Page:England & Russia in Central Asia,Vol-I.djvu/97

77 THE EUSSTAN GOVEENMENT IN TUEKESTAN. 77 and without any practical knowledge wliatever. Were Turkestan a thickly-peopled country she would speedily reap the punishment for this neglect ; as it is, she has no hold upon, nor, indeed, any certain mode of ascer- taining what is, the opinion of the subject races. The few Russian schools there are are devoted exclusively to the education of the children of the Russian officials ; but of these there is no necessity to say any- thing. The native schools are divided into maJcJitahs — ■ the preparatory schools — and madrassees — colleges or more advanced schools — and all of these are reliofious in their character. The maJMahs are supported by voluntary contributions from the parents of the scholars, and these take the form of money, provisions, clothes, etc. There is no regular charge for any scholar, and the deficiencies of the poorer are made up out of the abundance of the wealthier. The students of the madrassees are kept and edu- cated free of charge. Each madrassee has a portion of land, or some other endowment, attached to it; and out of that revenue the Mahomedan youths are pro- vided with the necessaries of life, and such literary knowledge as is extant among the mollahs who officiate as tutors and examiners in these colleges. Education commences at an early age, boys beginning to learn the Koran at six years old. But the range of subjects is limited, and although doubtless admirably calculated to improve the powers of recitation, the ability to recite passages from the Koran and from a few other Mahomedan authors scarcely tends to enlarge the ideas or to give a general knowledge of surrounding