr_ and _Tanabi_, and the gold mines of Khoten, brought in a sum
+enough to meet the current expenses of the government and to maintain in
+his service as many soldiers as his recruiting officers were able to
+secure. But there was little if any surplus; and local improvements, and
+all outlay that might have been reproductive and for the benefit of the
+people, were strictly forbidden. The only works we can find constructed
+by him, with a view to the advancement of the interests of his subjects,
+were the merchants' _serais_, built in each city, and these were
+self-supporting. Yakoob Beg has no claim to being considered as a
+beneficent ruler. He was a military dictator, who had shown a rare power
+for inaugurating a rough system of government, and whose campaigns had
+always been singularly successful. As a ruler, showing a full
+appreciation of the wants of his people, and adopting the best possible
+measures to obtain them, he had no claims to consideration. Indeed, he
+could not be compared with the Chinese, who, however personal may have
+been their motives, certainly raised the state to a high pitch of
+material prosperity, and left many enduring marks of their past
+occupation. These two dominations, foisted on the Kashgari by the strong
+arm, while each immeasurably superior to the Khoja claimants,
+represented two distinct modes of governing a subject race. The Chinese
+endeavoured to conciliate, and to make the necessity for their presence
+felt by the people; the Athalik Ghazi was supremely indifferent to the
+prosperity of his subjects, so long as they were willing to pay him the
+tribute money, and to serve in his army. An exactly opposite result
+might have been expected, for there was far more kinship between the
+Khokandian adventurer and the Kashgari, than there was between the
+Khitay and the Andijani. Admirers of Yakoob Beg may, of course, plead
+that his rule had not acquired sufficient consistency to justify him in
+tasking his strength by great undertakings, such as the construction of
+roads and canals. In one respect he had not the labour at his disposal,
+and he was, consequently, hampered by a difficulty that the Chinese were
+free from. Still when we remember that all these works ought to have
+been remunerative, and to have strengthened Yakoob Beg's individual
+power, instead of taxing his resources, the excuse cannot be admitted as
+entitled to our consideration. Yakoob Beg has claims only to be admired
+for having given us something better than a repetition of the depravity
+of the Khoja rulers, and of course among his coevals he is entitled to
+far the highest place. If it is only asked for him that he should be
+placed above them, no one can raise the slightest objection to it; for
+beyond the shadow of a doubt, he was the most energetic and talented
+ruler that had appeared among the Khanates for several centuries. But it
+would be affectation to deny that a higher place than this has been
+claimed for him; and before according his right to occupy it, the
+evidence on which his claim rests must be sifted with the greatest care.
+Even now I do not say that his claims are unproven; but that it is open
+to doubt whether his work has not been exaggerated, I think must be
+admitted by every one who has studied the course of his life in Kashgar.
+It is absurd to talk of Yakoob Beg having been an equal of Genghis Khan
+or of Timour, in any other way than that of showing that his personal
+abilities were of a transcendent order. As a legislator and public
+benefactor, it is fair to compare him with the Chinese, who possessed
+some advantages over him, but who laboured under some disadvantages in
+religion, and other conditions, as compared with him. And when we do
+this, after impartial consideration we find that the balance is greatly
+in favour of the Chinese. What can we judge from this, but that the rule
+of Yakoob Beg, while presenting some striking features, was inferior in
+degree to that of the Chinese? It is only fair to remember that the
+difficulties in his path were great, and that he overcame many of them.
+Before closing this chapter some description of the chief men who
+assisted him to conquer the country, and then to govern it, may be not
+without interest to the reader.
+
+First among these, by right of his position as well as by his high
+abilities, comes the Seyyid Yakoob Khan, or Hadji Torah, as he has more
+conveniently been called, the prince who has recently visited several of
+the principal courts of Europe. He is a near relative of the Athalik
+Ghazi, although, strange to say, there is no consanguinity between them.
+He is a son of Nar Mahomed Khan, the governor of Tashkent, who married
+as his second wife Yakoob Beg's sister, and who was instrumental in
+advancing the interests of Yakoob Beg during the earlier days of his
+career in Khokand. The Seyyid was almost as old as his uncle, the Ameer
+of Kashgar, having been born in Tashkent in 1823; but despite this near
+connection Hadji Torah played no part in the conquest of Kashgar. Until
+Yakoob Beg achieved complete success in his enterprise in Eastern
+Turkestan he was considered by Khokandians of high rank a simple
+adventurer. The Seyyid Yakoob Khan was of the best lineage in Turkestan,
+and it is very possible that until the year 1867 he regarded his uncle
+with a considerable amount of indifference. Certain it is that Hadji
+Torah was far otherwise employed than in assisting his relative when
+the latter was engaged in some of the desperate encounters of his not
+uneventful career. In the civil administration of Khokand he filled,
+under Alim Kuli, high posts, such as Principal of the Madrassa of
+Tashkent, and then he was appointed Kazi, or Judge. It was after the
+fall of Ak Musjid that he commenced that career of activity as a
+traveller and a negotiator which brought him to the shores of the
+Bosphorus and to the banks of the Neva and the Thames. That was in the
+year 1854, and he was appointed as a sort of secretary to the embassy of
+Mirza Jan Effendi, the ambassador sent by Mollah Khan to Constantinople
+for aid. On a subsequent occasion he again visited Constantinople in a
+similar capacity, after the death of Mollah Khan, and during the brief
+tenure of power by his successor, Mahomed Khan, the nominee of Alim
+Kuli. This was in 1865, and during the troubles that ensued in Khokand
+and the final success of Khudayar Khan, the legal ruler of Khokand and
+antagonist of Alim Kuli, Hadji Torah resided quietly at Constantinople,
+where Abdul Aziz entertained him with sumptuous hospitality. It would
+appear that he obtained some kind of reputation among the numerous
+visitors from either Turkestan who came to Turkey, and apart from his
+sacrosanct character few could fail to be impressed favourably by his
+cheerful yet dignified manner. His uncle in 1870 had indeed overcome all
+opposition to his rule, and it might at a first glance appear strange
+why he should desire to secure the services of a man of whom he could
+have seen or known little for many years. But Hadji Torah possessed
+abilities and experience rare among the inhabitants of Central Asia, and
+to Yakoob Beg the very talents his nephew possessed were those he was
+most in need of.
+
+In 1870 the Athalik Ghazi was anxious to draw close the bonds of
+alliance with the Porte; who could assist him better than the man who
+had resided in Constantinople for several years, and who had formed a
+friendly intimacy with the Sultan? In 1871 Yakoob Beg first recognized
+the imminence of danger to his state from Russia, then put in possession
+of Kuldja; who could instruct him in the most effectual way of warding
+off that danger, either by an alliance with England or by propitiating
+the Russians, than the travelled Hadji Torah? The very qualities that
+the Seyyid Yakoob Khan possessed were those the Ameer Yakoob Beg stood
+most in need of. He might search among all his followers, those who had
+shared every vicissitude of his strange fortunes, and he could not find
+one other with an identical capacity. The overtures to his nephew are
+thus easily intelligible, and the nephew himself gladly greeted his
+entry into a wider career than was that of an honoured guest on the
+hospitality of the Porte. His subsequent embassies in the service of
+Kashgar to St. Petersburg, Calcutta, Constantinople, and London are too
+recent and too well known to require mention here. When he settled in
+Kashgar he married a daughter of Mahomed Khoja, the Sheikh-ul-Islam of
+Kashgaria. His weight with the people was consequently very great, and
+his judgment was greatly valued by the Ameer. Even over Beg Bacha, the
+turbulent and ferocious heir-apparent, Hadji Torah had acquired some
+influence by his ready tact and _bonhomie_.
+
+Of the two chief personages, Mahomed Khoja and Abdulla Pansad, the
+priest and the soldier, who assisted Yakoob Beg, it is unfortunately
+impossible to discover much, and that little has already been stated in
+the preceding pages. There can be no doubt, however, that they were the
+principal instruments in promoting the aggrandizement of Yakoob Beg, and
+the two who enjoyed more than any other the confidence and friendship of
+the man they had supported so faithfully. But of another well-tried
+follower we know more, chiefly through the pages of Dr. Bellew. Mahomed
+Yunus seems to have been the most educated and well informed among the
+governors of Yakoob Beg. He had the reputation of being quite the
+best-informed man in Kashgar, but as the _curriculum_ of instruction did
+not include modern languages, it is difficult to guage the exact degree
+of that reputation. He was an old and trusted follower of the Athalik
+Ghazi, for when he was in the service of Khokand Mahomed Yunus
+officiated as his scribe. He, however, as a civilian, took no part in
+the expedition of Buzurg Khan, and it was not until after the death of
+Alim Kuli and the success of Khudayar Khan that he joined his firm
+friend and master in Kashgar. So high an opinion had Yakoob Beg of his
+talents, and so pressed was he for skilled rulers, that Mahomed Yunus
+was at once appointed Dadkwah of the recently conquered district of
+Yarkand, the richest, the most populous, and the most turbulent of all
+the governorships in Kashgaria. The skill with which he brought the
+troublesome Yarkandis into complete submission to the new ruler, and the
+rare ability he manifested in his administration of his province down
+almost to the present time, justify the selection of his whilome comrade
+in Khokand. At first it seems that the governor ruled with a high hand,
+and that the slightest symptom of insubordination was checked by an
+immediate arrest and a not long-delayed execution. During the last seven
+years, however, his government had become milder, chiefly because all
+evil-doers had been got rid of. Among some of the minor followers may be
+mentioned Alish Beg, Dadkwah of Kashgar; Ihrar Khan Torah, the first
+envoy despatched from Kashgar to India; and Mahomed Beg of Artosh: but
+we have no sufficient information of them to give an account of them
+that would be interesting to the general reader.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+YAKOOB BEG'S POLICY TOWARDS RUSSIA.
+
+
+Yakoob Beg had in the earlier days of his career come into contact with
+the Russians, and although, in the long interval between the fall of Ak
+Musjid and his departure from Khokand, the Russians, chiefly owing to
+the prostration resulting from the Crimean War, did not press on with
+the energy that their first advance on the Syr Darya seemed to promise,
+there is no doubt that the possibility of its occurrence was the
+foremost thought in the minds of Yakoob Beg and his contemporaries. In
+1865, when the Russians threatened and eventually occupied Tashkent, and
+brought their frontier halfway on its journey to the Oxus, Yakoob Beg
+was far too much occupied with his own affairs in Kashgar to attempt any
+interference in Khokand. With, however, the dismemberment of Khokand and
+the rout of the Bokhariot army in the spring of 1866, his attention was
+forcibly claimed by a fact that seemed in the future to involve him as
+the next victim of Russian aggrandizement. In that year, too, he had not
+only overcome all resistance in the more important districts of
+Kashgaria, but he had to a greater extent than before, become
+responsible for the political actions of the people of this state
+through the deposition of Buzurg Khan. As early as 1866, it may be
+assumed that the new ruler of Kashgar had his attention directed to the
+movements of his old antagonist, by their successes against the
+Khokandians and Bokhariots; but it is clear that the Russians were not
+equally interested in his doings at this period. With the occupation of
+the northern portion of Khokand, the rule of Russia was brought into
+nearer proximity with that of the new power of Kashgar, and it became
+only a question of time whether the two governments were to attain a
+harmonious agreement, or whether a series of petty disputes was to
+result in a further extension of the Russian Empire, towards both India
+and China. The independent portion of the Khanate of Khokand still
+intervened, and the difficult country of the Kizil Yart mountains served
+the useful purpose of giving the Athalik Ghazi breathing time, ere he
+should arrive at a decision about his future relations with Russia.
+Indeed, up to this point the interest of Russia in the affairs of
+Kashgar had been very slight, for it does not appear that much, if any,
+intercourse had been carried on between the two territories in the past.
+Far otherwise was it in Ili, where the Russians had for many years been
+located as merchants or as consuls. Their station at Almatie or Vernoe,
+an important town and fort situated about 50 miles north of Issik Kul
+and 250 west of Ili itself, had in a few years become a large and
+flourishing city, instead of preserving its original character of a
+small mountain fort. Russian merchants carried on a very extensive trade
+by this road with Ili, Urumtsi, Hamil, and Pekin, and their relations
+with the Chinese merchants had attained a very satisfactory basis. It
+was, therefore, with no friendly feeling, that the Tungan rising in Ili
+was regarded by a very large section of the Russians in the
+neighbourhood. The disturbances that thereupon broke out, effectually
+put a stop to all trade in this quarter for some time, and the old
+traffic, or such of it as continued, with China had to be conducted
+along the less direct route through Siberia. For six years, the Russians
+tolerated the uncertain state of affairs in Ili, where the Tungani and
+the Tarantchis disputed between themselves as to which should be the
+ruling party; but their dissatisfaction was scarcely concealed at the
+substitution of a native government for that of China. When, therefore,
+Yakoob Beg, having conquered the country south of the Tian Shan, seemed
+to threaten the provinces north of that barrier, it is not surprising
+that the Russians availed themselves of excuses for forestalling him,
+and for placing their commercial relations on an equally good footing as
+they had been in the past with the inhabitants of Ili, by a forced
+occupation of that territory. But the Russians were resolved to give as
+little umbrage as possible to the Chinese. Ili was formally acknowledged
+to be Chinese territory, and the Czar voluntarily promised, through his
+representative at Pekin, to restore it as soon as the Emperor of China
+was able to despatch a sufficient force to preserve order therein. This
+tact secured the permanent goodwill of the Chinese, and Russia obtained,
+in several important trade concessions, a very gratifying reward for her
+skilful diplomacy. Her friendly action to the Celestials was also
+heightened in its effect by a piece of unfortunate policy on our part.
+The Panthays had erected in Yunnan a Mahomedan power, which seemed to
+have broken off completely from Pekin, and report brought such tales to
+our frontier of the power and goodwill of the Sultan of the Panthays
+ruling in Ta-li-foo, that in an ill-advised moment we entered into
+negotiations with this potentate. The Chinese authorities very naturally
+took umbrage at this tacit support of a rebellious vassal, and all our
+subsequent efforts have been unable to remove the suspicions produced by
+our vacillating attitude on that occasion. The Russians still further
+preserved the appearance of friendship for China by their refusal,
+maintained during several years, to acknowledge the government set up in
+Kashgar by Buzurg Khan and Yakoob Beg. This action was however the less
+worthy of approval, because at that period the Russians had no immediate
+concern in Kashgaria. Their sole interest lay in the course of events in
+Jungaria, with which they were intimately connected by trade and
+political associations, stretching back for almost a century.
+Undoubtedly Jungaria was much affected by commotions in Kashgaria, and
+we accordingly see, when the march of events in the latter province
+assumed an aspect menacing to the future independence of Jungaria, the
+Russians taking prompt measures to secure the possession of that
+province for themselves. When Ili passed into the hands of Russia, the
+old trade revived along this route to a certain degree, and some
+intercourse ensued with the Tungani of Urumtsi, Manas and Hamil.
+Measures seem to have been taken to impress on the rulers of those
+cities the prudence of not interfering with merchants or travellers, and
+matters became to a certain degree satisfactory for Russian
+tranquillity. The city of Ili never, however, recovered its former
+prosperity, for Vernoe still remains the most important town in this
+region. Originally a fort constructed in 1854, as a small mountain post,
+to defend the road from the marauding Kirghiz, it has increased from its
+insignificant origin into a large settlement of Cossacks and Calmucks,
+and is now a very thriving community. It was, therefore, it must be
+remembered, primarily with Jungaria that Russia was interested. So far
+as the internal affairs of Kashgar were concerned, she could have
+disregarded the dispute between the rivals, Yakoob Beg and the Chinese;
+it was only when a powerful Mahomedan state was erected in Eastern
+Turkestan, and threatened both the independence of Ili, and also to
+raise up disunion in Khokand, that Russia was compelled to consider what
+policy it would be wise to adopt towards the recently proclaimed Athalik
+Ghazi. Whether it was absolutely necessary or even prudent to annex Ili,
+may be doubted with some reason, but it is impossible to find fault with
+the Russians for that step. Probably it was the most excusable of all
+their conquests, none the less may the decision have been founded on a
+misapprehension of circumstances, or it may have been premature to shut
+Yakoob Beg out from advancing into a region where he would have been at
+the complete mercy of the Russians. Nor is it clear even that Yakoob Beg
+had the intention, so generously attributed to him, of committing what
+would certainly have resulted in political extinction, viz., an advance
+to the northern side of the Tian Shan. The reader will, we hope,
+perceive that as little interest was felt by the Russians in the events
+transpiring in Kashgar as there was in India, and this indifference
+continued down at all events to the end of 1866. At that date Yakoob
+Beg's enterprise had been crowned with complete success and the Russian
+Government, far more promptly and accurately apprised of the course of
+events than our Government in India, was obliged to devote some
+attention to this new power, whose appearance was already beginning to
+raise a ferment in the Mahomedan states lying to the west of Kashgar.
+
+In 1866, however, some indefinite agreement was arrived at by the
+commanders of forces along the Naryn borders, to abstain from
+interfering with each other's actions. The Russian forces were permitted
+to follow refugees from Khokand and predatory Kirghiz within the nominal
+frontier of Kashgar, and when occasion arose a similar right was
+accorded to the Kashgarian officials. By some good fortune, perhaps
+caused by a feeling of mutual respect, no collisions of any consequence
+occurred between the representatives of the two powers during these
+early and vague negotiations. Although the Russian governors of Siberia
+and Turkestan refused to acknowledge either Buzurg Khan or Yakoob Beg,
+they seem to have done their best to make use of these conciliatory
+measures along the northern frontier as a lever for inducing Yakoob Beg
+to make overtures to them for their support. If such was their intention
+the firmness of Yakoob Beg thwarted all their designs, as will be seen
+in the sequel. To obtain, however, some advantage out of the apparent
+apprehension of the Kashgarian ruler for Russian power was absolutely
+necessary, if only to demonstrate the perfection to which Muscovite
+diplomacy had attained. So, while refusing to acknowledge the new state
+in Eastern Turkestan and deeply deploring the departure of the Chinese,
+orders were given to the frontier officers to obtain the sanction of the
+Kashgarian officials in the neighbourhood to the construction of a
+bridge across the Naryn and of a military road over the Tian Shan into
+Kashgar. This was in 1867, and it is not to be wondered at that the
+Kashgarian authorities replied with a categorical refusal. To have
+acquiesced in this demand would have been to have placed the city of
+Kashgar at the complete mercy of the Russians. The position of that city
+is most disadvantageous in a military point of view, and the only
+obstacle an army advancing from Issik Kul has to encounter is the
+difficulty of the road from the Naryn torrent, and the general
+impracticability of the passes through this portion of the Tian Shan
+range. The Russian government was much disappointed at this rebuff
+experienced at the hands of a native ruler, and accordingly in great
+haste it was resolved that a fort should be constructed on the Naryn
+just within their frontier. In 1868 this fort was completed, but by that
+time a fresh change had taken place in the state of affairs, and hopes
+were entertained that an agreement might yet be arranged by peaceful
+means with Kashgar. During these two years there had been continual
+disturbances and fighting in Western Turkestan. Bokhara, instigated,
+according to Russian assertions, by Yakoob Beg, had joined with Khokand
+and Khiva in a combined uprising against Russia; but in so far as that
+uprising was combined it never occurred, for both Bokhara and Khokand
+fell an easy prey in detail to the armies of the Czar. The punishment of
+Khiva was reserved for a future occasion, and indeed of all the
+confederates Khiva was the only one which obtained any successes in the
+field. The most palpable result of that campaign was the acquisition of
+Samarcand by Russia, and for a time all opposition seemed to be stamped
+out. No sooner, however, had the main Russian army returned to Tashkent
+than a large force invested the small garrison left in Samarcand, and
+the whole country rose in arms again. The Russian garrison held tightly
+on to its post, and, although in comparison to its strength its loss was
+most severe, the town was preserved until the arrival of General
+Kaufmann with reinforcements. Bokhara then sued for peace, which, after
+some delay, was concluded with the unfortunate Ameer Mozaffur Eddin. By
+that treaty the Russians obtained the right to place military
+cantonments at Kermina, Charjui, and Karshi. Kermina is situated about
+fifty miles east of the town of Bokhara, on the road from Katti Kurgan
+and Samarcand; Karshi about sixty miles south of Katti Kurgan, and half
+way to the Oxus; while Charjui is on the Oxus and some eighty miles west
+of Bokhara. Of all these the last is the most important, for thence a
+direct caravan route leads to Merv and Meshed. Once more, in 1870-71,
+Bokhara entered the field, but the enterprise collapsed through the
+unconcerted measures of the allies and the weakness of Khokand. During
+these five eventful years of rebellion amongst the races of Western
+Turkestan, Yakoob Beg preserved his neutrality. If the assertion is
+correct that he had played an underhand part in the formation of the
+league against Russia, assuredly he endeavoured to make his actions
+contradict his diplomacy. Not a Kashgarian soldier participated in the
+efforts made so repeatedly by Bokhara and Khokand to shake off the bonds
+of Russian vassalage. Like Shere Ali of Cabul, he devoted his attention
+exclusively to the affairs of his immediate province, and wars in the
+extreme east of his dominions against co-religionists were a preferable
+alternative to the risks attending a _jehad_ against the most formidable
+enemy of Islam! Russia had indeed little to complain of in Yakoob Beg's
+interference in their possessions. His instigation of premature
+rebellions, or, if he did not instigate them, the approval extended to
+them by some of his chief ministers, was the very kindest act he could
+have conferred on the ruling power of Turkestan, for Russia never has
+had anything to fear from any isolated risings among the people of this
+part of Central Asia. Nothing less than an unanimous and concerted
+rising in Western Turkestan, aided with a nucleus of regular troops and
+officers, such as, to go no farther, either Afghanistan can supply, or
+Kashgar could at one time have supplied--nothing less than this will
+ever produce a complete catastrophe to the Russian arms, and in a short
+campaign of a few months send the Russian legions back to their old
+quarters of thirteen years ago. Whether Yakoob Beg ever was strong
+enough to risk the independence of his state on so important an
+enterprise may fairly be doubted, and he showed a commendable prudence
+in abstaining from hostilities when he had sufficient matters to occupy
+all his attention, and to task all his resources within his own borders;
+but assuming such to have been the case, his indifference to the
+suffering thereby inflicted on the Khokandians must remain a blot on his
+fair fame. If the part he played in these earlier plots was scarcely
+honourable, how much less so was his action in the last rebellion of
+1875. But it may be as well to postpone considering that event until
+later on in this chapter. Yakoob Beg most probably took a very selfish
+view of the state of affairs. His own extremely uncertain tenure of
+power made him anxious lest any storm from beyond his frontier should
+wreck the frail bark in which he had asserted his claim to independence,
+and the whole object of his policy was simply to divert attention from
+himself to other quarters. The Russians above all must have their work
+cut out for them in repression of continual sedition in their
+possessions; while each day of respite witnessed Yakoob Beg in a better
+position for making a strenuous resistance when the time should come,
+according to Russian ideas, for an attempt to be made to crush his
+power. Viewed from this standpoint, the conduct of Yakoob Beg towards
+his fellow-countrymen appears in a slightly more favourable aspect,
+although his policy of expediency has little in it to command
+admiration. Yet the result answered his expectations. In 1868 the
+construction of Fort Naryn was the avowed preliminary measure to an
+occupation of Kashgar; from that danger this policy of compromise saved
+him. Again, in 1870, was he pronounced an incorrigible enemy of the
+Czar, and an expedition was prepared which was to bring him to his
+senses; once more a revolt in Khokand intervened to distract Russian
+attention and Russian arms from the Naryn to Ferghana. The expedition
+against Khiva in 1873 also served the purpose of diverting to another
+quarter the blow which should, according to many, have descended on the
+offending head of the Athalik Ghazi; and lastly, in 1875 the
+insurrection in Khokand, the most serious and the most nearly successful
+of all the native wars against Russia, saved him from an invasion for
+which every preparation had been made.
+
+To return to the year 1868, when the Russian government had constructed
+the fort on the Naryn, and had openly proclaimed its intention of
+punishing the slight put upon it by Yakoob Beg's refusal to permit the
+construction of a road over the mountains to Artosh. Up to that year the
+intercourse had been of a semiofficial character between the officers on
+either side of the frontier. We have now come to a phase of the question
+of a slightly different import. The Russian officials endeavoured to
+obtain from Yakoob Beg concessions that would be advantageous to their
+country, at the same time that they categorically declined to recognize
+his official _status_ as an independent prince. Their antagonist was far
+too astute to permit himself to be out-manoeuvred by so simple a
+device, and his officials were quite unauthorized to enter into any
+arrangement without its being brought before their master in the manner
+consistent with his dignity. We have seen that the Russians, failing in
+their diplomatic chicane, had recourse to threats, although the irony of
+fate prevented those threats ever being put into execution. But
+concurrently with these efforts on the part of the Russian government,
+others of a different kind were being made by individuals. The Russian
+merchants of Kuldja contained in their ranks several men whose
+enterprise and courage had been remarkable in the manipulation of trade
+with the Chinese and the Tungani. They were not easily deterred from any
+undertaking which promised them brilliant remuneration, even though the
+risk and uncertainty might be great. The pioneers of commerce were free
+from the fetters that hampered official movements. It was of little
+moment to them who ruled in Kashgaria so long as he extended his
+protection to their goods and their persons whilst they were within his
+territory. The Russian government viewed with favour the efforts that
+were made to cross the Tian Shan, for on the individual fell the
+greatest portion of the risk, while the government profited much by the
+fruits of his experience. The Russian merchants were, therefore, not
+discouraged by their authorities when they laid their proposals before
+General Kolpakovsky, as English merchants would have been under similar
+circumstances by the authorities at Calcutta--nay, it is tolerably
+certain that they received many inducements to persist in their
+intention; both their patriotism and desire for advancing their own
+worldly concerns were appealed to, to urge them to attempt to obtain
+admission into Kashgar. When, therefore, it became evident in 1868 that
+nothing was to be obtained from Yakoob Beg by indirect means, and when
+it was also decided that a military remedy would not be convenient, the
+field was fairly cleared for another kind of performers to begin
+operations.
+
+Early in the year 1868 a Russian merchant, named Kludof, collected at
+Vernoe a small caravan. His chief commodities consisted of those
+gewgaws, which, prepared in Moscow, have been found, according to
+Russian experience, the most marketable articles in Western Turkestan;
+but, in addition to these trumpery packages, more useful necessaries,
+such as cotton goods and cutlery, were taken as specimens of some of the
+real advantages that would come in the wake of Russian trade. Kludof set
+out with the intention of crossing the Tian Shan by the Naryn, and
+making for the border town of Ush Turfan, whence Kashgar is easily
+reached by the high road. But he had not proceeded far beyond Fort
+Naryn, then in course of construction, when he was attacked by a band of
+marauders. With the loss of all his possessions he must still be
+considered fortunate in having escaped without any serious personal
+injury. Perhaps the robbers were inspired with some respect for the
+person of a Russian subject, or, as the indictment against Yakoob Beg
+affirms, by the express orders of that ruler, who wished to deter,
+without causing any serious complication with the government, Russian
+subjects of any kind whatever from entering his kingdom. As it happened,
+however, Kludof was a very determined fellow, one not easily balked when
+he had set his mind on accomplishing anything. The government viewed his
+case with commiseration, and he was assisted in collecting together
+another caravan of larger proportions than its predecessor. But before
+setting out on the same road he determined to make an effort to reach
+the ear of Yakoob Beg himself, and by a singular piece of good fortune
+he was able to do so through a Kashgarian subject residing in Kuldja.
+The presents, judiciously selected, with which he accompanied his letter
+complaining of the injury he had received at the hands of Kirghiz
+subjects of the ruler of Kashgar, yet only demanding as a reparation
+permission to come into that state as a peaceful subject of the Czar,
+fully propitiated Yakoob Beg, who sent a safe conduct to Vernoe for
+Kludof and his caravan. This merchant made a most favourable impression
+on the ruler of Kashgar, and it seemed at one moment as if he would
+achieve what all the diplomacy of the two previous years had failed in
+accomplishing. Even Yakoob Beg was induced to take a slight step towards
+a better agreement with his neighbour, for in the summer of 1868, he
+sent Shadi Mirza, one of his nephews, to Vernoe, requesting that he
+might be permitted to go on to Tashkent, to place before the governor of
+Turkestan certain proposals from his master for a complete understanding
+with Russia. Simultaneously with the despatch of Shadi Mirza by Yakoob
+Beg, a Russian officer, Captain Reinthal, was commissioned by General
+Kolpakovsky, the governor of Kuldja, to proceed to Kashgar and demand
+the surrender of some Kirghiz robbers, who, from within Yakoob Beg's
+dominion, had sallied forth to pillage Russian merchants. They had also
+seized several inhabitants of Khokand and the Naryn district; and the
+Russian government demanded the unconditional surrender of these
+individuals as her subjects. Captain Reinthal was instructed to make
+these two demands in a peremptory way, and to convince the new
+government that Russia would not permit any infraction of the spirit of
+the treaties concluded with the old government under the Chinese.
+Captain Reinthal was received in a sufficiently hospitable manner, but
+his movements were scrupulously restricted to the city. He did not, on
+this occasion, learn much of importance about the country, but he was
+impressed favourably by the appearance of such of the army as he saw.
+The Kirghiz robbers were captured by the order of Yakoob Beg, but he
+stoutly refused to surrender them. The Russian prisoners were also kept
+in honourable confinement as a guarantee for the safe return of Shadi
+Mirza. They were, however, permitted to return to Russian territory when
+it became known that Shadi Mirza was progressing favourably with his
+mission to Tashkent. Captain Reinthal accomplished little or nothing on
+this embassade, and had to report, on his return to his superior, the
+strange tidings that the new power was resolved to play an independent
+part in Asia, and to answer defiance with defiance, and threat with
+threat. This report must have seemed scarcely credible, but there is no
+doubt that Captain Reinthal advised, as the result of his experience,
+the adoption of a lenient and friendly policy towards the new-comer.
+This concession to a Central Asian despot was not agreeable at
+head-quarters, and the question was shelved for the time. Shadi Mirza,
+who had been detained at Vernoe, was at last permitted to continue his
+journey to Tashkent, where he found General Kaufmann absent in Europe.
+Instructions were then issued to send him on to St. Petersburg, where he
+arrived in the last days of 1868. He had several informal interviews
+with the governor of Turkestan, but he was not received by the Czar or
+any of the higher officials. In fact, he was only treated as an ordinary
+traveller, and not as the representative of a neighbouring state.
+Nothing up to this had been done by the Russian government, showing that
+they recognized Yakoob Beg as ruler of Kashgaria. The Chinese were
+still, in their eyes, the _de jure_ owners of that province, whoever
+might be the temporary owners _de facto_. On the return of Shadi Mirza
+to Kashgar, in January, 1869, the relations between Russia and Yakoob
+Beg may be said to have returned to the exact _status quo ante_. All the
+Russian demands for trade had been unsuccessful, and, except the
+brilliant journey of Mr. Kludof, no one had broken through the mystic
+charm that shut out the Garden of Asia from all foreign spectators.
+Their envoy, Captain Reinthal, had been treated in a precisely similar
+manner to that in which Shadi Mirza had been received at Vernoe and St.
+Petersburg; and a firm and dignified attitude had effectually checked
+the Russian officer when he attempted to express those threats which
+formed the principal part of his instructions. There was something
+imposing in the quiet way in which Yakoob Beg asserted his equality in
+rank with the Czar of All the Russias. His invariable reply, when the
+great power of Russia was made use of as an argument to overcome his
+refusal to accede to the trade concessions demanded, was, "My brother,
+the White Czar, is a most powerful monarch, and rules over the greater
+portion of the earth, and I am only an insignificant prince in
+comparison to him. But none the less can I encounter the danger like a
+true man, and esteem it a happiness to die in defence of my country and
+my faith." To so courageous and so honourable a reply what rejoinder
+could be made by the abashed officers? It is impossible to refuse Yakoob
+Beg the highest admiration for his stanchness in his opposition to
+Russia. If for his own narrow interests it may have been imprudent to
+throw down the gage of battle so freely, all the more does that attitude
+claim respect when we see him trampling on purely selfish motives, and
+asserting his claim to leadership in that wider question of Asiatic
+against Muscovite, of Mahomedan against Greek. Had he only been
+consistent throughout his career, had he only been as firm in his
+convictions and as prompt in carrying them into practice as he generally
+was, when the occasion came for a great effort against Russia, how
+different might have been his own fate and the present aspect of affairs
+in Central Asia!
+
+For some time after these abortive proceedings the Russians abstained
+from any direct interference in Kashgar, but the conferring of the title
+of Athalik Ghazi, or Commander of the Faithful, on Yakoob Beg by the
+Ameer of Bokhara had roused the susceptibilities of Russia too much to
+be allayed. It seemed, indeed, as if this acknowledgment of the
+orthodoxy of Yakoob Beg by the Head of Islam in Central Asia heralded
+forth some understanding between the two states, and that a menace was
+directed against the Russian government. Whether there was any agreement
+between Mozaffur Eddin and Yakoob Beg it is not possible at present to
+say, but that such should have been brought about by their mutual
+antipathy to Russia would not have been very wonderful. However, in the
+disturbances of 1870 Yakoob Beg took no active part. While the Russian
+arms were triumphing over every opponent in their newly acquired
+province of Ferghana and its vicinity, Yakoob Beg was busily engaged
+with the Tungani, who at that time were causing trouble to him along his
+far eastern frontier. The revolt collapsed in Khokand, and Yakoob Beg,
+apparently unconcerned with the events transpiring in the West, was
+carrying his victorious arms to new conquests in the East. During the
+year 1870, when murmurs of the approaching storm were becoming audible,
+the Russian government endeavoured to obtain the alliance of Khudayar
+Khan, of Khokand, for the purpose of bringing Yakoob Beg within their
+influence. This Khan had, as has been already mentioned, been betrayed
+by Yakoob Beg, who had followed the example of the ambitious Vizier Alim
+Kuli, and was now mainly dependent on the Russians for support against
+his rebellious subjects. He could not be considered in any way,
+therefore, as likely to be favourably disposed towards his neighbour of
+Kashgar, or as lukewarm in the cause of his protectors and benefactors.
+The Russians felt assured of his hearty support in advocating their
+plan, which was as follows. From time immemorial, as has been seen in
+the sketch of the history of Kashgar, there have been two rival elements
+in Kashgaria--the Chinese and the Khokandian. The Chinese was triumphant
+in modern times for a little more than a century, while the Khokandian
+has, more or less, at all other times been paramount. But whenever a
+native dynasty had attained a certain degree of security therein, it was
+always threatened by the ambitious designs of the Khan of Khokand, who
+had generally contributed most towards its successful establishment. The
+Russian government resolved to avail themselves of this historical fact
+to pour into the ear of Khudayar Khan insidious counsels as to his
+claims as feudal lord over Eastern Turkestan. There once more, so they
+argued, had a Khokandian subject formed an independent and rival
+administration, and all his victories had been won by Khokandian
+sympathies, and by the good right arms of Khokandian subjects. And how
+had this soldier of fortune acted towards his own country when he had
+received everything from her that he needed? By offering an asylum to
+all those who had participated in the plots against Khudayar Khan
+himself, by encouraging sedition in the state itself against the
+Russians and their nominee, Khudayar, the legal ruler of the state. As
+if these crimes were not sufficiently serious, he had added thereto the
+insult of having refused to recognize in Khudayar his liege lord; and
+Khudayar's own personal fears were worked upon to yield that
+acquiescence to the Russian proposal that was necessary to secure its
+success. It was pointed out to him that a strong military power in
+Kashgar might give an impetus to the plots then fermenting in the active
+brain of Aftobatcha, the ambitious son of Mussulman Kuli, the prime
+minister and vizier of thirty years ago. The arguments were specious,
+and it cannot be doubted that they made some impression on Khudayar
+Khan. This much-to-be-pitied ruler, forced by the necessities of his
+position to humour his Russian advisers, still had the courage to refuse
+to assert his claims as lord over Kashgar. With a gentle irony he
+pointed to the map, and showed how Khokand's frontier should extend
+farther to the west than it did, and that a conquest over the barren
+regions of the Kizil Yart would be but a sorry equivalent for the loss
+of Tashkent and Hodjent. He, however, promised to make use of his best
+means for inducing Yakoob Beg to make overtures to the Russian
+government for the ratification of a treaty of commerce. So Khudayar
+Khan indited a letter to Yakoob Beg, at the dictation of his Russian
+friends, to this effect; but he silvered the pill by a private message
+giving information of the Russian intentions in the future. The tenor of
+that communication was that the Russians were less eager than might
+have been supposed to bring matters to a final crisis with Yakoob Beg,
+and that they were most desirous of settling the question without any
+flagrant loss of dignity by being the first to recommence negotiations.
+Both publicly and privately Khudayar Khan advised that the Athalik Ghazi
+should make some concessions in form to the Russian government. The
+Russians themselves, having failed to induce Khudayar Khan to put
+pressure on Yakoob Beg, appear to have arrived at the same conclusion as
+that set out in the letters of Khudayar. Yakoob Beg must make the sign,
+and they would meet him half way in his desire to share in the great
+benefits accruing from a Muscovite alliance. The authorities at Tashkent
+went so far as to flatter themselves that they had attained a solution
+of one of their chief annoyances. They had, by making use of the
+mediation of Khudayar, gone so far as to open the door for Yakoob Beg to
+abase himself. Such condescension was unheard of, and no doubt was
+entertained but that this proud Mahomedan ruler would gladly hasten to
+avail himself of the last chance accorded him by the clemency of the
+Czar.
