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RUSSIA
TN CENTERAT, ASTA
PRIN'I'ſ. D BY -
SPOTTIS WOODE AND Co., NEW-STREET SQUARE
I,ONDON
RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
I N 1889
AND THE
ANGLO – RUSSIAN QUESTION
(; ; “
BY THE , 6,...,’
2 tº
t alcº
HON. GEORGE NCURZON, M.P.
FELLOW OF ALL SOULS COLLEGE, OXFORD
ülitſ, 3ppenbites, §laps, 3Ilustrations, amo an imbex
“Upon the Russian frontier, where
The watchers of two armies stand
Near one another'
MATTHEW ARNOLD
The Sick King in Bokhara
LONDON
L O N G M A N S, G RE EN, A N D C O.
AND NEW YORK : 15 EAST 16th STREET
1889
A l l rights reserved
313
643
*
* &- &
/3–/4594:
TO THE GREAT ARMY OF
RUSSOPHOBES WHO MISLEAD OTHERS, AND
RUSSOPHILES WHOM OTHERS MISLEAD
I DEIDICATE THIS BOOK
WHICH WILL BE FOUND EQUALLY DISRESPECTFUL
TO THE IGNOBLE TERRORS OF THE ONE
AND THE PERVERSE COMPLACENCY OF THE OTHERS
PIR E E A C E
——º-e—-
THE nucleus of this book—less than one-third of its
present dimensions—appeared in the shape of a series
of articles, entitled ‘Russia in Central Asia, which I
contributed to the ‘Manchester Courier’ and other lead-
ing English provincial newspapers, in the months of
November and December 1888, and January 1889.
These articles were descriptive of a journey which I
had taken in the months of September and October
1888, along the newly-constructed Transcaspian Rail-
way, through certain of the Central Asian dominions of
the Czar of Russia. Exigencies of space, however, and
the limitations of journalistic propriety, prevented me
from including in my letters a good deal of information
which I had obtained; and were, of course, fatal to the
incorporation with the narrative of illustrations or
maps. Written, too, at a distance from works of refer-
ence, and depending in some cases upon testimony
which I had no opportunity to verify or support, my
former articles contained errors which I have since been
l{
viii RUSSIA IN CENTRAL AS/A
able to correct. These considerations, and the desire
to place before the public in a more coherent and easily
accessible shape the latest information about the in-
teresting regions which I traversed, have encouraged
me almost entirely to rewrite, and to publish in a more
careful and extended form, my somewhat fragmentary
original contributions, to which in the interval I have
also been enabled to add a mass of entirely new
material. If the impress of their early character be in
places at all perceptibly retained, it is because I am
strongly of opinion that in descriptions of travel first
thoughts are apt to be the best, and have consequently
sometimes shrunk from depriving my narrative of such
wividness or colour as it may have gained from being
originally written upon the spot. References, figures,
and statistics, I have subjected to verification; while
such sources of contemporary history as relate to my
subject I have diligently explored. In the absence
of any Russian publications corresponding to the Blue
Books and voluminous reports of the English Govern-
ment Departments, it is extremely difficult to acquire
full or precise information about Russian affairs. But
such sources as were open to me in newspapers, articles,
&c., I have industriously studied. I trust, therefore,
that substantial accuracy may be predicated of these
pages; for, in a case where the inferences to be drawn
are both of high political significance, and are abso-
lutely dependent upon the correct statement of facts, I
should hold it a crime to deceive. -
PREFA CE ix
A few words of explanation as to what these chap-
ters do, and what they do not, profess to be. Their pre-
tensions are of no very exalted order. They are, in the
main, a record of a journey, taken under circumstances
of exceptional advantage and ease, through a country,
the interest of which to English readers consists no
longer in its physical remoteness and impenetrability,
but rather in the fact that those conditions have just been
superseded by a new order of things, capable at any
moment of bringing it under the stern and immediate
notice of Englishmen, as the theatre of imperial diplo-
macy; possibly—quod di avertant omen—as the thresh-
old of international war. Travel nowadays, at least in
parts to which the railway has penetrated, is unattended
with risk and is relatively shorn of adventure—a de-
cadence which separates my story by a wide gulf of
division from that of earlier visitors to the Transcaspian
regions. These pursued their explorations slowly and
laboriously, either in disguise or armed to the teeth,
amid suspicious and fanatical peoples, over burning
deserts and through intolerable sands. The later
traveller, as he follows in comparative comfort the
route of which they were the suffering pioneers, may at
Once admire their heroism and profit by their experi-
ence. With such forerunners, therefore, I do not pre-
sume to enter into the most remote competition.
Nor, again, can I emulate the credentials of others,
who, without necessarily having visited the country
itself, have yet, assisted by an intimate acquaintance
X Jº USS/A, IAW C E N7 RAL ASIA
with the Russian language, devoted years of patient
application to the problems which it unfolds, and, as
in the case of Mr. Demetrius Boulger and Mr. Charles
Marvin in particular, have produced many valuable
works for the instruction of their fellow-countrymen.
