Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/261

Rh TURKESTAN.] his residence to Tashkurghan, 4 miles further south, and just at the mouth of the defile a cheerless group of villages, consisting of mud houses with domed roofs, con nected by gardens and enclosed by a mud wall; it is sup posed to contain at least 15,000 souls, and is a place of considerable trade. (2.) Haibak. The town presents rather an imposing aspect, clustering round a castle of some strength on an isolated eminence; the domed houses, however, are compared to large brown bee-hives. The Khulm river valley here opens out, and is very fertile ; the banks are shaded by luxuriant fruit trees. The site is a very ancient one, and, under the name of Samangdn, was famous in Persian legend. One traveller describes there a remarkable relic of antiquity called the Taklit or Throne of Rustam. This, from the account, would seem to have been a Buddhist dagoba. 1 (3.) Khurram Sarbdgh, so called from two villages in the upper defiles of the Khulm river. III. Balkh. Balkh proper is the populous and well- watered territory upon the eighteen canals which draw off the waters of the Balkh-ab, and on which there are said to be 360 villages. No trace has been recovered of the ancient splendours of Bactra, nor do the best judges appear to accept Terrier s belief that he saw cuneiform inscriptions upon bricks dug up there. A late Indian report by an intelligent Mahom- medan speaks of a stone throne in the citadel, to which traditional antiquity is ascribed, but of this we know no more. The remains that exist are scattered over some 20 miles of circuit, but they consist mainly of mosques and tombs of sun-dried brick, and show nothing even of early Mahommedan date. The inner city, surrounded by a ruined wall of 4 or 5 miles in compass, is now entirely deserted; a scanty population still occupies a part of the outer city. In 1858 Mahommed Afzal Khan, ruling the districts of Turkestan on behalf of his father, Dost Mahommed, transferred the seat of the Afghan govern ment and the bulk of the population to Takhtapul, a position which he fortified, some 8 miles east of the old city ; and this remains the capital of the Afghan territories on the Oxus. The only other place of note in the district is Mazdr-i- Sharif, or the &quot;Noble Shrine,&quot; on the road to Khulm, where a whimsical fiction has located the body of AH, the son-in-law of Mahommed. It is the object of pilgrimages, and the scene of a great annual fair. Vambery speaks of the roses, matchless for colour and fragrance, that grow on the pretended tomb. Of the districts lying on the Balkh river within the hills we know nothing. Akcha, some 40 to 45 miles westward from Balkh, was an Uzbek khanate before the last Afghan conquest. It is small, but well- watered and populous. The town is forti fied, and has a citadel. Accounts differ as to the popula tion ; one writer calls them Uzbeks, another Sarak Turk mans. IV. The provinces known as the Four Domains are : (1.) Shibrghan, some 20 miles west of Akcha. This was another small Uzbek khanate. The town, which contains about 12,000 Uzbeks and Parsiwans, has a citadel, but is not otherwise fortified. It is surrounded by good gardens, and excellent cultivation, but its water supply is dependent upon Siripul, and, in the frequent case of hostility between the two, is liable to be cut off. Terrier speaks highly of the climate and the repute of the inhabitants for valour. Shibrghan (Sapurgan) and its fine melons are mentioned by Marco Polo. (2.) Andkhui, about 20 miles north-west of Shibrghan, forms an oasis in the desert, watered by the 1 Burslem, A Peep into Turkestan, p. 125. AFGHANISTAN 243 united streams from Siripul and from Maimana. It was once a flourishing city, and the oasis was reckoned to con tain 50,000 inhabitants, but the place has scarcely recovered from the destruction it endured at the hands of Yar Mahommed of Herat in 1840. It was at Andkhui that Moorcroft died in 1825 ; but his grave is at Balkh. Tre- beck, the last survivor of his party, died and was buried at Mazar. (3.) Maimana, 105 miles from Balkh, and some 50 south-west of Andkhui, contains some ten or twelve villages or townships, besides the capital, and a population estimated at 100,000 souls. It is a district of considerable produc tiveness, industry, and trade, and the Uzbek inhabitants have a high reputation as soldiers. The chief was formerly a notorious slave-dealer. (4.) Siripul. This khanate lying within the limits of the undulating country south-west of Balkh and east of Maimana, is of about the same calibre as the latter, but somewhat lower in estimated population. Two-thirds of the people are Uzbeks, the rest Hazaras. From the last a tribute of slaves is, or used to be, exacted; and Hazara widows, it is said, were claimed as govern ment property, and sold by auction. The town of Siripul is an irregular mass of houses clustered on the slope of a hill crowned by a fort. Many tents gather round it also, and Ferrier estimates the population of town and tents as high as 18,000. The valley below is abundantly watered, and the breadth of orchards and tillage is considerable. POPULATION. In the estimate of population cited under AFGHANISTAN, that of Afghan Turkestan is reckoned at 642,000. This includes 55,000 for Badakhshan (no doubt too low an estimate) ; and the remainder, for the provinces included under our present article, excluding Hazaras, will be 587,000. Anything but a round number is entirely inappropriate to such an estimate ; but we shall probably not be far wrong if we reckon the population at 600,000. The Tajiks, or people of Iranian blood, are probably tho representatives of the oldest surviving race of this region. They are found in some districts of Balkh and valleys of Kunduz. Khost, for instance, is said to be chiefly occu pied by them. Uzbeks seem to be the most numerous race ; and there are some other Turk tribes not classed as Uzbeks. 2 There seem to be a good many families claiming Arab descent; Afghans, especially about Balkh and Ivhulm; and in the towns some Hindus and Jews. PKODUCTS AND INDUSTRY. We have no means of giv ing any systematic account of the products of these pro vinces, either in natural history or industry. Rock-salt is worked at Chal, near the Badakhshan frontier, as well as beyond that frontier. Pistachio nuts are grown largely in the hill country of Kunduz, as well as the adjoining districts of Badakhshan, and the whole supply of India, Central Asia, and Russia is said to be derived from this region. Fruit is abundant and excellent, especially in Khulm and Balkh. Andkhui, before its decay, was famous for the black sheepskins and lambskins which we call astrakhan ; and also for a breed of camels in great demand. Kunduz produces a breed of horses, highly valued in the Kabul market under the name of Kataghan. Maimana also is famous for horses, which are often exported to India ; and is a mart for carpets and textures of wool and camels hair, the work of Turkman and Jamshidi women. Slave- dealing and man-stealing have long been the curse of this region, but late changes have tended to restrict these, and the Russian conquest of Khiva will probably have a most beneficial effect in this respect at least. History. Ancient Balkh, or Bactra, was probably one of the oldest capitals in Central Asia, There Persian tra dition places the teaching of Zoroaster. Bactriana was a 2 The Uzbeks were, however, a confederation of many Turk and Tartar tribes, not one race.