+
+But they were reckoning without their host. Yakoob Beg quickly perceived
+that the bold exterior of the Russian demands concealed a vacillating
+purpose, and that a power which would go out of its way so far to bring
+about an arrangement, would yield much more when the discussion became
+directly carried on. He had evidently impressed the few Russians who had
+visited him with a belief in his strength, and rumour had magnified his
+resources, and converted his small and heterogeneous following into a
+regular and trained army. He was not the man to destroy, when the game
+was almost in his hands too, all the favourable impressions, that stood
+him in such good stead during his career, which his policy for four
+years had succeeded in creating about his personality. After a suitable
+delay his formal reply to the official letter of Khudayar arrived, and
+its contents must have been eminently displeasing to the Russians. In
+general terms he refused to enter into negotiations with the Russians,
+because they had refused to acknowledge his own government, and had ever
+supported the cause of his enemies the Chinese. But, not content with
+this blunt refusal to the offer made from Tashkent, he went on to minor
+matters and dealt with the question of Russian policy in specific
+language. The common enemy of him and all his co-religionists was not
+worthy of any consideration from him or his allies, the rulers of
+Khokand and Bokhara. "The Russians that have come here, into my state of
+Kashgar, look at these localities and become acquainted with the state
+of the country, and therefore it is better to forbid their coming, for
+they are a treacherous and crooked-minded people." In such plain terms
+did Yakoob Beg speak of a power which could without any serious risk
+have crushed him at any moment. Yet in one sense his boldness was the
+height of prudence, and succeeded when perhaps a less decided attitude
+would have completely failed. The Russians were fairly deluded in their
+estimate of their new antagonist, and all means having been exhausted
+for inducing Yakoob Beg to abandon his indifferent attitude towards
+themselves, it began to be seriously discussed at Tashkent whether, if
+simply for the purpose of obtaining accurate information of his country,
+it would not be prudent to acknowledge the existence of a ruler who had
+for nearly six years been established as responsible sovereign of a very
+large portion of Asia. The path was smoothed, too, for the Russian
+diplomatists by Yakoob Beg sending a letter to the governor of
+Turkestan, stating that it was useless for the Czar to attempt the
+establishment of diplomatic relations through the good offices of
+Khudayar Khan; but that if the Russians really desired to enter into
+alliance with him they could send an embassy to him, when formal steps
+could be commenced for securing the trade and other agreements that were
+desirable. The letter was a very dignified piece of writing, such as
+one European sovereign would have sent to another in the Middle Ages.
+"He did not deny," he said, "either the power or the resources of
+Russia, but as a brave man he placed his trust in God, and he would
+never shirk the contest, because all he aspired to was to die for his
+faith." This letter produced a great impression at Tashkent, and it was
+resolved to send an ambassador to Kashgar.
+
+Before pursuing the narrative, it may be as well to sum up what had
+passed between Russia and Kashgar up to this period, for henceforth
+these two states were to stand in a completely different relationship
+towards each other. The Russians strove to induce Yakoob Beg to make the
+most favourable commercial and political concessions to them, while they
+refused to grant him any equivalent, except the dubious one, "advantage
+from the produce of Russian manufactures." They even added insult to
+injury by openly proclaiming that they only recognized the Chinese as
+the rulers of Kashgar, and refused to discuss the arguments advanced by
+Shadi Mirza in favour of his uncle's claim to be considered _de facto_
+sovereign. They adopted an attitude of bullying towards this Asiatic
+prince, and loudly proclaimed in their practice the truth of the
+aphorism, that might is right. They backed up their verbal threats on
+several occasions by a show of military preparations, but not once did
+they put those threats into execution. On the other hand, Yakoob Beg's
+policy was consistent throughout and dignified. While studiously
+avoiding any aggressive measures, even under the excuse of defensive
+precautions, he was always firm in his refusal to recognize any of the
+semi-official overtures that were repeatedly made to induce him to show
+his hand. Instead of appearing in the light of a suppliant, as according
+to all precedent he should, he assumed the position of a dictator.
+"Acknowledge me as legally constituted ruler of Kashgaria, or else there
+is an end to all negotiation. Send a properly accredited ambassador to
+me, and he shall be honourably received. A representative of recognized
+rank shall then convey my token of friendship to your master. Refuse to
+grant me these just considerations, and my kingdom is closed to your
+merchants and officials without exception. Admission shall only be
+obtained over my own body and that of my devoted army." For the first
+time in the annals of Russian history an Asiatic ruler had tired out the
+finessing and intrigue that had become customary with that empire as the
+means for infinite conquest. Yakoob Beg was the only sovereign who
+refused to be subservient to the Czar, and eventually achieved a
+diplomatic triumph over his representatives. In the spring of 1872,
+Yakoob Beg was at the very acme of his prosperity. Not yet had he
+commenced those later campaigns against the Tungani, which more than
+anything else tended to weaken his power and to raise discontent against
+his administration; and, fresh from his diplomatic success over the
+Russians, he appeared in the eyes of many Asiatics as a fit champion to
+redeem their fortunes in a conflict with Russia. Excusable as their
+enthusiasm undoubtedly was, it is tolerably certain that the power of
+Yakoob Beg was exaggerated both by the adulation of his friends and by
+the nervous susceptibilities of the Russians. It is noteworthy that
+Russia proved herself on one occasion to be quite as liable to this
+latter disease as England is assumed to be.
+
+To Baron Kaulbars, the explorer of the sources of the Syr Darya, was
+entrusted the delicate mission of representing the Russian government
+for the first time at the court of the Athalik Ghazi, and to no better
+diplomatist could it have been consigned. He set out from Kuldja early
+in May, 1872, carrying with him a large collection of presents for the
+ruler and his chief advisers, and arrived in Kashgar without any mishap
+in June of the same year. Here he was received in the most cordial
+manner, and the consideration and hospitality exhibited towards him by
+the ruler were beyond all expectation. In the picturesque phraseology
+of the East, the Athalik Ghazi, at his first audience with Baron
+Kaulbars, said, "Sit upon my knees, on my bosom, or where ye like; for
+ye are guests sent me from heaven." The most complete freedom of action
+was accorded, for the first time, to all the members of the embassy, and
+two merchants who had accompanied it for the purpose of exploring the
+country received a safe-conduct to go on to Yarkand and Khoten. Yakoob
+Beg scarcely attempted to conceal his gratification at the presence of
+the Russians; possibly his pleasure chiefly arose from such an
+unmistakable admission of his skill as a diplomatist. But in every way
+facilities were afforded his visitors for seeing all objects of interest
+round Kashgar. Reviews were held in honour of the occasion, and as there
+happened to be a considerable number of troops in the vicinity, passing
+through to operate against the Tungani beyond Kucha, the show was
+imposing enough. The Russians were favourably impressed by what they
+saw, and Baron Kaulbars expressed himself surprised at the military
+exactitude with which the manoeuvres were carried out. Yakoob Beg,
+always open to flattery, exclaimed in an enthusiastic moment, "I look
+upon the Russians as my dearest friends; if I had not, should I have
+shown you my military power? Assuredly it is not usual even with you to
+make known one's actual condition to an enemy." Matters were now in a
+fair way to a pleasant solution. Baron Kaulbars and Yakoob Beg were
+mutually delighted; but, after the time for pleasant talk had expired,
+it was necessary that some definite arrangements should be drawn up for
+the political and commercial relations of the two countries in the
+future.
+
+The chief objects the Russians had in view when they sent Baron Kaulbars
+to Kashgar were three. In the first place they wanted to acquire general
+information about that state, and to discover whether Yakoob Beg was as
+powerful as report had asserted. In the second, they wished to put their
+relations on such a recognized basis with him that they might know what
+policy he was disposed to adopt in Turkestan and Kuldja; and in the
+third they desired to secure the monopoly of the trade of his state, so
+that they might forestall British enterprise, already beginning to
+direct its attention to this quarter, since the journeys of Messrs. Shaw
+and Forsyth. The last of these was the easiest to obtain, and the
+Athalik Ghazi considered all the Russian proposals with regard to trade
+in a very amicable spirit; but with regard to the second _desideratum_
+nothing but the vaguest generalities could all the tact and ingenuity of
+Kaulbars succeed in obtaining from his host. The first object was amply
+secured, in so far as geographical and scientific information was
+concerned; but the precautions taken by the Athalik Ghazi to deceive the
+Russians as to his power and hold on the country appear to have been
+successful. Baron Kaulbars certainly confirmed much that had previously
+rested on mere hearsay; the question is rather, did he not vouch for
+more than his experience justified him in doing? The result of his
+mission was, that the Athalik Ghazi was elevated to a position on a
+level with the Ameer of Cabul, and there is no doubt whatever that such
+a comparison was not warranted by the facts. A treaty was signed by the
+Athalik Ghazi and Baron Kaulbars, on the 2nd of June, 1872, but
+according to the Old Style, still adopted by the Russians, this was the
+21st of May, St. Constantine's day. There are two stories with respect
+to this coincidence, and there is as much evidence for one version as
+there is for the other.
+
+It was said at the time that Yakoob Beg was so desirous of showing his
+goodwill to the Russians that he had insisted on signing it on that day
+in honour of the Grand Duke Constantine. Now there were two or three
+improbabilities in this statement that struck several observers. In the
+first place it was extremely improbable that Yakoob Beg knew it was St.
+Constantine's day at all; and again, in the second place he was quite as
+probably ignorant of the existence of a Grand Duke Constantine. At all
+events, there was no valid reason why a Central Asian ruler should
+conceive that his politeness to that Grand Duke in particular would
+demonstrate his desire to be on good terms with Russians in general. The
+other version, which, like many other circumstances, has only leaked out
+in the pages of Mr. Schuyler, is altogether more probable, and is not
+open to the same objections. According to this, it was Baron Kaulbars,
+who of course was aware of the saint's day, who demanded that the treaty
+should bear that date, and who, as soon as it was signed, sent off a
+message to General Kaufmann saying that the Athalik Ghazi, out of
+friendship to that general, had specially requested that the treaty
+should be signed on that day in honour of General Kaufmann's patron
+saint. However flattered that distinguished general and governor may
+have felt at the delicate attention of his ambassador, he had to decline
+the proposed honour; and in the despatch that was sent to St.
+Petersburg, describing the event, the name of the Grand Duke Constantine
+was substituted for his own. There is little doubt that this is the
+correct statement, and it certainly suggests quite a revelation as to
+the system in Russian Asia of making things pleasant and agreeable to
+one another, always, however, assuming that there be an exceptional
+degree of power and pomp reserved for his Excellency General Kaufmann.
+
+Soon after the signature of this treaty, which bears the name of its
+framer, Baron Kaulbars took his departure, with many expressions of
+friendship and goodwill from the Athalik Ghazi. Arrangements were,
+however, made, before he left, for an envoy to visit Tashkent from
+Yakoob Beg. This ambassador took with him the signed stipulations to be
+ratified, and was received at Tashkent with every demonstration of amity
+and respect. So certain did the Russian government appear that their
+relations with Kashgar would, if only for a short period, be
+satisfactory, that special care was taken to make a favourable
+impression on the Kashgarian envoy, and after a short residence in the
+capital of Turkestan, the nephew of Yakoob Beg, Hadji Torah, who had
+followed the train of the treaty on a special mission, went on to St.
+Petersburg, where he was entertained by the Czar, taken to the reviews,
+and treated in a most hospitable and princely fashion. The contrast
+between the reception accorded to him in 1873 and that to Shadi Mirza in
+1869 clearly marks the difference that was considered in well-informed
+official circles to have taken place in their relations with Kashgar.
+
+We have now to consider whether the Russian Government was justified in
+assuming so confidently that it had secured the permanent friendship of
+the Mahomedan ruler of Eastern Turkestan. On concluding his visit at St.
+Petersburg, Hadji Torah turned south, and after stopping for a brief
+delay at Moscow and Odessa, he arrived in Constantinople, where he
+already had many friends and connections. Without inquiring too deeply
+into his actions at the Imperial City--for of them the reader will be
+able to judge best by the sequel--we will here simply observe, that
+having also concluded his residence on the Golden Horn, he took passage
+by the Suez Canal for India, and arrived there in time to join the
+mission of Sir Douglas Forsyth, then on its way to Kashgar. Hadji Torah
+therefore brought to his uncle a vast amount of information concerning
+the three Powers chiefly concerned in the fortunes of Kashgar--Russia,
+Turkey, and England. But even before his return home, fresh
+disagreements had broken out between Russia and Yakoob Beg. The year
+1872 had not closed, before the Athalik Ghazi concluded some secret
+negotiations that had been pending for some time with the Sultan, and
+this champion of Islam appeared in a new and holier light to Asiatics as
+Emir, or Ameer. He acknowledged the suzerainty of the Porte; and, not
+content with this formal declaration, gave an extra significance to the
+event by issuing a fresh coinage, bearing on one side the head of Abdul
+Aziz. The Russians were, it can well be imagined, displeased at this
+alliance between two Mahomedan states which might both be considered
+hostile to their interests, and a very large party in military circles
+clamoured for an expedition to be sent at once against the insolent
+Mussulman. At one moment it seemed as if this bellicose party was to
+gain the day, for the testimony of all the officers and merchants who
+had visited Kashgar showed that each day Yakoob Beg was becoming more
+formidable. Prompt measures were pressed on the government of Tashkent,
+and General Kaufmann seemed half disposed to acquiesce in the proposal
+to inflict summary chastisement on the Athalik Ghazi. Fortunately for
+Kashgar, the Khan of Khiva had been an older offender in the eyes of the
+Russians, and the Home Government peremptorily forbade any steps being
+taken in the regions bordering on the Chinese Empire. It is sufficiently
+clear that the moderation of the home authorities was a wiser policy
+than the impulsive demands of certain officers in Tashkent; but it is
+not so evident why Yakoob Beg abstained from appearing in the _role_ of
+the liberator of Khokand, at so opportune a moment as that afforded by
+the great expedition against Khiva in 1873. The treaty of Baron Kaulbars
+had stipulated for the free admission of Russian merchants into the
+state on the payment of a 2-1/2 per cent. _ad valorem_ duty. Not only
+was there to be no further exaction, but good treatment was guaranteed
+to such Russian subjects as desired to travel in Kashgar, and who came
+provided with a passport, and permission to travel, from a Russian
+governor. During Baron Kaulbars' residence in the country, nothing could
+be more considerate than the treatment extended towards the members of
+his suite, and the merchants who went on to Yarkand were afforded
+facilities for disposing of the small stock of merchandise which they
+had brought with them on this journey. This friendly reception of such
+merchants as came to Kashgar was maintained during the period over which
+these negotiations extended down to the departure of Yakoob Beg's own
+ambassador from Russian territory; but with the arrival of Hadji Torah
+at Constantinople, and the proclamation of the fact that Yakoob Beg had
+been elevated to the dignified position of Emir by the Sultan of Roum, a
+change came over the spirit of his policy towards Russia. Indeed, Yakoob
+Beg saw himself menaced by an unforeseen danger in this treaty of
+commerce. He had formerly been averse to the presence of Russian
+merchants in his state because he regarded them as spies; but now that
+the necessities of his position had to some extent compelled him to
+enter into a formal treaty with their government, he perceived that his
+little state literally ran the risk of being invaded by the Russian
+merchants and traders who flocked to Kuldja for the purpose of
+participating in the spoils to be obtained by trafficking with the
+inhabitants of Eastern Turkestan. He had always been averse to trade. He
+was a warrior, and inclined to feel and to express contempt at the
+juggling tricks of Muscovite or Khitay.
+
+But as the former could provide him with better weapons for his army,
+and warmer clothes for his people, in addition to trinkets for his
+_serai_, their presence, if only they came in limited numbers, and at
+stated intervals, could be tolerated; but when he perceived they were
+about to descend on his state, like so many birds of prey on an
+abandoned carcase, and when he surmised that in all likelihood they
+would endeavour to mix themselves up in the political divisions of
+Kashgar as they had in Bokhara and Khokand, he determined to impose some
+other check on their visits besides that insignificant 2-1/2 per cent.
+on goods that returned a profit of cent. per cent. He had given his
+plighted word, however, that merchants should receive fair treatment,
+and how could he find a loophole to avoid fulfilling what he had
+promised, and yet at the same time escape bringing about an open rupture
+with the Russian Government. The matter required most delicate
+manipulation, but Yakoob Beg proved himself equal to the occasion. It
+was not to be expected, however, that Yakoob Beg could accomplish his
+task of discouraging Russian enterprise without giving some umbrage to
+the government.
+
+Despite the friendly reception of Baron Kaulbars, there still remained
+some uncertainty in the minds of individuals, whether the Athalik Ghazi
+was as sincere in his protestations as he would have it believed. There
+was, consequently, some disinclination among the merchants of Kuldja to
+be the first to send a caravan to Kashgar. They were all willing enough
+to share the profits, but it was a risky experiment all the same; and
+each would prefer that his neighbour should inaugurate the enterprise.
+In commercial circles, there was much discussion on the new state, and
+the prospects of trade therewith, and there was much talk as to "who
+should bell the cat." The hesitation, if indeed so natural a sentiment
+deserves to be specified here, soon passed off, and Mr. Pupyshef, a
+merchant, who had had very large business connections with most parts of
+Central Asia, resolved to send the first consignment of merchandise to
+Kashgar. Mr. Pupyshef was, however, unable to go in person, so his
+caravan set out under the charge of his clerk Somof. It arrived without
+"let or hindrance" in Kashgar, where Mr. Somof was provided with
+accommodation in the Caravanserai specially set apart for foreign
+merchants. But a change was at once perceptible in the sentiments of the
+ruler, as the personal freedom of the members of the expedition was
+curtailed, and all their movements were watched with the most exacting
+surveillance; and the residence of Mr. Somof was brief in the extreme,
+for the Athalik Ghazi himself bought up the whole of his stock of
+merchandise. Viewed as a commercial speculation, this result should have
+been eminently satisfactory; the Russian merchant had to experience no
+loss from delay in finding a purchaser for his articles. There was,
+however, another matter to be taken into consideration, and that was the
+mode of payment by the purchaser. Mr. Somof received so many Chinese
+coins at a value fixed by the Ameer himself, and Mr. Pupyshef, on the
+return of his representative, estimated the loss at 15,000 roubles. The
+Russian government took up the case of their subject, and presented a
+remonstrance at Kashgar, demanding the immediate restitution of the loss
+incurred by the Russian merchant. Yakoob Beg's reply to this summary
+request was a model of courtesy and tact. He denied altogether that Mr.
+Somof had in any way been interfered with. That gentleman was always at
+perfect liberty to do what, and to go where, he pleased, and he was
+quite mistaken in supposing that he, the Ameer, had purchased his goods.
+The Badaulet had nothing whatever to do with trade, which he left
+entirely to his subjects. He was simply a warrior and a follower of the
+Prophet. He had nevertheless instituted inquiries into the matter, and
+he had discovered that some of his officers, who should be punished, had
+purchased the merchandise in his name, hoping thereby to obtain it at a
+cheaper rate. The Athalik Ghazi expressed his regret at the occurrence,
+and would be most happy to refund whatever sum the Russian government
+considered their subject had lost by the transaction. A commission was
+appointed at Tashkent, to inquire into all the circumstances of the
+case, and after some discussion the demand of Mr. Pupyshef was reduced
+from 15,000 to 12,000 roubles. The Ameer acquiesced in the decision, but
+many months elapsed before Mr. Pupyshef received his money, and then it
+was again in a depreciated Chinese coinage. We are justified in assuming
+that this was all planned, and that the obstacles thrown in the path of
+Mr. Pupyshef were part and parcel of a systematic attempt to disgust
+Russian merchants with Kashgar. The Russian government, too, was
+afforded no clear case for complaint, as Yakoob Beg expressed his regret
+without reserve for the occurrence, all the responsibility of which he
+shifted on to the shoulders of some of "his officials whom he had
+ordered to be punished." He paid without a murmur the fair demands of
+Mr. Pupyshef, and if there was some delay in the refunding of the money,
+it must be attributed to the poverty of his exchequer, and not to any
+want of goodwill. The burden of his complaint was, "I am a poor prince;
+my country is impoverished by the wars that have occurred since the
+departure of the Chinese; and you will find little therein to repay you
+for your trouble and expense in entering it. Why therefore will you
+persist in coming to it? You can do neither yourselves nor my people any
+good by doing so, and you only cause me anxiety and trouble in
+preserving your countrymen from insult and injury, which you must admit
+I have ever done." There was an under-current of truth in this statement
+of the case, although it was not credited in Kuldja, where everything
+that went amiss was set down to the hostility of the Ameer. Yakoob Beg
+had, however, succeeded in throwing cold water on the enthusiastic
+preparations that were being made for exploiting Eastern Turkestan, and
+his mode of doing so had been quite original and characteristic. Few
+rulers would have foreseen that the best way to get rid of a troublesome
+visitor was to purchase what he had brought to sell to the people; and
+that the simple remedy of paying in a questionable currency would
+suffice to deter hundreds from following the example of Mr. Somof.
+Yakoob Beg, however, was not satisfied with leaving well alone. Having
+paid the claim of Mr. Pupyshef, it might have been supposed that he
+would maintain a discreet silence on his intentions in the future with
+regard to Russian merchants. He might have let the question, indeed,
+find, as it would have found, its own solution; but, in a weak moment,
+to place his own _bona fides_ beyond suspicion, he desired the Russian
+government to send another merchant to Kashgar, and then it could judge
+by his reception whether the Ameer was not amicably disposed towards his
+"close allies," the Russians. The Russian authorities took him at his
+word, and after an interval of more than twelve months, during which
+Kashgar had been unvisited by a Russian merchant, another, a Mr.
+Morozof, came to put Yakoob Beg's assertions to the test. True to his
+word, the reception of this gentleman was most cordial. Facilities were
+placed in his way for getting purchasers of his articles, and the Ameer
+bought for his arsenals such of them as seemed suitable. Mr. Morozof
+returned to Kuldja, narrating how cordially he had been welcomed by the
+ruler himself, and how the enterprise had commercially been a success.
+Others followed his example, and during the last two and a half years of
+his rule Russian merchandise, either through Russian or native agents,
+found its way in considerable quantities into Kashgar. But this trade
+was always liable to periods of depression through the clouds that
+frequently darkened the political horizon, and the Russians did not
+derive the advantages from trade with this state, that they had
+previously convinced themselves they were to do. Indeed, English
+manufactures, after the year 1873, entered into keen competition with
+theirs in the cities of Kashgar, and had driven their goods out of the
+market of Yarkand at all events before the close of the year 1876. But
+this fact only served to impress more forcibly on the Russians the
+necessity either for annexing Kashgaria or establishing on its throne
+some puppet, who would be content with the post of deputy of the Czar.
+Indeed, many suggested that the Chinese should be brought back; but then
+they were so far off, and apparently so weak. The party advocating the
+absorption of Kashgaria every day became stronger and more pronounced;
+and all observers agree that it was only a question of time when the
+imperial fiat should go forth for the extinction of the rule of Yakoob
+Beg. Colonel Reinthal was sent in 1874, to endeavour to place matters on
+a more hopeful footing, but with little success. In addition to the
+question of trade privileges, the Russians, in negotiating with native
+states, or securing treaties at the point of the sword, always demanded
+the right of having consular agents in the chief cities of the state.
+The ostensible duty of these official representatives was to look after
+the interests of their government, and to protect the lives and property
+of Russian subjects as best they might be able. So far as these very
+necessary functions were concerned, Russia had a perfect right in
+demanding these safeguards, when such were deemed to be required. But
+unfortunately for the reputation of that country, the experience of
+Asiatics had amply demonstrated that these declared duties were the
+least important part of their office.
+
+Their secret instructions were to lose no opportunity of discovering the
+drift of public sentiment in the state where they were stationed; to
+learn all the ramifications of the dynastic intrigues that unfortunately
+form the chief incidents in the history of these states, and to promote,
+by every means at their disposal, the interests of the great empire into
+whose service they had been admitted. When such latitude was allowed in
+their instructions, and so many private and public inducements were
+offered to raise their zeal, it cannot be matter of surprise if we find
+the government informed promptly of the shiftings of public opinion in
+the independent and semi-independent Khanates of Central Asia. Yakoob
+Beg was keenly alive to the dangers that would arise to him personally
+from the introduction of such a system into Kashgar, where the
+discordant elements out of which he had welded a military organization
+were far from being completely healed. If the presence of a mirza in
+Khokand and Bokhara had entailed a decade of troubles and of gradual
+subjection, what was he to expect, a mere military adventurer and a
+foreigner in the land, from their presence in Eastern Turkestan? But
+Baron Kaulbars had demanded this concession, perhaps more than any
+other, and Yakoob Beg had to yield something in form, if he did not
+surrender much in substance, to the importunities of his visitor. As a
+great favour he consented to the appointment of _caravanbashis_, or
+superintendents of the personal comforts of the merchants when they
+should arrive; but a _caravan-bashi_ was an uneducated, unimportant
+personage, from whom nothing need be feared. This did not at all please
+the Russian administrators, and all their subsequent efforts were mainly
+devoted to the attempt to obtain an alteration of this unimportant
+personage into the prying and inquisitive _mirza_. To defeat their
+design Yakoob Beg was no less firmly resolved, and the history of the
+embassies, from that of Baron Kaulbars to that of Captain Kuropatkine,
+was one long course of fruitless efforts to force the hand of the
+Athalik Ghazi on this point. Colonel Reinthal was sent in 1874, after
+the successful journey of Mr. Morozof, to see if any better arrangement
+could be attained, but, although the Ameer entertained him very
+hospitably, he fared no better than any of his predecessors. In that
+year, too, Yakoob Beg's position had become firmer in his own state. The
+Tungani had been driven back north of the Tian Shan beyond Turfan, and
+into the regions east of Lake Lob; the disaffection, too, in the cities
+of Kucha and Korla was also, to all appearance, dying out; but, above
+all, the vast aegis of English protection had appeared to be thrown over
+the integrity of his state. However unjustified this supposition was by
+the treaty with Sir Douglas Forsyth, the Ameer made as much use as
+possible of his new-found ally; and the large section of Anglo-Indians,
+and authorities in this country on the affairs of Central Asia, who,
+either out of sympathy for the man, or from a belief in the identity of
+British interests with his cause, proclaimed the advisability of
+supporting him against Russian aggression, gave a colourable excuse to
+his declaration that England had extended for the first time in her
+Trans-Himalayan policy her protection to a native state lying north of
+her natural frontier. The Russian governments in Siberia and Turkestan,
+emphatically cautioned by their Foreign Office to give this country no
+cause for umbrage, were at first inclined to make that assertion an
+excuse for pushing their friendly relations with the Ameer; but their
+advances were not reciprocated, and as it became more clear that the
+importance of the Forsyth mission had been greatly exaggerated by the
+representations of the Ameer, the language of the Russian authorities
+became once more peremptory and menacing. In short, matters after more
+than two years' discussion had retrogressed to the condition they were
+in before the Kaulbars treaty. The Russians had not obtained their chief
+desire, the establishment of consular agents in Kashgar, and Yakoob Beg,
+as in the past, boldly met threat with threat. Relying on his increased
+reputation as the most orthodox and the most puissant of Mahomedans in
+Central Asia, and confident that England would intervene between the
+Russians and the collapse of his state, he even went so far as to temper
+his defiant, and almost bellicose, attitude with such irony as the
+following incident is a characteristic specimen of. Early in the year
+1874 the Duke of Edinburgh married Marie Alexandrovna, the only daughter
+of the Czar; and Yakoob Beg seized the occasion to send a message of
+congratulation to the Czar of All the Russias on the auspicious
+event--saying, that he had heard that the son of his good ally, the
+Queen of England and of India, was about to wed the daughter of his
+friend the Czar, and that he hastened to send him his congratulations
+upon the event. To this effusive epistle no reply was deigned, and it is
+doubtful whether it ever got farther than Tashkent. There is no
+difficulty in arriving at the conclusion that such exhibitions as this
+is an instance of detraction from the otherwise great and striking
+characteristics of the ruler of Kashgar. His opposition to Russia was
+most laudable; his maintenance of his privileges as an independent ruler
+was prudent and worthy of our respect; but his petty insults to Russia
+were neither wise nor dignified. He was clearly in the right in
+checking the aggressive instincts of Russia, clothed in the specious
+garb of commercial advantage; he commands not less our admiration for
+the energetic and persistent manner in which he thwarted every endeavour
+to introduce Russian espionage and intrigue into Kashgaria; but why
+should he have weakened the effect of these splendid achievements, why
+should he have risked all he had secured, by so senseless an insult as
+the message to the Czar that has been just referred to?
+
+The authorities in Tashkent, perceiving that it was doubtful whether
+English public opinion was ripe yet for an active interference in
+Central Asia, reverted, despite all orders from the home authorities to
+the contrary, to their original intention of coercing the ruler of
+Kashgar. In 1874, therefore, all preparations for commencing the
+campaign in the approaching spring were made ready. Provisions and
+munitions of war were despatched to Naryn, and an auxiliary division was
+to make a flank movement by the Terek Pass on the west. It has been laid
+to the charge of the Russian generals in Asia, that expeditions are
+arranged for their mutual advantage, both in obtaining higher rank and
+orders. So seriously bitten had every officer since Perovsky become by
+the desire for promotion and distinction, that the disease became
+generally known as the St. George or the St. Ann Cross fever. Now during
+the seven years previous to the date at which we have arrived, if there
+had been a fair share of distinction and spoil for the soldiers and the
+lower ranks of the officers, some of those in higher posts considered
+that they were aggrieved by the monopoly of supreme credit obtained by
+General Kaufmann. This, indeed, had shown itself very clearly after the
+fall of Khiva, a success for which Kaufmann obtained all the credit, and
+yet towards which the division under his command contributed little or
+nothing. The etiquette, too, maintained in the little court at Tashkent,
+and the semi-regal state observed by the successful general, were
+irksome to officers more accustomed to the licence of a camp than to the
+punctilio of a palace. Nor were there wanting more sinister motives
+still among some of the chief general officers who filled the
+subordinate posts in the service of the Czar's representative. Prominent
+among them was the youthful Scobelef, who, burning to distinguish
+himself, clamoured loudly for some expedition which, when accomplished
+successfully, would be recompensed with the Cross of St. George. Strong
+as General Kaufmann may really be in the good opinion of his superiors,
+he was unable to resist, if he were inclined, the demands pressed upon
+him by Scobelef and his father, and the more warlike portion of his
+forces. It is said, that in addition to these palpable reasons there
+were others touching the family rivalries of the Kaufmanns and
+Scobelefs, who appear to have been at feud with each other when younger
+men in the service of the palace, when Nicholas was Czar. To remove
+these differences, and to satisfy the demands of his other subordinates,
+General Kaufmann consented that an expedition should be arranged against
+Kashgar, and entrusted to the command of the younger Scobelef. Towards
+the end of 1874 the war-cloud was drawing ominously over the Athalik
+Ghazi, and to all observers it seemed as if it were about to break with
+destructive violence on his devoted head. Loudly was it asserted that
+nothing but British intervention would save him, and it was only too
+clear that England's policy would be guided by events. The Viceroy had
+certainly not advised that an active participation should be undertaken
+in this question. The failure, too, of the Granville-Gortschakoff
+negotiations to define a neutral zone had convinced this country of the
+inutility of solving the question between the two countries by treaty.
+But it was not clear that, even if Kashgar were to fall into the power
+of Russia, our interests would suffer so much as to justify us in
+adopting an extreme remedy. The path being thus left clear for Russia
+to strike, every precaution was taken by Generals Kaufmann and Scobelef
+that the blow should be sharp and decisive. Not fewer than 20,000
+Russian troops in all were to be directed against Yakoob Beg, who too
+late now attempted some concessions to his neighbours. Such troops as he
+could raise were massed in the neighbourhood of Kashgar, while another
+force under his son was stationed at Aksu. But of the result there could
+not be two opinions. Very few weeks' respite remained to the intended
+victim, when an event occurred which changed the whole current of
+Russian thought into a different channel. Yakoob Beg was saved by the
+outbreak of disturbances in Khokand, and, although the Russians never
+acknowledged that they were so serious as to prevent them persisting in
+their Kashgarian enterprise, still gradually the troops who had been
+despatched to the frontier were recalled, and those who had been ordered
+to set out for Naryn were retained in Tashkent and Hodjent, the two
+towns chiefly threatened. Although this event is not part of Kashgarian
+history, yet it performed so useful a function to that state, which
+indeed it may be said to have saved, that some brief account of it here
+may not be unwelcome.
+
+Khudayar Khan, after the death of Alim Kuli, his hostile minister, in
+1865, had been reinstated in his possession of Khokand, partly by the
+efforts of his own faction, and partly by Russian assistance. From that
+year to the year 1875 he was _de facto_ as he was _de jure_ Khan of
+Khokand, and, although imbroiled on several occasions with Russia and
+with his own subjects in those ten years, he still maintained a nominal
+independence in the western half of Khokand, with his capital at the
+city of the same name. For some reason, however, this Khan never was
+popular. So far as we know concerning him, he does not appear to have
+been any way worse than his neighbours; but one party in the state
+accused him of being a tool of the Russians, while another, urged on by
+the agents employed by that government, declared that he was gradually
+drifting the country into a hopeless contest with that Power. Widespread
+throughout the state there was dissatisfaction at his rule, and the
+occasion afforded by a commotion among the Kirghiz was eagerly seized by
+his subjects to rise for the purpose of subverting his power. At first
+this movement seemed to possess no importance for the Russians, and was
+regarded as one of those dynastic squabbles that had become too ordinary
+an occurrence to occasion any surprise. The insurrectionary party, too,
+had put on the throne Nasruddin, the eldest son of the Khan, a youth who
+was supposed to be friendly to Russia, and who was not likely to prove
+in any way formidable, having become passionately addicted to _vodka_
+drinking. But behind this ostensible ruler there were others who aspired
+to greater eminence than the king-makers of a petty state like Khokand.
+Chief among these was Khudayar's brother-in-law, Abderrahman Aftobatcha,
+who was entrusted with the chief control of the military arrangements.
+This chief was the son of Mussulman Kuli, the Kipchak minister of
+Khudayar's earlier days. Either incredulous of the maintenance of a
+neutral attitude by Russia, or urged on by a patriotic impulse to free
+the enslaved portion of Khokand, these confederates issued a
+proclamation of war against General Kaufmann. The border districts rose
+in response to the proclamation, the communications between Tashkent and
+Hodjent were severed, and confusion for a time reigned supreme within
+the Russian possessions. The Khokandian forces hesitated to make any
+serious attack and wasted their time in useless depredations in the
+mountains. Had a prompt move been made on Tashkent, or even on Hodjent,
+the insurrection might have been successful. Bokhara might have struck
+in at the critical moment, and Yakoob Beg awoke from the lethargy into
+which his warlike spirit was sinking. Such was not to be, however; and
+gradually the Russian scare wore off. Colonel Scobelef scoured the
+country with his Cossacks; telegraphic communication was restored
+between Hodjent and Tashkent; and the country was rapidly cleared of the
+rebels. The fugitives who had accompanied Khudayar in his flight were
+sent to the rear, and reinforcements were hastily summoned to take part
+in the necessary offensive measures against Khokand. It will be
+sufficient here to say that, having been defeated in the fight at
+Makhram and several other small engagements, the party of Nasruddin and
+Aftobatcha sued for peace. This was granted, but Khokand became the
+Russian province of Ferghana, Colonel Scobelef was raised to a
+major-general, and obtained his Cross of St. George by the battle of
+Makhram. This event, generally known as the revolt of the Khokandians
+against Russia of 1875, marks an important era, for it convinced the
+Khokandians and other Asiatics that any attempt to obtain their liberty,
+short of a concerted and organized movement, would be fruitless. There
+has been no renewal of the attempt that then failed, but which ought to
+have achieved more success.
+
+To the discord unhappily existent among its victims has Russia been
+chiefly indebted for the facility with which her Asiatic conquests have
+been acquired, and to the same ally it seems probable that she will be
+chiefly indebted for their preservation. There is no clearer evidence of
+this than the history of this last war with Khokand. But when we
+endeavour to divide the share of culpability for this dissension, we are
+on this occasion bound to admit that the chief blame attaches to Yakoob
+Beg. More than any other Asiatic ruler had he assumed to himself the
+title of general protector of his religion and his order, against the
+conquering strides of Russia; more than any other had he fostered, by
+his bold and defiant attitude towards that state, the belief that there
+still remained some hope of coping with the danger by a united league of
+Central Asian states; more than any other had he seemed to justify this
+aspiration; and more than any other must he be held culpable when he
+permitted the moment that seemed most auspicious to slip by unutilized.
+Moreover, when this insurrection broke out in Khokand, he had made every
+preparation to defend himself against a Russian invasion. He saw the
+Russians compelled, by the very necessities of their position, to call
+off their forces to other quarters, and yet he abstained from striking a
+blow in defence of those interests which he had ever declared were most
+sacred to him. It is impossible to explain such apathy on so important
+an occasion as this was; and his refusal to strike in on the side of
+Aftobatcha must remain the greatest blot on an otherwise brilliant
+reputation. With the collapse of that effort, and the subsequent
+occupation of Ferghana, Russian attention seemed to become more occupied
+with the state of affairs on the Oxus and in Cabul, than with the
+fortunes or misfortunes of Kashgar. During the few months that
+intervened between the annexation of Khokand and the appearance of the
+Chinese north of the Tian Shan, Yakoob Beg adopted a more conciliatory
+policy towards Russia, and might in a short time have sunk into the
+position of a somewhat more important Khudayar or Mozaffur Eddin. Other
+events intervened, however, and gave a complete change to the question,
+as will be considered in a later chapter. We take our leave of this
+narrative of his dealings with Russia with an admiration that would be
+perfect but for the weakness he exhibited in 1875. Even that vacillation
+will scarcely destroy all the claim that his bold defiance and
+consistent opposition to all Russian pretensions to supremacy over
+Eastern Turkestan gives him to our respectful and admiring
+consideration.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+YAKOOB BEG'S RELATIONS WITH ENGLAND.