I did not, however, start upon my journey without
having made myself thoroughly acquainted with their
Opinions and researches; nor have these pages been
written without subsequent study of every available
authority. The one distinguishing merit that I can fear-
lessly claim for them is that of posteriority in point
of time. No work in the English language has ap-
peared on this branch of the Central Asian Question
for five years; and those five years have marked an
incalculable advance in the character and dimensions
of the problem. With unimpeachable truth Skobeleft
Once wrote in a letter: “In Central Asia the position of
affairs changes not every hour, but every minute.
Therefore I say, Vigilance, vigilance, vigilance.’ The
title of my book, ‘Russia in Central Asia in 1889,
will sufficiently indicate my desire that it should be in-
terpreted as an account of the status quo brought up to
date—i.e. to the autumn of the year 1889.
One other claim I make for these pages—viz. that
they approach a problem, which in its reference to
Englishmen is almost exclusively political, from a poli-
tical point of view. Central Asia has its charms for
the historian, the archaeologist, the artist, the man of
science, the dilettante traveller, for every class, indeed,
PRE FACE xi
from the erudite to the idle. A wide field of research
and a plentiful return await the explorer in each of these
fields. Although I have not been entirely forgetful of
their interests, and although references to these subjects
will be found dispersed throughout the volume, I have
preferred in the main to concentrate my attention upon
such points as will appeal to those who, whether as actors
or as spectators of public affairs, feel a concern in the
foreign policy of the Empire. Earlier travellers, such
as the Hungarian Wambéry, the American Schuyler,
the French Bonvalot, the Swiss Moser, the English
Lansdell, have devoted themselves more closely to the
customs, habits, and character of the natives—to what
I may call the local colouring of the Central Asian
picture. In these respects I have not aspired to follow
in their footsteps. It is not my aim to produce a mag-
nified Baedeker's Handbook to Transcaspia. I assume
a certain foreknowledge on the part of my readers with
the chronology of Russian advance, and with the nature
of the conquered regions; and I endeavour only to
place clearly before them the present situation of affairs
as modified, if not revolutionised, by the construction of
the Transcaspian Railway; and so to enable them to form
a dispassionate judgment upon the achievements, policy,
and objects of Russia, as well as upon the becoming
attitude and consequent responsibilities of England.
In the three concluding chapters I enter upon a
wider field and discuss the present aspect of the Central
Asian problem—a question which no writer should
xii RUSSIA / W C E WTF?AI, AS/A
approach without a consciousness of its magnitude, or
venture to decide without long previous study.
In the interest of would-be travellers—speaking of
Central Asia one may still decline to use the word
tourist—I would say in passing, that if they are fortu-
nate enough to obtain leave from St. Petersburg (no.
merely formal undertaking, as the sequel will show),
they will do wisely to make the journey as soon as
they can, Tet them not be deterred by exaggerated
accounts of the inhospitality of the region, or the hard-
ships of the road. There is enough to repay them for
any personal inconvenience or material discomfort.
The present is a moment of unique, because transitory,
interest in the life of the Oriental countries through
which the railway leads. It is the blank leaf between
the pages of an old and a new dispensation ; the brief
interval separating a compact and immemorial tradition
from the rude shock and unfeeling Philistinism of nine-
teenth-century civilisation. The era of the Thousand
and One Nights, with its strange mixture of savagery
and splendour, of coma and excitement, is fast fading
away, and will soon have yielded up all its secrets to
science. Here, in the cities of Alp Arslan, and Timur,
and Abdullah Khan, may be seen the sole remaining
stage upon which is yet being enacted that expiring
drama of realistic romance.
I must acknowledge a weight of obligation in many
quarters.
To the Royal Geographical Society I am particularly
PREFA CE - xiii
indebted for the permission to reprint many of the
details, contained in a paper on the Transcaspian
Railway, which I read before that body in March last,
and which is published in their Proceedings for May;
and, still more, for the loan of the map of Central Asia,
executed under their instructions from the latest in-
formation supplied by travellers, as well as from English
and Russian official maps. For the frontier lines, as de-
lineated therein, I am responsible; but I believe them
to be absolutely correct. M. Lessar, now Russian
Consul-General at Liverpool, and formerly political
attaché to the Russian Staff on the Afghan Boundary
Commission, has placed me under a great obligation by
the loan of several of the photographs, which have
been reproduced in this volume ; and by the kindness
which induced him to peruse my original articles, and
to supply me with the means of correcting sundry
errors, as well as of amplifying the information, which
they contained. -
For the remainder of the illustrations I am indebted
to the courtesy of Major C. E. Yate, C.S.I., C.M.G.,
recently one of the English Boundary Commissioners
in Afghanistan ; of Mr. Charles Marvin, who lent me
some illustrations from Russian newspapers, drawn by
the clever pencil of the Russian artist Karazin; and
of private friends. Of the whole of them I may say that,
to the best of my knowledge, they are new to English
readers, and have not previously appeared in any English
work, Or, in fact, in any work at all. -
xiv. PUSSIA IN C E W TRAI, ASIA
I must also thank the Editor of the ‘Fortnightly
Review for permission to re-avail myself of some of the
material contained in an article upon Bokhara, which I
contributed to that magazine in January 1889.
