Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/819

 BOKHARA 799 the rivers, salt is obtained from the small lakes, and sulphur and sal ammoniac are also found. Timber is brought from the mountains, but on the plains only willow and poplar are found. The wild animals of Bokhara are bears, wolves, foxes, jackals, wild asses, hares, and antelopes. The domestic animals are horses, camels, drome- daries, asses, oxen, sheep, and goats. The sheep are of the fat-tailed breed, and there is a peculiar species with a jet-black curly fleece; lamb skins are exported to Persia. The goats of Bokhara are a variety of the Thibetan and Cashmere breed, and yield a fine shawl hair. The population of Bokhara is composed of dif- ferent nations, Uzbecks, Tajiks, Turkomans, Afghans, Kirghiz, Arabs (the descendants of the Mohammedan conquerors), Kalmucks, Hin- doos, and Jews. The Tajiks are supposed to be the most ancient inhabitants, and are said to resemble the Caucasian type most nearly ; they have a large portion of the trade and manu- factures in their hands. The Uzbecks lead mostly a nomadic life, and are noted for their hospitality to strangers. The Persians are nearly all either slaves who have been kid- napped by the Turkomans and sold here, or such as have purchased their freedom ; they enliven trade, enter the government service, and several of them occupy the highest posi- tions in the state. The Jews here as in the adjoining countries are the persecuted race, emigration even being forbidden them. The Turkomans roam over the country with their flocks and herds, plundering and kidnapping persons on the frontiers and selling them into slavery in the interior. Turkic dialects are spoken by most of the inhabitants. The pre- vailing religion is the Mohammedan. A con- siderable trade is carried on with foreign coun- tries by means of caravans, though the extor- tionate customs dues in Bokhara, as in the neighboring states traversed by the caravans, and the predatory habits of the Turkomans tend to cripple it. The imports from Rus- sia are muslins, leather, metals, dyes, and paper; from Afghanistan and India, English manufactures, Cashmere shawls, and sugar ; from China, tea and porcelain. The exports are rhubarb, cotton, skins, raw and manufac- tured silk, camel's and goat's hair, fresh and preserved fruits, and shawl goods. The gov- ernment is a military despotism. At its head stands the emir as commander-in-chief, prince, and chief of religion. Under him are the vizier, the mehter desturlehanje (steward), and eekiultchi (receiver of customs). The military and other civil dignitaries are divided into three classes, the Tcette sipahi (higher function- aries, comprising the secretary of state), the orta sipahi (the middle functionaries), and the a&haghi sipahi (subalterns). The administrative divisions of the country are based upon the larger cities, and include at present Karakul, Bokhara, Karshi, Tchardyui, and Shehrizebz. The last named, owing to its continual struggles with the khan, is not at all times wholly sub- 103 VOL. ii. 61 ject to him. Each division has a governor, who is allowed as his salary a fixed share of the rev- enue of the district. The country was little known to the ancients, and the greater part of it was included under the general name of Transoxiana or Sogdiana. The conquests of the Mohammedans extended to the foot of the Bolor Tagh, and to them Bokhara, in its former and wider extent, was known as the Mawar-al- Nahr, and became famous for its great semina- ries of learning at Samarcand, Balkh, and Bo- khara. Even in modern times these cities, of which only the last now belongs to the khan- ate, enjoy a considerable reputation for their schools. For several centuries before the con- quest by Genghis Khan, about 1220, Bokhara was regarded as belonging to Persia ; but sub- sequently, and chiefly after the invasion by the Mongols under Tamerlane in 1370, the Persian element gave way to that of the Uzbecks, and Tamerlane intended to make Samarcand his capital. At the close of the 15th century his descendants were driven from power by the house of the Sheibani. The ablest of these was Abdullah Khan, born in 1533, who con- quered Badakhshan, Herat, and Meshed. His son was unable to maintain his throne, and was assassinated in 1597. The overthrown dynasty was succeeded by that of the Astra- khanides (descendants of Genghis Khan), who remained in power till 1737. Ebul Feiz, the last of this dynasty, was murdered by Rehim Khan, who ruled with independent -authority, but under the title of vizier. Upon his death the government was seized by Daniel Beg, to whom succeeded the emirs Shah Murad, Said Khan, and Nasrullah Khan. The last of these is known by the wars which he waged with Khokan, and by his barbarous treatment of several European travellers. In 1838 the Brit- ish ambassador to Persia sent Col. Stoddart to Bokhara, to assure the emir of the friendly feeling entertained toward him by England. N asrullah, enraged at receiving no reply to let- ters which he had sent to fhe qneen, threw Stoddart into prison. Capt. Conolly, who was sent on a like errand, met the same fate, and both were put to death in 1842 on charge of being spies. Since then few Europeans have visited Bokhara. The missionary Wolff went there in 1843, and brought back tidings of the fate of Stoddart and Conolly. In 1841 a Rus- sian expedition, consisting of Col. BatenefF, Lieut. Bogoslovsky, the geographer Khani- koif, and the naturalist Lehmann, visited Bo- khara at the request of the emir ; the last two published accounts of their journey (Khani- koff, "Description of the Khanate of Bo- khara," in Russian, St. Petersburg, 1843 ; trans- lated into English by Bode, London, 1845 ; Lehmann, Retee nach Bokhara und Samar- kand, St. Petersburg, 1855). In 1863 three Italians, Gavazzi, Litta, and Meazza, went there in order to procure eggs of the silkworm. They were imprisoned, but were released after a year through the intervention of the Russian