+
+
+In describing the relations that subsisted between England and Kashgar,
+while under the rule of Yakoob Beg, there will be no necessity for us to
+enter so deeply into the under-currents that guided those relations, as
+was necessary in the preceding chapter, where we detailed the rivalry of
+Russia and Kashgar. While England could hold out a hand of friendship to
+the Athalik Ghazi, because he sought to please us by making commercial
+concessions, Russia felt doubly piqued with the man who for long refused
+her a similar foothold, and who, for a brief space, went still farther
+in his defiance, secure--as he thought--under British protection. Our
+government could not fail to see, in the bold conduct of this ruler, the
+result of a mistaken notion of what it would do in the event of a war in
+Central Asia, and it strove to bring home to the mind of Yakoob Beg and
+his emissaries a sense of our determination not to interfere beyond the
+Karakoram. Looking back now on the old legends that successive
+travellers brought us from Eastern Turkestan, where such strange things
+had been wrought, where the Chinese had been expelled, and a new king
+from Khokand enthroned, and regarding them in the light of our greatly
+extended information, even since Mr. Shaw penned his interesting volume
+on High Tartary, it will not be without some interest to trace back the
+story of how Yakoob Beg's name first became known to us, and how, for
+eight or nine years, a large section of Englishmen wove a romance round
+his name, and converted "the land of the six cities" into a fertile and
+populous region, which might serve as a barrier to Russian progress, and
+which, like Cabul elsewhere, should extend as another "cushion" from the
+mountains of Hindostan to the Celestial range of the Chinese. Those
+dreams have vanished now, and in their place has risen up the very
+unromantic and matter-of-fact spectacle of a Chinese triumph.
+
+Whoever has chanced to reside in the valleys of the Himalaya--Mr. Shaw
+is the authority--must experience a desire to know of the countries
+beyond that range. The desire is natural, but the obstacles of nature
+are stupendous. To enter Tibet has been the object of numerous
+Englishmen, from the time of Warren Hastings, yet that object has been
+only attained by three of our countrymen, the latest sixty-six years
+ago. There are forty or fifty passes of various degrees of
+practicability leading into Tibet from Nepaul, Sikhim, and Bhutan; and
+to act as a spur to the explorer there is a highly civilized and
+peaceable race just beyond our border of whom we know scarcely anything.
+Yet the vision of Warren Hastings and of Thomas Manning remains
+unfulfilled.
+
+North of the Karakoram there were no similar incentives. Mr. Moorcroft
+who, fifty years ago, resided in Ladakh, does not appear to have
+manifested any desire to pierce the iron barrier to the north, although
+towards Ruduk and Tibet he turned as if irresistibly fascinated. The
+character which the brothers Michell gave Little Bokhara, or Eastern
+Turkestan, expressed a fact, which long deterred any traveller from
+attempting to explore it. "Little Bokhara," they said, "was a country
+where every man carried his life in his hand, and there were indubitable
+excuses for each successive traveller who recoiled before the hardships
+and dangers of a journey through that country." But although no
+Englishman traversed the dizzy passes of the Karakoram and the Kuen Lun,
+now and then the people from Sanju, Khoten, and the neighbourhood came
+to Ladakh, where they brought intelligence of the political events that
+were taking place further north. Their intelligence was often completely
+false, it was always vague and exaggerated, but it, at all events, told
+us whether peace or war, satisfaction or dissatisfaction, was the
+existing circumstance in Eastern Turkestan. It was known in a general
+sense that China was the nominal ruler of this vast region; but the
+exact relations China held there, how she conquered the country and
+when, and by what means she retained her conquest, all these were
+unascertained. There had, indeed, been one break in this state of
+darkness when the learned traveller, Adolph Schlagintweit, in 1857,
+penetrated, with a few native followers, into Kashgar. The initial
+difficulties were successfully overcome, and fortune seemed at first
+disposed to smile upon his enterprise. Herr Schlagintweit had come,
+however, at a singularly inopportune moment. The Khoja Wali Khan had
+just invaded Kashgar, and his forces had spread as far south as Yarkand,
+when the traveller approached that city. He appears to have been able to
+report himself to the Aksakal, representing Cashmere at Yarkand, who, in
+turn, communicated with the Chinese Amban, for permission for him to
+enter the city; but while detained outside the walls he was captured by
+a roving party of Wali Khan's army. He was at once hurried off to Wali
+Khan's head-quarters at Kashgar, where that despot, in a fit of fury,
+brought about by excess in "bang," ordered him to be executed. His
+followers escaped, and brought back the tale of his death to Ladakh.
+
+Such was the untoward fate of the first explorer of Kashgar. In the
+course of the early summer of 1868, it became generally known that the
+Chinese had been driven out of Kashgar, and that Yakoob Beg was ruling
+the country, under the title, conferred upon him by the Ameer of
+Bokhara, of Athalik Ghazi. He had sent a sort of semi-official
+messenger, Mahomed Nazzar, in that year into the Punjab, to take notes,
+as it were, of our dominions. Mr. Shaw, in Ladakh, had heard of the
+recent changes in Eastern Turkestan, and mentioned to this envoy on his
+return the desire he had to visit Kashgar, and see the widely famed
+Athalik Ghazi. The envoy received the proposition with enthusiastic
+approval, but it was considered more prudent to await the formal assent
+of the ruler himself. After overcoming the difficulties that beset his
+task, with prompt resolution Mr. Shaw entered the dominions of the
+Athalik Ghazi in December, 1868, being the first Englishman who had ever
+entered Little Bokhara. His reception was singularly cordial, and
+everything that the officials could do to make his sojourn in the
+country pleasant to him was done. One and all of the Khokandian
+dignitaries received him as a friend and a brother; and even Mahomed
+Yunus, Dadkwah of Yarkand, the second man in the kingdom, treated him in
+a spirit of marked cordiality. It should be remembered that Mr. Shaw
+went there without any official _status_ whatever, and simply as an
+English traveller. Of course, it was the best policy for the Kashgarian
+rulers to greet him hospitably, and prove that they had completely
+pacified Eastern Turkestan; but in pointing out the hospitable reception
+that was given to Mr. Shaw, it is impossible to detract from its merit
+by referring to such latent political motives as these. Yakoob Beg
+received the English traveller in special audience at Kashgar, and
+treated him in the most cordial manner. On Mr. Shaw offering him a few
+presents that he had brought from India, such as rifles, &c., the ruler
+laughed, and said, "What need is there of presents between you and me?
+We are already friends, and your safe arrival has been sufficient
+satisfaction to me." During Mr. Shaw's residence in Kashgar, which
+extended over a period of three months, he had three interviews with the
+Athalik Ghazi, who on each occasion became, if possible, more friendly
+than on the previous one. Mr. Shaw was fairly treated on the whole, and
+has of all writers on Kashgar given us the most graphic description of
+the people and the country. Mr. Shaw's position was to a certain extent
+compromised by the arrival of another Englishman, the lamented Mr.
+Hayward, who was murdered in a somewhat mysterious manner, three or four
+years afterwards, in the neighbourhood of the Cashmerian fortress of
+Gilgit. Both travellers were for a time detained in a sort of honourable
+confinement in Kashgar, but all ended happily, and the first two English
+explorers of Eastern Turkestan returned in perfect safety to Ladakh. The
+result of Mr. Shaw's interesting journey was not made known in England
+until 1871, after he had set out and returned from Kashgar a second
+time, in the first embassy of Mr., now Sir, Douglas Forsyth. The result
+of this visit to Yarkand and Kashgar was almost magnetic. Not only did
+the Indian Government promptly take into its consideration the question
+of what our political relations were to be with the Athalik Ghazi, but
+the whole Anglo-Indian community turned an attentive ear to the stories
+told of the new country. A new avenue for commerce had been opened up,
+and Eastern Turkestan might, after all, prove the true gateway to the
+marts of Bokhara and Kuldja. In our more immediate vicinity there was
+the jade trade of Khoten to be revived, and the wool of Tartary, of
+ancient fame, should alone form a staple article of commerce. For
+Manchester goods and Indian wares there was also a very inviting
+prospect in the thickly populated districts of Yarkand and Kashgar,
+which were at first supposed to contain a much larger population than as
+a matter of fact they did. At first it is probable that the main
+sentiment was one of satisfaction on commercial grounds alone; later on,
+the progress of events in Khokand and Kuldja made the political motives
+appear more prominently before English minds. A trading company was
+formed in conception, but it did not begin operations until several
+years later on, after the signature of the Forsyth treaty, for which,
+and the official regulations concerning the working of that company,
+the reader may be referred to the Appendix of this volume.
+
+Mr. Shaw himself formed a very roseate estimate of the future of the
+trade between India and Kashgar, and participated with all his wonted
+activity in promoting the fortunes of the Yarkand Trading Company from
+his advantageous post at Leh. Although the more sanguine expectations
+were never realized, the company itself was successful, and performed a
+very useful work under no easy circumstances. Its functions are
+suspended during the uncertainty that always follows a change in the
+ruling power of a state, until it is seen what steps are taken by the
+Chinese, or this country, to perpetuate, under the Chinese sway, those
+good feelings which first arose under Yakoob Beg. Many are sceptical of
+the possibility of living on terms of good neighbourship with the
+Chinese, and of carrying on an intercourse, which certainly does not
+exist anywhere along the whole extent of the Anglo-Chinese frontier. But
+these persons will scarcely admit that the Chinese are to blame in this
+respect if we neglect the subject, for Russia by right of several
+treaties, and by right also of diplomatic tact, has a commercial
+_status_ in every northern mart of the Chinese Empire, from Ourga to
+Urumtsi, Manas, Chuguchak, Kuldja and Kashgar. If the Chinese were
+reinstalled in every one of their old possessions, yet Russia would have
+a legal foothold in all those outlying dependencies. English commerce
+must not by any means despair of success in opening up the interior of
+China from the direction of India and Cashmere. In most cases, political
+action generally follows upon commercial enterprise; but in our dealings
+with the Chinese the order is reversed, and political overtures and
+diplomatic arrangements must clear the way for the commerce that must
+infallibly spring up between Hindostan and not only Tartary and Tibet,
+but also the home provinces of Yunnan and Szchuen. The root of the
+difficulty is no doubt to be found in the fact that the Mantchoo caste
+is in many respects as much a race apart from the mass of Chinamen as
+the Norman was in England during the twelfth century. The Mantchoo
+mandarin believes that in some undefined manner the introduction of
+European science and civilization into China would tend to lower his
+influence and political power. But if we are wise, we shall ignore this
+sentiment, and endeavour to reach the people through their legitimate
+authorities, the Tartar conquering race of two centuries and a half ago,
+and not by attempting to influence the rulers by a propagandist crusade
+among the people, as some advise.
+
+Some months after the return of Mr. Shaw to Leh, the Athalik Ghazi, who
+had doubtless considered very attentively that gentleman's suggestion to
+maintain a representative at Lahore, despatched an envoy to India for
+the purpose of expressing his desire for the establishment of friendly
+relations with the British Government, for the development of trade
+between the countries, and for the visit of a British officer to his
+capital. He had fully realized by this time what Mr. Shaw meant by
+saying that he came in no official capacity. If he intended, therefore,
+to reap any reward for the manifestation of his friendship towards
+England, or to be able to play England's alliance off against Russia's
+hostility, he discovered that he must take the initiative. In
+consequence of that discovery, Ihrar Khan came to India, and was
+entertained by our Government in a very friendly manner. It was in
+response to Ihrar Khan's visit that Mr. Forsyth was sent as our first
+envoy to Kashgar, in the following year.
+
+Mr. Forsyth was accompanied by Mr. Shaw, who had volunteered for the
+service, and by Dr. Henderson. He reached Yarkand, by the same route as
+that followed by Mr. Shaw, in safety, and without suffering any great
+amount of inconvenience. But the mission had reached the scene of its
+labours at a very inopportune moment. The Athalik Ghazi had just been
+summoned away to the far eastern frontier to repress hostile movements
+on the part of the Tungan cities of Turfan and Urumtsi, and it was very
+uncertain for how long a time he might be detained there. Mr. Forsyth
+accordingly left Yarkand in the month of September on his return
+journey, without having had an opportunity of settling the future of the
+relations between India and Kashgar. Dr. Henderson, in his "Lahore to
+Yarkand," chronicled the events of this journey to the region north of
+the Himalaya.
+
+The very next year, 1871, Yakoob Beg sent Ihrar Khan once more to India
+to renew his protestations of friendship, entrusting him with letters,
+not only for the Viceroy but also for Her Majesty the Queen. But there
+was no immediate result from this later overture.
+
+In the meanwhile Russia had broken ground more firmly in Eastern
+Turkestan. The treaty of commerce between Russia and her neighbour,
+which had been for several years on the carpet, had at last been signed
+at Kashgar on the 8th of June, 1872. That treaty conceded no
+inconsiderable trade privileges to Russia, for, as will be seen from a
+perusal of its clauses, Russian goods entering the country could not be
+subjected to a higher tax than 2-1/2 per cent. _ad valorem_. In fact,
+but for Yakoob Beg's prudence in restricting the appointment of Russian
+commercial agents in the cities to the inferior _caravan-bashi_, a far
+different personage to the Aksakal, that treaty would have placed
+Kashgar virtually in the possession of General Kaufmann. Even as it was,
+Russia, regarded as a foe, had out-distanced England, who was held to be
+a friend; and for a considerable time afterwards, English commerce,
+which had no status there, hesitated to seek admission into the
+dominions of the Athalik Ghazi.
+
+But the treaty of Baron Kaulbars was in its essence a sham, for no good
+feeling sprang up between the countries; and where there was distrust on
+either side, trade languished, as was to be expected. Two months after
+this treaty, Yakoob Beg sent his nephew, the Seyyid Yakoob Khan, on a
+special embassy to Russia, whence he went on to Constantinople, and
+returned _via_ India. He then had several long discussions with our
+authorities relative to the measures that should be adopted to place
+everything on a friendly footing between Kashgar and ourselves. The
+Sultan had conferred upon the ruler of Kashgar the high title of Emir ul
+Moomineen, and shortly afterwards Yakoob Beg proclaimed himself in
+consequence of that decree Emir or Ameer of Kashgar, under the title of
+Yakoob Khan. It is appropriate here to say something of these two
+titles, Khan and Beg. In this work the ruler of Kashgar has been
+consistently called Beg or prince, and not Khan or lord; and for the
+following reasons. The title of Khan is much higher than that of Beg; it
+is, moreover, hereditary. Gibbon, whose authority in these Central Asian
+matters stands higher than many modern scholars will admit, defines it
+as the distinguishing mark of the descendants of Genghis Khan. His heirs
+and their children became the Khans of Western Asia. The Mongol who
+grafted himself on the Turk and the Usbeg, brought with him the unique
+authority that was vested by public voice in the house of Genghis, the
+Khan of Khans. Now, although in his later days Yakoob Beg, or his
+admirers, invented a lineage for himself back to Timour, consequently
+making him of Mongol descent, it is highly improbable that this mythical
+descent was based on any reliable _data_, nor can we admit any other
+claim to according Yakoob Beg that higher title than one that will stand
+the criticism of history. Yakoob Beg was not free from some of that
+craving that haunts the minds of rulers "born out of the purple" to
+claim cousinship with the select caste of former sovereigns; and the
+visible embodiment of temporal sovereignty in Turkestan was this very
+title of Khan, which has been so much abused in its application.
+
+It is wrong, in a strict sense, to apply the title of Khan to Yakoob
+Beg, although he undoubtedly made use of it during the last three years
+of his reign; but as a matter of mere convenience, it is also
+misleading. On the stage of Asiatic politics there is another Yakoob
+Khan, who is, by descent, a Khan, and possesses qualities not less
+eminent than did his namesake in Eastern Turkestan. Confusion was often
+caused by the confounding of one of these personages with the other,
+whereas if each had been defined by his legitimate title, there would
+have been no misunderstanding. Towards the close of the year 1873, the
+Seyyid Yakoob Khan, who, by descent, could claim the title which was not
+his uncle's, returned to India, where he found that the English mission
+was a few days ahead of him on its journey to Kashgar.
+
+The Indian government had, in the meanwhile, appointed Mr. T. Douglas
+Forsyth as their envoy to Kashgar once more, and, during the summer of
+1873, preparations were busily in progress for the important embassy
+that was to counteract the adverse effects of Baron Kaulbars' treaty. As
+this is the turning-point in Anglo-Kashgarian relations, it is necessary
+to follow it in considerable detail. Upon Mr. Forsyth's embassy depends
+the whole fabric of our policy in, and intercourse with, Eastern
+Turkestan during the past four years. In fact, but for Sir Douglas
+Forsyth's Report and Treaty, even Mr. Shaw's interesting volume and
+intrepid journey would have failed to have preserved the vitality of our
+interest in Kashgar and its ruler.
+
+By the month of July, everything was in readiness for a forward
+movement, but owing to the delay in the arrival of Seyyid Yakoob Khan,
+or Hadji Torah as he was more usually termed, Mr. Forsyth still lingered
+at Murree. Captains Biddulph and Trotter, and Dr. Stoliczka, in the
+meanwhile set out for Leh to explore the routes between that town and
+Shahidoola. These three gentlemen explored the country beyond Ladakh
+very carefully, although it had already been described by Messrs. Shaw
+and Hayward, and Dr. Cayley. Mr. Forsyth and the headquarters, after a
+short stay at Srinagar in Cashmere, arrived at Leh on the 20th of
+September. It may be useful to give here the names of those who
+comprised this important embassy. In the first place there was the envoy
+himself, Mr., now Sir, T. Douglas Forsyth, C.B., and now K.C.S.I. His
+second in command was Lieut.-Colonel T. E. Gordon, C.S.I., who, after
+the prime object of the mission had been accomplished, explored a very
+considerable portion of the Pamir, the result of whose investigations is
+to be found in his work "The Roof of the World." Then came Dr. Bellew,
+C.S.I., Surgeon-Major, entrusted with the medical control of the
+expedition. The three military men--Captains Chapman, Trotter, and
+Biddulph--held various functions; the first as secretary, the latter two
+in scientific capacities. In addition to these there were the learned
+Dr. Stoliczka, who died from the effects of the rarefaction of the
+atmosphere; an English corporal of a Highland regiment, and six native
+officers and skilled assistants. There was also an escort of ten sowars,
+one naick, and ten sepoys furnished by the Corps of Guides.
+
+The appointments of the embassy were also most carefully selected, and
+with special regard to the difficulties that lay before it in the
+obstacles of nature, and the inconveniences attending complete
+dependence on natives for the means of transporting the large quantity
+of _impedimenta_. One hundred mules "of a fair stamp" were accordingly
+purchased in India by Tara Sing, a merchant, and the treasurer to the
+embassy. And these were equipped with saddles and trunks of a special
+pattern, made in the government workshops at Cawnpoor. Altogether, then,
+this English embassy to Kashgar was a very formidable undertaking, and
+in its proportions assumed something of the appearance of a small army;
+in camp there were "300 souls and 400 animals." The day had gone by when
+English travellers entertained doubts of entering Kashgar in company at
+the same time, lest they should arouse the apprehensions of the people.
+Mr. Forsyth came vested with all the authority of his Sovereign and the
+Viceroy, to negotiate a treaty of amity with the ruler of Kashgar, and
+the people generally saw in that fact a guarantee of the preservation of
+their liberties and independence.
+
+So far as Shahidoola, the journey was in a well known region, and
+outside the frontier of Yakoob Beg. At that place the first sign of that
+ruler's power was encountered in the same way as Mr. Shaw, five years
+before, had witnessed the advanced limit of the power of the Athalik
+Ghazi in a southerly direction. A captain of the Kashgarian army,
+Yuzbashi Mahomed Zareef Khan, had been deputed to receive our envoy at
+the frontier, and to give him a hearty welcome. After a rest of four
+days, the whole expedition, advancing in two bodies over the Grim Pass,
+Sanju Devan, entered the inhabited territory of Sanju. Here Hadji Torah,
+who had been travelling "post" after them from India, caught them up,
+and by his tact and real friendship for this country, contributed
+greatly to the complete success of the mission. The passage of the Grim
+Pass, although accomplished with success, was no easy task. Dr. Bellew,
+in his book "Kashmir and Kashgar," gives the following graphic
+description of it, which may be quoted with advantage as showing some of
+the "obstacles of nature" to the advance either of an army or a caravan
+in this quarter:--
+
+"The scene which now burst upon our view is one not easy to describe,
+still less to forget. Immediately on either hand, like the portals of a
+gate, stood bare banks of silver grey slate, which gently spread away on
+each side into the slopes that, inclining together, formed the theatre
+of the spectacle they limited. And immediately in front commenced that
+gentle rise over slabs of slate _debris_--the natural dark hue of which
+was lost in the bright sparkle of its abundant mica--which led at once
+on to the field of our vision. Here, at the foot of the ascent, one
+step took us from the tiresome monotony of the bare rocks behind, with
+all their dulness of hue, on to the snow, which overspread all before
+with a white sheet of the most dazzling brilliance. On the left and on
+the right it spread with uniform regularity to the crests of the
+bounding ridges in those directions; whilst in front, it rose up as a
+vast wall, whose top cut the sky in a succession of sharp peaks with a
+clearness of outline rarely witnessed. And above all, stretched the wide
+expanse of heaven, with a depth unsearchable, in the speckless purity of
+its azure, and with a calm such as often precedes the storm. Wonderful
+was the scene!"
+
+Such is the description of an eye-witness of this striking scene, which
+in its solemnity approached the sublime, in its grandeur the terrible.
+The last hundred feet of the ascent was a sheer wall of ice, like the
+Matterhorn, and up this the troopers' horses, and the baggage mules and
+ponies, had to be lifted by human force. More than a whole day was
+occupied in surmounting this obstacle alone, but it was surmounted with
+the small loss of eight mules and three ponies. With the crossing of the
+Grim Pass, the difficulties of nature disappeared, and henceforth the
+course of the mission lay in the more sheltered plains of Kashgaria.
+
+After leaving Sanju, the country had, for some days' journey, an
+appearance of barrenness, that was only relieved by the avidity with
+which patches of more promising soil had been cultivated, a fact which
+testified alike to the beneficence of the ruler and to the assiduity of
+his people. There is good reason for believing that in the Yarkand and
+Khoten districts, Yakoob Beg's administration was most successful. This
+may have been caused by the superior qualities of the people over the
+Tungani, and mixed populations farther east; but it must also be
+attributed to the absence of those desolating wars which went on without
+any long intervals down to the year 1874, in the country held by the
+Tungani. The treachery of Yakoob Beg in murdering the Khan Habitulla of
+Khoten had aroused suspicions as to his good faith that only lay dormant
+during the days of his power; but the people of Khoten, Sanju,
+Karghalik, and Kilia were far too thrifty and too prudent to sit down
+supinely and dwell upon their wrongs. They neither forgot nor forgave,
+but they suppressed all trace of seditious opinions against the new
+ruler.
+
+The next city which Mr. Forsyth reached, Karghalik, showed still further
+signs of prosperity and civilization. "An eating-house, with its clean
+table, and forms, and piles of china plates and bowls, at once took us
+back across the seas to the recollection of many a country restaurant in
+France." Special preparations had in every way been made for the
+reception of the representatives of England, and Mr. Forsyth expressed
+his surprise at finding fire-places, like our own, ventilators, and rich
+carpets from Khoten, famous in days of yore for its manufacture of those
+articles, in the quarters that had been set apart as his residence.
+Similar preparations had been made at every stopping place, and the
+people not less than the sovereign did their best, and spared no
+exertion, to make the stay of the Feringhees as pleasant as possible for
+them. More than that, even at the resting places during the daily march,
+the headman or local magnate, without exception, always entertained them
+at a "dastarkhwan," that is to say, at a course of refreshments. The
+"dastarkhwan" literally means table-cloth, and consists of any number of
+distinct dishes, sometimes as many as a hundred, held by as many
+attendants. This is a national custom, from which there is never any
+deviation. It is incumbent upon the guest to break bread first, and then
+present it to his host. One of their customs is refreshing to any one
+who has come fresh from India, with all its troublesome caste
+distinctions. "Be the host Turk or British, he and his guests eat alike
+from the same dish, and hand food to the surrounding attendants, who are
+troubled with no scruples of caste to interfere with their hearty
+appetite."
+
+The mission was now drawing close to Yarkand, politically and
+commercially the most important city in the state, and accordingly
+preparations were made for a formal entry. At a village called Zilchak a
+chamberlain, or Yasawal-Bashi, came out with a party of the royal
+body-guard, Yakoob Beg's favourite _jigits_, in their buff leather
+uniform, to act as an escort, and the party was swollen _en route_ by
+numerous influential citizens and merchants, who advanced to give an
+early welcome to the new arrivals. By these additions quite an imposing
+cavalcade drew nigh to the walls of Yarkand. The quarters set apart for
+the Englishmen were in the fort, which lies to the north of the city, so
+that Yarkand had to be ridden through before their halting place was
+reached. The people who thronged to witness the sight seemed very well
+disposed, and altogether there was every reason to feel well satisfied
+with these mutual first impressions, which, some had asserted, would be
+far from pleasant.
+
+The following day there was an interview of ceremony with the Dadkhwah
+of Yarkand, Mahomed Yunus Jan, for whose history the reader is referred
+to Chapter IX., and then the visitors were permitted to go wherever they
+liked. On Mr. Forsyth's former visit a similar freedom had not been
+accorded him. Their first appearance in the streets was the occasion for
+a great deal of bustling on the part of the curious, but of friendly
+goodwill also. All the principal streets and bazaars were visited in
+turn, such as the butchers' street, or market, where the varieties of
+meat were clearly to be seen, and their quality tested by their tails or
+heads being left untouched. It appears to be the fashion in Yarkand to
+purchase the necessaries of life during the morning, and the luxuries in
+the evening. There is a special evening bazaar, called Sham, where hats
+and other clothes, in addition to various other articles, are put up for
+sale in the afternoon. This, when lit up with Chinese lamps, must have
+presented a stirring sight, very similar to a country fair in our
+country. Sir Douglas Forsyth does not tell us whether under Yakoob Beg
+it was customary to illuminate this bazaar with the gaudy lamps of the
+Chinese, or whether our imagination of such a scene must be referred
+back to the days of the old domination.
+
+Nor were these harmonious relations confined to the lower people and
+ourselves alone. Their rulers set an example that all strove to imitate.
+Between the officers of the mission and the Dadkhwah something more
+cordial than a chivalrous sentiment of guest towards host sprang up, and
+was heartily reciprocated; while Hadji Torah smoothed down all
+difficulties by his ready tact and never-failing resource. The latter
+did not remain the whole time of the three weeks that the mission
+remained at Yarkand, but set out for the capital, in order to put the
+Ameer _au courant_ with English affairs, and the exact objects our
+authorities had before them with regard to his country.
+
+Mahomed Yunus had placed at the disposal of the mission a considerable
+number of the carts of the country, which proved very serviceable. These
+carts are strongly built, with two wheels, six feet in diameter, and are
+drawn by four or six ponies, as the case may be. They are not permitted
+to carry a greater weight than ten hundredweight, but with that load it
+is quite customary for them to perform journeys of twenty and
+twenty-five miles a day. In carts of this kind the heavier baggage was
+carried from Yarkand to Kashgar, while the members of the mission with a
+lighter camp followed on some days afterwards. While mentioning these
+carts, so superior to the Indian modes of conveyance, we will remark
+that they also are used as omnibuses and stage coaches. They ply
+frequently between the fort and city of Kashgar, a distance of five
+miles, and they are also used as a stage coach doing the whole distance
+from Yarkand to Kashgar in five stages. But no company, with its
+regulations and bye-laws has a monopoly of this branch of locomotion,
+and there is a tariff fixed by law which cannot be departed from.
+
+On the 28th of November the mission set out from Yarkand, and for a
+certain distance high officials, by order of the Dadkwah, bore it
+company to speed it on its journey. From Yarkand to Yangy Hissar the
+country was equally prosperous-looking, but there was much desert land
+as well. The villages of Kok Robat and Ak Robat (names meaning Blue and
+White Post-house respectively) wore a flourishing look, and the
+appearance of Yakoob Beg's soldiery, still _jigits_, who looked prim on
+parade, and yet could play the part of waiter, carpenter, or what not,
+with equal facility, added a sense of order and cohesion to the whole
+display. The appearance of Yangy Hissar was made more imposing to the
+view by the proximity of the formidable fort Yakoob Beg had erected
+there; but in itself, owing to the houses being surrounded by mud walls,
+with crenellated tops, it closely resembled a fortification. There was
+only a brief stay here, and the mission then commenced its last stage of
+all. The 4th of December, 1873, was the eventful day which first saw an
+English envoy enter that capital, which Mr. Shaw had visited four years
+before in a non-official capacity. Special quarters had been prepared,
+at a short distance from the fort, where is also the royal palace, for
+the envoy, and these Elchi Khana had been fitted up in a very
+comfortable, if not luxurious style. Ihrar Khan Torah, who had visited
+India as envoy twice before, was the first to pay a visit to the new
+arrivals, and to request that they would come at once to see the Athalik
+Ghazi. The following description is Sir Douglas Forsyth's own account of
+his first interview with the Ameer:--
+
+"According to etiquette we dismounted at about forty paces from the
+gateway, and walked slowly along with Ihrar Khan, the Yasawal-Bashi, or
+head chamberlain, with white wand in hand going ahead. In the outer
+gateway soldiers were seated on a dais with their firearms laid on the
+ground before them, their arms folded, and their eyes on the ground. We
+then crossed obliquely an empty court-yard, and passing through a second
+gateway filled with soldiers, crossed another court, on all sides of
+which soldiers in gay costumes were ranged seated. From this court we
+passed into the penetralia, a small court, in which not a soul was
+visible, and everywhere a deathlike stillness prevailed. At the further
+end of this court was a long hall, with several window doors. Ihrar Khan
+then led us in single file, with measured tread, to some steps at the
+side of the hall, and, entering almost on tiptoe, looked in, and,
+returning, beckoned with his hand to me to advance alone. As I
+approached the door he made a sign for me to enter, and immediately
+withdrew. I found myself standing at the threshold of a very
+common-looking room, perfectly bare of all ornament, and with a not very
+good carpet on the floor: looking about I saw enter at a doorway on the
+opposite side a tall stout man, plainly dressed. He beckoned with his
+hand, and I advanced, thinking that it must be a chamberlain who was to
+conduct me to 'the presence.' Instinctively, however, I made a bow as I
+advanced, and soon found myself taken by both hands, and saluted with
+the usual form of politeness, and I knew that I was standing before the
+far-famed ruler of Eastern Turkestan. After a few words of welcome the
+Athalik led me across the room and seated me near him, by the side of a
+window. At this moment a salute of fifteen guns was fired. His Highness
+asked in an eager tone after the health of Her Majesty, and of the
+Viceroy, and soon afterwards called, in a low voice, to Ihrar Khan to
+bring in the other officers. They came in one by one, and each was
+shaken by the hand, and made to sit down by my side. Then there was a
+long and somewhat trying pause, during which the Athalik eyed each one
+of us with intent scrutiny. I had been told that etiquette forbade the
+guest to speak much on the first interview, and that it was a point of
+good manners to sit perfectly still with downcast eyes.... After this
+silent ordeal had been undergone for some time, at a sign from the
+Athalik, sixteen soldiers came in with the dastarkhwan, and the Athalik
+breaking a loaf of bread shared it with us. After the cloth was removed,
+we, remembering our lesson in manners, rose up, and stroking our beards,
+said, 'Allah o Akbar;' soon after which the Athalik said, 'Khush,
+amadeed' ('You are welcome')."
+
+Thus ended this imposing interview, imposing not for any magnificence or
+barbaric splendour that appertained either to the court or person of the
+ruler, but by reason of the mysterious character of the Ameer himself,
+of his vague power and influence, and of the hold he had acquired over
+such of his subjects as comprised his court and his body guard. All his
+Khokandian friends and relations, whose fortunes, indeed, depended on
+his power, were stanchly attached to his person. It could not be given
+to envoys to possess such complete prescience as to foresee that the
+jarring elements, that still existed beneath the surface would suffice
+to overthrow his rule still more irretrievably when it received its
+first shock from external foes. To the observer, the appearance of
+Yakoob Beg and his military following was the highest evidence of latent
+power. Order was supreme, and discipline was as apparent in the palace
+of the Ameer as in the barrack yards of his fortresses.
+
+The formal interview took place on the 11th of December, when the
+presents from our government to the Ameer, carried by over 100 men, were
+delivered to His Highness. There were guns of all kinds, including two
+small cannon, vases, &c., &c.; but the token of friendship at which the
+ruler showed most symptoms of pleasure was the autograph letter of Her
+Majesty. This letter was enclosed in a "magnificent casket of pale
+yellow quartz, clamped with gilt bands and handles, and bossed with onyx
+stones." The Ameer received this with unconcealed satisfaction, several
+times repeating, "God be praised." And then he made those declarations
+of friendship which, taken in conjunction with our admiration for the
+man, were the means of riveting England and Kashgar into a closer
+alliance than any that has as yet subsisted between ourselves and any
+other Central Asian ruler. "Your Queen is a great sovereign. Her
+government is a powerful and a beneficent one. Her friendship is to be
+desired, as it always proves a source of advantage to those who possess
+it. The Queen is as the sun, in whose genial rays such poor people as I
+flourish. I particularly desire the friendship of the English. It is
+essential to me. Your rule is just. The road is open to every one, and
+from here to London any one can come and go with perfect freedom."
+
+On the 13th of December our representatives paid their first visit to
+the city of Kashgar. The country round Kashgar is very fertile, highly
+cultivated, and thickly populated, and the mission was not less struck
+by the air of prosperity prevalent here than it had been at Yarkand. In
+addition, the people had a healthier appearance, mainly through the
+absence of goitre. The Dadkhwah of Kashgar, Alish Beg, who was a
+Kashgari and not a Khokandian, was not less friendly than the Governor
+of Yarkand had been, and a very pleasant day was passed in his company.
+On the 18th a grand review was held, but for some reason, far from
+clear, only of the old Chinese troops who had taken service under the
+new ruler when Kashgar citadel fell. The description of the manoeuvres
+which this force performed reads more like the display of an itinerant
+circus than of a disciplined army, but, nevertheless, these Khitay
+troops were excellent material for an army. Their practice with the
+_tyfu_, an awkward weapon, being a sort of gun-cannon, carried by two
+men and served by three, was pronounced very good up to 250 yards.
+
+It is proper to state here, very clearly, that while the English mission
+was on Kashgarian soil it lived and travelled free of all expense, and
+as the Ameer paid his subjects in hard cash for whatever service they
+rendered, it is obvious that for a small state such as his was this was
+no trivial expense. It is only fair that this fact should be as widely
+known as possible, for some discontent was aroused by a similar
+hospitality being extended to the Seyyid Yakoob Khan last year. That
+discontent arose from ignorance; for it is hardly to be imagined that
+any Englishman would grumble at reciprocating the courteousness of a
+Central Asian potentate. The mission remained at the capital almost four
+months, and altogether the time passed very pleasantly. The weather was
+certainly rigorous; but then there was much to be done in the way of
+business, sight-seeing and amusement.
+
+On the 2nd of February Yakoob Beg placed his seal to the treaty of
+commerce, and this act concluded the business portion of the English
+mission. On the 16th of March formal leave was taken of the Athalik
+Ghazi, and the mission returned to India. It had accomplished its task
+with pre-eminent success, and the Forsyth Embassy deserves long to be
+remembered as the most ably conducted and practically useful embassy
+that ever set out from India.
+
+Since the signature of that treaty the Turkestan Trading Company has
+been very actively engaged in despatching several caravans annually into
+Kashgaria; but now, whether temporarily or permanently remains to be
+seen, its operations have come to a standstill. In these later years,
+Mr. Shaw, in his old post as Commissioner in Ladakh, had been as quietly
+performing his useful work as ever before; and there were rumours that
+he was to receive his reward in being sent as another envoy, or rather
+as a resident agent, into Kashgaria, last year. If the appointment were
+made, it has at this date (October 1st) been for the time suspended; and
+such entirely new considerations have come into play that it may be
+postponed for an indefinite period. Hadji Torah's visit to this country,
+in June and July, 1877, when the Turko-Russian war had rendered the
+Eastern Question once more acute, revived our interest, which had been
+flagging, in Eastern Turkestan. But he came at an unfortunate moment,
+for June brought us tidings of reverses round Turfan, and July did not
+pass away without the intelligence of the death of the Athalik Ghazi
+himself.