In the appendix I have included some directions
for travellers; a table of distances in Central Asia;
a chronological table, drawn up by myself, of British
and Russian movements in Central Asia in this century,
which may help to elucidate the narrative; and a
Bibliography, which, without pretending to be exhaus-
tive, claims to include the principal works to which a
student will find it necessary to have recourse in follow-
ing the history of British or Russian advance in Persia,
Afghanistan, Turkestan, and Transcaspia, and in ac-
quiring some familiarity with the history of those coun-
tries. I have compiled it with great care, and with
much labour, seeing that many of the titles are included
in no extant collection.
Finally, let me say that I shall welcome with grati-
tude any corrections that, in the event of a later edition,
or of further publication upon the same subject, may
redeem error or impart greater accuracy.
GEORGE N. CURZON.
MEMORANDA
C O N T E N T S
CHAPTER, I
INTRO DUCTORY
Russian railways to the Caspian–Proposed Vladikavkas-Petrovsk
line—-Caucasus tunnel—Length of journey–Previous travel in
Central Asia—Foreign travellers On the Transcaspian Railway
–Previous writers on the Transcaspian Railway—Justification
for a new work—Varied interest of Central Asia–Political in-
terest—Russian designs upon India—The Frontier Question
CHAPTER II
FROM LONDON TO THE CASPIAN
Journey to St. Petersburg–Difficulty in obtaining permission—Ob-
servations on Russian character—Hostility to Germany and
the Germans—Policy of Alexander III.-Russian feeling to-
wards England–Russian feeling towards Austria and France—
Continuation of journey–Permission granted—From St. Peters-
burg to Tiflis—From Tiflis to Baku and the Caspian–Approach
to Uzun Ada § ſº ſº g e •. § iº tº
CHAPTER III
THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY
Origin of the idea of a Central Asian railway—Scheme of M. Ferdi-
mand de Lesseps—Attitude of England–Idea of a Transcaspian
railway—Adoption of the plan by Skobeleff—Completion to
PAGE
. xxiv.
xvi
RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Rizil Arvat in December 1881—Ideas of further extension—
Opposition to the Transcaspian scheme—Extension from Kizil
Arvat to the Oxus—From the Oxus to Samarkand—Technical
information about the line—Exclusively military character
—Material of the line—Character and pay of the workmen—
Method of construction—Cost—Facilities of construction—
Difficulties of water—Difficulties of sand—Contrivances to resist
the sands—Difficulty of fuel and lighting—Rolling-stock of the
railway—Stations—Duration and cost of journey g
CHAPTER IV
PAGE,
34
FROM THE CASPIAN TO MERV
Uzun Ada, present and future—Start from Uzun Ada—Character of
Appearance of the modern Merv —The Russian town—History of
the scenery—The Persian mountains—The desert of Kara Kum
—The four oases—Vegetation of the oases—The Akhal-Tekke oasis
—Statistics of its resources—The desert landscape –Variations
of climate—Geok Tepe, the old Turkoman fortress–Story of the
siege of Geok Tepe-Preparations for assault—Assault and
capture, January 24, 1881–pursuit and massacre of the Turko-
mans—Impression left upon the conquered—Skobeleff and the
massacre–His principle of warfare—Character of Skobeleff-
His marvellous courage—His caprice—Idiosyncrasies—Anec-
dotes of his whims–Story of the Persian Khan--Final criticism
—Turkoman peasants—Askabad—Government of Transcaspia
—Resources and taxation—Buildings of the town—Strategical
importance of Askabad and roads into Persia—Use of the rail-
way by pilgrims to Meshed and Mecca-The Atek oasis and
Dushak—Refusal of permission to visit Kelat and Meshed—
Kelat-i-Nadiri—The Tejend oasis . g tº . . .
