Travels in Central Asia Part 35

From To Tash Khokand Bibi Uveida 3 Bibi Uveida Sehri Menzil 2 Sehri Menzil Kirghis kurgan 4 Kirghis kurgan Namengan 4 Namengan usch kurgan 3 usch kurgan Gomushtepe 5 Gomushtepe Oosh 4 25

Besides these two princ.i.p.al roads, there is a mountainous route from Tashkend to Namengan; offering, however, many perilous places, which entail the necessity of much laborious exertion. Although the distance is only 45 miles, one requires ten days to {418} traverse it. It pa.s.ses by the following places: Toy Tepe, Karakhitai Tilav, Koshrobat, Mollamir, Babatarkhan, Shehidan (where the Russians were defeated by Mehemmed Ali Khan), Kamishkurgan, Pnngan, Haremseray, Uygur, Pop, Seng, Djust, Torekurgan, Namengan.

D.

ROUTES IN CHINESE TARTARY.

The distance from _Kashgar_ to _Yarhend_ is reckoned 36 miles (Tash), journeyed over by karavans and carts in seven days. On the third day from Kashgar, the traveller reaches a place called Yenghi Hissar, which is occupied by a strong garrison of soldiers.

From _Kashgar_ to _Aksu_, the distance is 70 miles; a karavan takes to perform it twelve days.

From _Aksu_ to _Ushturban_, lying to the south, the traveller requires two days.

Proceeding still farther to the east, we reach Komul in twenty-eight days, as follows:--

From To Days' Journey Aksu Bay 3 Bay Saram 1 Saram Kutcha 2 Kutcha Shiar 2 Shiar Bogur 4 Bogur Kurli 3 Kurli Kohne Turfan 8 Kohne Turfan Komul 3 26

Adding twelve days for the journey from Kashgar to Aksu, this makes, for the whole distance from the latter city, forty days.

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CHAPTER XXII.

GENERAL VIEW OF AGRICULTURE, MANUFACTURES, AND TRADE.

AGRICULTURE DIFFERENT KINDS OF HORSES SHEEP CAMELS a.s.sES MANUFACTURES PRINc.i.p.aL SEATS OF TRADE COMMERCIAL ASCENDANCY OF RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA.

_(a.) Agriculture._

Taken altogether, it is incredible how fertile all the cultivable land is in these three Khanats, which rise like oases out of the monstrous deserts of Central Asia. In spite of the primitive system of culture adopted, fruit and corn are luxuriantly abundant, one might even say, in many places, superabundant. The excellence of the fruit in Khiva has been already mentioned; and although Bokhara and Khokand cannot be placed, in this respect, in the same rank with Khiva, the following produce of those Khanats deserve, nevertheless, mention, e.g., the grapes, of extraordinary excellence (of which there are ten kinds), the 'magnificent pomegranates,' and particularly the apricots, which are exported in immense quant.i.ties to Persia, Russia, and Afghanistan.

Corn is met with everywhere in the three Khanats, and is of five kinds: wheat, barley, Djugheri (Holcus saccharatus), millet, (Tarik), and rice. The best wheat and Djugheri are {420} said to be found in Bokhara and Khiva, a genial soil; whereas Khokand is in high repute for millet. Barley is nowhere of very good quality, and is made use of, either alone or mixed with Djugheri, as fodder for horses.

In cattle-breeding the inhabitants of Turkestan concentrate their attention on three animals alone, namely, the horse, the sheep, and the camel.

The horse is regarded by the Central Asiatic as his _alter ego_.

Different races are met with here, possessing too different qualities and excellences. Volumes might be written to show how it is reared, and what are its varieties; but this not being my province, I will confine myself to a few observations. As countless as the stocks and branches of the nomads themselves, so countless are the races and families of their horses. The following cla.s.sification deserves to be noted:--

(1) The Turkoman horse: and here a main distinction exists between the Tekke and the Yomut breeds. The former, of which the favourite races are the Korogli and the Akhal, are distinguished by extraordinary height (sixteen to seventeen hands). They are slightly built, have handsome heads, majestic carriage, wonderful speed, but no bottom. The latter, those of the Yomuts, are smaller, finely formed, and unite speed with unparalleled endurance and strength. [Footnote 153] In general, the Turkoman horse is distinguished by a slender barrel, thin tail, handsome head and neck (it is a pity that the mane is cut off), {421} and a particularly fine and glossy coat; the latter quality is owing to its being kept covered, summer and winter, with several housings of felt. With respect to the value, a good Turkoman horse may be had at a price varying from one hundred to three hundred ducats, but never under thirty ducats.

[Footnote 153: I have seen many horses of this description which had carried each his Turkoman rider with a slave behind him in the saddle at a constant rapid gallop for thirty hours.]

(2) The ozbeg horse resembles the Yomut, but its form is more compact, and denotes more power; its neck short and thick, rather suited, like our hacks, for journeys than serviceable in war or Alamans.

(3) The Kasak horse, in a half wild state, small, with long hair, thick head, and heavy feet. He is seldom fed by hand, but is accustomed to seek himself his subsistence, summer and winter, in the pastures.

(4) The Khokandi sumpter or cart-horse is a cross between the ozbeg and the Kasak breeds, and is remarkable for its great strength. Of these four races, the genuine Turkoman horses have only been exported to Persia, and the ozbeg horses to Afghanistan and India.