+
+There had, before the receipt of this definite intelligence, been absurd
+rumours of the part Yakoob Beg was resolved to play in Central Asia as
+the ally of the Porte, while he, poor man, was opposing with despair,
+and at the cost of his life, a relentless and irresistible foe. Such is
+the irony of circumstance! The vanquished in Asia was by some freak of
+imagination converted in Europe into the arbiter of a great question,
+and the guide of all those peoples of either Turkestan who chafe at the
+bit because of Russian rule. But in reality, with the return of Sir
+Douglas Forsyth, our relations with Kashgar, which at one time promised
+to have been most cordial, languished for want of a motive. No amount of
+admiration would suffice to make us permanently guarantee Kashgar
+against Russia, for the bare facts concerning the intervening country at
+once chilled the sympathy at our hearts. The Grim Pass, and the road
+lined with desiccated travellers and animals, effaced the bright picture
+of the orchards of Kashgar and the busy streets of Yarkand. There was a
+sigh of profound relief, that would not be suppressed, when Sir Douglas
+Forsyth's report made the fact clear, that wherever else India might be
+menaced she was safe, at least, from attack north of Cashmere. It is
+true that there is a feasible route from Khoten to Ruduk, and thence to
+India; but Yakoob Beg did not hold it, and its consideration was
+considered to be beside the question. In fact, after 1874, we
+entertained much the same opinion towards Kashgar and Yakoob Beg that we
+did towards Poland and Kosciusko; and we were beginning to reconcile
+ourselves to a Russian installation in that state, when the returning
+Chinese made us reflect more deeply on Central Asian matters, and
+discover that after all has been said against the assertion there exists
+a third, and hitherto neglected, great Power in Central Asia. There was
+never anything save a kindly feeling between the two countries, and all
+who could admire bravery and justice and hospitality and frank courtesy
+were attached to the individual who had proved that he possessed all
+these attributes in no mean degree. But there was no deeper sympathy
+than this, or rather there was no stronger connecting link. The Indian
+government felt that it would be championing an unrecognized cause in
+supporting Yakoob Beg against all comers, and in the press of more
+urgent matters our relations with the Athalik Ghazi became lost sight
+of.
+
+The effect of this treatment upon the Ameer was not unapparent, and
+during the last twelve months of his rule he had become more Russian and
+less English in his policy. But we preserved "the even-tenor of our
+way." Yakoob Beg had no hold over us such as must always be possessed by
+the ruler of Afghanistan. Practically speaking, his state was more
+inaccessible to us than Tibet, and the Russians at Yarkand would be a
+source of far less danger to us than warlike and hostile Chinese might
+become at Lhasa. To sum up, England and Kashgar were friends because
+they had no reason to be foes; but they were indifferent friends. The
+tear might be shed for mutual misfortunes, and condolences might be
+uttered when cause for grief arose; but that was all. There was no
+alliance in the true sense, nor was there firm and unswerving
+friendship. There was a brief space occupied by sympathy and goodwill;
+then ensued an unbroken period of unvarying indifference. Before 1877,
+the spark that had been kindled by Mr. Shaw, and fanned to the
+dimensions of a flame by Sir Douglas Forsyth, had gone out, and with its
+extinction passed away the solid fabric that many had hoped to rear upon
+the base which the enterprise of a few intrepid men had diligently
+prepared. Whether we were prudent or imprudent, true or false, kind or
+unkind, Yakoob Beg leaned on a broken reed when he bade defiance to
+Russia, trusting on our support. This chapter of our policy in Central
+Asia may be closed as speedily as possible; if we do not come out of it
+with much glory, it is to be hoped that a lenient posterity may judge
+our demerits with a merciful consideration for the preservation of a
+strict and irresponsible neutrality.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+YAKOOB BEG'S LAST WAR WITH CHINA, AND DEATH.
+
+
+Until the close of the autumn of 1876 Yakoob Beg had not devoted much
+personal attention to his eastern frontier. After the first Tungan war
+and the capture of Kucha he had confided to his son and his lieutenants,
+the charge of maintaining order in the annexed districts, and of
+protecting his dominions against any hostile attempt on the part of the
+Chinese. About the month of September in that year couriers arrived with
+strange tidings in Kashgar. The message, we can well imagine, was
+terrible in its brevity. The Chinese had appeared north of the Tian
+Shan. They had sacked Urumtsi, and were laving close siege to Manas.
+Their numbers rumour had magnified to almost a hundred thousand
+combatants, and they came armed with all the auxiliaries Western science
+could supply.
+
+Before following the movements of the ruler of Kashgar upon the receipt
+of this intelligence, it will be necessary to consider what had been the
+history of this Chinese army which had so suddenly appeared in Jungaria.
+When in the natural course of events the Chinese government, having
+solved the Taeping and Panthay difficulties, having restored order where
+disorder had been supreme, and having created an army where there had
+been only a disorganized rabble, turned its attention to the question,
+which it had never lost sight of, of chastising the Tungan rebels beyond
+Kansuh, the victorious soldiers of Yunnan, instead of being disbanded,
+were invited to participate in a fresh campaign in the regions beyond
+Gobi. It requires no great stretch of imagination to realize the scene
+when the imperial edict came before these veterans, calling on all true
+soldiers to vindicate their country's honour and their outraged religion
+against the Tungan outcasts; how the generals, such as Chang Yao, set an
+example of enthusiasm which the main body of their soldiers speedily
+followed. In the presence of such military enthusiasm we are transported
+back to the days of imperial Rome, when the subjection of one province
+was only the prelude to some fresh triumph, and when every campaign
+found in the ranks of the army the veterans of the last. So it was that
+the victors of Talifoo, by long marches through Szchuen and Shensi,
+reached Lanchefoo, the capital of Kansuh, where the viceroy of that
+province was gathering together the munitions of war, and the recruits
+who were to swell the nucleus of trained soldiers to the proportions
+suitable to an invading army. Some have considered, and we are far from
+denying that there is much to support such a view, that there was a
+political motive at the root of this enterprise, the motive being a
+desire on the part of the ruling family to give employment to a large
+disciplined body of men, who if retained in China proper would be at the
+service of any powerful conspirator or presumptuous aspirant to imperial
+honours. Whether there is any foundation or not for this supposition, it
+is certain that those troops who were not required for garrison work in
+Yunnan were taken by a round-about route at a great distance from the
+capital to the north-west frontier town of Lanchefoo, there to prepare
+for the most arduous military enterprise China had undertaken since her
+conquest of Eastern Turkestan in the last century.
+
+It is not certain when these movements began to be carried out, but
+there appears to be no reason to doubt that the advanced portion of the
+Chinese army had commenced its march westward before the end of the
+year 1874. In the barren region between Lanchefoo and Hamil, a tract of
+country some 900 miles as the crow flies, but probably nearer 1,200 by
+the road followed by the Chinese, such difficulties were encountered
+that one if not two winters were occupied in overcoming these
+preliminary obstacles to the advance of the main force. The interval was
+not passed in complete idleness at headquarters, where magazines of arms
+and stores were being collected, recruits enlisted and drilled, and the
+plan of campaign that was to astonish Asia, if not Europe also, was
+being drawn up by the Viceroy of Kansuh in person and his able
+lieutenants. At last, with the break of spring upon the desert plains of
+Gobi, the Chinese army, which numbered in its entirety some 50,000 men,
+set out on the long road across the desert to the more fertile regions
+lying north and south of the Celestial Mountains. Of the details of this
+portion of the enterprise the _Pekin Gazette_ is strangely reticent. The
+most profound secrecy was observed, and, although it was known that
+military events were in progress in the north-west, their object and
+their extent were mysteries. After the delay experienced by the advanced
+guard, which had to form fixed encampments, or rather settlements, in
+the desert, and plant the corn that was to enable it to advance in the
+following spring, no serious check was experienced by the Chinese until
+they appeared before the walls of Urumtsi, which the Tungan leaders had
+resolved to defend.
+
+Although several officers in the service of Yakoob Beg happened to be in
+the city, and several of the leading Tungani resided there, the defence
+was not prolonged, and after a few days Urumtsi surrendered to the
+Chinese. Many of the inhabitants had fled to the neighbouring city of
+Manas, but the garrison was massacred by order of the Chinese generals.
+There is no mention in this case of what fate befell those of the
+inhabitants who remained.
+
+Urumtsi surrendered towards the close of August, 1876, and on the 2nd
+of September the Chinese sat down before the fortifications of Manas, a
+much more strongly situated city, and defended with the whole force of
+the Tungan people. The first panic at the appearance of the Chinese had
+passed off, and the defenders of Manas recognized that they were not
+only fighting for their cause and independence, but also for their lives
+and the honour of their families. The terrible lesson of Urumtsi was not
+without its effect upon the resolute but despairing garrison of Manas.
+The capture of Urumtsi was a creditable performance in a military sense,
+but the campaign had to be decided before the ramparts of Manas. On the
+2nd of September the Chinese batteries commenced to play on the
+north-east portion of the wall, and for two months the bombardment was
+carried on on all sides with more or less vigour. Several assaults were
+repulsed, and the Tungani, in face of superior odds and weapons, had
+behaved like brave men. But the Chinese were as persistent in their
+attack after an eight weeks' siege as they had been on the first day of
+their arrival, and the provisions of the Tungani were almost exhausted.
+With their supplies ebbed also their courage, and, after an unsuccessful
+sortie, the Tungan general, Hai-Yen, presented himself to the Chinese
+outposts begging to be accorded an honourable capitulation. Ostensibly,
+terms were granted--or, rather, to put the matter as it is expressed in
+the official Chinese report, everything was left vague--and on the 6th
+of November Hai-Yen and the main body of his fighting men came forth
+from the city towards the Chinese camp. The subsequent events are not
+clear, but it seems that the attitude of this body was suspicious. The
+men were armed, they were in a well-ordered phalanx, and to the Chinese
+on the hills around it looked as if they were about to attempt to cut
+their way through. Once the Chinese generals entertained the suspicion,
+they proceeded to act promptly upon it, as if it were an incontestable
+fact, and the Tungani, attacked from all sides, by artillery, horse,
+and foot, were in a short time annihilated. Such of their chiefs as were
+not slain were brought before the Chinese generals, and forthwith
+executed "with the extreme of torture." Every able-bodied man found in
+the city or its vicinity was massacred; but the report distinctly states
+that the women, children, and old men were spared, and there is no
+reason to doubt the veracity of the Chinese. There would, in their eyes,
+be no need to palliate such strictly just acts of retribution as these.
+
+Not content with having chastised the living Tungani, by annihilating
+them, as a race capable of self-defence for a generation to come, the
+bodies of some of the prime movers in the Tungan movement in its
+infancy, such as To-teh-lin, Heh-tsun, and Han-Hing-Nung, were exhumed
+and quartered, as an example to all traitors to the Chinese Empire. The
+fall of Manas struck a blow that resounded throughout Central Asia, and
+at the intelligence a panic spread among all the peoples of Chinese
+Turkestan and Jungaria. The enterprise had been conducted with such
+astonishing secrecy, and the blow had been struck with such rapidity and
+skill, that the effect was enhanced by these causes, new alike in the
+annals of China and Central Asia. Not only had the Khitay returned for
+revenge, but they had brought with them all the auxiliaries that make
+England and Russia the dominant powers in that continent. The Khitay no
+longer advanced in the clumsy formation of a long-forgotten age, but in
+obedience to orders based on the models of France and Germany. Their
+artillery was not a source of danger to the artillerists alone, but as
+effective as the workshops of Herr Krupp can supply. But, above all,
+their generals had made still more astonishing progress. In the sieges
+of Urumtsi and Manas they had proved themselves to be no mean
+tacticians; in their next and more extended enterprise they were to show
+that they must be ranked still higher as strategists.
+
+Before the end of 1870 the Tungani had ceased to be an independent
+people. The great majority of them had fallen either in the field or by
+the hand of the executioner; and with their disappearance the first
+portion of the task of the Chinese army was completed. The blood of the
+Khitay massacred in 1862 and 1863 was atoned for, and Chinese prestige
+restored to as great a height as at any time it had been in the present
+century. More remained to be accomplished, in its danger as in its
+result more important, which we have now to consider, before their full
+task should be consummated; but the Chinese army and its generals had
+done, even up to this point, a feat of which any country might be proud.
+
+These events appear sudden and strange to us who are far removed from
+their influence, and who only entertain a languid kind of supercilious
+interest in matters in which the Chinese are the guiding spirit. But
+what must they have appeared to Yakoob Beg in his palace at Kashgar,
+although that palace was 1,000 miles removed from the spot where his
+victorious enemies lay encamped? It is impossible for us to gauge the
+feeling of apprehension with which these first triumphs of the Chinese
+were viewed throughout Eastern Turkestan; and if the bold heart of the
+Athalik Ghazi did not misgive him, it was not through any light spirit
+as to the gravity of the danger.
+
+Intelligence of the fall of Manas reached Yakoob Beg, probably, before
+the end of November, and in consequence of the lateness of the season he
+had the whole of the winter before him to make his preparations for
+defence. The surrender of these cities was not generally known in this
+country until April, 1877, when we also heard of Yakoob Beg's march
+eastward to protect his menaced frontier. There is very little to be
+learnt of the internal affairs of Kashgar between March, 1876, and
+March, 1877; that is to say, between the close of the revolt in Khokand,
+with the surrender of Abderrahman Aftobatcha, and the mustering of
+Yakoob Beg's army round the city of Turfan, or Tarfur. There can be no
+doubt that in that period some important changes had taken place in the
+sentiment of the Kashgarian people; these changes may not have been very
+perceptible to a casual observer, yet in their consequences they were as
+important as manifest sedition. It is not difficult to suggest what some
+of these modifications may have been; of what they resulted in there can
+be no doubt--the weakening of the power of the Athalik Ghazi.
+
+Yakoob Beg's over-caution in November, 1875, when the last rising broke
+out in Khokand, damaged his prestige more than a lost battle. It damped
+the ardour of the Khokandian element among his followers, and when we
+remember that these were his ablest and most devoted partisans, this
+alone was a serious blow. But there are many tokens that the
+disaffection was not confined to any special party among his people, but
+was spread amongst them all. The Tungan wars had never been popular, and
+had been costly and sanguinary operations. The old trade with Russian
+territory, that once had been so lucrative, languished for want of a
+fostering hand, and the difficulties of that northern range of
+mountains, which the patience and care of the Chinese had for a time
+pierced through, were made the most of to prevent intercourse with
+Kuldja and Vernoe. More than all, too, all Yakoob Beg's skill as a
+"manipulator of phrases" could not conceal the fact that his treaty with
+England was a failure. It did not give him that British protection which
+alone he cared for, and it did not provide, through the greater
+obstacles of nature, his people with that new trade outlet which was the
+sole object worth securing in their eyes. The Forsyth treaty seemed to
+bring the relations of England and Kashgar to a sudden termination; and
+the Kashgari were quite shrewd enough to perceive that the Athalik Ghazi
+would not be buttressed by English bayonets against Russian aggression,
+if that instrument was to be held, as in their eyes it could not be
+otherwise than held, the only connecting link between the countries. The
+consequence of this belief was a resignation to a Russian subjection at
+no distant date.
+
+Yakoob Beg's tenure of power would be morally weakened by the existence
+of these causes for discontent among his people, and it was at such a
+moment, when they had perhaps only slightly become clear to his eyes,
+that the return of the Chinese was heralded. In the face of a great and
+common danger a well-affected people would have rallied round their
+head, and in the crisis have found a joint necessity to produce a better
+understanding than existed before among their component parts. The
+country east of Kucha, where it was inhabited at all, was inhabited by
+the few survivors of the massacres ordered by Yakoob Beg's
+representatives. Amongst these there could be no great amount of
+affection towards his cause. The garrison of the city of Kashgar
+consisted in the main of the pardoned Khitay soldiers--Yangy Mussulmans,
+as they were called--and from them no stanch support could be expected
+against their Buddhist countrymen (see Appendix). The Tungani of Kucha
+and Aksu and the neighbourhood were the most numerous recruits in the
+army, and from them at least it might have been supposed that the
+Athalik Ghazi would obtain faithful service. Even among them, however,
+there was discontent. They had everything to dread at the hands of the
+Chinese. It was they who had massacred the helpless Khitay, a deed from
+the stain of which Yakoob Beg at least was free; and it was they against
+whom the wrath of China would in the first place be directed. But they
+had also their grudges against the ruler. He had beaten them in the
+field of battle, and had compelled more than he had induced them to join
+his army. They hated the Mahomedan Andijani only one degree less than
+the Buddhist Chinaman, and their ambitious game had been foiled by the
+military talents of their present ruler. They had run, in the years
+1862-65, all the risk attaching to a revolt against China, and when they
+had accomplished their task they found themselves defrauded of their
+reward. Therefore, in the face of a Chinese invasion there was disunion
+in the ranks of the very Mahomedan rebels who had originated all these
+troubles. The nucleus of Yakoob Beg's army, when these have been struck
+out as non-efficient, was small indeed; but it was only on that nucleus
+he could depend in fighting for his crown and his religion.
+
+During the winter of 1876, when he was busy in collecting arms,
+ammunition, and stores at Yarkand and Kashgar, he must have discovered
+many of these discordant elements; yet he pushed his preparations
+resolutely on. He conceived that under the circumstances the boldest
+policy would be the most prudent, and that if he could but beat the
+Chinese in the field by superior tactics he might ride triumphant over
+all his difficulties and dangers. With these views uppermost in his mind
+he concentrated all his forces, Tungan included, along the southern
+slopes of the Tian Shan, with his headquarters at Turfan. The Russian
+officer, Captain Kuropatkine, who had been sent to Kashgar on a mission,
+and who had journeyed through the whole extent of Kashgaria to meet the
+Ameer at Turfan, computed Yakoob Beg's army at the following strength,
+and supplied the accompanying information concerning its disposition
+along the frontier.
+
+The fort of Devanchi, guarding the principal defile through the mountain
+range, was garrisoned by 900 _jigits_, armed with muskets and two
+guns--one a breech-loader. At Turfan there were with the Ameer 3,500
+_jigits_ and 5,000 _sarbazes_, with 20 guns, mostly of ancient make.
+Toksoun, a fortified place, some miles nearer Korla, on the main road,
+was occupied by 4,000 _jigits_ and 2,000 _sarbazes_ with five guns.
+Hacc Kuli Beg had command here. At Korla there were also about 1,500
+men, who were brought up to the front shortly after Captain
+Kuropatkine's departure. With these 17,000 men, scattered over a widely
+extended area, Yakoob Beg had to defend himself against an enemy
+superior in numbers, and, as the result showed, in generalship as well.
+
+The Russian officer gave, on his return, a very gloomy account of Yakoob
+Beg's affairs, predicting the speedy disintegration of his state. He
+also asserted that the Tungani were deserting in great numbers, and that
+everywhere east of Kucha there was discontent and distrust of the
+Kashgarian rulers. This disparaging account was confirmed by Colonel
+Prjevalsky, some months afterwards, upon his return from his adventurous
+journey to Lob Nor. In a letter, dated from Little Yuldus, May 28, 1877,
+he said he had been very kindly received, but also suspiciously watched
+by Yakoob Beg. "All the way from Hoidu Got to Lob Nor he was escorted by
+a guard of honour, who officiously endeavoured to satisfy his smallest
+wishes, but would not allow him, or any of his people, to come in
+contact with the inhabitants. Yakoob Beg somewhat peremptorily asked
+Colonel Prjevalsky to explain why the Russians had provisioned the
+Chinese forces arrayed against him; but, in an interview at Korla, he
+again and again assured the Russian traveller that he was a friend and
+well-wisher to Russia. Notwithstanding these precautions, Colonel
+Prjevalsky and the other members of the expedition succeeded in making
+the natives tell them that they were disgusted with the military
+despotism of Yakoob Beg, and that they hoped the Russians would soon be
+coming."
+
+The information contained in this letter refers to the end of April,
+1877, or to a time after the first defeat of Yakoob Beg by the Chinese,
+and his withdrawal to Korla; but it is _a propos_ in this place as
+confirming Captain Kuropatkine's remarks.
+
+In addition to the 17,000, more or less, disciplined soldiers whom
+Yakoob Beg had mustered at the frontier, Captain Kuropatkine mentioned
+10,000 Doungans--that is, the Tungani inhabitants of this eastern
+region. Not only were these notoriously untrustworthy, but they were
+also badly armed, and were, on the whole, a source of weakness rather
+than of strength. Before the close of the month of February the Athalik
+Ghazi was at Turfan, constructing forts at Toksoun and towards the Tian
+Shan, and endeavouring to inspire his followers with his own indomitable
+spirit.
+
+In the meanwhile the Chinese had not been idle. They had, after their
+triumph over the Tungani, established their headquarters at Guchen, near
+Urumtsi, and had so far secured their communications with Kansuh that a
+regular service of couriers was organized, and a continual supply of
+arms, military stores, and men flowed across Gobi to the invading army.
+For instance, a large arsenal for the storage of arms was erected at
+Lanchefoo, and on one occasion as many as 10,000 rifles of the Berdan
+pattern were sent in a single convoy. While Tso Tsung Tang, the Viceroy
+of Kansuh and Commander-in-Chief, was making these preparations north of
+the Tian Shan, for forcing the range with the melting of the snow,
+another Chinese general, Chang Yao, was stationed at Hamil for the
+purpose of seconding the main attack by a diversion south of the range.
+In estimating the total number of the Chinese army at 60,000 men--that
+is, 50,000 round Guchen and 10,000 at Hamil--we would express only what
+is probable. The total number may have been more or less, but in
+estimating it at 60,000 men we believe we are as close to exactitude as
+is possible under the circumstances. In the month of March the Chinese
+generals had made all their preparations for attacking Yakoob Beg. So
+far as our geographical information goes there is no direct road from
+Guchen to Turfan, and consequently the chief Chinese attack was made
+from Urumtsi against Devanchi, where Yakoob Beg had constructed a fort.
+But, although the larger army was manoeuvring north of the Tian Shan,
+the decisive blow was in reality struck by the smaller force advancing
+from Hamil. If we are to judge from the disposition of the Kashgarian
+army, the movements of this brigade had not obtained that attention from
+the Athalik Ghazi which they merited.
+
+General Chang Yao captured the small towns of Chightam and Pidjam in the
+middle of April without encountering any serious opposition. And from
+the latter of these places, some fifty miles east of Turfan, commenced
+that concerted movement with his superior, Tso Tsung Tang, which was to
+overcome all Kashgarian resistance. A glance at the map will show that
+Yakoob Beg at Turfan was caught fairly between two fires by armies
+advancing from Urumtsi and Pidjam, and if defeated his line of retreat
+was greatly exposed to an enterprising enemy. Upon the Chinese becoming
+aware of the success of their preliminary movements a general advance
+was ordered in all directions. It is evident that the Chinese were met
+at first with a strenuous resistance at Devanchi, and that the forcing
+of the Tian Shan defiles had not been accomplished when news reached the
+garrison that their ruler had been expelled from Turfan by a fresh
+Chinese army. It was then that confusion spread fast through all ranks
+of the followers of Yakoob Beg; in that hour of doubt and unreasoning
+panic the majority of his soldiers either went over to the enemy or fled
+in headlong flight to Karashar. In this moment of desperation the
+Athalik Ghazi still bore himself like a good soldier. Outside Turfan he
+gave battle to the invader, and though driven from the field by
+overwhelming odds he yet once more made a stand at Toksoun, forty miles
+west of Turfan, and when a second time defeated withdrew to Karashar to
+make fresh efforts to withstand the invading army. Yakoob Beg probably
+lost in these engagements not less than 20,000 men, including Tungani,
+by desertion and at the hands of the enemy. He consequently conceived
+that it would be prudent to withdraw still farther into his territory,
+and accordingly left Karashar, after a few days' residence, for Korla.
+
+Some weeks before the occurrence of these striking events Yakoob Beg had
+sent an envoy to Tashkent to solicit the aid of the Russians against the
+advancing Chinese. But the Russians only gave his messenger fair words,
+and did not interfere with Mr. Kamensky's commercial transactions with
+the Chinese army. At the moment, too, Russia was so busily occupied in
+Europe that she had no leisure to devote to the Kashgarian question.
+
+The Chinese had for many years been good friends with Russia, and Yakoob
+Beg had all his life been a scarcely concealed enemy. Between two such
+combatants the sympathies of the Russian government must at first have
+certainly gone with the former; nor had Yakoob Beg's attitude towards
+Russia of late been as discreet as it might have been. His nephew, the
+Seyyid Yakoob Khan, was notoriously an agent for some indefinite purpose
+at Constantinople. His protection of the Bokharan prince, Abdul Melik,
+or Katti Torah, the most bitter enemy of Russia in Central Asia, was
+also ill calculated to attract Russian sympathy to his side.
+
+Moreover there was little or nothing to arouse Russian susceptibilities
+in Chinese victories so far distant as Urumtsi or Turfan. In many
+respects, too, this Chinese invasion was a relief for Russia. It freed
+her hands in Central Asia in a manner that perhaps will never be
+sufficiently appreciated. Buddhist victories in Eastern Turkestan struck
+a severe blow at Mahomedan vigour throughout the Khanates, and the
+waning prestige of the Badaulet, or the "fortunate one," acted as a
+warning of strange significance to all the neighbouring princes.
+
+It is not difficult, therefore, to discover valid reasons why the
+Russians declined to negotiate between the combatants, and although
+Yakoob Beg endeavoured to come to terms with the Chinese, on the
+understanding that his personal safety should be guaranteed, all his
+diplomatic overtures were met by categorical refusals.
+
+The Chinese after entering Toksoun came to a sudden halt, for which the
+causes are not evident. But the terror of their name had gone before
+them, and the country east of Karashar was hurriedly abandoned by its
+inhabitants. The Chinese delay may have been caused by the necessity for
+collecting provisions to enable them to advance further, or perhaps it
+may have arisen from the outbreak of some epidemic, as asserted by one
+of the Indian journals. On this point the _Pekin Gazette_ is profoundly
+silent. The number for the 23rd of June contained a narrative of the
+operations round Turfan, and also a list of the honours and rewards
+given to the successful generals; but it and its subsequent issues are
+silent as to the causes for the Chinese inactivity that then for many
+months ensued. The most striking sentence in this report is that which
+says that "the Mahomedans who submitted themselves were permitted to
+revert to their peaceful avocations;" and if this be true, this is one
+instance, at all events, of the Chinese exercising moderation. Strange
+as it may seem, with this preliminary success the vigour of the Chinese
+invasion appeared to die away, and for five months nothing more was
+heard of the whereabouts of the Chinese army. In that interval the most
+important events occurred in Kashgaria, but with these, the Chinese,
+although the originators of them, had nothing to do. In the closing
+scene of all of the eventful life we have been in these pages
+considering the invading Khitay had no part. They were probably not
+aware of what was taking place some 300 miles from their camp until many
+weeks after it had happened; and then conceived that their best policy
+would be to give time for the disintegrating causes at work within the
+state to have their full effect before they advanced westward. When
+Colonel Prjevalsky saw Yakoob Beg it must have been within a very short
+period of his death. The shadow of approaching events may have been upon
+the defeated conqueror, who from recent disaster could only presage
+worse yet to come.
+
+Of the exact manner of Yakoob Beg's death there are various accounts.
+The most probable is that he was murdered by a party of conspirators,
+who were led by Hakim Khan Torah. The date given is the 1st of May. That
+Yakoob Beg should meet with a violent death, considering that he was
+surrounded by such doubtful followers as the Tungan chiefs, is not to be
+marvelled at, and that the first reverse in his career should be the
+signal for fresh disturbances is only what we should expect from a
+consideration of his country and its peoples in the light of past
+history. So far, then, as the assertion goes, that Yakoob Beg was
+murdered, there is nothing improbable about it. But there are many
+discrepancies in the accompanying narrative. The first intelligence of
+the death of the Ameer of Kashgar was contained in a telegram published
+in the _Times_ of July 16 last year. It stated that his death occurred
+at Korla, after a short illness, and that he had nominated as his
+successor Hakim Khan Torah, to the express disregard of his own sons.
+The telegram went on to say that Hakim Khan had declined to accept the
+gift, and that the Ameer's eldest son, Beg Kuli Beg, had succeeded to
+the throne. A few days after this telegram Hakim Khan Torah was
+identified with the ancient dynasty of Kashgar, which Yakoob Beg had
+first seated on the throne, and then displaced in the person of Buzurg
+Khan. All this intelligence came from Tashkent. On the 23rd of July we
+learnt in this country, from the same source, that Beg Kuli Beg had
+notified his father's death and his own accession to the throne to
+General Kaufmann. There no longer remained any doubt that Yakoob Beg was
+really dead.
+
+For some reason or other Beg Kuli Beg does not appear to have been a
+favourite with the Russians; but this aversion to him was based on some
+mistake, for Beg Kuli Beg was certainly unfriendly to England, and was
+scarcely civil to our envoy, Sir Douglas Forsyth. Moreover, he at once
+placed himself in communication with the Russian government, asking for
+advice as to the course he should pursue with regard to the Chinese
+invasion, and renewing his father's request that Russia should stop the
+supplies sent to Urumtsi and Turfan from Kuldja. It was reported, but
+not confirmed, that his latter demand was complied with.
+
+Nothing more was heard of the history of these events until the end of
+August, when news reached India through Ladakh and Cashmere that Yakoob
+Beg "had been assassinated by Hakim Khan Torah, the son of Buzurg Khan."
+This was the first hint that Yakoob Beg had fallen by the hands of
+discontented partisans. In itself so natural, it threw fresh light on
+the strange deed he was reported to have done of disinheriting his own
+family, and it speedily became the accepted version. The question then
+was, who was Hakim Khan Torah? Two versions were put forward; one was
+that he was the son of Buzurg Khan, the other that he was a Khoja chief
+of Kucha. The former was the more plausible, but as his name does not
+occur in Sir Douglas Forsyth's exhaustive report, it is open to some
+objection, more particularly when we are told that he bore a principal
+part in the conquest of Kashgar by Yakoob Beg. The latter suggestion was
+much more difficult to prove, but was not open to the same objection.
+Grant that Hakim, or Aali, Khan Torah was a pardoned Kucha chief when
+that city fell into the hands of the Athalik Ghazi, and there was
+nothing extraordinary in his having proved a traitor. Assume that he
+still conceived he had claims upon the governorship of that city, of
+which the _Turkestan Gazette_ asserts he had been Dadkwah, and there is
+nothing inconsistent in his having sought to realize his own ambitious
+schemes the moment fortune frowned upon his conqueror. That Hakim Khan,
+if son to Buzurg Khan, should seek to revenge his father's deposition
+and life of exile is not in itself strange we admit; but if he were a
+subjected ruler, who regarded Yakoob Beg as an adventurer from Khokand
+with no claims to his fealty, his plot against and murder of the
+Kashgarian prince at once appears not only possible, but the true story.
+As a leading Khoja of Kucha he would also have claims to represent one
+branch of the old reigning family of Kashgar. In the face, too, of a
+great and pressing danger from the Chinese, his hereditary enemies, a
+son of Buzurg Khan would scarcely make confusion worse confounded by
+murdering the _de facto_ sovereign; whereas a Kucha leader might aspire
+to play in such a crisis the same part that Amursana did in the last
+century. It was said that Hakim Khan entered into some negotiations with
+the Chinese, who gave him little encouragement.
+
+The _Turkestan Gazette_ still adhered to its original statement that
+Yakoob Beg had died of fever on the 1st of May, after an illness of
+seven days' duration, and that on the 13th of May the body was brought
+in state from Korla to Kashgar for the purpose of being deposited in the
+mausoleum of Appak Khoja. Then, according to the _Turkestan Gazette_,
+there ensued one of those atrocious deeds which have so often marked the
+history of Central Asian states. The second son of the dead Ameer, Hacc
+Kuli Beg, who had been with him during his last moments, escorted the
+funeral cortege, and was met at a short distance from the city by his
+elder brother, Kuli Beg. The elder son at once knelt before his father's
+coffin, and then rising, without a moment's delay fired a pistol at his
+brother, who dropped down dead. Not content with this fratricide, Kuli
+Beg had the whole of the escort put to the sword, and returned to
+Kashgar with his own followers escorting the coffin. We know nothing
+whatever of the reasons for this atrocious act, but the fact of Kuli Beg
+being in Kashgar, and not in the east, shows how Hakim Khan was able to
+establish his authority in Kucha and Korla. It will be more convenient
+to consider in another chapter the further course of these internal
+troubles, and also the final triumph of the Chinese.
+
+There are, therefore, two versions of how Yakoob Beg met his death, and
+in support of each view there is a certain amount of evidence. All the
+information on the subject has been recorded, and it is conflicting. The
+Chinese reports in the _Pekin Gazette_ ignore the subject altogether.
+Their personal hatred was directed more against Bayen Hu, a Tungan
+leader who had fled from Hamil some years before, than against the
+Athalik Ghazi. Of the main fact that Yakoob Beg died at Korla in May,
+1877, there is no doubt, and that the most eventful career that has
+marked its track in the history of Central Asia for several generations
+was then brought to a close.
+
+Whatever opinion may be formed of the man from his varied fortunes,
+there will be few who will deny that he possessed great mental
+qualities; some will be found, no doubt, to question his action in
+deposing Buzurg Khan, and with more justice may his earlier life be
+blamed for his repeated desertion of his friend and patron Khudayar.
+Others will call to mind his vacillating conduct in 1875, and deny that
+he possessed that decision of character which is the salient feature in
+all truly great men. His unnecessary wars with the Tungani, and the
+short-sighted policy he pursued of extending his empire up to the
+vicinity of China, were also calculated to lower his claims to be
+considered a general or a statesman. In extenuation of these acts, which
+decidedly undermined the fabric of his rule, it may be mentioned that
+there is one side of Yakoob Beg's character that has never received
+sufficient attention. It is what was the secret to his foreign policy.
+He certainly did not aspire, as many thought, to contest unaided the
+palm of superiority with Russia in Central Asia. He was far too well
+informed to dream of that. Nor could he expect to be able to extend his
+power to the south, where both Afghanistan and Cashmere would resent his
+presence. The only option left to him as a conqueror was to continue
+aggrandizing himself at the expense of China. We know not what dreams
+may have entered the mind of the stanch Mussulman in his palace at
+Kashgar of uniting in one crusade against China all the followers of the
+Prophet in Central Asia and of emulating the deeds of some of his
+predecessors who had carried fire and sword into the border provinces of
+China, and whom even the Great Wall could not withstand. Over these
+bright imaginings, arising from tales told of the decadence of China, we
+know not how much Yakoob Beg may have brooded as he saw his power spread
+eastward through fifteen degrees of longitude, through Aksu to Kucha,
+Kucha to Korla, Korla to Karashar, and Karashar to Turfan, until from
+his far outpost at Chightam he could almost see the rich cities of Hamil
+and Barkul, cities which are the key to Western China and Northern
+Tibet, and imagine them to be within his grasp. But the policy of Yakoob
+Beg will not be clearly appreciated, unless we bear in mind that these
+ambitious longings were held in check by fear of Russia, and by the
+hostility of the Tungani, who continued to plot even when subdued. His
+keen spirit must have chafed greatly under the inability to accomplish
+that which he conceived to be possible, and despite his numerous
+triumphs he was at heart a disappointed man.
+
+Moreover, during these later years, when the task he had set before him
+had been nearly accomplished, and he had leisure to look around, he was
+no longer young or as energetic as he had been. He was entering, for an
+Asiatic, upon the evening of life, and had no longer the physical power
+to essay any protracted and desperate enterprise. For a "forlorn hope"
+he was as eager and as effective as ever, but for those undertakings
+which require not only desperate courage but also forethought and
+patience he was no longer fit. But the Chinese invasion dispelled all
+these, and many other illusions. In their eyes and before their power,
+he was only another Sultan of Talifoo. His great qualities, which
+attracted sympathy and a certain amount of respect, in India and England
+were vain in the eyes of a people whose "empire has," in their own
+tongue, "been planted by heaven." Before Chinese viceroys and Mantchoo
+chivalry Khokandian soldiers and Mussulman pride must be held vain. So
+thought the Chinese, if they thought upon the subject at all. And so
+must we think who view past history by the aid of Yakoob Beg's
+overthrow. Yakoob Beg's rule in Kashgar was for twelve years a visible
+fact; it was recognized by England and by Russia. The Central Asian
+Khans gladly acknowledged the admission of another to their fast
+dwindling ranks. Even Shere Ali, an ostensibly powerful ruler, honoured
+Yakoob Beg not so much with his friendship as with his jealousy. Yet it
+was all fleeting fast away.
+
+In comparison with Chinese power his was as nothing; in comparison with
+Chinese perseverance his was weakness; in comparison with Chinese
+tactics, his tactics were those of a school-boy; and even in comparison
+with Chinese courage his courage had to confess an equal. There was not
+only the dead weight of numbers against him, but there was also the
+quick weight of superior intellect. There were superior strategy and
+superior weapons; greater force and greater determination; no hesitation
+in action, and perfect unanimity in council; all combined to crush one
+poor forlorn man, fighting with all the desperation of despair for life,
+if not for liberty. Worthier of a better fate, and meeting destiny with
+the calm that is natural to brave men, Yakoob Beg's defeat and death may
+serve to "point a moral and adorn a tale." The tale has been told in
+these pages with as close a regard for fact as the meagre records will
+supply, and for the personage whose name is the pivot round which the
+main facts concentrate, it may be claimed that he deserved attention
+even from Englishmen. It may well be that some future generation may
+recur to this career with interest as marking the only real break in the
+Chinese domination in Eastern Turkestan. When the massacres and other
+atrocities that marked the Khoja invasions and the Tungan outbreak on
+both sides shall have been forgotten or condoned, then it will be
+admitted that, despite the great benefits conferred by China on the
+people in the way of trade-fostering and good government, there was some
+merit in the administration which a Khokandian soldier had unaided
+created in this region. High credit, then, let us, who view the subject
+from an impartial stand-point, pay this departed warrior, who as a
+soldier met few equals, as a governor none in his long career. Much as
+we may marvel at, and perhaps impugn, Chinese strength, let us not judge
+Yakoob Beg harshly, because Chinamen out-manoeuvred him, and overthrew
+him in fair fight. It is an easy gauge to apply, and one which would
+dispel all the reputation the Athalik Ghazi had secured, if we deny the
+Chinese the great qualities those who know them best will accord them
+without hesitation. But in applying so shallow a test to the case before
+us, we should be wronging our own understanding quite as much as its
+victim. However much we may blame Yakoob Beg for going out to encounter
+an enemy whom he ought to have awaited either at Kucha or Aksu, his
+valour, and also his mistaken contempt for the Chinese, are made all the
+more clear. We may fairly claim for him that he was the most remarkable
+man Central Asia in its fullest extent has produced since Nadir Shah;
+and that he accomplished with insignificant means a task which ordinary
+men, though born in the purple and ruling a prosperous and thickly
+populated state, might have failed to do. What better epitaph could be
+placed over a courageous and just ruler?