CHAPTER V
FROM MERV TO THE OxUs
the ancient Merv–British travellers at Merv–Russian annexa-
tion in 1884–Tertility, resources, and population of the oasis—
Administration, taxation, and irrigation—Trade returns—Future
development of the oasis—Turkoman character—Strategical im-
portance of Merv–Ferment on the Afghan frontier arising out
of the revolt of Is-hak Khan—Movements of Is-hak and Ab-
durrahman–Colonel Alikhanoff, Governor of Merv–The Turko-
63
COWTENTS - xvii
PAGE
man militia—Possible increase of the force—The Turkoman
horses—The Khans of Merv at Baku–The ruined fortress of
Roushid Khan Kala—Old cities of Merv —Emotions of the
traveller—Central Asian scenery—The Sand-dunes again—
Description of the ancients——Difficulties of the railway—The
Oxus—Width and appearance of the channel—General Annen-
koff's railway bridge—Its temporary character—The Oxus
flotilla e g º e º • . -
CHAPTER VI
BOKHARA THE NOBLE
Continuation of the railway to Bokhara—Scenery of the Khanate—
Approach to the city—Attitude of the Bokhariots towards the
railway—New Russian town–Political condition of the Khan-
ate—Accession of the reigning Amir—Seid Abdul Ahad—Aboli-
tion of slavery–Novel security of access—History of Bokhara
—Previous English visitors to Bokhara—Road from the station
to the city—The Russian Embassy–Native population—Foreign
elements—An industrial people—Bokharan women—Religious
buildings and practice—The Great Minaret—Criminals hurled
from the summit—Assassination of the Divan Begi—Torture
of the murderer—Interior of the city—The Righistan—The
Citadel and State prison—The Great Bazaar—Curiosities and
manufactures—Brass and copper ware—Barter and currency—
Russian monopoly of import trade from Europe—Russian firms
in the city—Statistics of trade–Effects of the railway—Restric-.
tions on the sale of liquor—Mussulman inebriety—Survival
of ancient customs—Dr. Heyfelder—The reshta, or guinea-
worm of Bokhara—Bokharan army—Native court and cere-
monial—Tendency to incorporation—Transitional epoch at
Bokhara . e . g tº re - e. • . . . 151
CHAPTER VII
SAMARKAND AND TASHKENT
The Zerafshan valley—Bokharan irrigation—Danger to the city—
Possible reforms—Population and fertility of the Samarkand
district—History of Samarkand—Description of monuments
renounced—The Russian town—Modern public buildings—
Change wrought by the railway—Absurd rumour of restoration
to Bokhara—The Citadel–Zindan, or prison—The ancient city
—Tomb of Tamerlane—The Righistan – Leaning minarets—
à,
xviii RUSSIA IN CE WTRAI, ASIA
- - PA
Material of structure—Samples of the best Arabian style— GE
Ruins of Bibi Khanym—Shah-Zindeh-Need of a Society for
the Preservation of Ancient Monuments—Sunset at Samarkand
—Russian garrison—Population—Refuge of political exiles—
Journey to Tashkent—The tarantass—Stages of the route—
Ruins of Afrasiab–Bridge of Shadman-Melik–Gates of Tamer-
ane—The Waste of Hunger—The Syr Daria and approach to
Tashkent—Great fertility—The two cities and societies–Politi-
cal banishment—General Rosenbach and the peace policy—
Native education—Government House—Public buildings—
Ancient or native city—General Prjevalski and Lhasa—Statis-
tics of population—Resources, manufactures, and commerce—
System of government—Revenue and expenditure—Territorial
expansion of Russia . . . . • • . . . . 204
CHAPTER VIII
EXTENSIONS AND EFFECTS OF THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY
Extension to Tashkent—Its advantages—Bourdalik and Karshi Line
—Tcharjui and Kerki branch—Herat extension—Merv and
Penjdeh branch—Proposed junction with the Indian railway
system—Grave drawbacks: (i.) Fiscal, (ii) Political–Favour-
able estimate of the Transcaspian Railway—Possible strain in
time of war—Political effects of the railway—Absorption of
Turkomania—Influence upon Persia–Increased prestige of
Russia—Commercial effects—Annenkoff’s prophecies–Com-
mercial policy and success of Russia–Russian economic policy of
strict protection—Its operation in Central Asia—Russian trade
with Afghānistan—Imports and exports—Anglo-Indian transit
trade–British trade with Afghanistan–Quotation from Foreign
Office Report—Russian monopoly in Northern Persia and
Khorasan—Destruction of British trade with Northern Persia—
Commercial future of the Transcaspian Railway—Strategical
consequences of the line—Shifting of centre of gravity in Central
Asia—Greater proximity of base—Comparison of present with
former facilities—Russian power of attack—Lines of invasion:
(i.) Caspian and Herat Line—Strength and location of the
Russian forces in Transcaspia–Reinforcements from Europe
—Difficulty of Caspian marine transport—Latest figures—
Difficulty of landing-places—Difficulty of supplies—Serious in
Transcaspia—Importance of Khorasan—Complicity of Persia
—Addition to offensive power of Russia—(ii.) Strength and
- utility of Turkestan Army–Total Russian strength for inva-
sion—Strength of Anglo-Indian Army for offensive purposes—
CONTENTS xix
- PAGE
British and Russian reinforcements—The issue—Russian views
of the Transcaspian Railway as a means of offence . . . . . 260
CHAPTER IX
THE ANGLo-Russian QUESTION
Existence of the problem—Personal impressions–Haphazard charac-
ter of Russian foreign policy—Arising from form of Govern-
ment—Independence of frontier officers—Responsibility for
Russian mala fides—Compulsory character of Russian advance
—Russian conquest of India, a chimera—Russian attack upon
India a danger–Candid avowal of Skobeleff—Evidence of past
history—Schemes of . Russian invasion : (i.) 1791, , (ii.) 1800,
(iii.) 1807, (iv.) 1837, (v.) 1855–Gortchakoff-Granville agree. --
ment of 1872–73—(vi.) 1878–Skobeleff's plan for the invasion
of India—Military operations—Later movements—Subsequent
Schemes—Civilian endorsement—M. Zinovieff— Reality of
Anglo-Russian question now universally admitted——Russian
illusions about British rule in India—Evidence of Russian
generals—Real feeling in India—Regrettable Russian ignorance
—Russian lines of invasion : (i.) From the Pamir, (ii.) From
Samarkand and the Oxus—New Russo-Afghan frontier—(iii.)
