The Russians in Central Asia : their occupation of the Kirghiz steppe and the line of the Syr-Daria : their political relations with Khiva, Bokhara, and Kokan : also descriptions of Chinese Turkestan and Dzungaria

584 Pages·1865·12.59 MB·English

by  Valikhanov

ASIA
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CHARLES WILLIAM WASON
COLLECTION
CHINA AND THECHINESE
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CHARLES WILLIAM WASON
CLASSOF 1876
1918
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:
THE RUSSIANS
IN CENTRAL ASIA:
THEIROCCUPATION OF
THE KIRGHIZ STEPPE
AND
THE LINE OF THE SYR-DARIA
:
THEIR POLITICAL EBLATI0N8 WITH
KHIVA, BOKHARA, AND KOKAN
ALSO DESCRIPTIONS OF
CHINESE TURKESTAN AND DZUNGARIA.
BY CAPT. VALIKHANOF, M. VBNIUKOF,
AND OTHER EUSSIAN TRAVELLERS.
ffiranslattU from tfje Eusstan
BY JOHN AND ROBERT MICHELL.
LONDON:
EDWARD STANFORD, 6 CHARING CROSS,
1865.
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PREFACE.
The valuable contributions to the geography and
political history of Central Asia printed from time to
time at St. Petersburg are almost entirely lost to this
country^ owing to their being published in the Russian
language. The great interest which Central Asia has
lately attracted, in consequence of recent political
events in the Khanat of Kokan, and the comparative
ignorance which has prevailed in England respecting
the true position of Russia in those distant regions,
have induced us to make a collection of the most
important of the Russian materials relating to the
'
subject, and to present them to the public in an
English form. The several chapters composing this
volume, on their original appearance at St. Petersburg,
excited considerable interest, and their several authors
arewell-knownRussian travellers and geographers,who
have made Central Asia their special study.
IV PREFACE.
Among the accounts of journeys and travels in Cen-
tral Asia here presented to the reader, those of Captain
Valikhanofin Dzungaria andEasternTurkestan occupy
a prominent position. Since the days of Marco Polo
and the Jesuit Goez,noEuropean,with the exceptionof
A. Schlagintweit,has, to ourknowledge, penetratedinto
those countries. The fear and jealousy of Europeans
and the religious fanaticism of the people made that
country quite inaccessible to modern explorers, and
the mournful fate of the enterprising traveller at
Kashgar is an illustration of the danger with which
any attempt to reach it is beset. The travels of
Valikhanofthrough Dzungaria and Chinese Turkestan
were performed under singularly favourable circum-
stances. Although an officer in the Russian service
and a man of good education, he is the son of a
Kirghiz Sultari and a native of the Steppes. He is
consequently well acquainted with the language and
customs of the people of Central Asia, and could go
amongst them without exciting the least suspicion
of being connected with Russia. He succeeded in
reaching Kashgar in the train of a Kokan caravan,
under the assumed character of a Marghilan merchant.
His description of Kashgar, and ofthe political state of
Eastern Turkestan, will be acknowledged as an im-