+
+The moral of his career is a short one, but for us full of significance.
+Those independent rulers who establish themselves for a space on the
+confines of China are mere ephemeral excrescences; birds of passage who
+must betake themselves away, if they can, when their little hour has
+struck. English governments have never understood the vitality of
+Chinese institutions. They should appreciate it better in the future.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE CHINESE RECONQUEST OF KASHGAR.
+
+
+When Yakoob Beg died at Korla the task of reconquering Kashgar had
+barely commenced. The Chinese army, victorious at Turfan, was lingering
+in idleness round that city, exhausted, as some believed, by the
+greatness of the effort. It was not clear even that the Chinese aspired
+to achieve any greater triumph than that they had already won, viz., the
+subjection of the Tungani, a subjection which could not be considered
+accomplished so long as Yakoob Beg remained in the neighbourhood at the
+head of a large army; and that with the withdrawal of the Kashgarian
+army to Karashar the Chinese generals might call a halt of an indefinite
+duration. Nor did it follow as a matter of necessity that because the
+Chinese had taken Turfan they could capture Kashgar or Yarkand. Distance
+alone was no slight obstacle, and when added to the barrenness of the
+country, which would be made more desolate by the retreating army of the
+Mussulmans, an impartial observer might have hesitated to predict any
+very speedy triumph for the Chinese. But besides these, there were other
+impediments, of which a prudent general had to take careful cognizance.
+To seize Karashar or Korla only needed a bold attack; but to subject
+Kucha might have been a more arduous undertaking than was even the siege
+of Manas. A delay of two months in the heart of Eastern Turkestan must
+have strained the resources of the Chinese very much, and might have
+ruined their whole enterprise. And even if Kucha fell there still
+remained Aksu, and afterwards Ush Turfan in the north, and Maralbashi
+in the south, barring the way to the vital portion of the state round
+Kashgar and Yarkand. Now the death of Yakoob Beg did not remove any one
+of these defences, and for a time it was believed that his son, who had
+always the repute of being a good soldier, would make the best of the
+very strong line of defence that he undoubtedly possessed. As a matter
+of fact, the death of Yakoob Beg was an irretrievable disaster, for it
+destroyed whatever cohesion and unity there were in the country. He
+himself might have been unable to avert a final overthrow, but the
+contest would have been made more protracted. Therefore in the months of
+May and June, 1877, immediately after the death of the Athalik Ghazi, it
+is strictly true to say that the Chinese reconquest of the country had
+barely commenced.
+
+The hesitation shown by the invading generals after the victory of
+Turfan was at first caused by a belief in the formidableness of their
+antagonist, and, when that antagonist died, by a prudent resolve to
+permit the disintegrating causes that speedily manifested themselves in
+Kashgaria to have full time to work in their favour. Meanwhile they
+formed their plans in secret, laid in large stores of supplies from
+Russian territory, and explored the little-known passes of Tekes and
+Yuldus. A large number of fresh troops was received from the Calmucks
+north of Chuguchak, who during the worst period of the Tungan revolt had
+preserved that city for the Chinese.
+
+But before following the forward movement of the Chinese it is necessary
+to say something of the internal disturbances in Eastern Turkestan, more
+especially of the rivalry of Beg Bacha and Hakim Khan for supremacy. In
+the first place, it is necessary that it should be distinctly understood
+that of the events that occurred in Kashgaria between the death of the
+Athalik Ghazi and the final advance of the Chinese army we are really
+without any definite intelligence at all, and it is not probable that
+we shall ever be accurately informed of the course of events during
+those five months. In the absence of exact _data_, we must assume the
+events to have taken place which are most in accordance with
+probability. On Yakoob Beg's death, his eldest son, Beg Kuli Beg, was
+either in the city of Kashgar or somewhere on the road thither. It is
+probable that he had been despatched to the rear, to bring up
+reinforcements after the defeat at Turfan, and in his absence Hacc Kuli
+Beg, the Ameer's second son, assumed the command of the army when his
+father died. It is certain that he accompanied the funeral cortege of
+Yakoob Beg back to Kashgar, and that he was murdered outside the walls
+by his brother. It was during this time that Hakim Khan Torah appeared
+upon the scene. It should be remembered that tidings of the death of
+Yakoob Beg travelled very slowly to this country, and that almost
+immediately after it arrived we received intelligence of events that had
+occurred many weeks after the death of the Ameer. We were therefore
+hearing at the same time the particulars of the circumstances of Yakoob
+Beg's death, and of those commotions which broke out some weeks after
+that event.
+
+When Hacc Kuli Beg left Korla no personal representative remained there
+of the dynasty of the Athalik Ghazi, and during that interval the
+occasion arose for the intriguing elements that a mixed court, such as
+that of Yakoob Beg, could never be free from. Hakim Khan seized that
+opportunity, and established his authority in Karashar, Korla, and,
+probably, Kucha also; and during a short time Kashgaria was accordingly
+divided into three hostile camps. It appears that Beg Bacha, lulled into
+a false sense of security by the inactivity of the Chinese, resolved to
+chastise the insolence of his rebellious governor, a task which he
+should have left for the Chinese. A war then broke out between Beg Bacha
+and Hakim Khan, which exhausted the few resources that still remained to
+a ruler of Kashgar. The contest appears to have been of a desultory
+nature, and although the final result was in favour of Beg Bacha, he
+never appears to have recovered possession of Karashar and Korla. In the
+neighbourhood of Aksu the battle of this war took place, and Hakim Khan
+was defeated, "by the overwhelming numbers of his enemy." Beg Bacha's
+chief loss was the death of Mahomed Yunus, the Dadkhwah of Yarkand, his
+ablest and most faithful adviser. Hakim then fled to Russian territory,
+with 1,000 _sarbazes_, who were promptly interned by order of General
+Kolpakovsky, and there he sought to restore his shattered fortunes by
+carrying on intrigues with the Russian government. It is scarcely
+necessary to say that these came to nothing, and that Hakim Khan has
+sunk into that insignificance which, to judge from his acts when called
+into public life, is his most befitting atmosphere.
+
+While engaged on this successful campaign east of Aksu, an event
+occurred of singular significance, as illustrating the condition of
+Kashgar under Beg Bacha. The Kirghiz chief Sadic Beg, who had
+disappeared from the scene since his old rivalry with Yakoob Beg
+thirteen years before, seized the opportunity afforded by Beg Bacha's
+embarrassment to attack the city of Kashgar, denuded of the greater
+portion of its garrison. He plundered the suburbs, and only withdrew
+when the young Ameer hastened back from Aksu to defend his capital. The
+Kirghiz, true to their nature, at once sought the desolate regions of
+Kizil Yart. They had, however, made the confusion arising from the death
+of the Ameer and the disaffection of Hakim Khan worse confounded, and
+completed those elements of weakness and discord which had always proved
+an invaluable ally to the Chinese. By themselves both Hakim Khan and the
+Kirghiz depredator were beneath contempt; but with an enemy established
+on the soil of the country, they assumed a too clear and mischievous
+importance. The minor seditions that manifested themselves in Sirikul
+and at Khoten completed the round of dissension that, combined with
+external force, shattered the fair show of Yakoob Beg's empire. We are
+completely ignorant of the details of the disturbances that were
+reported to have taken place round Tashkurgan or Sirikul; but it is
+plausible to suppose that these were caused either by inroads on the
+part of the Wakhis or Badakshis, or by some fresh Kirghiz attack. The
+inhabitants of Tashkurgan being Yarkandi settlers, it is not probable
+that the rising, or whatever form the commotion assumed, originated with
+them; at Khoten the rising was more tangible, and more easily
+understood. The people of that city never forgave Yakoob Beg his
+treachery towards their ruler, and the instant he disappeared they
+hastened to take their revenge. When the Kashgarian garrison was
+withdrawn the towns-people simply deposed their _dadkwah_, and nominated
+a ruler of their own, who retained authority until the triumph of the
+Chinese made it politic for them and him to bow to the rising sun. The
+example of Khoten had been followed by Sanju and the vicinity; and thus
+the whole southern portion of the state acquiesced in the Chinese
+conquest, after the fall of Kashgar, without the necessity for a single
+Chinese soldier to be advanced south of Yarkand. It seems probable that
+at this very moment the Chinese troops have remained content with the
+submission of these districts, and have not garrisoned those important
+towns which skirt the Kuen Lun range with their own soldiers.
+
+When Beg Bacha returned post haste to Kashgar, to encounter the Kirghiz,
+we said that Sadic Beg fled to the Kizil Yart; but he did not remain
+there long, for soon we find him back again at the capital in high
+favour with the Ameer, with whom he had come to terms. His Kirghiz
+followers were taken into the pay of the state, and just as this
+alliance had been struck up, tidings came of events that made that
+alliance, however futile and insignificant, a matter of the first
+necessity, both to Kirghiz and Kashgar. The Chinese army was at last
+advancing. The danger that had for five months been hanging in suspense
+over the devoted heads of a Mussulman people was close upon them. The
+long-feared and long-expected Khitay were drawing nigh to the capital,
+in irresistible strength; and the apprehensions of a cowed people made
+them know, too surely, that their end was at hand. The dissensions among
+the people themselves, the discord in the ruling house, and the
+dissentient elements in every effort towards unity, had all operated in
+favour of the invader. While the Chinese had plotted and prepared in the
+deliberate manner of a great nation, the people of Kashgar had entered
+into cabals and schemes of party tactics that were well nigh ludicrous.
+And all the time that the sap of their vigour was being expended, the
+Chinese generals were drawing the noose more closely together that was
+to strangle the newly erected state beyond all chance of recovery. It
+would almost seem as if the Kashgari and their rulers had recovered from
+their first shock at the Chinese invasion, and were becoming reconciled
+to their presence east of Korla, when they experienced a second, more
+severe, and more lasting shock, in the announcement that the Chinese
+were again advancing. Their brief contentment passed away, and all their
+old terror revived in tenfold force. Hope died within their bosoms, and
+the resignation of despair only nerved them to bear a fate which their
+own valour should have striven to avert. It is time for us now to return
+to the Chinese army, and to follow its decisive operations.
+
+North of the Tian Shan the supreme command was vested in the hands of
+Tso Tsung Tang, generalissimo of the army operating against Kashgar, and
+Viceroy of the province of Kansuh. South of it the commanders were
+Generals Kin Shun and Chang Yao, the former the hero of the siege of
+Manas, the latter of the diversion against Turfan from Hamil. The base
+of the former was Manas, of the latter Turfan. Their sources of supply
+were Hamil, Barkul, and Chuguchak, within the Chinese frontier, and
+Kuldja, Semiretchinsk, and Semipalatinsk, without. Their weapons and
+ammunition were transported across the desert from Lanchefoo, and their
+ranks were swollen by recruits from the Calmuck and other tribes. It
+does not appear that the Chinese were very eager to enlarge their army
+in size; they rather aimed at increasing its efficiency by the
+distribution of Berdan rifles and Krupp's cannon; and during the heat of
+the summer months they remained at rest in their recently acquired
+possessions. Nor is it probable that those epidemics broke out in their
+ranks which it was asserted had appeared amongst them. A sensational
+paragraph was published in the _Tashkent Gazette_, which was copied by
+some of the London newspapers, asserting that a species of cholera,
+known in Kashgar by the name of _vuoba_, had decimated the Chinese army,
+and that in consequence of that calamity its advance was permanently
+checked. Certainly, this was a piece of gross exaggeration, even if
+there were a substratum of fact for the assertion. Then, again, we were
+apprised, on high authority, that the Russian government had put a stop
+to the despatch of provisions to the country occupied by the Chinese
+army, at the request of its new-found friend, Beg Bacha. Yet there is no
+question that the caravans of Mr. Kamensky continued to pass between
+Kuldja and Manas, and that the chief caterers for the Chinese army were
+the Russian merchants of Central Asia. In the course of their
+intercourse the best feelings do not appear to have prevailed between
+the Russians and Chinese. The latter, flushed with their triumph, had
+become arrogant, and were too fond of referring to the question of
+Kuldja to be agreeable to the actual possessors of that province. On one
+or two occasions these verbal disputes assumed a more dangerous aspect,
+and from words the disputants proceeded to blows. Whether this collision
+was magnified or not, the Russian government took no diplomatic steps
+to secure reparation for injury to their subjects, and continued to wink
+at, if they did not actually approve of, their merchants supplying the
+Chinese. The clearest proof of this is that the moment Aksu fell a large
+caravan was despatched there by Mr. Kamensky. Still there was no little
+bad blood between the two people, and for a long time it was doubtful
+whether Russia would preserve her attitude of neutrality until Kashgar
+had been finally subdued. Beneath all this doubt, and the uncertainty of
+the strength and of the ultimate intentions of China, there existed a
+sentiment of dissatisfaction in the minds of the Russians at the renown
+China was acquiring, as well as at the prospect of having to restore a
+rich and paying province.
+
+In short, beneath the Tungan and the Kashgarian questions there
+smouldered the Kuldja question. Having now shown how well prepared the
+Chinese were at every point, how well armed, and how well fed was the
+tactical unit, and how Russia, although far from indifferent as to the
+results, was really abetting the side of China, we may pass on to those
+more active movements which proved that the Chinese generals possessed
+the ability and military knowledge necessary to make full use of the
+very powerful weapon which they had created, and which was capable of
+accomplishing the most arduous of enterprises.
+
+The first move was made south of the Tian Shan. So far as we know, Tso
+Tsung Tang did not break up from Manas until many weeks afterwards. A
+brigadier-general, by name Tang Jen-Ho, left Toksoun on the 25th of
+August, 1877, with the advanced guard, to occupy the outlying villages
+of Subashi and Agha Bula. He does not appear to have had under him more
+than a few hundred men. A fortnight later, on the 7th of September,
+Generals Tung Fuh-siang and Chang Tsun followed after him with 1,500
+troops, all infantry. They advanced through Agha Bula, Kumush, and Usha
+Tal to Kuhwei. At this place the troops were concentrated.
+
+The chief duty of these detachments was to prepare the road for the
+advance of the main body, to lay in at stated places stores of fuel and
+water, and to erect temporary fortifications. So thoroughly was this
+portion of the task performed, that General Kin Shun, now known as Liu
+Kin-Tang, gave the order for a general forward movement on the 27th of
+September.
+
+The infantry followed the main road, while the cavalry, under the
+immediate orders of the general, proceeded by by-paths in the same
+direction. On the 2nd of October the Chinese army south of the Tian Shan
+was assembled at Kuhwei. Its numbers were probably about fifteen
+thousand men all told. On the 24th of September a small force of
+Kashgarian troops threatened General Tang Jen-Ho's communications, but
+on the appearance of the Chinese they "turned tail and dashed away." The
+very next day after his arrival at Kuhwei General Kin Shun continued his
+forward movement. Two brigadier-generals, whose names it is not
+necessary to mention, were entrusted with one division, 6,000 strong,
+with which to perform a flanking movement against Korla. The commander
+in person led his main body against Korla, arriving at the River Kaidu,
+which flows into Lake Bostang, half-way between Karashar and Korla. But
+his advance was here checked, as Bayen Hu, the rebel leader, had flooded
+the country by damming up the course of the river. The depth of the
+inundation was said to be in the deepest parts over a man's head, and in
+the shallowest it came up to the horses' cruppers. The Chinese march was
+then changed to a northerly direction, in order to strike the river
+higher up, where the obstruction raised by the enemy would be more
+easily overcome. A cart-road was carefully constructed along these
+alkaline plains, and the Kaidu was dammed to stop the flow from the
+upper course, and a bridge was erected over it. This detour had caused
+some delay, yet Karashar was reached on the 7th of October, four days
+after Kin Shun had set out in person from Kuhwei. The inundation from
+the Kaidu had spread as far as here, and the town was several feet under
+water. All the official and private residences had been destroyed alike,
+and the Turki-Mussulman, as the _Pekin Gazette_ styles them, population
+had been compelled by Bayen Hu to follow him in his retreat. It would be
+interesting to know whom the Chinese meant by Bayen Hu, but it is almost
+impossible to say. As it was not Hakim Khan, the most probable personage
+would be one of the Tungan leaders, either of Urumtsi or Hamil, who had
+been mediatized by Yakoob Beg and placed in command of the Turfan
+region. He appears to have been the commander of that portion of the
+Kashgarian army which was left round Korla.
+
+Not only was Karashar deserted by its inhabitants, but so was the whole
+country round about. Some, indeed, had fled to the mountains, but these
+were afraid to return when they saw the Chinese established in their
+homes. And then the conquerors followed out their usual plan by settling
+fresh colonists in the town. The Mongol noble, Cha-hi-telkh, was
+directed to move up some hundreds of the members of his tribe to occupy
+this important post, to restore the homes and to retill the fields; and
+while this work of restoration was proceeding on territory conquered by
+the Chinese, that through which they passed in hostile guise was
+subjected to far other treatment. On the 9th of October the Chinese
+marched against Korla from two sides, and on that day a cavalry skirmish
+took place, in which fifteen of Bayen Hu's horsemen were slain, and two
+taken prisoners. From the evidence of these, who were dressed in the
+Khokandian garb, but were Mussulman subjects of China, being natives of
+Shensi, it was learnt that Bayen Hu had withdrawn with all his forces to
+Kucha, taking with him the produce of the country and the majority of
+the people. They affirmed that the small detachment to which they
+belonged was only a scouting party, sent out to learn what the Chinese
+army was doing. When the Chinese had exhausted their stock of
+information they beheaded them. The same day they entered Korla, which
+they found to be completely deserted, although not flooded. The walls
+remained, but many of the houses had been thrown down. Here the general
+was nearly reduced to a desperate plight, as the provision train, which
+was transported by cart and camel, did not come up, and there was the
+prospect of starvation compelling the victorious army to retreat. But
+happily the thought struck the able general, or perhaps some one gave
+him a hint, that there might be some stores concealed in the city which
+the Kashgari had been unable to carry away with them. Accordingly the
+whole army set to work to search the houses, and to dig into the ground
+in all likely places for hidden stores. Their toil was soon rewarded,
+and "several tens of thousand catties' weight of food" were discovered.
+As a catty weighs 1-3/4 lb., this was no slight supply for an army of
+men which was probably under 10,000 strong. These concerted movements of
+the army south of the Tian Shan placed the country as far west as
+Karashar in the possession of the invader. Their next advance, which
+they could not expect to be as unopposed as their late one, would bring
+them into the plain of Kashgar. No sooner had Karashar and Korla fallen
+into their possession than an edict was issued inviting the Mahomedan
+population to return to their homes, and many of them accepted the
+invitation. In this quarter the arms of China were not disgraced by any
+excesses, and moderation towards the unarmed population extenuated their
+severity towards armed foes.
+
+While halting some days at Korla, Kin Shun heard that Bayen Hu was
+coercing the people east of Kucha at Tsedayar and other places, and
+compelling them to withdraw to Kucha and to destroy their crops. He at
+once resolved to frustrate the plan, and set out in person at the head
+of 1,500 light infantry and 1,000 cavalry to protect the inhabitants. By
+forced marches, sometimes carried on through the better part of the
+night, he reached Tsedayar on the 17th of October, when he learnt that
+Bayen Hu had driven off the whole of the population, and was already at
+Bugur, on the road to Kucha. At the next village to Tsedayar, a
+fortified post known as Yangy Shahr, he found that Bayen Hu was still
+ahead of him, and that he was setting fire to the villages on his line
+of march. Kin Shun left a portion of his infantry behind to put out the
+conflagration, and resolutely pressed on with the remainder of his force
+to Bugur. This small town had also been set on fire, but here the
+rapidity of the Chinese general's advance was rewarded with the news
+that the enemy's army, with a large number of the inhabitants, was only
+a short distance ahead. The rear-guard, composed of 1,000 cavalry, was
+soon touched, and the Kashgari, emboldened by the small numbers of the
+Chinese, came on to the attack in gallant fashion. Their charge was
+broken, however, by the steadiness of the Chinese infantry, armed with
+excellent rifles, and the cavalry performed the rest. The Kashgari left
+100 slain on the field of battle and twelve prisoners. From these latter
+it was discovered that the main body of 2,000 soldiers was some distance
+on the road to Kucha, with the family of Bayen Hu and the villagers
+under its charge. It was too late to advance further that day, but on
+the next the forward movement was resumed. A large multitude--"some tens
+of thousands of people"--was speedily sighted by the advanced guard, but
+on examining these through glasses it was discovered that scarcely more
+than a thousand carried arms. All the troops were then brought to the
+front, and Kin Shun issued instructions that all those found with arms
+in their hands should be slain, but the others spared.
+
+The armed portion of the Kashgarian army drew off from the unarmed,
+leaving in the midst the large assemblage of Mussulman villagers who
+were being carried off to Kucha. These were sent to the rear by order of
+Kin Shun, and distributed in such of the villages as were most
+convenient. In the meanwhile a sharp fight took place a few miles in the
+rear of the old position, near a village called Arpa Tai. The action
+appears to have been well contested, but the superior tactics and
+weapons of Kin Shun's small army prevailed; and the Mussulman army
+retreated with considerable loss and in great disorder. Kin Shun
+followed up his success with marvellous rapidity and restless energy,
+while the Kashgarian troops fled incontinently to Kucha, abandoning the
+people and the country to the invader. The unfortunate inhabitants
+implored with piteous entreaties the mercy of the conqueror, and it is
+with genuine satisfaction we record the fact that Kin Shun informed them
+of their safety, and bade them have no further alarm.
+
+By this time it is probable that the Chinese army had been largely
+reinforced from the rear, for we have now come to a more arduous portion
+of the enterprise, the attack against Kucha. When the Chinese appeared
+before its walls they found that a battle was proceeding there between
+the Kashgarian soldiers and the townspeople, who refused to accompany
+them in a further retreat westward. On the appearance of the Chinese
+army, the Kashgarian force evacuated the city, and joined battle with it
+on the western side of Kucha. The Chinese at once attacked them, at
+first with little success; and a charge of the cavalry, numbering some
+four or five thousand men, was only repulsed with some difficulty. But
+the cannon of the Chinese were playing with remarkable effect upon the
+Mahomedans, and the Chinese reserves were every moment coming upon the
+ground. The infantry were at last ordered to advance, under cover of a
+heavy artillery fire, and the cavalry made a charge at a most opportune
+moment. The whole army then broke and fled in irretrievable confusion,
+leaving more than a thousand of their number on the ground. Their
+general, Ma-yeo-pu the Chinese called him, was wounded early in the day,
+but, although stated to be a noted man, it is impossible to recognize
+his identity under the Chinese appellation. This was certainly the most
+sanguinary and the best-contested action of the whole war. The numbers
+on each side were probably about 10,000 men, and it was won as much by
+superior tactics and skill as by brute force and courage. All the
+movements of the Chinese were characterized by remarkable forethought,
+and evinced the greatest ability on the part of the general and his
+lieutenants, as well as obedience, valour, and patience on the part of
+his soldiers. The rapid advance from Kuhwei to Karashar, the forced
+march thence to Bugur, the capture of Kucha, the forbearance of the
+conqueror towards the inhabitants, all combine to make this portion of
+the war most creditable to China and her generals, to Kin Shun in
+particular. The reason given in the Official Report for the Kashgarian
+authorities attempting to carry off the population was that the rebels
+wished in the first place to deprive the invading force of all
+assistance, thus making further pursuit a work of difficulty, and in the
+second place, to ingratiate themselves with the new Pahia (probably
+Bacha) of Kashgar, Kuli Beg, by delivering this large mass of
+Turki-Mussulmans into his hands. Bayen Hu was, therefore, certainly not
+Hakim Khan. It is tolerably clear that he must have been either a Tungan
+refugee or a subordinate of Beg Bacha's.
+
+A depot was formed at Kucha, and a large body of troops remained there
+as a garrison; but the principal administrative measures were directed
+to the task of improving the position of the Turki-Mussulman population.
+A board of administration was instituted for the purpose of providing
+means of subsistence for the destitute, and for the distribution of
+seed-corn for the benefit of the whole community. It had also to
+supervise the construction of roads, and the establishment of ferry
+boats, and of post-houses, in order to facilitate the movements of trade
+and travel, and to expedite the transmission of mails. Magistrates and
+prefects were appointed to all the cities, and special precautions were
+taken against the outbreak of epidemic or of famine. All these wise
+provisions were carried out promptly, and in the most matter-of-fact
+manner, just as if the legislation and administration of alien states
+were the daily avocations of Chinamen. There is no reason to believe
+that in the vast region from Turfan to Kucha the Chinese have departed
+from the statesmanlike and beneficent schemes which marked their
+re-installation as rulers; and whatever harshness or cruelty they
+manifested towards the Tungani rebels and the Kashgarian soldiers was
+more than atoned for by the mildness of their treatment of the people.
+
+On the 19th, or more probably the 22nd of October, Kin Shun resumed his
+forward movement, encountering no serious opposition. His first halt was
+at a village called Hoser, where he halted for one night, which he
+employed in inditing the report to Pekin, which described the successes
+and movements of the previous three weeks. At the next town, known as
+Bai, Kin Shun halted to await the arrival of the rear-guard, under
+General Chang Yao. This force came up before the close of October, and
+the advance against Aksu was resumed. Up to this point the chief
+interest centred in the army south of the Tian Shan, and in the
+achievements of Kin Shun. Our principal, in fact our only, authority for
+this portion of the campaign is the _Pekin Gazette_.
+
+We have now to describe the movements of the Northern Army, which was
+under the immediate command of Tso Tsung Tang, and which was operating
+in the north of the state, in complete secrecy. That general had under
+him, at the most moderate computation, an army of 28,000 men. By some it
+was placed at a higher figure; but a St. Petersburg paper, on the
+authority of a Russian merchant, who had been to Manas, computed it to
+be of that strength. It was concentrated in the neighbourhood of Manas,
+and along the northern skirts of the Tian Shan; and also on the
+frontier of the Russian dominions in Kuldja. To all appearance this army
+was consigned to a part of enforced inactivity, since it was impossible
+to enter Kuldja, and thus proceed by their old routes through the passes
+of Bedal or Muzart. But it was not so; the travels of Colonel Prjevalsky
+in the commencement of 1877 had not been unobserved by the Chinese, and
+it was assumed that where a Russian officer with his Cossack following
+could go, there also could go a Chinese army. By those little-known
+passes, which are made by the Tekes and Great Yuldus rivers, the Chinese
+army, under Tso Tsung Tang, crossed over into Kashgaria; and it is
+probable that the two armies joined in the neighbourhood of Bai. It was
+by this stroke of strategy on the part of Tso Tsung Tang that the
+Chinese found themselves before the walls of Aksu, with an overwhelming
+army, at the very sight of which all thought of resistance died away
+from the hearts of the Mussulman peoples and garrisons. Tso Tsung Tang
+appeared before the walls of Aksu, the bulwark of Kashgar on the east,
+and its commandant, panic stricken, abandoned his post at the first
+onset. He was subsequently taken prisoner by an officer of Kuli Beg, and
+executed. The Chinese then advanced on Ush Turfan, which also
+surrendered without a blow. As we said, the Chinese have not published
+any detailed description of this portion of the war, and we are
+consequently unable to say what their version is of those reported
+atrocities at Aksu and Ush Turfan, of which the Russian papers have made
+so much. There is no doubt that a very large number of refugees fled to
+Russian territory, perhaps 10,000 in all, and these brought with them
+the tales of fear and exaggerated alarm. We may feel little hesitation
+in accepting the assertion as true, that the armed garrisons were
+slaughtered without exception; but that the unarmed population and the
+women and children shared the same fate we distinctly refuse to credit.
+There is every precedent in favour of the assumption that a more
+moderate policy was pursued, and there is no valid reason why the
+Chinese should have dealt with Aksu and Ush Turfan differently to Kucha
+or Turfan. The case of Manas has been greatly insisted upon by the
+agitators on this "atrocity" question; but there is the highest
+authority for asserting that only armed men were massacred there. This
+the Chinese have always done; it is a national custom, and they
+certainly did not depart from it in the case of the Tungani and Kashgar.
+But there is no solid ground for convicting them of any more heinous
+crime, even in the instances of Manas and Aksu, which are put so
+prominently forward.
+
+Early in December the last move of all began against the capital, and on
+the 17th of that month the Chinese took it by a _coup de main_. Beg Kuli
+Beg, according to one account, fought a battle outside the town, in
+which he was defeated; according to another report, he had withdrawn to
+Yarkand, whence he fled to Russian territory, when he heard of the fall
+of Kashgar. It is more probable that he resisted the Chinese attack on
+Kashgar, for he certainly reached Tashkent, in company with the Kirghiz
+Chief, Sadic Beg, who was wounded in that battle. With the fall of
+Kashgar the Chinese reconquest of Eastern Turkestan was completed, and
+the other cities, Yangy Hissar and Yarkand, speedily shared the same
+fate. Khoten and Sirikul also sent in formal promises of subjection. But
+the capture of Kashgar virtually closed the campaign. No further
+resistance was encountered, and the new rulers had only to begin the
+task of reorganization. When Kashgar fell the greater portion of the
+army, knowing that they could expect no mercy at the hands of the
+Chinese, fled to Russian territory, and then spread reports of fresh
+Chinese massacres, which probably only existed in their own imagination.
+There can be no doubt that the Chinese triumph has been thorough, and
+that it will be many years before the people of Eastern Turkestan will
+have again the heart to rebel against their authority. The strength of
+China has been thoroughly demonstrated, and the vindication of her
+prestige is complete. Whatever danger there may be to the permanence of
+China's triumph lies rather from Russia than from the conquered peoples
+of Tian Shan Nan Lu; nor is there much danger that the Chinese laurels
+will become faded even before an European foe. Tso Tsung Tang and his
+lieutenants, Kin Shun, who has since fallen into disgrace,--perhaps he
+had excited the envy of his superior--and Chang Yao, accomplished a task
+which would reflect credit on any army and any country. They have given
+a lustre to the present Chinese administration which must stand it in
+good stead, and they have acquired a personal renown that will not
+easily depart. The Chinese reconquest of Eastern Turkestan is beyond
+doubt the most remarkable event that has occurred in Asia during the
+last fifty years, and it is quite the most brilliant achievement of a
+Chinese army, led by Chinamen, that has taken place since Keen-Lung
+subdued the country more than a century ago. It also proves, in a manner
+that is more than unpalatable to us, that the Chinese possess an
+adaptive faculty that must be held to be a very important fact in
+every-day politics in Central Asia. They conquered Kashgar with European
+weapons, and by careful study of Western science and skill. Their
+soldiers marched in obedience to instructors trained on the Prussian
+principle; and their generals manoeuvred their troops in accordance
+with the teachings of Moltke and Manteuffel. Even in such minor matters
+as the use of telescopes and field glasses we find this Chinese army
+well supplied. Nothing was more absurd than the picture drawn by some
+over-wise observer of this army, as consisting of soldiers fantastically
+garbed in the guise of dragons and other hideous appearances. All that
+belonged to an old-world theory. The army of Eastern Turkestan was as
+widely different from all previous Chinese armies in Central Asia as it
+well could be; and in all essentials closely resembled that of an
+European power. Its remarkable triumphs were chiefly attributable to
+the thoroughness with which China had in this instance adapted herself
+to Western notions.
+
+With the flight of Beg Kuli Beg to Tashkent closed the career of the
+house of the Athalik Ghazi in Kashgar. Whatever turn events may take in
+this portion of Central Asia, whatever schemes there may be formed in
+Khokand, or elsewhere, of challenging anew the Chinese domination, it
+will not be round the banner of Kuli Beg that the ousted Khokandian
+officials will rally. By his flight in the hour of danger, by the
+hesitation which marked all his movements, and by the murder of his
+brother in cold blood, this prince, of whom much at one time was
+expected, has irretrievably ruined both his career and his reputation.
+If on any future occasion Russia should seek to play the part played of
+old by Khans of Khokand in the internal history of Kashgar, it will not
+be Kuli Beg whom they will put forward as their puppet. His old rival,
+Hakim Khan, stands a much better chance than he, more especially if it
+be true that he is the representative of the Khojas, being the son of
+Buzurg Khan, as many have asserted. But the fact remains clear, that all
+the dreams of Yakoob Beg of founding a personal dynasty in Eastern
+Turkestan are now dispelled beyond all prospect of realization.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE CHINESE FACTOR IN THE CENTRAL ASIAN QUESTION.
+
+
+The overthrow of the Tungani, and the reconquest of Kashgaria, have not
+completed the task that lay before Chinese generals and soldiers in
+Central Asia. Great and remarkable as those triumphs were, the Chinese
+are not satisfied with them, because there yet remains more work to be
+done. They have restored to the Emperor Tian Shan Nan Lu, but so long as
+the Russians hold Kuldja, Tian Shan Pe Lu is only half won back.
+Moreover, so long as a great military power is domiciled in Kuldja,
+China's hold on the country west of Aksu must be only on sufferance. As
+of old, the Chinese so often reconquered Kashgar, when it had shaken off
+the Chinese rule, from Ili, so might the Russians at their good pleasure
+play the same part against the Chinese. In short, the Russians remaining
+in Ili would neutralize all the advantages that China had secured by her
+recent military success. But, although there is a foundation of well
+grounded apprehension at the strategical advantages of Russia, at the
+root of China's demand for the surrender of Kuldja, that is not the only
+cause, or even the principal one, for the Chinese making it. Of all
+their Central Asian possessions, Ili was the most cherished, and it was
+to recover that region more especially that Tso Tsung Tang undertook
+those arduous campaigns which have so far ended in triumph, and which
+were designed for, among other purposes, the purpose of giving that
+Viceroy a prestige and influence that would enable him to play the
+rival to Li Hung Chang. Ili was their metropolis in Central Asia, and
+its fall marked the wide difference that there was between the
+Tungan-Khoja rising of 1862-63 and all its predecessors. The fall of Ili
+meant the fall of Chinese power, and Chinese power cannot be held to be
+completely restored so long as Ili remains in alien hands. On this point
+the Chinese are very keen.
+
+Russia, on the other hand, hesitates to hand over Ili for various
+reasons. In the first place, it is not certain that China has
+_permanently_ reconquered Eastern Turkestan, nor is it clear that the
+Imperial exchequer will be able to bear a continual strain upon it for
+Central Asian expenditure. Moreover there is the unknown quantity of the
+rivalry of Li Hung Chang and Tso Tsung Tang, and whatever influence the
+latter may have with the army and the ruling caste on account of his
+Mantchoo blood, the former holds the purse in his hands, and can at any
+moment paralyse Chinese activity and strength in Central Asia. The
+Russians also, whatever rash promises they may have given at Pekin--and
+they certainly did promise to retrocede Kuldja to China, whenever the
+Chinese should be strong enough to return to Central Asia--formally
+(_teste_ General Kolpakovsky's proclamation) annexed Kuldja "in
+perpetuity." In the eyes of the people of Central Asia, that
+proclamation defines Russia's tenure of Kuldja, and not the vague
+promise that was uttered in the ears of the authorities at Pekin. Now
+Russia knows this as well as we do; and she is aware that no strict
+adherence to her word of honour will induce the people of Western, as
+well as of Eastern, Turkestan to believe that she retrocedes Kuldja for
+any other cause than fear of the Chinese. The Khokandians, the
+Bokhariots, as well as the Kirghiz, the Calmucks, and the Kashgari, will
+all argue that Russia restores Kuldja not through any desire to fulfil
+her engagements, but simply because she cannot decline to fulfil them
+without engaging in a war with China, and her compliance with the
+demand would then be construed as an admission of her disinclination to
+encounter China in the field. In fact, even if Russia had promptly
+restored Kuldja, she would not have secured the credit she might have
+claimed for her good faith, and she would have had no guarantee that the
+Chinese would have rested content with the cession of Ili proper and not
+gone on to claim, in a moment of military arrogance, the restoration of
+the Naryn district, which China at a period of weakness had herself
+ceded to Russia more than twenty years ago. Then, besides these
+objections to the surrender of Kuldja on political grounds, there are
+commercial and fiscal reasons why Russia should be loth to restore this
+province. Not only has it become highly prosperous and thickly populated
+under Russian rule, but it has also been raised into one of the most
+fiscally remunerative portions of the Russian possessions in Central
+Asia, and then there is its admirable frontier in the Tian Shan, which
+places the future trade with the western parts of China more at its
+disposal, than it is through the Semipalatinsk and Chuguchak route, and,
+above all, it effectually dispels all sense of real danger from attack.
+The Chinese would find that to force the Tian Shan range into Kuldja
+would be a task almost impossible for them, and they would be compelled
+to enter the province from the north by Karkaru. By so doing, they would
+leave the whole of their flank and line of communication exposed to an
+attack with telling effect both at Manas and in Kashgar, and with a
+scientific foe such as Russia, no sane Chinaman could dream of attacking
+Kuldja except in the most overwhelming force. It may be as well to
+sketch here the history of Russia's rule in Kuldja from 1871 to the
+present time, before proceeding with the consideration of the questions
+aroused by the difficulty between Russia and China.