Upon Herat—Corresponding Indian frontier—Diagram of the
two railway systems—Comparison of the rival advantages—
England's obligations to Afghanistan—Their right interpre-
tation — Reductio ad absurdum — Counter obligations of
Afghanistan–British relations with Afghanistan in the past
—Synopsis of policy pursued—Character of Abdurrahman
Khan—His health and the future—Suggested partition of
Afghanistan—The Afghan army—Sentiments of the Afghans
towards Russia and England—The future of Afghan independ-
ence—Prestige of Russian numbers—Policy of appointing
British officers in Afghanistan–Impending developments of the
Anglo-Russian question—(i.) Balkh-Kabul line of advance—
(ii.) The Persian question—Russian ascendency and Persian
weakness—Real aim of Russian policy in Persia—An eye upon —
the Persian Gulf—British policy in rejoinder—Opening up of
Seishan—Effects of a Seistan railway—Summary of this chapter 313
CHAPTER, X
RUSSIAN RULE IN CENTRAL ASIA
Merits and demerits of Russian rule—Abolition of raids and gift of
security—Russian power firmly established — Its causes—
XX
RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Memory of slaughter—Overpowering military strength of
Russia—Certainty that she will not retreat—Popularity of
Russia—Laissez-faire attitude—Treatment of native chiefs
—Conciliation of native peoples—Defects of Russian character
—Low civilisation—Attitude towards Mahometan religion—
Towards native education—Bravery and endurance of Russian
character—Military ease of Russian advance—Contrast be-
tween English and Russian facilities—Comparative security
of dominions—Seamy side of Russian civilisation—Bad roads
—General conclusions as to Russian Government--Schemes for
regeneration of the country—Irrigation—Diversion of the Oxus
to its old bed—Cotton plantation—Sericulture and viticulture
—Colonisation—Attitude of Great Britain—Responsibilities of
Russia e º ge º te t º º ©
APPENDICES
I. TABLE OF STATIONS AND DISTANCES ON THE TRANSCASPIAN
RAILWAY. o o o & g ©
II. TABLE OF DISTANCES IN CENTRAL ASIA
III. CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS IN CENTRAL ASIA, 1800–89
IV. DIRECTIONS TO TRAVELLERS IN TRANSCASPIA ë b
V. TREATY BETWEEN RUSSIA AND BOKHARA (1873)
VI. TREATY BETWEEN RUSSIA AND PERSIA (1881) e
VII. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CENTRAL ASIA
INDEX . e b. * wº º * º *
PAGE
382
415
417
421
429
432
436
440
469
LIST OF TLLUSTRATIONS
FULL-PAGE II, LUSTRATIONS
• CLEARING AWAY THE SAND º g g e g . To face p. 56
'LANDING-PLACE AND TERMINUS OF Uzun ADA . tº ºn 53 62
• THE TURKOMAN MILITIA . © g o g º g 35 128
• THE FOUR KEIANS OF MERV s g o º g 6 33 132,
• THE BEG OF TCHARJUI AND HIS CourT . º e g 53 144
• OPENING OF THE OxUS BRIDGE . e g e tº gº ?? 148
• PANORAMA OF BOKHARA . • • o © g g 25 152,
• KUSH BEGI AND AMIR OF BOKHARA . º g tº e 75 158
• THE GREAT MINARET º g g º tº g a 35 178
• THE RIGHISTAN OF BOKHARA e o g a 9 }} 184
• INTERIOR OF THE TOMB of TAMERLANE . g º 52 218,
MEDRESSE OF SHIR DAR AT SAMARKAND . g tº G 35 220
• MEDRESSE OF ULUG BEG . º te º ty tº o 33 222,
, INTERIOR OF MEDRESSE OF TILLAH KARI . t; e e 35 224
• ROMANOFF STREET IN RUSSIAN TASHKENT º e g 55 240,
. PANORAMA OF NATIVE TASHKENT . p ty D. tº ºr 33 248
xxii RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT
WHARF AT BAKU—PERSIANARBA—PERSIAN WATER-CART-OIL-WELLs
OF BALAKHANI e g te &
GENERAL ANNENKOFF g c tº tº g g g ſº gr
SECTION OF WoRKING-TRAIN oN THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY
LAYING THE RAILS . & e te & s g .