The sheep is everywhere of the race with fat tails; the finest are met with in Bokhara. Its flesh is the best I have tasted in the East.

There are three kinds of camels, the one-humped and the two-humped, the latter called by us the Bactrian, and only met with amongst the Kirghis, and the Ner, of which we have already spoken when treating of Andkhuy.

Finally, I must not omit to mention the a.s.ses. The finest are those of Bokhara and Khiva. Of these the Hadjis export yearly many to Persia, Bagdad, Damascus, and Egypt.

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_(b.) Manufactures._

Two hundred years ago, when Turkey was less accessible to our European commerce than is the case at the present day, the native manufactures of Enguru (Angora), Broussa, Damascus, and Aleppo were certainly more active. Central Asia is even now far more remote from us than was Turkey in the times alluded to; our trade there is still very weakly represented--the consequence is that the greater part of the articles requisite for clothing or household purposes are the produce of native industry, of which we will give in this place a short account.

The princ.i.p.al seats of Central Asiatic manufactures are Bokhara, Karshi, Yenghi urgendj, Khokand, and Namengan. Out of these cities come the different stuffs, whether of cotton, silk, or linen, as well as the articles manufactured from leather, which supply the native demand. The princ.i.p.al and most widely-diffused material is the so-called Aladja, a stuff employed for the dresses of man and woman.

In Khiva it is woven of cotton and raw silk, in Bokhara and Khokand of cotton alone. As there are no distinct tailors' shops, the manufacturer busies himself also with the scissors and the needle, so that a great part of the produce consists in ready-made clothes. When we were in Bokhara, the high prices of clothing were a general complaint. The following were those then current:--

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[Prices in Tenghe]

Dresses 1st Cla.s.s 2nd Cla.s.s 3rd Cla.s.s Khivan 30 20 8 Bokhariot 20 12 8 Khokandi 12 8 5

Besides the Aladja, they fabricate stuffs of silk, woollen shawls for turbans, linen, for the most part very coa.r.s.e and bad, and from the latter a sort of calico, with dark red figures, used as coverlets for bedding throughout Turkestan and Afghanistan.

In the manufacture of leather they are famous; they excel us in the preparation of s.h.a.green ('Sagri' in the Tartar language), which, as is well known, is green, with little elevations like bladders. With the exception of Russia leather--which they import from that country, and employ in fashioning their water-skins--their coverings for the feet, and their harness and accoutrements for horses, are manufactured of native leather. Bokhara and Khokand produce these articles of the best quality. Khiva has only one kind of thick yellow leather, employed both for soles and upper leather. Of fine leather they prepare the Meskh (under-shoes like stockings); and of the coa.r.s.er kinds, the Koush, or upper galoshes.

Paper manufactured in Bokhara and Samarcand enjoys a high repute throughout Turkestan and the adjoining countries. It is made of raw silk, is very smooth and thin, and well adapted for the Arabic {424} writing. Articles of iron and steel, as the raw material is wanting, are only weakly represented. The rifled guns from Hezaresp, the swords and knives from Hissar, Karshi, and Djust, are in great renown.

An important manufacture of Central Asia, which reaches us in Europe by way of Persia and Constantinople, is that of carpets, which is, however, the exclusive product of the industry and skill of the Turkoman women. Besides the beautifully pure colouring and solidity of the texture, what most surprises us is how these simple nomad women preserve so well the symmetry of the outline of figures, and even betray often a better taste than many manufacturers in Europe. One carpet gives work always for a number of girls and young women. An old woman places herself at their head as directress. She first traces, with points, the pattern of the figures in the sand. Glancing at this, she gives out the number of the different threads required to produce the desired figures. In the next place, the workers in felt demand notice, but the Kirghis women here distinguish themselves most.

_(c.) Trade._

As it was before mentioned, in the chapter respecting the mode of communication, that Russia maintains the most extensive and regular relations with Central Asia, so also must it be stated that it is Russian trade which deserves to be styled the most ancient and the most considerable. It is a trade ever on the increase, and, at least in this field, remains without a rival. The extraordinary progress which it has made in these regions is best seen from the following most {425} authentic data. M. de Khanikoff [Footnote 154] states, in his work published in 1843, that every year a number of from five to six thousand camels is employed in the transport trade; that goods are imported into Russia from Central Asia to the value of from three to four millions of roubles; and that the export trade, which in 1828 amounted to 23,620, had risen, in 1840, to 65,675 16_s_. This estimate applies to the years from 1828 to 1845. Her Majesty's Secretary of Emba.s.sy at St. Petersburg, Mr. T. Saville Lumley, in his Report upon the Russian trade with Central Asia, drawn up with great industry and ability, informs us that, in the period from 1840 to 1850, the export trades rose to 1,014,237, and the import trade to 1,345,741. [Footnote 155]

[Footnote 154: See the English translation of his work by the Baron Bode, 1850. Madden.]

[Footnote 155: The Report above alluded to furnishes itself all the necessary details: we have appended them as given by Mr. Lumley himself.]

_Table of the Trade between Russia and the Countries of Central Asia for the Decennial Period from 1840 to 1850._

EXPORTED.

[Amounts in Pounds Sterling]

Bokhara Khiva Kokan Total