+
+When an independent government had been founded in Kuldja in 1866, a
+ruler of the name of Abul Oghlan was placed upon the throne. He appears
+to have been a Tungan, and he certainly was a truculent and
+self-confident potentate. He refused to abide by the stipulations of the
+Treaties of Kuldja and Pekin, and in petty matters as in great, set
+himself in direct opposition to Russia. For five years he pursued his
+career undisturbed by exterior influences, and during that period he
+tolerated the inroads of his subjects into Russian territory, urged the
+Kirghiz tribes beyond his frontier to revolt, and forbade Russian
+merchants to enter his dominions. On a small scale, he aped the manners
+subsequently adopted by Yakoob Beg. But he was only a minor and
+insignificant despot. His people groaned under his tyranny, and the
+75,000 slaves within his dominions were only too anxious to be relieved
+from their bondage by any deliverer whatsoever. The state of Kuldja, as
+administered by Abul Oghlan, was pre-eminently one that would fall to
+pieces at the first rude shock from outside. For five years, or
+thereabouts, the Russian authorities at Vernoe, Naryn, and in
+Semiretchinsk put up with his veiled hostility; but when it became
+evident that his state was on the eve of falling into divers fragments,
+of which Yakoob Beg would, probably, come in for the lion's share, the
+Russians, whose patience had become well-nigh exhausted, resolved not to
+be forestalled in Kuldja, either by the Athalik Ghazi, or the Tungani
+Confederation. A kind of _ultimatum_ was presented to Kuldja, in which
+Abul Oghlan was given a last chance of retaining power, if he consented
+to ratify the terms of the past treaties with China. He does not appear
+to have distinctly refused to do so, when he was required to enter into
+this agreement with Russia. But he prevaricated and delayed, until at
+last the patience of the Muscovite authorities was quite exhausted. They
+resolved to destroy the government of Abul Oghlan, to annex Kuldja, and
+to bring their frontier down to the Tian Shan.
+
+In May, 1871, Major Balitsky crossed the river Borodshudsir, which
+formed the boundary between the two countries, and, at the head of a
+small detachment, advanced some distance into the dominions of Abul
+Oghlan. His force, however, was small, and, after a brief
+reconnaissance, he retired within Russian territory. Six weeks
+afterwards the main body under General Kolpakovsky crossed the frontier
+into Kuldja and marched on the capital. That invading army consisted of
+only 1,785 men and sixty-five officers. At first the forces of Abul
+Oghlan offered a brave resistance, but the Russian cannon and rifles
+carried everything before them; and on the 4th of July the ruler
+presented himself at the Russian outposts. When taken before General
+Kolpakovsky, he said, "I trusted to the righteousness of my cause, and
+to the help of God. Conquered, I submit to the will of the Almighty. If
+any crime has been committed, punish the sovereign, but spare his
+innocent subjects." The next day the Russian general entered the capital
+after a campaign that had only lasted eight or nine days. Protection was
+promised to all who would lay down their arms, and the army of Abul
+Oghlan was disbanded. Abul Oghlan was pensioned, and Orel was appointed
+as his place of residence. Kuldja or "Dzungaria," as it is called in the
+proclamation, was annexed "in perpetuity," and became the Russian
+sub-governorship of Priilinsk. There can be no doubt but that the
+Russian occupation of Kuldja was an unqualified benefit to the
+inhabitants of that region. The declaration of the abolition of slavery
+alone released seventy-five thousand human beings from a life of
+hardship and hopelessness. The return of trade, which had become
+stagnant, ensured the prosperity and advancement of the active portion
+of the community, and during the seven years Russia has ruled in Kuldja,
+the people have steadily progressed in moral and material welfare. The
+population has during the same period remarkably increased, and the
+valleys of the Ili teem with a population at once contented and
+prosperous. The rule of Russia in Kuldja is the brightest spot in her
+Central Asian administration. The Chinese in demanding the retrocession
+of Kuldja labour under the one disadvantage that they come to oust a
+beneficent rule. This disadvantage is made the greater by the bad name
+the Chinese have earned in Kashgar and the Tungan country, by the
+atrocities they are said to have committed. Those who will take the
+trouble to scan the matter carefully, and to consult the _Pekin
+Gazette_, as much as they do the _Tashkent_, will find that these
+atrocities are for the most part the creation of panic, and of malicious
+observers, and in the few cases where Chinese vindictiveness overcame
+military discipline, as at Manas and Aksu, we have clear evidence that
+women and children were spared. The _Tashkent Gazette_ has laboured
+strenuously, and not in vain, to disseminate the report of Chinese
+atrocities; and one London paper has so far assisted the object of the
+Russian press in raising a feeling of indignation against China, on
+account of these reported massacres in Eastern Turkestan, that it has
+placed translations of these charges before the English reader, and, on
+the authority of the _Tashkent Gazette_, has indicted and summarily
+convicted the Chinese of the grossest acts of inhumanity. We would
+venture to suggest, that in common fairness to the Chinese this journal
+should place before its readers the temperately worded and dignified
+reports that have appeared in the _Pekin Gazette_ of those events upon
+which the _Tashkent Gazette_ has commented so indignantly.
+
+As we said, the Chinese are fully resolved to regain Ili. They may not
+be able to induce Russia easily to surrender it, yet they will not
+despair. In all probability they will fail altogether to re-acquire it
+by diplomatic means, yet they will not omit to employ all the artifices
+that are sanctioned by modern diplomacy. There have been rumours that
+China intended handing over to Russia a strip of territory in
+Manchuria, which would give to the Russian harbour of Vladivostock a
+land communication with the forts on the Amoor. But this rumour had no
+solid foundation, and the latest intelligence goes to show that China's
+successes beyond Gobi, instead of making her moderate in the north, have
+given her confidence sufficient to arouse her into a state of opposition
+to further encroachments on the part of Russia in that direction. It is
+now said that Russia demands pecuniary indemnification for the money she
+has expended in raising Kuldja to its present highly prosperous
+condition; and at a first glance nothing could seem fairer, nor do we
+think that the Chinese would have raised objections to the payment of a
+moderate sum. But the sum demanded by the Russians is far from moderate.
+The exact amount has not been mentioned, but the Chinese declare that it
+exceeds the total cost of the campaign in the north-west, and that
+certainly was not less than two millions sterling. This is, of course,
+too exorbitant, and is only put forward as a reason for declining to
+abide by her former agreement, and to give her diplomatists a _locus
+standi_ in their discussions with the Chinese representatives. A Chinese
+Embassy has been authorized to proceed to St. Petersburg, and to
+endeavour to effect an understanding with Russia upon the Kuldja
+question; but it does not appear to have started, and the real
+settlement lies in the hands of Tso Tsung Tang and General Kaufmann. The
+latest report is that the former has demanded afresh the restoration of
+Kuldja; the Russian reply is awaited with eagerness and some anxiety. In
+the meanwhile the Chinese have suffered a local reverse of no
+significance at the hands of a chief of Khoten, and their power does not
+seem to extend south of Yarkand. But they are hurrying up
+reinforcements, and 20,000 fresh troops had reached Manas some weeks
+ago. They have also an extensive recruiting ground amongst the Calmucks,
+and their position of Chuguchak might be of great strategical
+importance. If the Kuldja question give rise to a Russo-Chinese war, the
+Chinese are sufficiently numerous and sufficiently prepared to task the
+capacity of an army of 20,000 Russians; and it is quite certain there
+are not 5,000 in Kuldja at present. But the Kuldja question, despite the
+prominence it has attained, is only one, if the most important and
+pressing, of those questions that are raised and suggested by the
+appearance of the Chinese in Central Asia. More especially is this the
+case if, as can scarcely be doubted, the Russians refuse to restore
+Kuldja; yet the Chinese, knowing the strength of their adversary, shall
+hesitate to attack where they cannot but recognize that the penalties of
+failure must be immense. In that event the Kuldja question will long
+remain unsolved, and for a time perhaps it will be forgotten. But the
+Chinese will not forget, nor will they condone the offence. But whatever
+may be the interval, and however great the delay, the Kuldja question
+will continue to remain a most important portion of Central Asian
+politics, and must, so long as it is unsettled, operate in a manner
+adverse to the interests of Russia. The Chinese need only maintain their
+camps at Chuguchak, Karakaru, Manas, Aksu, Ush Turfan and Kashgar, and
+slowly bring up reinforcements from Kansuh and from the Calmuck country,
+to render Russia's hold on Kuldja dangerously insecure. In fact, in this
+matter the Chinese have the game in their own hands, and can play a
+waiting game; whereas Russia can only hope to profit by precipitation on
+the part of Tso Tsung Tang. If the Chinese refuse to hold any
+intercourse with the faithless Russians, and simply content themselves
+with the declaration that they cannot re-enter into political or
+commercial relations with them until Kuldja is retroceded, Russia can
+never rest tranquil either in Kuldja, Naryn, or Khokand. Above all, so
+long as she is occupied in Western Asia as she is at present, she could
+never dare to cross the path of China, and enter upon a war which would
+rage from Vladivostock and the Amoor to Kuldja and Kashgar. Therefore
+the settlement of the Kuldja question is not such an easy matter as
+might be supposed; nor does it find Russia so strong or China so weak as
+might have been expected. But after all, as we have just said, the
+Kuldja question is not the only one suggested by the appearance of the
+Chinese in Eastern Turkestan. There is the far wider one raised by the
+appearance of the Chinese as a factor in the great Central Asian
+question. The three great Asiatic Powers have now converged upon a
+point; what is to be the result?
+
+The only way to be in a position to venture upon a surmise as to the
+future, is to realize in its full significance the lessons of the past.
+What have been the mutual relations between England, Russia, and China?
+We have assumed throughout this volume, and we shall assume here, the
+irreconcilable hostility of England and Russia, in Asia at all events,
+veneered over as it is by a lacquer of politeness and civilization. We
+have only to consider the relations between England and China, and
+between Russia and China. To take the latter first, they have always
+been united by ties of friendship and reciprocity in commercial and
+political rights. Their intercourse has been on the whole singularly
+harmonious, and while we have been compelled to wage three wars to
+obtain a standing for our merchants in the seaports, Russia, without
+being compelled to resort to anything like the same extreme measures,
+has been able to secure all she, or her merchants, wanted in Middle and
+Western China. She has made the Amoor a Russian river; she dominates the
+Yellow and Japanese seas from Vladivostock; and she has acquired in her
+position among the Khalkas, and in Kuldja, two portals to various weak
+points in the Chinese Empire. Yet all the time she has been on terms of
+the closest amity with China. She has several commercial treaties of the
+most favourable character, and she has always been on the footing of
+"the most favoured nation." But she has been more than that; she has
+been the most favoured nation. But the Chinese have not failed to
+observe that this good understanding with Russia has, so far as
+advantages arising from it go, been a very one-sided affair. For all
+Russia's protestations of friendship and good-will, what advantages has
+China reaped from those high-flown promises? Whereas, the patriotic
+Chinaman has but to look to the Amoor, and to the attenuated province of
+Manchuria, to see what Russian friendship means. He can go farther
+still. He has only to enquire into the relations Russia has managed to
+conclude with the Taranath Lama; he has only to hear what the people of
+Ourga think of Russia's position in the vicinity of that important city;
+and he cannot fail to form a very clear and decided opinion as to what
+Russia's friendship signifies. The Chinese have, in the full extent of
+their northern frontier, a great question in discussion with Russia. So
+long as China was weak, and consequently unable to resent the patronage
+of her friend, so long was Russia able to play "my lady bountiful" with
+a good grace and perfect success. But the moment China became strong,
+and in a position to resent the condescension of her whilome ally, the
+Chinese took a different tone, and already we hear of the Chinese
+assuming a semi-hostile attitude in the Amoor region. But whereas
+China's apprehension--for it is apprehension that is at the root of her
+hostility to Russia, at Russia's designs in Manchuria and among the
+Khalkas is vague at present--her indignation is clear and easily defined
+at Russia retaining possession of Kuldja after she has demanded its
+restoration. In short, all her apprehension along the northern frontier,
+which has slumbered, but never died out, since the Russians seized the
+Amoor posts during the Crimean War, is reduced to a focus in Central
+Asia, where Russia appears inclined to throw herself in the path of, or
+at least to retard, their victorious career. It is not so much the
+Kuldja question, which is of local importance, that is of pressing
+moment, as the rupture between Russia and China, that a crisis in the
+Issik Kul region will make complete. That rupture has already taken
+place, and no concession on the part of Russia will restore her good
+name with the Chinese. She may hand Kuldja over now, or she may keep it
+by the strong arm if she can; but she has forfeited all claim to
+consideration by the Chinese, through delaying to accede to that which
+those people consider in every sense their right and due. Had Russia at
+once said to China, "We will abandon Kuldja, and only require you to
+guarantee the safety of the population," there would have been not only
+the preservation of the good understanding between the countries, but
+there might have been, for fresh purposes, a Russo-Chinese alliance in
+Central Asia. That alliance must have been fraught with danger to this
+country, and for reasons that will best be described under the head of
+Anglo-Chinese relations.
+
+But the Russian authorities failed to grasp the situation in its full
+extent. They treated the Kuldja question as a mere local affair, and
+they trifled with the Chinese as if the latter had no very strong
+interest in the matter. They altogether ignored the terrible earnestness
+of the Chinese character, and they treated the demands of Tso Tsung Tang
+in a spirit of levity that must have roused the ire of that general.
+Their policy, regarded from any point of view, was shallow and unwise,
+but, bearing in mind the past tact and diplomatic skill shown by Russia
+in her dealings with China, it must appear more shallow and foolish. Of
+course this Kuldja question differs from all previous questions in the
+essential point of all, that here for the first time Russia had to go
+back instead of advancing, as always had been the case heretofore. The
+Russian authorities simply regarded the matter from the point of view
+of what effect it would have upon the peoples of Central Asia. They
+persuaded themselves that to hand over Kuldja would be to give an
+impetus to every hostile element in Western Turkestan, as well as to
+lower their prestige generally throughout Asia. As a leading Russian
+paper expressed it, "the retrocession of Kuldja would be an act of
+political suicide, for not only would it raise the prestige of China to
+a higher point than ever before, but it would also undermine our
+position in Eastern Asia, by giving the Chinese a strong military
+position within our natural frontier. For these reasons Kuldja cannot be
+restored." That paragraph sums up the arguments the Russians will employ
+in defence of their continuing to retain possession of Kuldja. They add
+something to their effect in the popular mind by diatribes against the
+Chinese for rumoured barbarities, by drawing comparisons, flattering to
+themselves and to their administrative capacity, between the present
+condition of Kuldja, and what it would become under a restored Chinese
+rule. In depicting what this would be, they entirely ignore the
+prosperous condition of Kuldja before the Tungan revolt, and they appear
+to assume that the anarchy existing there, when they entered it in 1871,
+was due to the Chinese, instead of being caused by the ingratitude and
+fickleness of its own people. And they shut their eyes to the great
+benefits China conferred upon Central Asia during the century that she
+was paramount therein. They would like us, and every other observer of
+the crisis, to do the same. That is impossible, for the teaching of
+history is clear, and points to a diametrically opposite conclusion. We
+do not dispute the beneficence of Russia's government of Kuldja. We
+freely admit it. That is no reason for maligning the Chinese, and
+asserting that they are utter barbarians; nor is it a reason, in the
+eyes of Chinamen, for a refusal to restore Kuldja. By refusing to
+entertain the overtures of Tso Tsung Tang, which were made, there is
+reason to believe, before the attack on Yakoob Beg, the Russians huffed
+the Chinese; and by procrastinating ever since, when questioned upon the
+subject, they have still further displeased them. The Russians are aware
+of this, and feel convinced that, no matter how obliging they might be
+disposed to be, the Chinese will now no longer appreciate their
+moderation. If we admit this, as can scarcely be gainsaid, what becomes
+of the Kuldja question, and of its peaceful solution that many claim to
+see? How can it be peacefully solved, if Russia will not accede to the
+terms from which China is resolved not to budge? Surely not by a fresh
+commotion on the part of the Mussulman population, which some persons
+have pretended to forecast by magnifying a petty success that has been
+obtained by the insignificant ruler of Khoten over a Chinese detachment.
+Surely not by such trivial circumstances as the hostility of an outlying
+dependency, will China be either expelled from Kashgar, or induced to
+forego her claims on Kuldja. The success of the Khoten chief is but a
+minor incident in the campaign, and for that district and its people it
+must be pronounced a great misfortune. The Chinese will exact a terrible
+revenge. The Kuldja question will not be solved by such means, English
+readers can feel assured; and the hostility of Russia and China towards
+each other will become more pronounced every day. Already petty
+disturbances are reported to have taken place along the border. Russian
+merchants have been molested by parties of brigands, among whom the
+assailed assert there were Chinese soldiers; and no satisfaction could
+be obtained from their generals. Representations have been made to Tso
+Tsung Tang upon the subject, and his reply has not been very amicable.
+Russian caravans, which were always welcome during the progress of the
+war at Manas, Karakaru, and Urumtsi, are now no longer greeted with the
+same cordiality, and the Chinese are evincing an intention to close
+their frontier to Russians. Few caravans, the _Tashkent Gazette_ informs
+us, now care to leave Kuldja for the territory occupied by the Chinese
+army; and slowly, but none the less surely, is the old alliance between
+Russia and China departing to join the things that were, but are not.
+But, although so much is clear, it is almost impossible to predicate the
+future course of the Kuldja question. It is not probable that Tso Tsung
+Tang will openly attack the Russians, yet his hand may be forced by the
+home authorities, and he may be left no alternative between that and the
+abandonment of his enterprise. It must be always remembered that
+Russia's best weapon is intrigue at Pekin, and a skilful envoy might so
+far manipulate the rivalry between Tso and Li Hung Chang as to induce
+the latter to paralyze the ambition of the former by withholding
+supplies and reinforcements from the army of Central Asia. So
+unpatriotic a course would, we believe, be hateful to Li Hung Chang, and
+it, certainly, would be attended with great danger, sure to recoil upon
+his guilty head, if for a personal rivalry he debased himself so far as
+to become the tool of his country's foe. But yet it is in vain to deny
+that there is danger to the preservation of China's most cherished
+interests in the rivalry of some of her chief statesmen. The Kuldja
+question, which scarcely admits of peaceful solution in Central Asia,
+might be solved in the palace at Pekin more easily and more effectually
+than by a campaign on a large scale in Jungaria and Turkestan; and there
+is a possibility that Russia may by this means seek to nullify the
+danger from Tso Tsung Tang, and to stultify the recent Chinese
+successes. It is very doubtful whether they would succeed, for Chinese
+opinion runs high upon the topic, and the Mantchoo caste is united in
+its support of its member Tso Tsung Tang. Even if they did, it would
+only be shelving the Kuldja question, for so long as the Chinese remain
+in Kashgaria, and at Manas and Karakaru, they must regard the presence
+of Russia in Kuldja as a slight to themselves, as well as a menace to
+their line of communications.
+
+But every probability is against their succeeding. Li Hung Chang's
+position is not so secure that he can dare to put himself in face of
+those who champion a national cause, as is the re-absorption of Chinese
+Turkestan. The return of Tso Tsung Tang with his veterans would be the
+least danger that the adoption of an unpatriotic policy would entail. If
+this home danger, then, does not arise, the Kuldja question will be
+settled between Tso and the Russian authorities in Khokand and Kuldja.
+The result of that discussion cannot be doubtful. The advocates on
+either side are soldiers, each equally confident in their own abilities
+and power, and each flushed by a long tide of success. They will come to
+the discussion of the question with heated blood and excited nerves;
+reason will not be the presiding goddess at the council board. There
+will be accusations and recriminations bandied from one side to the
+other. If such be the case, the Kuldja question will not be long in
+discussion, and before the close of the present year perhaps, but more
+probably early next spring, there will be war between Russia and China
+along the Tian Shan range. Even if Tso is content to permit his
+arguments to be clothed in diplomatic language, there will be no
+solution of the difficulty, so long as Russia remains where she is; and
+consequently the difference will be as great between Russia and China as
+if there were open hostilities between the countries. And this, after
+all, is the main point, for the destruction of all friendly sentiment
+between Russia and China means the addition of another element to "the
+great game in Central Asia," and that element, as an adverse one to
+Russia, is a beneficial circumstance for this country. The difference
+over the Kuldja question magnifies the previously existing discordant
+points between the countries, and irretrievably wrecks whatever prospect
+there once was of Russia and China pursuing an identical policy towards
+Baroghil and Cashmere. We have now to consider the past relations
+between England and China, in order that we may be in a position to
+appreciate the full significance of China's reappearance in Central
+Asia, and also what is to be the probable outcome of the gradual
+approximation of the three Great Powers, and the slow extinction of the
+once innumerable petty states of Asia.
+
+What, then, have been the mutual relations between England and China in
+the past? There is no necessity to enter into the question of the
+footing we are on along the sea-coast, for that is really beside the
+question; nor need we recapitulate the wars which we have at various
+times been compelled to wage in Eastern China. The result of those wars,
+those treaties, and that constant inter-communication has been, that
+Englishmen have secured a foothold in many of the principal cities, and
+that English trade is supreme there. But the relations along the land
+frontier are quite the opposite of those obtained on the sea-board, and
+they are influenced by entirely different considerations. During the
+last century, and for a considerable portion of the present, we were
+not, strictly speaking, neighbours of the Chinese; for between the two
+empires there intervened a belt of semi-independent states, who
+nominally owned allegiance to China. Some of these were Nepaul, Sikhim,
+Bhutan and Birma, with its dependency of Assam. It was in the days of
+Lord Cornwallis that we first realized the significance of the fact that
+Chinese prestige had penetrated south of the Himalaya. The Ghoorka
+rulers of Nepaul had, on several occasions, molested the peaceable
+Tibetans, and at last had grown so bold, that on one expedition they
+advanced as far as Lhasa, which they plundered. At that moment the aged
+Keen-Lung was meditating the retirement from public life, which a few
+years afterwards, like the Asiatic Charles the Fifth that he was, he
+adopted; but, on the news of this insult to his authority, his warlike
+spirit fired up, and he vowed that the marauders of Khatmandoo should
+dearly pay for their audacity. A large army, of the reputed strength of
+70,000 men, was collected, and the Chinese generals advanced by the
+Kirong Pass upon the Nepaulese capital. A desperate battle was fought
+along this elevated road, resulting in victory to the Chinese. Several
+other encounters took place with the same result, and the Ghoorkas were
+compelled to sue for terms. The Chinese showed no disposition to stay
+their advance, until Lord Cornwallis mediated between the foes, and
+peace ensued. Nepaul acknowledged its suzerainty to China, and agreed to
+send tribute every five years to Pekin. For more than half a century
+this was regularly sent, but during the last thirty years it has been
+either discontinued, or has grown irregular. But for us the main point
+is, after all, that the Chinese, although yielding to the remonstrance
+of Lord Cornwallis, really did so with a bad grace. We had stood between
+them and their prey.
+
+But this was not the full extent of the mistake we had actually
+committed. We had annoyed the Chinese; but we had absolutely offended
+the people and the ruling Lamas of Tibet. Warren Hastings had sent two
+missions--one under Mr. George Bogle, the other under Captain Turner--to
+the Teshu Lama, and by means of these embassies had broken ground very
+happily in Tibet. He had also conferred an obligation upon him by
+dealing leniently with the intractable Bhutanese or Bhuteas; and he had
+followed up that sense of obligation by the despatch of two successful
+missions. When Lord Cornwallis threw the _aegis_ of British protection
+over Nepaul, it is true that we had no diplomatic relationship with
+Tibet, but we were on a good footing with the people generally, having a
+native representative at Lhasa named Purungir Gosain, and being in high
+repute at Shigatze, the chief city of the southern portion of Tibet. The
+Tibetans, the instant the Ghoorkas raided their country, notified the
+same to our government, and requested its good offices to prevent the
+Ghoorkas invading their country. The Chinese, their lawful protectors,
+were so far away that much damage could be inflicted upon them before
+the Chinese could have time to despatch a vindicating army; therefore
+they appealed to their friends the English, whom they had always found
+so just, for assistance in their extremity. Their appeal was evidently
+made with the impression that it would be granted. Therefore it was with
+double regret they saw the English remain indifferent while the Ghoorkas
+were pressing on against Lhasa, and ravaging the fertile districts
+watered by the Sanpu. But their regret and surprise at our government
+remaining indifferent were as nothing compared with their indignation
+when they learnt that we were actually interfering on behalf of the
+marauding Ghoorkas. We saved the Ghoorkas from condign chastisement, and
+we of course prevented the establishment of a Chinese garrison at
+Khatmandoo, which we could whenever we chose have easily expelled; but
+we offended the Tibetans and the Chinese, and induced them to unite in a
+policy of hostility against ourselves. After that war (1792) the
+Himalayan passes were closed against us, and the Chinese block-houses
+have effectually barred the way to Tibet and Northern Asia ever since.
+Mr. Thomas Manning, one of the most intrepid and highly gifted of
+English travellers, penetrated into Tibet in 1812, and resided there
+some time. But that is the only instance in which an English traveller
+overcame Bhutea and Ghoorka indifference and Chinese hostility. Tibet
+remains a sealed book, and, despite treaty rights to enter it, no
+Englishman goes thither, although the attraction is great, and the prize
+to be secured far from vague or trivial. The assumed reason is the
+covert hostility of the Chinese.
+
+If we turn farther to the east, to Assam--which we have absorbed--to
+Birma, and even to Siam, we find the same causes in operation. We
+recognized in Yunnan the Panthay Sultan of Talifoo; we have always
+striven to treat the kings of Birma and Siam as independent princes,
+whereas they are only Chinese vassals; and we are believed to have
+carried on intrigues with the Shans and other tribes beyond the Assamese
+frontier. These steps may be prudent or they may not for other reasons;
+but they certainly are imprudent for the reason that they offend the
+Chinese. As a policy intended to conciliate the Chinese, our frontier
+policy on the north and the east has been the worst possible, and a
+tissue of blunders from beginning to end; and the result is that for the
+last half-century we have lived on the very worst terms with the
+Chinese. We should have conciliated them, but we aroused instead all
+their latent suspicion and dislike. We should have become friendly
+neighbours, and, on the contrary, we are neighbours who, if not
+decidedly hostile to each other, shun each other's presence. And the
+real base of our sentiment towards the Chinese is to be seen in the fact
+that one of the first articles in the creed of Indian state policy is
+"to keep China as far off as possible." That precept, which may have
+been very useful, has served its turn, and it is time that our
+Indo-Chinese policy should be set upon a new basis. With China once more
+supreme upon our whole northern frontier, and with her presenting
+ultimatums at Bangkok, and coercing the ruler of Mandalay as she esteems
+fit, it is high time for us, apart from the Central Asian question
+altogether, to set our house in order with the Chinese. The mistakes we
+made in championing the Ghoorkas, in acknowledging the Panthays, and in
+a general policy of indifference to Chinese opinion, have all tended to
+bring about the present deadlock in our relations with China. Our
+acknowledgment of the Athalik Ghazi cannot have conduced to the creation
+of any very friendly sentiment among the Chinese towards us, and,
+therefore, at the present moment we must assume that the state of
+feeling existing among the Chinese in Tibet and Yunnan towards us exists
+in Kashgaria also; and that feeling is a veiled hostility. Therefore,
+while the Chinese are beginning to regard Russia with the hostile
+feelings that once were reserved for England, they have by no means
+altered their old sentiments towards us. We have done nothing whatever
+to induce them to do so. We have not helped them in any way to regain
+Kashgar, and on the whole English opinion may be said to have been more
+adverse to, than in favour of, their claims. They have found in the
+arsenals of Kashgar and Yarkand many proofs of England's alliance with,
+and friendship for, Yakoob Beg; and, on the other hand, they certainly
+owe much to the assistance of Russian merchants, and the forbearance of
+the Russian government. Nor should we for an instant delude ourselves
+with the fallacy that the Chinese will look to us for aid against
+Russia, as Yakoob Beg did. They have conquered Eastern Turkestan without
+us--in fact, despite of our moral opposition; and they will retain it if
+they can by their own right arms. It will not enter their head for an
+instant to play the old game of Yakoob Beg, of setting England off
+against Russia. But, although they will play a perfectly independent
+game, it by no means follows that they will be hostile to this country,
+if by some fortunate stroke of diplomacy we could bring home to their
+minds the fact that England is glad at the result of the war in Central
+Asia, however much she may have failed during its progress to recognize
+which was the rightful cause. But what is that fortunate stroke of
+diplomacy to be? and how is it to be brought to pass? To each of these
+questions it would be rash to give any confident reply. In dealing with
+the Chinese we are not only treating with a people whom we very
+imperfectly understand, but also with a government the secret springs of
+whose policy we neither know nor appreciate. The action we might
+therefore adopt, founded though it should be on the experience of some
+Englishman versed in the mysteries of China, might fail to accomplish
+what it seemed calculated to secure. It might be crowned with success,
+it might be condemned with failure. Of course the first thing to decide
+is, how are we to take official cognizance of China's reconquest of
+Kashgaria, and how are we to bring home to the minds of Tso Tsung Tang
+and his lieutenants the knowledge that we have repented of our
+shortsighted policy towards Yakoob Beg, and are willing to atone for it
+in so far as we are able by an ample recognition of the change in
+affairs north of the Karakoram?
+
+The Che-foo Convention gave us the right to send an embassy to Tibet, on
+the condition that it should be acted upon within a given space. We did
+not avail ourselves of that concession, and the Chinese, we are
+informed, consider that the right has lapsed. We may have been wise or
+we may have been foolish--in my opinion we have been foolish--in
+declining to enforce the only real concession China made, in reparation
+for the murder of Mr. Margary. Does this concession, which we never made
+use of, entitle us to send a mission to the Chinese in Kashgar? Acting
+upon this precedent, are we justified in supposing that the Chinese
+would hold out a hand of friendship to an English envoy coming from Leh
+to Yarkand? It is much to be feared that it would not. At the present
+moment, too, the country must be in such a disturbed state, that the
+Chinese would have a ready excuse if any accident befel our envoy.
+Moreover, at the present moment an envoy would have no definite object
+before him. A few years hence, when the Chinese rule shall be completely
+restored throughout Eastern Turkestan, it may be reasonable to expect a
+revival of trade in this direction; but at present it would be premature
+to agitate for it. Nor would a simple embassy of congratulation look
+well. We have too recently befriended the Athalik Ghazi to make our
+congratulations to his conqueror anything but a mockery. The Chinese
+would be puffed up with vanity, and think that we were only worshipping
+their rising sun. Whatever action we do take in Central Asia, to effect
+an understanding with the Chinese, we must be very careful that it has
+been well considered, and that it is as cautious as it must be clearly
+defined. Any mistake would be simply fatal to the preservation of good
+relations with China. Therefore, we must do nothing. _Quieta non movere_
+must be our motto, and we must only look forward to some auspicious
+occasion when it may be possible to enter into cordial relations with
+China.
+
+But, although our hands are tied in Central Asia, they are not fettered
+at Pekin, and we certainly should congratulate, if we have not done so
+already, the Chinese on their remarkable successes in the Tian Shan
+regions. That step might be pregnant with beneficent results, and our
+desire to be on good terms with our new, yet our old, neighbour might be
+met in a cordial manner by the Chinese. The Chinese will not stoop to
+propitiate us in order to preserve their rule in Eastern Turkestan; but
+it is against common sense to suppose that they will be eager to embroil
+themselves with us at the same moment that they are quarrelling with the
+Russians. The Kuldja question must throw China into our alliance, if we
+are not precipitate, and do not offer her any slight by meddling with
+this semi-independent chief of Khoten, who is said to have overthrown a
+Chinese detachment. And, in negotiating with the rulers of Kashgaria, we
+must remember that commercial advantages are all very well, but that
+political are infinitely more important. It has been tersely said that
+we patronized Yakoob Beg in order to make a market for Kangra tea; but
+the very trivial advantages we secured in a commercial sense were far
+more than counterbalanced by the political disadvantages we derived from
+a recognition of the Athalik Ghazi. In dealing with the Chinese we must
+not set before us, as our guiding star, the privilege of supplying the
+good people of Kashgar and Yarkand with tea and other necessaries. What
+we aspire to is to be on terms of amity with China, as a power in
+Central Asia, which will possess everything it desires when Ili has
+been restored, and which most accordingly be inclined to resent with us
+the undue aggrandizement of Russia. These are the future advantages that
+may accrue from an understanding between England and China. But at the
+present juncture there are others similar in kind, but immediate in
+effect. The Afghan question, which now clamours for solution, and which
+will scarcely pass through this crisis without finding our hold on Cabul
+made more assured, is in many respects connected with the Kuldja.
+
+In each case the ambition of Russia is the motive power, and in each she
+seeks to play her game with as little risk, and as much gain, as
+possible. In neither will she fight, if she can avoid the necessity, yet
+in each there is a point beyond which her honour and her interests alike
+refuse to permit her to remain concealed and neutral. The solution of
+the two questions is being worked out simultaneously, and the progress
+of the Afghan question will at least very seriously affect the later
+stages of the Kuldja. If Russia has to fight to defend Shere Ali, then
+we may be sure that Tso Tsung Tang's legions will not remain inactive,
+and that General Kolpakovsky will either have to beat a retreat to
+Vernoe, or engage in a war out of which, on his own resources alone, it
+will be impossible for him to issue victorious. If Russia interfere
+openly in defence of Shere Ali, Kuldja must be restored to the Chinese,
+otherwise Russia's flank would be exposed to a crushing blow, which the
+Chinese would not be slow to take advantage of. Present events on the
+Ili and on the Cabul have, therefore, this much in common, that they
+both aim, directly or indirectly, at the fabric of Russian supremacy in
+Central Asia. The occupation of Afghanistan by England, or even a
+partial occupation of it as is very probable, would seriously weaken
+Russian prestige in Western Turkestan. A Chinese occupation of Kuldja
+would undermine her position in Vernoe and Naryn and among the Kirghiz.
+Admitting these, is it not natural to suppose that in each case Russia
+will fight, or that, even if she does not fight in each case, she will
+fight in the one that she may deem of the most importance? But we need
+not pursue the subject farther. The Chinese are face to face with Russia
+in the heart of Central Asia, just as a few short months ago they were
+opposed to Yakoob Beg and the power of the Tungani.
+
+Their army is drawn up in hostile array; it is each day becoming more
+numerous and more perfectly prepared. Its generals are the same who have
+led it to constant victory; its main body is the veterans of three
+campaigns. The Chinese are persuaded, and it is impossible to say not
+justly persuaded, of the righteousness of their cause. The Russians can
+have no equal confidence either in their strength, or in their moral
+position. They are not exactly championing a bad cause, or a lost one,
+but, in comparison to the Chinese, they have no legal position. It
+remains to be seen whether by force of arms, or by diplomatic
+superiority, they can make up for the flaw in their tenure of Kuldja.
+Farther on, in the vista of the events yet to come, there looms the
+prospect of an Anglo-Chinese alliance, that must be most beneficial to
+the peoples of Asia generally. But, before it will be possible for
+Englishmen to count upon the presence of the Chinese as a favourable
+"factor in the Central Asian question," our relations with China must be
+placed upon a firmer and a more friendly basis than any which has yet
+existed. We have it in our power to do this, and the ever-widening
+breach between Russia and China simplifies our task in no slight degree.
+The day will come when Russia will discover that the Kuldja question was
+no trivial matter at all, and that to it can be traced many important
+events in Central Asia. England may also recognize in it one of the most
+useful circumstances that have ever operated in her favour in her long
+rivalry with Russia. At the very crisis of our border history, when we
+are on the eve of dealing out well merited chastisement to an Ameer of
+Cabul, Russia finds herself weakened by being compelled to discuss a
+question with China, when her attention is required elsewhere. She will
+not yield what the Chinese demand, yet she dare not refuse; and the
+latter will simply bide their time until she is hampered elsewhere. It
+is no rash prophecy to say that China will be reinstalled, either by
+peaceful means or by force, in Kuldja before the close of next year,
+probably long before. An alliance between any two of the three great
+Asiatic Powers must then be conclusive in all Central Asian matters,
+and, before that alliance, the third will have the prudence to submit.
+It behoves us to learn our lesson, when that day comes, thoroughly and
+in good time.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+
+THE POSITION OF LOB-NOR.
+
+Lake Lob-Nor is placed in the map accompanying this volume in accordance
+with the explorations of Colonel Prjevalsky in 1876-77; the result of
+which was published in Dr. Petermann's _Mittheilungen_ as an extra
+number during the spring of the present year. The accuracy of the
+gallant explorer in identifying Lob-Nor with his lake of Kara Koshun had
+not been challenged when this map was drawn, and when the following good
+reasons for doubting its accuracy were published on the 14th of
+September, it was too late to make the necessary alteration.
+
+The quotation of Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen's strictures on Colonel
+Prjevalsky's lakes is taken from the _Athenaeum_ of the 14th of
+September, 1878:--
+
+"It would appear that the Russian traveller Prejevalsky, in his last
+remarkable journey in the heart of Central Asia, did not explore Lob-Nor
+at all, as he claims to have done. Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen, one
+of the first comparative geographers of the day, has examined the
+account of the journey, more especially by the light of Chinese
+literature, and proves, almost incontestably to our thinking, that the
+true Lob-Nor must lie somewhere north-east of the so-called Kara Kotchun
+Lake discovered by Prejevalsky, and that, in all probability, it is fed
+by an eastern arm of the Tarim river. This, at all events, would account
+for the remarkable diminution in bulk undergone by the waters of that
+stream as they proceed southward, which could not but strike an
+attentive reader of the Russian explorer's narrative. We have not space
+to reproduce all the arguments which Von Richthofen adduces, but the
+more important are these:--Prejevalsky's lake was fresh, whereas Lob-Nor
+has been called _The_ Salt Lake, _par excellence_, in all ages; Shaw,
+Forsyth, and other authorities, report that the name Lob-Nor was known
+in those regions, whereas Prejevalsky found no such name applied to his
+lake; the Chinese maps, of the accuracy of which Von Richthofen has had
+repeated proofs, represent Lob-Nor as lying more to the north-east, and
+call two lakes lying nearly in the position of those discovered by
+Prejevalsky, Khasomo, Khas being the Mongolian for jade, a famous
+product of Khotan of which mediaeval traders from China went in quest,
+passing by these very lakes _en route_. Another important argument is,
+as we have mentioned, based on the bulk of water discharged by the Tarim
+at its mouth. Von Richthofen's theory presupposes that the Tarim River
+has altered its course, and that the main rush of water is now
+south-east instead of due east as formerly. The whole question is well
+worthy of further investigation, and it is possible that Prejevalsky,
+whom a recent telegram from St. Petersburg reports about to return to
+Central Asia, may be enabled to elucidate it. He will return to Zaissan,
+the Russian frontier post, and thence endeavour to make his way into
+Tibet by way of Barkul and Hami.