FIXING THE TELEGRAPH-WIRES NEAR Uzu N ADA.
UZUN ADA, THE SAND-DUNES, THE KopBT DAGH, AND THE KARA
RUM © e tº ve © o Tº tº e
TRAIN OF WATER-CISTERNS g e o
THE PERSIAN MoUNTAINS AND THE DESERT ta *
TURKOMAN KIBITKAS . . . sº tº e e ſº te ë c
TURKOMAN WILLAGE AND ORCHARDS . e tº º e tº º
TEKKE CHIEFs of THE TEJEND OASIS . . g e ſº G &
PAGE
31
39
50
51
65
67
70
71
74
BRIDGE OVER THE MURGHAB AT MERV iº tº tº * tº $
AKSAKALS, OR ELDERS OF MERV . tº tº ū g e tº
TURKOMAN HORSEMEN . . . . . . .
THE FORT OF ROUSHID . KHAN KALA
RUINS OF BAIRAM ALI . . . . . . g " tº w . . .
TOMB OF SULTAN SANJUR . . ‘º e e º ſº g w
RUINED CARAVANSERAI AT BAIRAM ALI * º ſº te tº e.
THE RAILWAY AND THE SANDS. te tº tº º *g wº
THE OxUS FLOTILLA . . . . e ſº e •
GATE AND WALL OF BOKHARA . g tº * g
RUSSIAN EMBASSY AT BOKHARA . wº s
JEWS OF BOKHARA . . . . . g r w º g *
93
103
107
120
130
134
135
137
138
143
149
168
169
173
LIST OF III, USTRATIONS xxiii
PAGE)
MEDRESSE AT BOKHARA e º e º tº g tº . . 176
MAIN STREET OF BOKHARA tº º * tº e te e . 181
LIABEHAUS DIVAN BEGI o tº e wº Q e tº . . 182
MILITARY PARADE AT BOKHARA tº * & tº o g . 198
PALACE OF THE AMIR . tº ſº tº tº e tº e . . 200
GOVERNOR's Hous E AT SAMARKAND . g g † tº g . 214
GUR AMIR, OR TOMB OF TAMERLANE . & * te {º . . 218
RUINS OF BIBI KHANYM AT SAMARKAND . e e tº g . 224
INTERIOR OF THE MEDRESSE OF BIBI KHANYM . * g . . 225
MAUSOLEUM OF SHAH ZINDEH . º g g e e ſº . 227
TCHARSU, OR BAZAAR, AT SAMARKAND . o * e e . . 231
NEW RUSSIAN CATHEDRAL AT TASHKENT . gº g |º * . 246
MILITARY CLUB AT TASHKENT . . . & e - tº * . . 247
BEGLER BEG MEDRESSE, TASHKENT tº e G e e . 250
MA.P.S.
* RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA AND THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY To face p. 1
SKELETON MAP of RAILWAY COMMUNICATION BETWEEN
EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA g tº & g g ,, 313
MEMORANDA
The dates in this book are reckoned by the English Calendar, or
New style, being twelve days in advance of the Greek and Russian
Calendar, or Old style. The rouble is computed as equivalent to
two shillings in English money. One verst = 3 mile. One poud
(weight) = 36 English lbs.
40
36||
shie .
ºrr
cRaeº"...r.º.
RUSSIAN CENTRAL, ASIA
and the
TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY
Natural Scale , 1: 5,900,000
Q 10 20 30 40. 5d. loo 150 English Miles
* 192030.4955 100 150 Russian Versts
* Forts, a Wells, ºans, : Mines, º Rºsses --~~Bridges
Heights in English, Fºet.
of geographical terms betorging to oriental languages.
Persian
Turkish
Ab -Water; Rua River ; Hºt-Bridge ; Hoh-Morontains ; Hazz-castle; Safeta-white."
TMazarº-
£º.
Ş.
º: *}} º Cº Lº
mºll
º
3u - Water; Chai-Răzer; Hºgaw-Weil; Dagh.-Mount; Tºpe-sunrººt, top, hill, Bºghaz- º º:
| 5:"..., º £º. *::::::::::::::::::::". *:::::::#" ** Peº º º ||| º: *::: - ºrinº - - º º
50 52 54 T 56 T 58 I 60 62 Longitude East 64 of Greenwich 66 68 72. 74. 76
From the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, 1889.
London; Longmans & Co.
FSWeller, Lºh, Red Lion-square.









FUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
CHAPTER I
I N T R O D U C T O R. Y
“No pleasure is comparable to the standing upon the vantage-ground of
Truth.”—BACON. Essay I. Of Truth.
Russian railways to the Caspian—Proposed Vladikavkas-Petrovsk
line—Caucasus tunnel–Length of journey—Previous travel in
Central Asia—Foreign travellers on the Transcaspian Railway—
Previous writers on the Transcaspian Railway—Justification for
a new work—Varied interest of Central Asia–Political interest—
Russian designs upon India—The Frontier Question.
I PROPOSE in this book to narrate the impressions
derived from a journey along the newly-completed
Russian line of railway from the Caspian to Samar-
kand. On May 27, 1888, although the line was still
in a backward condition, and could not certainly be
described as available for general traffic, the long-
expected ceremonial of Opening took place ; and the
name of General Annenkoff was flashed to all quarters
of the globe as that of the man who had successfully
accomplished a feat till lately declared to be impos-
sible, and had linked by an unbroken chain of steam
Russian
railways
to the
Caspian
I}
2 A USSIA IV C E VTRAI, ASIA
troposed
Vladi-
kavkas-
Petrovsk
Line
Caucasus
Tunnel
locomotion the capital of Peter the Great with the
capital of Tamerlane. Along the most direct route
from St. Petersburg to the terminus at Samarkand
there exist now only two breaks to the through com-
munication by rail, viz. the 135 miles of mountain
road between Vladikavkas on the northern spurs of
the Caucasus and Tiflis on the south, and the pas-
Sage of the Caspian.
The former, it is said, will soon be obviated by a
railway, for which plans and surveys have already
been made, and which the Russian Government has
been strongly petitioned to construct, from Vladi-
kavkas to Petrovsk on the Caspian, a distance of 165
miles. The cost of this branch has been estimated
at an average of 10,000l. a mile. From Petrovsk the
line would be continued south along the western
shore of the Caspian to Derbent and Baku, at an
additional cost of 500,000l. Such a line, apart from
its military advantages, might acquire great com-
mercial importance, as affording an easy and un-
interrupted entry into European Russia from the
Caspian, the port of Petrovsk being open to naviga-
tion all the year round, while the Volga is closed by
ice in the winter. It is a project which we may
therefore expect to see carried out before long.
It has also been proposed, as an alternative, to
drive the railroad by a tunnel through the heart of
the main Caucasian range, from Vladikavkas, or a
point west of Vladikavkas on the northern, to Gori
on the southern side, where it would join the Batoum-
Tiflis line, the total distance from point to point being
IV TRODUCTORY 3
110 miles. Shorter and more expeditious as this
route would be, it would involve long and laborious
tunnelling, as well as a prodigious outlay, the official
estimate being over 30,000l. a mile. It is accordingly
extremely improbable that it will, for some time at
any rate, be taken in hand. In any case, while either
line remains unlaid, and the Kazbek range continues,
as now, to be traversable by road alone, a supplemen-
tary steam route is provided by the Black Sea Service
from Odessa or Sebastopol to Batoum, whence the
railroad runs direct to Baku on the Caspian.
The second interruption which I named to the
through transit by rail from the western to the
eastern terminus, viz. the Caspian, involves marine
transport, and a short sea crossing of nineteen, which
might easily be reduced to fifteen or sixteen, hours.
Even under the present conditions, which in them-
selves are far from developed, the journey from St.
Petersburg to Samarkand can be accomplished in ten
or eleven days, and with a more apt correspondence
of trains and steamers might easily be accelerated.
When one or other of the afore-mentioned schemes
has been carried into effect, two days at least may be
struck off this total.
Prior to the construction of this railway the op-
portunities enjoyed by Englishmen of visiting the
region which it now lays open had been few and far
between. Since the intrepid Dr. Wolff penetrated at
the risk of his life to Bokhara in 1843, to clear up
the fate of Stoddart and Conolly in the preceding
year, there was no English visitor to the city of the
Length of
journey
Previous
travel in
Central
Asia.
B 2
4 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Amir till the so-called missionary, Dr. Lansdell, in
1882. Similarly, before the publication of the latter's
book, we owed in the main such descriptions as we
have in our own language of Samarkand to the pen
of a Hungarian in the person of Professor Wambéry,
and of an American in that of Mr. Schuyler. As
regards other parts of the till now forbidden region,
Merv, though visited by Burnes, Abbott, Shakespear,
Thomson, and Wolff between 1832 and 1844, relapsed
after that date into obscurity, and was little more
than a mysterious name to most Englishmen till the
adventurous exploit of O'Donovan in 1881; and it is
difficult to realise that a place which less than a
decade ago was pronounced to be the key of the
Indian Empire is now an inferior wayside station on
a Russian line of rail. Such efforts as were made at
different times by independent British officers, often
in disguise and at the peril of their lives, to explore
the terra incognita on the borders of Persia and
Afghanistan, were sedulously discouraged by the
Home or Indian Government, in nervous deference
to Muscovite sensitiveness, ever ready to take um-
brage at an activity displayed by others which it has
ostentatiously incited in its own pioneers. Colonel
Valentine Baker recalled from the Atrek region in
1873, Captain Burnaby from Khiva in 1875, Colonel
MacGregor from Meshed in 1875, and Colonel Stewart
from Persia in 1881, all attest the mistaken policy of
abandoned opportunities, and the tactical blunder of
allowing a rival mariner to steal your wind.