+
+"It is, however, certain that he will encounter great, if not
+insuperable, obstruction, for we learn from private advices from India,
+that the ill-advised publication in the Chefoo Convention of the then
+proposed mission to Tibet has resulted in the issue of the most
+stringent orders to the Tibetan officials at all the various routes and
+passes to allow no European traveller to enter into the country on any
+pretext whatever."
+
+Having stated the view of Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen, which is
+endorsed by the high authority of the _Athenaeeum_, and which bears,
+moreover, conviction upon its face, it is but fair to give the vital
+portion of Colonel Prjevalsky's own description. The _Geographical
+Magazine_, for May, 1878 Contains _in extenso_ the report, and the
+sentences here quoted are from that translation.
+
+"At a distance of fifteen versts from the smaller lake, Kara Buran, the
+party diverged southward to the village of Charchalyk, built about
+thirty years ago by outlaws from Khotan, of which there are at present
+114 engaged in tilling fields for the state.... Where Charchalyk now
+stands, and also at the distance of two days' journey from it, are the
+ruins of two towns, called Ottogush-Shari (from Ottogush, a former
+ruler) and Gas-Shari respectively. Close to Lob-Nor (Kara Koshun) are
+the ruins of a third and pretty extensive town called Kune-Shari. From
+inquires, Prejevalsky ascertained that about 1861 or 1862 a colony of
+Russians numbering about 160 or 170 people, including women and
+children, with their pack-horses and armed with flint-lock muskets,
+settled on the Lower Tarim and at Charchalyk, but that they made no long
+stay, and soon returned to Urumchi, via Turfan.... Turning to the
+Lob-Nor Lake (Kara Koshun), which the travellers reached in the early
+days of February, it should be observed that the Tarim discharges itself
+first into a smaller lake (from thirty to thirty-five versts in length,
+and between ten and twelve versts in breadth) called Kara Buran (_i.e._
+black storms) into which the Cherchendaria flows as well. A great part
+of the Kara Buran, as of Lob-Nor, is overgrow with reeds, the river
+flowing in its bed in the centre. The name Lob-Nor is applied by the
+natives to the whole lower course of the Tarim, the larger lake being
+called Chok-kul or Kara Koshun. This lake, or rather morass, is in the
+shape of an irregular ellipse running south-west and north-east.
+
+"Its major axis is about 90 or 100 versts in length, its minor axis not
+more than twenty versts. This information is derived from the natives,
+as Prejevalsky himself explored only the southern and western end, and
+proceeded by boat down the river for about half the length of the lake,
+further progress being rendered impossible by the increasing shallowness
+of the water and the masses of reeds in every direction. The water
+itself is clear and sweet, though there are salt marshes all round the
+lake, and beyond them a strip of ground parallel with the present
+borders of the lake and overgrown with tamarisks. It is probable that
+this strip was formerly the periphery of the lake, and this conclusion
+is corroborated by the natives, who say that thirty years ago the lake
+was deeper."
+
+It is clear that the true position of Lob-Nor has yet to be defined by
+modern exploration, but we may safely assume with the _Athenaeum_ that
+Colonel Prjevalsky's Kara Koshun is _not_ Lob-Nor. The accompanying map
+then, in this particular, is unfortunately erroneous.
+
+There is every reason for believing that Lob-Nor will be found in the
+position assigned to it on the Chinese chart, the accuracy of which has
+been so strikingly proved by the correct position given to the two lakes
+Khas-omo, which are identical with the Kara Koshun and Kara Bunar of
+Prjevalsky.
+
+It would be most interesting to obtain a diary or other account of those
+Russian settlers mentioned by Prjevalsky, who entered the _terra
+incognita_ of Central Asia during the halcyon days after the signature
+of the Treaty of Kuldja, and just before the outbreak of the Tungan
+revolt. It is possible that they may have solved during their return
+journey to Urumtsi the enigma of Lob-Nor without knowing what they had
+achieved. The reader will, therefore, have the kindness to bear in mind
+that Lob-Nor is really (probably about three-quarters of a degree)
+north-east of where it is placed on the map, and that the lake
+represented there is only the Kara Koshun, or Chok Kul of Colonel
+Prjevalsky.
+
+The most recent information is, that Colonel Prjevalsky adheres to his
+view as to the position of Lob-Nor, and is preparing a reply which will
+be published in a few weeks from this date (October 1st).
+
+
+TREATY BETWEEN RUSSIA AND CHINA.
+
+TREATY OF COMMERCE CONCLUDED BETWEEN RUSSIA AND CHINA, AT KULDJA, ON THE
+25TH DAY OF JULY, 1851, AND RATIFIED ON THE 13TH DAY OF NOVEMBER, 1851.
+
+The plenipotentiary of His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias, and
+the plenipotentiaries of His Majesty the Bogdokhan of Tatsing, hereby
+declare; the Governor General of Ili, and its dependent provinces, as
+well as his deputy, have, after consulting together, concluded in the
+city of Ili (Kuldja), in favour of the subjects of both empires, a
+Treaty of Commerce, which establishes a traffic in the cities of Ili
+(Kuldja), and of Tarbagatai (Chuguchak). This treaty is composed of the
+following articles:--
+
+ARTICLE I.
+
+The present Treaty of Commerce, concluded in the interests of both
+powers, by demonstrating their mutual solicitude for the maintenance of
+peace between, as well as for the well-being of, their respective
+subjects, ought to draw still closer together those links of friendship
+which at the present moment unite the two Powers.
+
+ARTICLE II.
+
+The merchants of the two Empires will regulate between themselves the
+interchange of commerce, and arrange the various charges at their own
+will, and without any extraneous pressure. On the part of Russia a
+consul will be appointed to superintend the affairs of all Russian
+subjects; and on the part of China, a functionary of the superior
+administration of Ili. In the event of any collision between the
+subjects of either Power, each of these agents will decide, in
+accordance with justice, the affairs of his own countrymen.
+
+ARTICLE III.
+
+This commerce being opened in consideration of the mutual friendship of
+the two Powers, it will not be in contravention of existing rights on
+either side.
+
+ARTICLE IV.
+
+Russian merchants going either to Ili (Kuldja) or to Tarbagatai
+(Chuguchak) will be accompanied by a syndic (caravanbashi). When a
+caravan going to Ili (Kuldja) shall arrive at the Chinese picket of
+Borokhondjir, and when that destined for Tarbagatai (Chuguchak) shall
+reach the first Chinese picket, the syndic shall present to the officer
+of the guard the certificate of his government. The said officer, after
+having noted the number of men, of beasts, and of loads of merchandise,
+shall permit the caravan to pass, and shall furthermore cause it to be
+escorted from picket to picket by an officer and soldiers. During the
+march, all disturbance, or cause for such, shall be interdicted to
+soldiers and merchants alike.
+
+ARTICLE V.
+
+In order to facilitate the task of officers and soldiers, Russian
+merchants shall be obliged, in virtue of the present treaty, to follow
+the route chosen by their body guard, both going and returning.
+
+ARTICLE VI.
+
+If, whilst Russian caravans follow their route outside the limit of the
+guard of Chinese soldiers, bands of brigands from the outer clans
+(Kirghiz) shall commit acts of pillage, of assault, or other crimes, the
+Chinese government shall not be required to interfere in the matter.
+When the caravan shall have arrived on Chinese territory, similarly also
+during its residence in the factories where merchandise is stored,
+Russian merchants must themselves guard and defend their property. They
+will be expected still more carefully to look after their animals when
+out at pasturage. If, despite all precaution, something should happen to
+go astray, notice of such loss must be promptly given to the Chinese
+official; who conjointly with the Russian consul shall trace out with
+all possible diligence the lost article. If traces of it are discovered,
+and those in a village held by Chinese subjects, and the thief be
+captured, the punishment shall be prompt and severe. If the thing lost
+be recovered, or any portion of it, it shall be restored to the person
+to whom it belonged.
+
+ARTICLE VII.
+
+In the event of disputes, litigations, or other trivial incidents,
+between the respective subjects, the Russian consul and the Chinese
+official, of whom mention has previously been made, shall use all their
+efforts to settle the affair satisfactorily. But if, despite every
+effort to avoid such, a criminal case or one of general importance
+should arise, it shall be decided conformably with the regulations
+actually in force on the Kiachta frontier.
+
+ARTICLE VIII.
+
+Russian merchants shall arrive each year with their merchandise between
+the 25th day of March and the 10th day of December (of our style, or
+according to the Chinese calendar between the day Tchin-ming and the day
+Tong-tchi); after the latter of these dates, the arrival of caravans
+shall cease. If the merchandise imported during that period (8-1/2
+months) should not be sold, it shall be permissible to the merchants to
+remain a longer space in China, in order to complete their sale; after
+which the consul shall take charge of their departure. It is moreover
+understood that Russian merchants shall not obtain an escort of officers
+and soldiers, neither for going nor for returning, if they have not at
+the least twenty camels laden with merchandise. If a merchant or the
+Russian consul has need for some special matter to send an express
+message, every facility shall be accorded him for doing so. But in order
+that the service of officers and soldiers should not become too onerous,
+there shall only be twice in the same month these extraordinary
+expeditions outside the line of the advanced guards.
+
+ARTICLE IX.
+
+Russian and Chinese merchants can see each other without restriction
+about matters of business; but Russian subjects, finding themselves in
+the factory under the care of the Russian consul, may not walk about in
+the suburbs and the streets, unless provided with a "permit" from the
+consul; without such permit, they must not go out of their enclosure.
+Whoever shall go out without permission shall be led back to the
+consul, who will proceed against him according to law.
+
+ARTICLE X.
+
+If a criminal belonging to either of the two Empires should flee to the
+other, he shall not be afforded sanctuary; but, on the part of each
+Power, the local authorities shall take the most severe measures, and
+make the most searching enquiries to arrest him. There shall be
+reciprocal extradition of fugitives of this class.
+
+ARTICLE XI.
+
+As it is to be foreseen that the Russian merchants, who shall come to
+China on commercial matters, will have with them carriages and beasts of
+burden, there shall be assigned for their use, near the city of Ili,
+certain places on the banks of the river Ili, and also near the city of
+Tarbagatai other places where there is both water and pasturage. In
+these encampments the Russian merchants shall confide their animals to
+the charge of their own people, who shall take care that neither
+cultivated lands nor cemeteries shall be in any case injured or
+desecrated. Those who may contravene this enactment shall be brought
+before the consul to be punished.
+
+ARTICLE XII.
+
+In the exchange of articles of merchandise between the merchants of the
+two Empires, nothing shall be left on credit on either side. If,
+notwithstanding this clause, some one should purchase his merchandise on
+credit, the Russian and Chinese officials shall on no account interfere,
+and shall admit of no complaint, even if cause for such might exist.
+
+ARTICLE XIII.
+
+As Russian merchants arriving in China for commercial reasons should
+necessarily have special places for their warehouses, the Chinese
+government shall assign them, in the two commercial cities of Ili and
+Tarbagatai, plots of land near the bazaar, so that the Russian subjects
+may be able to construct there, at their own expense, dwelling-houses
+and factories for their wares.
+
+ARTICLE XIV.
+
+The Chinese government shall not interpose obstacles in any case where
+Russian subjects celebrate, within their own buildings, divine service
+according to the rite of their religion. In case a Russian subject in
+China should happen to die either at Ili or at Tarbagatai, the Chinese
+government shall set apart an empty space outside the walls of those
+cities, to serve as a cemetery.
+
+ARTICLE XV.
+
+If Russian merchants should take to Ili or Tarbagatai sheep for the
+purpose of exchanging them, the local authorities shall take, on account
+of the government, two sheep out of every ten, and shall give in
+exchange for each sheep a piece of linen cloth (_da-ba_, of the legal
+measure); the remainder of the animals and every other kind of
+merchandise shall be exchanged between the merchants of the two Empires
+at a price mutually agreed upon, and the Chinese government shall not
+intermeddle in any manner whatsoever.
+
+ARTICLE XVI.
+
+The ordinary official correspondence between the two Empires shall be
+made, on the part of the Russian government, through the medium of the
+superior administration of Western Siberia, and under the seal of that
+administration; and on the part of the Chinese government through the
+medium, and under the seal, of the superior administration of Ili.
+
+ARTICLE XVII.
+
+The present Treaty shall be authenticated by the signatures and seals of
+the respective plenipotentiaries. On the part of Russia there will be
+prepared four copies in the Russian language, signed by the
+plenipotentiary of Russia; on the part of China, four copies in the
+Mantchoo language, signed by the Chinese plenipotentiary and his
+adjunct. The respective plenipotentiaries will each keep a copy in the
+Russian language, and a copy in the Mantchoo, for the purpose of putting
+the treaty into execution, and to serve for constant reference. A
+Russian copy and a Mantchoo copy shall be sent to the directing Senate
+of Russia; and a copy in each language to the Chinese Tribunal for
+Foreign Affairs, to be there sealed and preserved after the ratification
+of the Treaty.
+
+All the above articles of the present Treaty concluded by the respective
+plenipotentiaries of Russia and China are hereby signed and sealed. The
+twenty-fifth day of July, in the year 1851, in the 26th year of the
+reign of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor and Autocrat of All the
+Russias.
+
+    (Signed) Colonel in the corps of Engineers.
+
+                   KOVALEVSKI.
+                     I Chan,
+                       Bovyantai.
+
+
+TREATY BETWEEN ENGLAND AND CASHMERE.
+
+TREATY BETWEEN THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT AND HIS HIGHNESS MAHARAJA RUNBEER
+SINGH, G.C.S.I., MAHARAJA OF JUMMOO AND CASHMERE, HIS HEIRS AND
+SUCCESSORS, EXECUTED ON THE ONE PART BY THOMAS DOUGLAS FORSYTH, C.B., IN
+VIRTUE OF THE FULL POWERS VESTED IN HIM BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE RIGHT
+HONOURABLE RICHARD SOUTHWELL BOURKE, EARL OF MAYO, VISCOUNT MAYO OF
+MONYCROWER, BARON NAAS OF NAAS, K.P., G.M.S.I., P.C., &c., &c., &c.,
+VICEROY AND GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA, AND ON THE OTHER PART BY HIS
+HIGHNESS MAHARAJA RUNBEER SINGH AFORESAID, IN PERSON.
+
+Whereas in the interest of the high contracting parties and their
+respective subjects it is deemed desirable to afford greater facilities
+than at present exist for the development and security of trade with
+Eastern Turkestan, the following Articles have with this object been
+agreed upon:--
+
+ARTICLE I.
+
+With the consent of the Maharaja, officers of the British Government
+will be appointed to survey the trade routes through the Maharaja's
+territories from the British frontier of Lahoul to the territories of
+the Ruler of Yarkand, including the route _via_ the Chang Chemoo Valley.
+The Maharaja will depute an officer of his Government to accompany the
+surveyors, and will render them all the assistance in his power. A map
+of the routes surveyed will be made, an attested copy of which will be
+given to the Maharaja.
+
+ARTICLE II.
+
+Whichever route towards the Chang Chemoo Valley shall, after examination
+and survey as above, be declared by the British Government to be the
+best suited for the development of trade with Eastern Turkestan shall be
+declared by the Maharaja to be a free highway in perpetuity, and at all
+times for all travellers and traders.
+
+ARTICLE III.
+
+For the supervision and maintenance of the road in its entire length
+through the Maharaja's territories, the regulation of traffic on the
+free highway described in Article II., the enforcement of regulations
+that may be hereafter agreed upon, and the settlement of disputes
+between carriers, traders, travellers, or others using that road, in
+which either of the parties or both of them are subjects of the British
+Government or of any foreign State, two Commissioners shall be annually
+appointed, one by the British Government, and the other by the Maharaja.
+In the discharge of their duties, and as regards the period of their
+residence, the Commissioners shall be guided by such rules as are now
+separately framed, and may, from time to time, hereafter be laid down by
+the joint authority of the British Government and the Maharaja.
+
+ARTICLE IV.
+
+The jurisdiction of the Commissioners shall be defined by a line on each
+side of the road, at a maximum width of two statute _koss_, except where
+it may be deemed by the Commissioners necessary to include a wider
+extent for grazing grounds. Within this maximum width the surveyors
+appointed under Article I. shall demarcate and map the limits of
+jurisdiction which may be decided on by the Commissioners as most
+suitable, including grazing grounds; and the jurisdiction of the
+Commissioners shall not extend beyond the limits so demarcated. The land
+included within these limits shall remain in the Maharaja's independent
+possession, and, subject to the stipulations contained in this Treaty,
+the Maharaja shall continue to possess the same rights of full
+sovereignty therein as in any other part of his territories, which
+rights shall not be interfered with in any way by the Joint
+Commissioners.
+
+ARTICLE V.
+
+The Maharaja agrees to give all possible assistance in enforcing the
+decisions of the Commissioners, and in preventing the breach or evasion
+of the regulations established under Article III.
+
+ARTICLE VI.
+
+The Maharaja agrees that any person, whether a subject of the British
+Government, or of the Maharaja, or of the Ruler of Yarkand, or of any
+foreign State, may settle at any place within the jurisdiction of the
+Commissioners, and may provide, keep, maintain, and let for hire at
+different stages the means of carriage and transport for the purposes of
+trade.
+
+ARTICLE VII.
+
+The two Commissioners shall be empowered to establish supply depots, and
+to authorize other persons to establish supply depots, at such places on
+the road as may appear to them suitable; to fix the rates at which
+provisions shall be sold to traders, carriers, settlers, and others, and
+to fix the rent to be charged for the use of any rest-houses or serais
+that may be established on the road. The officers of the British
+Government in Kullu, &c., and the officers of the Maharaja in Ladakh
+shall be instructed to use their best endeavours to supply provisions on
+the indent of the Commissioners at market rates.
+
+ARTICLE VIII.
+
+The Maharaja agrees to levy no transit duty whatever on the aforesaid
+free highway, and the Maharaja further agrees to abolish all transit
+duties levied within his territories on goods transmitted in bond
+through His Highness's territories from Eastern Turkestan to India and
+_vice versa_, on which bulk may not be broken within the territories of
+His Highness. On goods imported into or exported from His Highness's
+territory, whether by the aforesaid free highway or any other route, the
+Maharaja may levy such import or export duties as he may think fit.
+
+ARTICLE IX.
+
+The British Government agree to levy no duty on goods transmitted in
+bond through British India to Eastern Turkestan or to the territories of
+His Highness the Maharaja. The British Government further agree to
+abolish the export duties now levied on shawls and other textile fabrics
+manufactured in the territories of the Maharaja, and exported to
+countries beyond the limits of British India.
+
+ARTICLE X.
+
+This Treaty, consisting of ten Articles, has this day been concluded by
+Thomas Douglas Forsyth, C.B., in virtue of the full powers vested in him
+by His Excellency the Right Honourable Richard Southwell Bourke, Earl of
+Mayo, Viscount Mayo, of Monycrower, Baron Naas of Naas, K.P., G.M.S.I.,
+P.C., &c., &c., Viceroy and Governor-General of India, on the part of
+the British Government, and by the Maharaja Runbeer Singh aforesaid; and
+it is agreed that a copy of this Treaty, duly ratified by His Excellency
+the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, shall be delivered to the
+Maharaja on or before the 7th of September, 1870. Signed, sealed, and
+exchanged at Sealkote on the second day of April, in the year of our
+Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy, corresponding with the 22nd
+day of Bysack Sumbut, 1927.
+
+    Signature of the Maharaja of Cashmere.
+
+      (Signed)      T. D. FORSYTH,
+                    MAYO.
+
+This Treaty was ratified by His Excellency the Viceroy and
+Governor-General of India at Sealkote on the 2nd day of May, 1870.
+
+     (Signed)       C. U. AITCHISON,
+    Officiating Secretary to the Government
+      of India, Foreign Department.
+
+
+TREATY BETWEEN RUSSIA AND KASHGAR.
+
+THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS OF FREE TRADE WERE PROPOSED AND AGREED UPON
+BETWEEN GENERAL AIDE-DE-CAMP VON KAUFMANN AND YAKOOB BEG, CHIEF OF
+DJETY-SHAHR.
+
+ARTICLE I.
+
+All Russian subjects, of whatsoever religion, shall have the right to
+proceed for purposes of trade to Djety-Shahr, and to all the localities
+and towns subjected to the Chief of Djety-Shahr, which they may desire
+to visit in the same way as the inhabitants of Djety-Shahr have hitherto
+been, and shall be in the future, entitled to prosecute trade throughout
+the entire extent of the Russian Empire. The honourable chief of
+Djety-Shahr undertakes to keep a vigilant guard over the complete safety
+of Russian subjects, within the limits of his territorial possessions,
+and also over that of their caravans, and in general over everything
+that may belong to them.
+
+ARTICLE II.
+
+Russian merchants shall be entitled to have caravanserais, in which they
+alone shall be able to store their merchandise, in all the towns of
+Djety-Shahr in which they may desire to have them. The merchants of
+Djety-Shahr shall enjoy the same privilege in the Russian villages.
+
+ARTICLE III.
+
+Russian merchants shall, if they desire it, have the right to have
+commercial agents (caravanbashis) in all the towns of Djety-Shahr, whose
+business it is to watch over the regular courts of trade, and over the
+legal imposition of customs dues. The merchants of Djety-Shahr shall
+enjoy the same privilege in the towns of Turkestan.
+
+ARTICLE IV.
+
+All merchandise transported from Russia to Djety-Shahr, or from that
+province into Russia, shall be liable to a tax of 2-1/2 per cent. _ad
+valorem_. In every case this tax shall not exceed the rate of the tax
+taken from Mussulmans being subject to Djety-Shahr.
+
+ARTICLE V.
+
+Russian merchants and their caravans shall be at liberty, with all
+freedom and security, to traverse the territories of Djety-Shahr in
+proceeding to countries conterminous with that province. Caravans from
+Djety-Shahr shall enjoy the same advantages for passing through
+territories belonging to Russia.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+These conditions were sent from Tashkent on the 9th of April, 1872.
+
+General Von Kaufmann I., Governor-General of Turkestan, signed the
+treaty and attached his seal to it.
+
+In proof of his assent to these conditions, Mahomed Yakoob, Chief of
+Djety-Shahr, attached his seal to them at Yangy-Shahr, on the 8th of
+June, 1872.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+This treaty was negotiated by Baron Kaulbars.
+
+
+TREATY BETWEEN ENGLAND AND KASHGAR.
+
+TREATY BETWEEN THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT AND HIS HIGHNESS THE AMEER MAHOMED
+YAKOOB KHAN, RULER OF THE TERRITORY OF KASHGAR AND YARKAND, HIS HEIRS
+AND SUCCESSORS, EXECUTED ON THE ONE PART BY THOMAS DOUGLAS FORSYTH,
+C.B., IN VIRTUE OF FULL POWERS CONFERRED ON HIM IN THAT BEHALF BY HIS
+EXCELLENCY THE RIGHT HON. THOMAS GEORGE BARING, BARON NORTHBROOK OF
+STRATTON, AND A BARONET, MEMBER OF THE PRIVY COUNCIL OF HER MOST
+GRACIOUS MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, GRAND MASTER OF
+THE MOST EXALTED ORDER OF THE STAR OF INDIA, VICEROY AND
+GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA, IN COUNCIL, AND ON THE OTHER PART BY SYUD
+MAHOMED KHAN TOORAH, MEMBER OF THE 1ST CLASS OF THE ORDER OF MEDJIDIE,
+&C., IN VIRTUE OF FULL POWERS CONFERRED ON HIM BY HIS HIGHNESS.
+
+Whereas it is deemed desirable to confirm and strengthen the good
+understanding which now subsists between the high contracting parties,
+and to promote commercial intercourse between their respective subjects,
+the following Articles have been agreed upon:--
+
+ARTICLE I.
+
+The high contracting parties engage that the subjects of each shall be
+at liberty to enter, reside in, trade with, and pass with their
+merchandise and property into and through all parts of the dominions of
+the other; and shall enjoy in such dominions all the privileges and
+advantages with respect to commerce, protection or otherwise, which are,
+or may be, accorded to the subjects of such dominions, or to the
+subjects or citizens of the most favoured nation.
+
+ARTICLE II.
+
+Merchants of whatever nationality shall be at liberty to pass from the
+territories of the one contracting party to the territories of the
+other, with their merchandise and property at all times, and by any
+route they please; no restriction shall be placed by either contracting
+party upon such freedom of transit, unless for urgent political reasons
+to be previously communicated to the other; and such restriction shall
+be withdrawn as soon as the necessity for it is over.
+
+ARTICLE III.
+
+European British subjects entering the dominions of His Highness the
+Ameer, for purposes of trade, or otherwise, must be provided with
+passports certifying to their nationality. Unless provided with such
+passports they shall not be deemed entitled to the benefit of this
+treaty.
+
+ARTICLE IV.
+
+On goods imported into British India from territories of His Highness
+the Ameer, by any route over the Himalayan passes, which lie to the
+south of His Highness's dominions, the British Government engages to
+levy no import duties. On goods imported from India into the territories
+of His Highness the Ameer, no import duty exceeding 2-1/2 per cent., _ad
+valorem_, shall be levied. Goods imported, as above, into the dominions
+of the contracting parties may, subject only to such excise regulations
+and duties, and to such municipal or town regulations and duties, as may
+be applicable to such classes of goods generally, be freely sold by
+wholesale or retail, and transported from one place to another within
+British India, and within the dominions of His Highness the Ameer
+respectively.
+
+ARTICLE V.
+
+Merchandise imported from India into the territories of His Highness the
+Ameer will not be opened for examination, till arrival at the place of
+consignment. If any disputes should arise as to the value of such goods,
+the customs officer, or other officer acting on the part of His Highness
+the Ameer, shall be entitled to demand part of the goods, at the rate of
+one in forty, in lieu of the payment of duty. If the aforesaid officer
+should object to levy the duty by taking a portion of the goods, or if
+the goods should not admit of being so divided, then the point in
+dispute shall be referred to two competent persons, one chosen by the
+aforesaid officer, and the other by the importer, and a valuation of the
+goods shall be made, and if the referees shall differ in opinion, they
+shall appoint an arbitrator whose decision shall be final, and the duty
+shall be levied according to the value thus established.
+
+ARTICLE VI.
+
+The British Government shall be at liberty to appoint a Representative
+at the Court of His Highness the Ameer, and to appoint a Commercial
+Agent, subordinate to him in any town or place considered suitable
+within His Highness's territories. His Highness the Ameer shall be at
+liberty to appoint a Representative with the Viceroy and
+Governor-General of India, and to station Commercial Agents at any
+places in British India considered suitable. Such Representatives shall
+be entitled to the rank and privileges accorded to ambassadors by the
+law of nations, and the Agents shall be entitled to the privileges of
+Consuls of the most favoured nation.
+
+ARTICLE VII.
+
+British subjects shall be at liberty to purchase, sell, or hire land, or
+houses, or depots for merchandise, in the dominions of His Highness the
+Ameer, and the houses, depots, or other premises of British subjects,
+shall not be forcibly entered or searched without the consent of the
+occupier, unless with the cognizance of the British Representative or
+Agent, and in presence of a person deputed by him.
+
+ARTICLE VIII.
+
+The following arrangements are agreed to for the decision of Civil Suits
+and Criminal Cases within the territories of His Highness the Ameer, in
+which British subjects are concerned:--
+
+ (_a._) Civil suits in which both plaintiff and defendant are
+        British subjects, and Criminal Cases in which both
+        prosecutor and accused are British subjects, or in which the
+        accused is a European British subject, mentioned in the
+        Third Article of this Treaty, shall be tried by the British
+        Representative or one of his Agents, in the presence of an
+        Agent appointed by His Highness the Ameer;
+
+ (_b._) Civil suits in which one party is a subject of His Highness
+        the Ameer, and the other party a British subject, shall be
+        tried by the Courts of His Highness, in the presence of the
+        British Representative or one of his Agents, or of a person
+        appointed in that behalf by such Representative or Agent;
+
+ (_c._) Criminal cases in which either prosecutor or accused is a
+        subject of His Highness the Ameer shall, except as above
+        otherwise provided, be tried by the Courts of His Highness
+        in presence of the British Representative, or of one of his
+        Agents, or of a person deputed by the British
+        Representative, or by one of his Agents;
+
+ (_d._) Except as above otherwise provided, Civil and Criminal Cases
+        in which one party is a British subject, and the other the
+        subject of a foreign power, shall, if either of the parties
+        be a Mahomedan, be tried in the Courts of His Highness; if
+        neither party is a Mahomedan, the case may, with consent of
+        the parties, be tried by the British Representative or one
+        of his Agents; in the absence of such consent, by the Courts
+        of His Highness;
+
+ (_e._) In any case disposed of by the Courts of His Highness the
+        Ameer to which a British subject is party, it shall be
+        competent to the British Representative, if he considers
+        that justice has not been done, to represent the matter to
+        His Highness the Ameer, who may cause the case to be
+        re-tried in some other Court, in the presence of the British
+        Representative, or of one of his Agents, or of a person
+        appointed in that behalf by such Representative or Agent.
+
+ARTICLE IX.
+
+The rights and privileges enjoyed within the dominions of His Highness
+the Ameer by British subjects under the Treaty, shall extend to the
+subjects of all Princes and States in India in alliance with Her Majesty
+the Queen; and if, with respect to any such Prince or State, any other
+provisions relating to this Treaty or to other matters should be
+considered desirable, they shall be negotiated through the British
+Government.
+
+ARTICLE X.
+
+Every affidavit and other legal document filed or deposited in any Court
+established in the respective dominions of the high contracting parties,
+or in the Court of the Joint Commissioners in Ladakh, may be proved by
+an authenticated copy, purporting either to be sealed with the seal of
+the Court to which the original document belongs, or, in the event of
+such Court having no seal, to be signed by the Judge, or by one of the
+Judges of the said Court.
+
+ARTICLE XI.
+
+When a British subject dies in the territory of His Highness the Ameer
+his movable and immovable property situate therein shall be vested in
+his heir, executor, administrator, or other representative on interest
+or (in the absence of such representative) in the Representative of the
+British Government in the aforesaid territory. The person in whom such
+charge shall be so vested shall satisfy the claims outstanding against
+the deceased, and shall hold the surplus (if any) for distribution among
+those interested. The above provisions, _mutatis mutandis_, shall apply
+to the subjects of His Highness the Ameer, who may die in British India.
+
+ARTICLE XII.
+
+If a British subject residing in the territories of His Highness the
+Ameer becomes unable to pay his debts or fails to pay any debt within a
+reasonable time after being ordered to do so by any Court of Justice,
+the creditors of such insolvent shall be paid out of his goods and
+effects; but the British Representative shall not refuse his good
+offices, if needs be, to ascertain if the insolvent has not left in
+India disposable property which might serve to satisfy the said
+creditors. The friendly stipulations in the present Article shall be
+reciprocally observed with regard to His Highness's subjects who trade
+in India under the protection of the laws.
+
+This treaty having this day been executed in duplicate and confirmed by
+His Highness the Ameer, one copy shall, for the present, be left in the
+possession of His Highness, and the other, after confirmation by the
+Viceroy and Governor-General of India, shall be delivered to His
+Highness within twelve months in exchange for the copy now retained by
+His Highness.
+
+Signed and sealed at Kashgar on the second day of February, in the year
+of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, corresponding
+with the fifteenth day of Zilhijj, one thousand two hundred and ninety
+Hijree.
+
+    (Signed)      T. DOUGLAS FORSYTH,
+      Envoy and Plenipotentiary.
+
+Whereas a Treaty for strengthening the good understanding that now
+exists between the British Government and the Ruler of the territory of
+Kashgar and Yarkand, and for promoting commercial intercourse between
+the two countries, was agreed to and concluded at Kashgar, on the second
+day of February, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and
+seventy-four, corresponding with the fifteenth day of Zilhijj, twelve
+hundred and ninety Hijree, by the respective Plenipotentiaries of the
+Government of India and of His Highness the Ameer of Kashgar and
+Yarkand, duly accredited and empowered for that purpose: I, the Right
+Hon. Thomas George Baring, Baron Northbrook of Stratton, &c., &c.,
+Viceroy and Governor-General of India, do hereby ratify and confirm the
+Treaty aforesaid.
+
+Given under my hand and seal at Government House, in Calcutta, this
+thirteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
+hundred and seventy-four.
+
+    (Signed)    NORTHBROOK.
+
+    +-------+
+    |       |
+    | Seal. |
+    |       |
+    +-------+
+
+
+RULES FOR THE GUIDANCE OF THE JOINT COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED FOR THE NEW
+ROUTE TO EASTERN TURKESTAN.
+
+1. As it is impossible, owing to the character of the climate, to retain
+the Commissioners throughout the year, the period during which they
+shall exercise their authority shall be taken to commence on 15th May,
+and to end on 1st December.
+
+2. During the absence of either Commissioner, cases may be heard and
+decided by the other Commissioner, subject to appeal to the Joint
+Commissioners.
+
+3. In the months when the Joint Commissioners are absent, _i.e._ between
+1st December and 15th May, all cases which may arise shall be decided by
+the Wuzeer of Ladakh, subject to appeal to the Joint Commissioners.
+
+4. The Joint Commissioners shall not interfere in cases other than those
+which affect the development, freedom, and safety of the trade, and the
+objects for which the Treaty is concluded, and in which one of the
+parties, or both, are either British subjects, or subjects of a foreign
+state.
+
+5. In civil disputes the Commissioners shall have power to dispose of
+all cases, whatever be the value of the property in litigation.
+
+6. When the Commissioners agree, their decision shall be final in all
+cases. When they are unable to agree, the parties shall have the right
+of nominating a single arbitrator, and shall bind themselves in writing
+to abide by his award. Should the parties not be able to agree upon a
+single arbitrator, each party shall name one, and the two Commissioners
+shall name a third, and the decision of the majority of the arbitrators
+shall be final.
+
+7. In criminal cases the powers of the Commissioners shall be limited to
+offences such as in British territory would be tried by a subordinate
+Magistrate of the First Class, and as far as possible the procedure of
+the Criminal Procedure Code shall be followed. Cases of a more heinous
+kind should be made over to the Maharaja for trial, if the accused be
+not a European British subject; in the latter case he should be
+forwarded to the nearest British Court of competent jurisdiction for
+trial.
+
+8. All fines levied in criminal cases, and all stamp receipts levied
+according to the rates in force for civil suits in the Maharaja's
+dominions, shall be credited to the Cashmere Treasury. Persons sentenced
+to imprisonment shall, if British subjects, be sent to the nearest
+British jail. If not British subjects, offenders shall be made over for
+imprisonment in the Maharaja's jails.
+
+9. The practice of cow-killing is strictly prohibited throughout the
+jurisdiction of the Maharaja.
+
+10. If any places come within the line of road from which the towns of
+Leh, &c., are supplied with fuel or wood for building purpose, the Joint
+Commissioners shall so arrange with the Wuzeer of Ladakh that those
+supplies are not interfered with.
+
+11. Whatever transactions take place within the limits of the road shall
+be considered to refer to goods in bond. If a trader opens his load, and
+disposes of a portion, he shall not be subject to any duty so long as
+the goods are not taken for consumption into the Maharaja's territory
+across the line of road. And goods left for any length of time in the
+line of road subject to the jurisdiction of the Commissioners shall be
+free.
+
+12. Where a village lies within the jurisdiction of the Joint
+Commissioners, then, as regards the collection of revenue, or in any
+case where there is necessity for the interference of the usual Revenue
+authorities on matters having no connection with the trade, the Joint
+Commissioners have no power whatever to interfere; but, to prevent
+misunderstanding, it is advisable that the Revenue officials should
+first communicate with the Joint Commissioners before proceeding to take
+action against any person within their jurisdiction. The Joint
+Commissioners can then exercise their discretion to deliver up the
+person sought, or to make a summary inquiry to ascertain whether their
+interference is necessary or not.
+
+13. The Maharaja agrees to give rupees 5,000 this year for the
+construction of the road and bridges, and in future years His Highness
+agrees to give rupees 2,000 per annum for the maintenance of the road
+and bridges. Similarly for the repairs of serais a sum of rupees 100 per
+annum for each serai will be given. Should further expenditure be
+necessary, the Joint Commissioners will submit a special report to the
+Maharaja, and ask for a special grant. This money will be expended by
+the Joint Commissioners, who will employ free labour at market rates for
+this purpose. The officers in Ladakh and in British territory shall be
+instructed to use their best endeavours to supply labourers on the
+indent of the Commissioners at market rates. No tolls shall be levied on
+the bridges on this line of road.
+
+14. As a temporary arrangement, and until the line of road has been
+demarcated, or till the end of this year, the Joint Commissioners shall
+exercise the powers described in these rules over the several roads
+taken by the traders through Ladakh from Lahoul and Spiti.
+
+    (Signed)       MAHARAJA RUNBEER SINGH.
+
+       "           T. D. FORSYTH.
+
+(These rules were agreed upon in 1872, between the Indian Government and
+Cashmere, for the purpose of promoting trade with Eastern Turkestan and
+Central Asia, which had been sanctioned by the Treaty of Commerce of
+1870.)
+
+
+A STORY FROM KASHGAR.
+
+Mirza Mulla Rahmat, of Kashgar, who arrived at Peshawur lately, on his
+way to Mecca, has told what he knows about events in Kashgar. The
+following is his story:--In the month of Jamadi-us-sani 1294 (June-July,
+1877), that Mahomed Yakoob Khan, the Badshah of Kashgar, collected a
+large army to fight the Chinese. He died near the town of Balisan (?
+Bai), and his army then recognized Hakim Khan Torah as his successor.
+The mullahs in Kashgar in the meantime appointed Beg Kuli Beg, Yakoob's
+eldest son, as their Badshah, according to Yakoob's will. Hakim Khan and
+the army which joined him then came to Aksu, where Beg Kuli Beg also
+arrived, meaning to capture the place and the person of the usurper. A
+battle was fought between Kuli Beg and Hakim Khan on the 26th and 27th
+of Rajah (27th and 28th July, 1877), and Hakim Khan was defeated. Many
+of the soldiers belonging to Hakim Khan's force fell in the battle, and
+many others were starved, and some were drowned crossing a river. Hakim
+Khan then went into Russian territory with 1,000 chosen soldiers. Beg
+Kuli Beg now seized several towns and returned to Kashgar. In the
+meantime Naiz Hakim Beg, the Governor of Khoten, rebelled, and Kuli Beg
+met him in the field, and captured Khoten. The Beg was scarcely a week
+at that place when he heard that the Chinese had arrived at Aksu and had
+taken it. An officer (Kho Dalay?) of the Chinese army who had turned
+Mahomedan (but subsequently recanted) attacked Yangy Shahr, the
+capital, and, capturing it, shut himself up there. The town was then
+besieged by the Governor of Kashgar, and the siege continued for fifty
+days. Then Kuli Beg came up, and, forcing his entry into the town, took
+possession of it, and destroyed the fort. But on the 10th of Zillhij
+(16th of December) a strong Chinese force entered the country, and
+rapidly reconquered the possessions of the late Yakoob Khan. Beg Kuli
+Beg then fled with his men to Tashkent, which he reached by Mingyol Osh
+and Marghilan, and put himself under the protection of the Russian
+Governor there. Mulla Yunus Jan, the Governor of Yarkand, and his son
+and brother fell into the hands of Hasan Jan Bai, Ikskal (? Aksakal).
+
+The above is taken from the columns of an Indian journal, and is
+inserted here for the purpose of showing that the converted Chinese, or
+Yangy Mussulmans, did revolt from their allegiance to Yakoob Beg the
+instant a Khitay force appeared in Altyshahr.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
+
+
+  Aali, _see_ Hakim Khan.
+
+  Ababakar, 34-36.
+
+  Abderrahman Aftobatcha, 18, 209-210, 211.
+
+  Abderrahman Khoja (King of Yarkand), 102.
+
+  Abdul Aziz, 170, 196.
+
+  Abdul Melik, 248.
+
+  Abdullah (Yusuf's son), 46, 47.
+
+  Abdullah Pansad, 102, 104, 107, 114-116, 117, 137, 158, 171.
+
+  Abdullah Zizad, 23.
+
+  Ablai (Kirghiz chief), 50.
+
+  Acbash, 44.
+
+  AEgis of British protection, 204.
+
+  Afak, 44.
+
+  Afghan Ameer sends embassy to Pekin, 51.
+
+  Afghanistan, 8, 49.
+
+  Afghan settlers, 16, _passim_.
+
+  Afridun Wang, 98-99.
+
+  Agha Bula, 265.
+
+  Ahmad, 35, 46.
+
+  Ak Musjid, siege of, 79-81.
+
+  Ak Robat, 228.
+
+  Aksai Plateau, 3.
+
+  Aksakal, 57-58, 64, 69, _passim_.
+
+  Aksakals (risings under), 66, _passim_.
+
+  Aksu, 2, 3, 37, 46, 66, 272, 273.
+    coal at, 163.
+    description of, 7.
+    siege of, 127, 273.
+
+  Aktaghluc, 37, 44-46, 47, 49.
+    description of, 52-53.
+
+  Alaja "the slayer," 35; _see_ Ahmad.
+
+  Alim, 146.
+
+  Alim Kuli, 83-85, 86, 87, _passim_.
+
+  Alish Beg, 172, 231.
+
+  Almatie, _see_ Vernoe.
+
+  Alty Shahr, 8, 16, 44, _passim_.
+
+  Amban, 54, 63, _passim_.
+    of Yarkand, or Khan Amban, 54.
+
+  Ameer, or Emir, 196, 220, _passim_.
+
+  Ameers of Central Asia, 39.
+
+  Amoor, 25, 42.
+
+  Amursana, 45-48, 49, 252.
+
+  Andijani, 4, 12, 158, 160.
+
+  Andijani Serai, 153.
+
+  Appak Khoja, 252.
+
+  Arabdan Khan, 45.
+
+  Arabs, 23.
+
+  Arpa Tai, battle of, 270.
+
+  Artosh, 12, 22, 181.
+
+  Aryan family, 14, 17.
+
+  Athalik Ghazi, 1, 118, 186, _passim_.
+
+  Azmill Khoja, 31.
+
+
+  Babur, 36.
+
+  Badakshan, 8, 33, 36, 48, 49, 106, 107, 118.
+
+  Badakshi settlers, 16.
+
+  Badaulet, 200, 248.
+
+  Bahanuddin (son of Sarimsak), 64.
+
+  Bai, 272.
+
+  Barhanuddin, 46, 47, 48, 49.
+
+  Baroghil, 8, 29.
+
+  Bartchuk, 3; _see_ also Maralbashi.
+
+  Bayen Hu, 253, 266, 267, 271.
+
+  Bazandai, 125.
+
+  Bedal Pass, 273.
+
+  Beg, 220-221.
+
+  Beg Bacha, _see_ Kuli Beg.
+
+  Bellew, Dr., 22, 171, 222.
+
+  Benefits conferred by China on Kashgar, 58, _passim_.
+
+  Berdan rifles, 246.
+
+  Bhots, 9.
+
+  Biddulph, Capt., 222.
+
+  Birlas, 32.
+
+  Birma, 42.
+
+  Black Sea, 14.
+
+  Bokhara, 18, 23, 25, 30, 69, 83, 178, 209, _passim_.
+    Russian treaty with, 179.
+    sack of, 30.
+
+  Bolor, 37, 65.
+
+  Bostang Lake, 266.
+
+  Buddhism, 25, _passim_.
+
+  Buddhists, 16, 31, _passim_.
+
+  Bugur, fight at, 269.
+
+  Burac, 30.
+
+  Buzurg Khan, 2, 71, 87, 91, 103, 107, 108, 110.
+    intrigues against Yakoob Beg, 111, 117.
+    deposed by Yakoob Beg, 117.
+
+
+  Cabul, 28, 211.
+
+  Calmucks, 19, 44, _passim_.
+
+  Calmuck settlements, 19, 44.
+
+  Canals, 59.
+
+  Candahar, 28.
+
+  Caravanbashi, 204.
+
+  Carts used in Kashgar, 227-228.
+
+  Cashmere, 1, 37, 60.
+
+  Caspian, 14.
+
+  Cay Yoli, 67.
+
+  Chaghtai Khan, 29.
+
+  Cha-hi-telkh, 267.
+
+  Champion Father, 118.
+
+  Chang Lung, 67.
+
+  Chang Tay, 112.
+
+  Chang Yao, 237, 246, 247, 263, 272.
+
+  Chapman, Capt., 222.
+
+  Charjui, 179.
+
+  Chightam, 10, 134, _passim_.
+
+  China, 41-43, _passim_.
+
+  Chinaz, 85.
+
+  Chinese and Khokand, 49.
+
+  Chinese army, character of, 275.
+
+  Chinese at Lhasa, 234.
+
+  Chinese Empire in Central Asia, 22, 39, 43.
+
+  Chinese, first reverse of, 65.
+
+  Chinese in Kashgar, 49, 54-75.
+
+  Chinese merchants, 5.
+
+  Chinese moderation, 249, 270.
+
+  Chinese north of Tian Shan, 236.
+
+  Chinese overthrow Tungani, 236-237, 238.
+
+  Chinese pay Khokand annual sum, 64.
+
+  Chinese principle in ruling Kashgar, 156.
+
+  Chinese reconquer Kashgar, 258-276.
+
+  Chinese revindicating army, strength of, 246.
+
+  Chinese rule, benefits and disadvantages of, 74-75.
+
+  Chinese, strategical advantages of, 66.
+
+  Chinese Turkestan, _see_ Eastern Turkestan.
+
+  Chitral, 29.
+
+  Christians, 25.
+
+  Chuguchak, 10, _passim_.
+
+  Chuntche, 42.
+
+  Coal mines, 60.
+
+  Cochin China, 42.
+
+  Comparison between rule of Chinese and Yakoob Beg, 168-169, 255-257.
+
+  Constantinople, 196, _passim_.
+
+  Corbashi, 149.
+
+  Corps of artillerymen, 142.
+
+  Crusade, propagandist, against Khitay, 47.
+
+  Czar, the, 185.
+
+
+  Dadkwah, _passim_, functions of, 144-145.
+
+  Danyal, 44, 45.
+
+  Darius, 36.
+
+  Darwas, 72.
+
+  Dastarkhwan, 225.
+
+  Dava Khan, 30.
+
+  Davatsi, 45-46.
+
+  Delhi, 28.
+
+  Destruction caused by Genghis Khan, 28.
+
+  Devanchi, 244, 247.
+
+  Devan defile, 244, _passim_.
+
+  Difference between Eastern and Western Turkestan, 15.
+
+  Dihbid, 76.
+
+  Disunion in Central Asia, 120-121, 210-211.
+    in China, 92.
+    in Kashgar, 259-263.
+
+  Djinghite, _see_ Jigit.
+
+  Dolans, 9, 143.
+
+  Dungani, _see_ Tungani.
+
+  Dungans, _see_ Tungani.
+
+  Durani, 51.
+
+  Dylon Yulduc, 26.
+
+
+  Eastern Turkestan, 1, 15, 17, 38-42, 59, _passim_.
+
+  Edinburgh, Duke of, 205.
+
+  Effects of Khoja risings on China's prestige, 70.
+
+  Effects of past misrule in Kashgar, 39.
+
+  Elchi Khana, 228.
+
+  Eleuthian, or Eleuth princes, 42, 46.
+
+  Emir, or Ameer, 198, 220, _passim_.
+
+  England's policy towards China, 257; _see_ chapter 14 also.
+    towards Kashgar, 212-235.
+    trade with Kashgar, 153, 202.
+    trans-Himalayan policy, 204; _see_ chapter 14 also.
+
+  English mission guests of Yakoob Beg, 232.
+
+  Eshan Khan, 71.
+
+
+  Ferghana, 25, 32, 181, 187, 210.
+
+  First outbreak against China in Eastern Turkestan, 64.
+
+  Forsyth, Sir T. D., 6, 22, 194, 196, 204, 216, 218-219, 233, 234.
+
+  Forsyth's report, 221, 233.
+    interview with Yakoob Beg, 228-230.
+    second mission to Kashgar, 221-232.
+
+
+  Galdan, 44, 45.
+
+  "Garden of Asia," 2, 59.
+
+  Genghis Khan, 25-20, 220, _passim_.
+    code of, 20.
+
+  Ghizni, 28.
+
+  Gibbon, 220.
+
+  Glacier, _see_ Muzart Pass.
+
+  Gobi, 1, 2, 19, 156, 246, _passim_.
+
+  Goes Benedict, 37.
+
+  Goitre, 12, _passim_.
+
+  Gordon, Col., 92, 222.
+
+  Gorkhan, 25.
+
+  Granville-Gortschakoff negotiations, 207.
+
+  Great road from Kashgar to Hamil and Kansuh, 12.
+
+  Great Yuldus, 273.
+
+  Gregorieff, Professor, 138.
+
+  Grim Pass, 223-224.
+
+  Guchen, 10, 246.
+
+  Gulbagh, 55, 66.
+
+  Guoharbrum, 11.
+
+
+  Hacc Kuli Beg (Khokandian general), 69.
+
+  Hacc Kuli Beg (Yakoob Beg's son), 79, 133, 244, 252-253, 260.
+
+  Hadayatulla, 37, 38.
+
+  Hadji Torah, 140, 141, 169-171, 196, 220, 221, 223, 232, 233, 248.
+
+  Haft Khojagan, 71.
+
+  Hai Yen, 239.
+
+  Hakim Beg, 55.
+
+  Hakim Khan, 250-253, 259-261.
+
+  Hamil, 10, 59, 130, 246, 247.
+
+  Han Hing Nung, 240.
+
+  Hastings, Warren, 213.
+
+  Hayward, Mr., 216.
+
+  Hazrat Afak, 37, 38, 74.
+
+  Heh Tsun, 240.
+
+  Henderson, Dr., 218, 219.
+
+  Her Majesty, autograph letter of, 230.
+
+  "High Tartary," 212.
+
+  Himalaya, 213.
+
+  Himalayan passes, 213.
+
+  Hindoo Koosh, 14, 17, 28.
+
+  Hodjent, 37, 44, 84, 208, 209, _passim_.
+
+  Hordes, Kirghiz, 50.
+
+  Hoser, 272.
+
+  Houchow, 95.
+
+  Houtan, 7.
+
+  Husen, 32.
+
+  Hwang Tsang, 4.
+
+  Hydar Kuli, Hudaychi, 84.
+
+  Hydar, 35.
+
+
+  Ihrar Khan Torah, 172, 218, 219, 228.
+
+  Ilchi, 7.
+
+  Ili, 1, 2, 7, 22, 25, 44, 45, 48, 176; _see_ chapter 14, _passim_.
+
+  Ili, Viceroy of, 56, _passim_.
+
+  Irjar, 85.
+
+  Isa Dadkwah, 65-66.
+
+  Ishac Wang, 68.
+
+  Islamism, 20.
+
+  Ismail Shah, 72.
+
+  Issik Kul, 17, 33, 174.
+
+
+  Jade, 60, 163-164, _passim_.
+
+  Jallab, 6.
+
+  Jattah Ulus, or Jattahs, 29, 33, 35.
+
+  Jehangir (Ababakar's son), 36.
+
+  Jehangir (Sarimsak's son), 64, 65-68.
+
+  Jehangir (Timour's son), 34.
+
+  Jigit, 143, _passim_.
+
+  Jungaria, 1, 2, 15, 17, 25, 33, 34, 47, 134, 175, 236, _passim_.
+
+
+  Kabil Shah, 32.
+
+  Kafiristan, 37.
+
+  Kafirs, 37.
+
+  Kaidu River, 30, 266.
+
+  Khalkhalu, 24.
+
+  Kamaruddin, 33.
+
+  Kamensky, Mr., 248, 264, 265.
+
+  Kamschatka, 41.
+
+  Kanaat Shah, 82-83.
+
+  Kanghi, 42.
+
+  Kansuh, 20, 24, 43, 92, _passim_.
+
+  Kara Khitay, 24, 25.
+
+  Kara Kirghiz, 17.
+
+  Karakoram, 2, 37, 48, 213.
+
+  Karakoram (city), 29.
+
+  Karanghotagh, 36.
+
+  Karashar, 2, 9, 20, 130, 247, 266.
+
+  Karataghluc, 37, 44, 46, 49.
+    description of, 52-53.
+
+  Karatakka mountains, 68.
+
+  Karategin, 68, 77.
+
+  Karghalik, 225.
+
+  Karshi, 179.
+
+  Kashgar River, _see_ Kizil Su.
+
+  Kashgari resigned to Chinese conquest, 52.
+
+  Kashgar, 12, 25, 35, 45, 178, _passim_.
+    history of, 22-40.
+
+  Kashgaria, 1, 2, 13, _passim_.
+
+  Kashgarian valley, description of, 10.
+
+  Kashgarian scenery, 11.
+
+  Kashgari not fanatics, 140.
+    dress of, 140.
+
+  "Kashmir and Kashgar," 223.
+
+  Katti Torah, Khoja, 71.
+
+  Kaufmann, General, 185, 195, 197, 206, 207, 209, 250.
+
+  Kaulbars, Baron, 192-195, 197.
+
+  Kaulbars Treaty, 219.
+
+  Kazalinsk, 79.
+
+  Kazan Ameer, 31, 32.
+
+  Kazi, 145, 146.
+
+  Kazi Rais, 6, 146.
+
+  Keen-Lung, 43-45, 63, 93, 156, _passim_.
+
+  Kermina, 179.
+
+  Khalkas, 19.
+
+  Khan, 220-221.
+
+  Khan Amban, _see_ Amban of Yarkand.
+
+  Khan Khoja, 38, 48.
+
+  Khans of Central Asia, 39.
+
+  Khaton, 23.
+
+  Khitay, 5, 21, 46, 93, 143, 240, _passim_.
+
+  Khitay merchants, 58.
+
+  Khiva, 25, 27, 178, 181, 197, 206.
+
+  Khivan desert, 32.
+
+  Khize Khoja, 33.
+
+  Kho Dalay, 111.
+
+  Khoja Ahmad, 44.
+
+  Khoja family, 37, 48, 64.
+
+  Khoja invasion, 73.
+
+  Khoja Ishac, 52.
+
+  Khoja Kalan, 52.
+
+  Khoja Kalar, 37.
+
+  Khoja Kings, 31.
+
+  Khoja Kulan, 102.
+
+  Khoja Padshah, _see_ Abdullah.
+
+  Khojam Beg, 45.
+
+  Khokand, 3, 17, 36, 48, 49, 187, _passim_.
+
+  Khokand pays tribute to China, 50, 63-64.
+
+  Khokand, rising in, 209-210.
+
+  Khokandian intrigues, 57.
+
+  Khokandian tax-gatherers, 97.
+
+  Khoten, 17, 24, 25, 50, 118, 121-123, 224-225.
+    description of, 6.
+    rising at, 262.
+
+  Khoten gold mines, 163.
+
+  Khoten jade, 163, _passim_.
+
+  Khudadar, 34.
+
+  Khudayar Khan, 71, 81-86, 120, 187-189, 208-209, _passim_.
+
+  Khwaresm, _see_ Khiva.
+
+  Kiachta, 48.
+
+  Kichik Khan, 72.
+
+  Kin Shun, 136, 263, 266-272.
+
+  Kipchak, 14, 25, _passim_.
+    description of, 18.
+
+  Kirghiz, 14, 16, 17, 104, 143, 184, 209, _passim_.
+    description of, 17.
+    nomads submit to China, 50.
+
+  Kish, 32.
+
+  Kizil Su, 3.
+
+  Kizil Yart, 17, _passim_.
+
+  Kludof, 182-185.
+
+  Kohistan, 2.
+
+  Kok Robat, battle of, 72, 228.
+
+  Kolpakovsky, General, 182, 184, 281.
+
+  Kooda Kuli Beg, 79, 130.
+
+  Koosh Bege, 79, _passim_.
+
+  Korla, description of, 9, 245, 248, 267, 268, _passim_.
+
+  Koshluk, 25.
+
+  Kouralia, _see_ Korla.
+
+  Kouroungli, _see_ Korla.
+
+  Kucha, 2, 8, 127-130, 268, 269, 270, _passim_.
+    battle at, 270-271.
+    description of, 9.
+
+  Kucha coal mines, 163.
+
+  Kucha Khojas, 127, _passim_.
+
+  Kuen Lun, 7.
+
+  Kuhna Turfan, 7; _see_ Turfan.
+
+  Kuhwei, 265, 266.
+
+  Kuldja, 2, 94.
+
+  Kuldja question, 265.
+
+  Kuli Beg. 79, 133, 137, 141, 171, 250, 251, 252-253, 260-263, 274, 276.
+
+  Kumush, 265.
+
+  Kunar, 29.
+
+  Kurama, 76, 82, _passim_.
+
+  Kuropatkine, Capt., 204, 244-245.
+
+  Kurtka Fort, 65.
+
+  Kutaiba, 24.
+
+
+  Ladakh, 213.
+
+  Lahore, 31.
+
+  "Lahore to Yarkand," 219.
+
+  Lake Lob, 134, 245.
+
+  Lanchefoo, 45, 59, 246, _passim_.
+
+  Laws in Kashgar, 145-146.
+
+  Leaoutung, 41.
+
+  Leh, 153.
+
+  Lhasa, 60.
+
+  Little Bokhara, 1, 213.
+
+  Liu Kin Tang, _see_ Kin Shun.
+
+  Lob Nor, _see_ Lake Lob.
+
+
+  Mah Dalay, 100.
+
+  Mahomedanism in Kashgar, 24.
+
+  Mahomedanism, _passim_.
+
+  Mahomed Ali Khan (ruler of Khokand), 37, 66, 68, _passim_.
+
+  Mahomed Arif, 77.
+
+  Mahomed Beg of Artosh, 172.
+
+  Mahomed Khan, 170.
+
+  Mahomed Khoja, 171; _see_ also Sheikh-ul-Islam.
+
+  Mahomed Kuli, 102.
+
+  Mahomed Latif, _see_ Pur Mahomed.
+
+  Mahomed Nazzar. 214, 215.
+
+  Mahomed Seyyid Wang, of Kashgar, 66.
+
+  Mahomed Yunus Jan, 140, 171-172, 215, 226, 227, 261.
+
+  Makhram, battle of, 210.
+
+  Manas, 133, 236, 263.
+    siege of, 239-240.
+
+  Manchuria, 19.
+
+  Manning, Thomas, 213, 294.
+
+  Mansur, 35.
+
+  Mantchoo, 41, 42.
+
+  Maralbashi, 8, 31, 66, 110, 121; _see also_ Bartchuk.
+
+  Marco Polo, 14, 30.
+
+  Maulana Khoja Kasani, 52.
+
+  Ma-yeo-pu, 270.
+
+  Mecca, 37.
+
+  Merv, 179.
+
+  Meshed, 179.
+
+  Michell, Messrs, opinion on Kashgar, 213.
+
+  Military settlers, 50.
+
+  Mines in Kashgar, 8.
+
+  Ming dynasty, 41.
+
+  Mingyol, battle at, 69.
+
+  Mir, 82.
+
+  Mirza, 204.
+
+  Mirza Jan Effendi, 170.
+
+  Mollah Khan, 82, 170.
+
+  Mongols, 25, 41.
+
+  Mongols, murder of, 27.
+
+  Moorcroft, Mr., 213.
+
+  Moral of Yakoob Beg's career, 257.
+
+  Morozof, Mr., 202.
+
+  Moscow gewgaws, 182.
+
+  "Moses in the land," 39.
+
+  Mourad Beg, 69.
+
+  Mozaffur Eddin, 83, 179, 186, _passim_.
+
+  Mufti, 146.
+
+  Mufti Habitulla, 122-123.
+    murder of, 123.
+
+  Mughol _see_ Mongol.
+
+  Mugholistan. 1, 29.
+
+  Muhtasib, 6.
+
+  Mussulman Kuli, 18, 81-82, _passim_.
+
+  Muzart Pass, 61, 78, 273.
+
+  Mysoka Bahadur, 26.
+
+
+  Nadir Shah, 51, _passim_.
+
+  Naiman tribe, 25.
+
+  Nankin, 92.
+
+  Nar Mahomed Khan, 77, 169.
+
+  Naryn, 8, 61, 177, 178, 180, 183, _passim_.
+
+  Nasruddin, 209-210.
+
+  Nestorian Christians, 30.
+
+  New Turfan, 7.
+
+  Nur Ali (Kirghiz), 50.
+
+
+  Ogdai Khan, 29, 34.
+
+  Oigur princes, 23.
+
+  Oigurs, 16.
+
+  Old saying in Kashgar, 39.
+
+  Olja Turkan Khaton, 32.
+
+  Opinion of Chinese rule, 152.
+
+  Orda, or palace, at Kashgar, 3, 142.
+
+  Orda, _passim_.
+
+  Oxus, 23, 211.
+
+
+  Pamere, _see_ Pamir.
+
+  Pamir, 1, 2, 8, 25, 36, 48.
+
+  Panjkora, 28.
+
+  Panthays, 92, 175, _passim_.
+
+  Pekin, 29, 47, _passim_.
+
+  _Pekin Gazette_, 238, 249, 253, 267, 272.
+
+  Perovsky, General, 79-81.
+
+  Perovsky Fort, 81.
+
+  Persia, 14, 23.
+
+  Piskent, 76, 77.
+
+  Population of Kashgaria, 2, 59, 157.
+    of city of Kashgar, 3.
+    of city of Kucha, 9.
+    of city of Yarkand, 5.
+
+  Powers interested in Kashgar, 196.
+
+  Presents to Yakoob Beg, 230-231.
+
+  Prester John, 25.
+
+  Prince of Kashgar, _see_ Ishac Wang.
+
+  Prjevalsky, Col., 20, 245, 250, 273.
+
+  Pupyshef, Mr., 199-200.
+
+  Pur Mahomed Mirza, 76.
+
+
+  Rashid, 37, 52.
+
+  Reinthal's, Capt., mission to Kashgar, 184-185, 202-204.
+
+  Rising against Russia, folly of, if not combined, 180.
+
+  Risings in Khokand, _see_ Khokand.
+
+  Road between Ili and Kashgar, 61.
+
+  "Road Board," 62.
+
+  Romanoffski, General, 85.
+
+  "Roof of the World," 222.
+
+  Royal Body Guard, 226.
+
+  Ruduk, 233.
+
+  Russia at Vernoe, 130.
+
+  Russia demands Consuls in Kashgar, 203, 205.
+
+  Russia in Central Asia, 47, 173.
+
+  Russia in Kuldja or Ili, 133, 174-177, 279-282.
+
+  Russia invades Kuldja, 206.
+
+  Russia promises to restore Ili, 175.
+
+  Russian attitude towards Chinese, 248.
+
+  Russian merchants, 164, 182, 193, 197, 199, 202.
+
+  Russian policy towards Kashgar, 177-209.
+
+  Russian trade with Kashgar, 153.
+
+
+  Sadic Beg, 86, 87, 102, 103, 104, 107, 116, 117, 261, 263, 275.
+    embassy to Tashkent, 87.
+    truce with, 107.
+
+  Sahib Khan, 81.
+
+  Said, 35, 36, 37, 52.
+
+  Salara, 95.
+
+  Samarcand, 25, 33, 52, 179.
+
+  Saniz, 34.
+
+  Sanju, 7, 36, 224, _passim_.
+
+  Sanju Devan, 11, 223.
+
+  Sarbaz, 143, _passim_.
+
+  Sarimsak Khoja, 48, 51, 64, 65.
+
+  Satuk Bughra Khan, 24.
+
+  Schlagintweit, Messrs., 16, 214 _passim_.
+
+  Schuyler, Eugene, 195.
+
+  Scobelef, Gen., 207.
+
+  Scobelef, Col., 207, 210.
+
+  Scourges of God, 28, 33.
+
+  Seistan, 32.
+
+  Seven Khoja princes, 71.
+
+  Seyyid Ali, 34.
+
+  Seyyid Yakoob Khan, _see_ Hadji Torah.
+
+  Shadi Mirza, 184-185.
+
+  Shahidoolah, 223.
+
+  Shahrisebz, 32.
+
+  Sham, 226.
+
+  Shariat, 90, 145.
+
+  Shaw, Robt., 16, 194, 212, 213, 215, 218, 221, 232, 234.
+
+  Sheikh-ul-Islam, 116-117, 151, 158.
+
+  Sheikh Nizamuddin, 77.
+
+  Shensi, 20, 92, 237.
+
+  Shere Ali (Cabul), 8, 118, 179.
+
+  Shere Ali Khan (Khokand), 83.
+
+  Siberia, 1, 47.
+
+  Sirikul, 8, 106, 118, 132.
+
+  Six Cities, _see_ Altyshahr.
+
+  Sobo tribes, 94.
+
+  Somof, Mr., 109-200.
+
+  St. George and St. Anne Cross Fever, 206.
+
+  St. Petersburg, 185, 196.
+
+  Stoliczka, Dr., 222.
+
+  Story of St Constantine's day, 194.
+
+  Subashi, 265.
+
+  "Sublimely Pure," 42.
+
+  Sule, 1.
+
+  Sultan Mourad, 83.
+
+  Sultan Seyyid, 83, 86.
+
+  Suranchi Beg, 65, 104.
+
+  Syr Darya, 18, 79, 192.
+
+  Swat, 28.
+
+  Szchuen, 58, 237.
+
+
+  Taepings, 92.
+
+  Tagharchi, 106.
+
+  Tajik, 14, 78.
+
+  Talifoo, 92, 175, 237.
+
+  Tamerlane, _see_ Timour.
+
+  Tanab, 162.
+
+  Tanabi, 162.
+
+  Tang dynasty, 22.
+
+  Tang Jen Ho, 265.
+
+  Tangut, 27.
+
+  Tarantchis. 12, 68, 124-125.
+
+  Tarfur, _see_ Turfan.
+
+  Tartar, 15 _passim_.
+
+  Tarzagchi, 149.
+
+  Tash Balik, 65.
+
+  Tashkent, 25, 32, 49, 84, 208.
+    battle of, 85, 209, _passim_.
+    etiquette at, 206.
+
+  _Tashkent Gazette_, _see_ Turkestan.
+
+  Tashkurgan, 8.
+
+  Tatsing, 42.
+
+  Tawats, _see_ Davatsi.
+
+  Taxes in Kashgar, 56, 62, 63, 151-160.
+
+  Tay Dalay, 55.
+
+  Tchernaief, 84-85.
+
+  Tchimkent, 84.
+
+  Tekes, river and pass, 133, 273.
+
+  Tenure of land in Kashgar, 161.
+
+  Terek Pass, 61, 103.
+
+  Tian Shan, 2, 20, 33, 59, 247, _passim_.
+
+  Tian Shan Nan Lu, 61.
+
+  Tian Shan Pe Lu, 61.
+
+  Tibet, 7, 37, 42, 50, 56, 60, 213, 217.
+    Cashmerian, 2.
+
+  Tibetan table-land, 36.
+
+  Timour, 32-34, 91.
+
+  Timour Khan (Chinese Emperor), 31.
+
+  Timour, Yakoob Beg's descent from, 77.
+
+  Tobolsk, 48.
+
+  Toghluc Timour, 31, 33.
+
+  Toksoun, 242, 244, 264.
+    battle at, 247.
+
+  To Teh Lin, 240.
+
+  Trade, 153.
+
+  Trade privileges, 57.
+
+  Trade with China, 217-218; _see_ chapter 14.
+
+  Trade with Kashgar, 106, 216-217.
+
+  Treaty between England and Kashgar, 232.
+
+  Treaty between Russia and Kashgar, 194.
+
+  Treaty with Khokand, 69.
+
+  Trotter, Captain, 222.
+
+  Tsedayar, 268.
+
+  Tso Tsung Tang, 246, 247, 263, 265, 272, 275, _passim_.
+    army of, 272.
+
+  Tungani, 2, 19, 20, 21, 93, 130, 144, 239, 241, 243, _passim_.
+    description of, 19, 93-94.
+
+  Tungan rising proper, 95, 96, 123-124.
+    in Kashgar, 96, 102.
+    in Kuldja, 124-125.
+
+  Tungani desert Yakoob Beg, 249.
+
+  Tungani unorthodox, 127.
+    defend Kucha, 127-130.
+
+  Turanian family, 14, 15.
+
+  Turcomans, 32.
+
+  Turfan, 21, 130, 242, 244, 264.
+    battle at, 247.
+
+  Turfan Ush, _see_ Ush Turfan.
+
+  Turghay, 32.
+
+  Turkestan, Eastern, _see_ Eastern Turkestan.
+    Western, _see_ Western Turkestan.
+
+  _Turkestan Gazette_, 251, 252, 264, _passim_.
+
+  Turkestan Trading Company, 232.
+
+  Tyfu, 231.
+
+
+  Uigurs, _see_ Oigurs.
+
+  Uman Sheikh, 36.
+
+  Urumtsi, 10, 130, 131, 134, 236.
+    siege of, 238-239.
+
+  Usbeg, 14.
+
+  Usha Tal, 265.
+
+  "Ushr" tax, 62, 160.
+
+  Ush Turfan, 7, 45, 46, 47, 130, 183, 273.
+    rising at, 51.
+
+
+  Vagrants, laws against, 150.
+
+  Value of land in Kashgar, 160-161.
+
+  Vernoe, 8, 130, 174, 176, 182.
+
+  Viceroy of Ili, 55, _passim_.
+
+  Viceroy of Kansuh, 237-238; _see also_ Tso Tsung Tung.
+
+  "Vodka," 209.
+
+  "Vuoba," 264.
+
+
+  Wakhan, 8, 64.
+
+  Wali Khan, 71, 72, 214.
+    character of, 72-73.
+
+  Wangs, 56, 63, _passim_.
+
+  Wanleh, 41.
+
+  Wealth of Kashgar merchants, 165.
+
+  Western Turkestan, 14, 15, _passim_.
+
+
+  Yahya, 38.
+
+  Yakoob Beg, birth of, 76;
+    early career, 78-91;
+    character of, 88, 91;
+    charges against, 89;
+    sets out against Kashgar, 91;
+    expedition against Kashgar, 103-118;
+    fails to take Yarkand, 106;
+    defeats Tungan army near Yangy Hissar, 109;
+    marries Kho Dalay's daughter, 112;
+    attacks Yarkand again, 113-116;
+    reverse at Yarkand, 114;
+    takes Yarkand, 116;
+    reasons for wars with Tungani, 120;
+    wars with Tungani, 126-127, 127-130, 132-136;
+    retrospect of his invasion of Kashgar, 119;
+    his army, 134-135, 142-144;
+    policy towards Tungani, 135-136;
+    internal policy, 137-139;
+    foreign policy, _see_ chapters 10 and 11;
+    court of, 138-139;
+    police system of, 146-152;
+    principles of finance of, 154-167;
+    expenses of, 157;
+    revenue of, 167;
+    reply to Russian threats, 186, 191-192;
+    reply to Khudayar Khan's overtures, 190;
+    sends envoy to Tashkent, 195;
+    arrangement with Sultan, 196;
+    his opinion of trade, 198;
+    out-manoeuvres Russia, 199-201;
+    congratulates Czar on marriage of his daughter, 205;
+    prepares to defend himself against Russia, 208;
+    weakness of his foreign policy, 210-211;
+    policy towards England, 218-233;
+    decline of friendship towards England, 231;
+    prepares to defend himself against China, 244-246;
+    comparison with China, 241-249;
+    death of, 250-253;
+    resume of career, 253-257, _passim_.
+
+  Yakoob Khan, 220; _see_ Yakoob Beg.
+
+  Yakoob Khan, of Cabul, 221.
+
+  Yangabad, battle of, 67.
+
+  Yangy Hissar, 4, 24, 35, 36, 44, 105, 228.
+    fort surrenders to Yakoob Beg, 106.
+
+  Yangy Mussulmans, 112, 243, _passim_.
+
+  Yangy Shahr, 34, 68, _passim_.
+    at Yarkand, gallant defence of, 101.
+    at Kashgar, 102, 107, 111-112.
+
+  Yarkand, 3, 5, 44, 226.
+    embassy to, 22.
+    river, 5, 59.
+    Tungan rising in, 99-102, 105-106.
+
+  Yuldus, 133; _see also_ Great Yuldus.
+
+  Yung Ching, 43.
+
+  Yunus, 34, 35, 40.
+
+  Yusuf (son of Galdan), 46.
+
+  Yusuf (son of Sarimsak), 64, 69.
+
+  Yuzbashi Mahomed Zareef Khan, 223.
+
+
+  "Zakat" tax, 62, 160, 164-167.
+
+  Zilchak, 226.
+
+  Zuelik, 79.
+
+  Zuhuruddin, 70-72.
+
+
+Woodfall & Kinder, Printers, Milford Lane, Strand, London, W.C.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+The following modifications have been made to the text.
+
+Page 205: detracted replaced with detraction.
+
+    There is no difficulty in arriving at the conclusion that such
+    exhibitions as this is an instance of detracted from the
+    otherwise great and striking characteristics of the ruler of
+    Kashgar.
+
+Page 250: Missing period added at the end of sentence.
+
+    They were probably not aware of what was taking place some 300
+    miles from their camp until many weeks after it had happened;
+    and then conceived that their best policy would be to give time
+    for the disintegrating causes at work within the state to have
+    their full effect before they advanced westward.
+
+Page 255: unaminity replaced with unanimity.
+
+    There were superior strategy and superior weapons; greater force
+    and greater determination; no hesitation in action, and perfect
+    unaminity in council; all combined to crush one poor forlorn
+    man, fighting with all the desperation of despair for life, if
+    not for liberty.
+
+Page 258: Missing t added, aken replaced with taken.
+
+    Nor did it follow as a matter of necessity that because the
+    Chinese had aken Turfan they could capture Kashgar or Yarkand.
+
+Page 278: momet replaced with moment.
+
+    Moreover there is the unknown quantity of the rivalry of Li Hung
+    Chang and Tso Tsung Tang, and whatever influence the latter may
+    have with the army and the ruling caste on account of his
+    Mantchoo blood, the former holds the purse in his hands, and can
+    at any momet paralyse Chinese activity and strength in Central
+    Asia.
+
+Page 306: accurracy replaced with accuracy.
+
+    the accurracy of which has been so strikingly proved by the
+    correct position given to the two lakes Khas-omo,
+
+Page 337: Period replaced with comma after 209-210.
+
+    Abderrahman Aftobatcha, 18, 209-210. 211.
+
+Page 339: Hyder replaced with Hydar.
+
+    Hyder, 35.
+
+Page 340: Kalkhalu replaced with Khalkhalu.
+
+    Kalkhalu, 24.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Life of Yakoob Beg, by Demetrius Boulger
+
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