Although the almost insuperable difficulties
IAWTRODUCTORY - 5
hitherto connected with travel in these parts have
now disappeared, it cannot be said that all impedi-
ments to the journey have ceased to exist; while,
even if they had, the necessary resources of explora-
tion are not such as any but a few individuals will
in all probability possess. The Russian Government,
which has always looked with extreme irritation upon
the intrusion of Englishmen into its Asiatic terri-
tories, is not likely to have been converted off-hand
by the cosmopolitan professions of General Annenkoff,
and can hardly be suspected of such gratuitous un-
selfishness as to be willing to turn a purely military
line, constructed for strategical purposes of its own,
into a highway for the nations. In the first flush of
triumphant pride at the completion of the under-
Foreign
travellers
on the
Transcas-
pian
Railway
taking, foreign journalists were, it was asserted, freely
invited to take part in the inaugural ceremonies. But
when the complimentary party assembled at Baku, it
was found to consist, in addition to the relatives of
General Annenkoff, of Frenchmen alone, who with
one accord made to their host the becoming return
of impassioned eulogies in the columns of the Parisian
press, which in the summer of last year blossomed
with the record of their festive proceedings. French-
men have indeed for some time, owing to political
considerations, been in high favour in Russia, and
have long found in their nationality an open Sesame
to the Russian dominions in the east. Some of the
best and most recent books of travel about Turko-
mania and Turkestan, in a language intelligible to the
average Englishman, have been by French writers,
6 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Previous
writers on
the Trans-
caspian
Railway
who may always, when treating of Russian affairs,
be trusted to be enthusiastic and entertaining, even
though seldom profound. The ‘Times' corre-
spondent at St. Petersburg received an invitation to
join the same company; but owing to a difficulty in
procuring the requisite official permission, found him-
self a few days in arrear of the party, and the line in
a state of disorganisation bordering on collapse, con-
sequent upon a strain to which in those early days
it was as yet unaccustomed. I had the good fortune
to be a member of the next foreign party that
travelled over the line, the origin of our enterprise
being an agreement which was reported to have been
entered into between General Annenkoff and the
Compagnie Internationale des Wagon-Lits in Paris,
and an intimation of which was published in the
newspapers in the summer of 1888. No very precise
intelligence about the nature of this agreement was
forthcoming; but upon the strength of its announce-
ment would-be visitors to Merv and Samarkand were
understood to be converging upon Tiflis shortly before
the time when I left England in the first days of
September 1888.
No English newspaper published a detailed ac-
count of the new railway except the ‘Times'; but
the interesting letters of its correspondent, Mr. Dobson,
which appeared between the months of August and
October 1888 inclusive, written as they were from
the point of view of a tourist narrating his personal
experiences rather than of a politician endeavouring to
form some estimate of the situation, left an unoccu-
INTRODUCTORY 7
pied field for later travellers with a more ambitious
aim. Two short papers on the Transcaspian Railway
appeared in the “Pall Mall Gazette’ in the month of
May 1888, written by the editor of that journal from
St. Petersburg. Chapters and pamphlets on the
railway in its earlier stages are to be found among
the works of Mr. Charles Marvin." Major C. E. Yate,
who travelled over the line, while part of it was yet
in process of construction, from Tcharjui to the Caspian
in February 1888, on his return from the Afghan
Boundary Commission, appended a chapter on his
experiences to his excellent book entitled “Northern
Afghanistan.’ Professor Wambéry also contributed
an article to an English magazine on the subject in
1887.” An abridged translation of a Russian pam-
phlet on the railway has recently appeared in India
from the pen of Colonel W. E. Gowan.” To the best of
my knowledge these are the only descriptions pub-
lished in the English language of General Annenkoffs
scheme; and of their number not one, with the excep-
tion of the ‘Times 'letters, has been penned since its
completion. In the French tongue, as I have indicated,
there has been a more luxuriant crop of descriptive
literature. One special correspondent has since given
to the world a substantial volume, the quality of which
may be fairly inferred from the fact that out of 466
pages in the entire work, he does not land his readers
at Uzun Ada, the starting point of the railway, till the
* Wide the Bibliography at the end of this volume.
* Fortnightly Review, February 1887.
* The Transcaspian Railway, its meaning and its future. Trans-
lated and condensed from the Russian of I. Y. Watslik.
8 Jº USSIA IV C E V7'AºAJ, ASIA
185th page, or start them on his journey from there
till page 307." Another correspondent sent a batch
of singularly flimsy letters to the ‘Temps.’ A third,
with far superior literary pretensions, the Wicomte
Emile de Vogüé, a French Academician and brother-
in-law of General Annenkoff, published his own expe-
riences in the ‘Journal des Débats.” But his articles,
though characterised by an agreeable fancy and by
all the picturesqueness of the Gallic idiom, added
nothing to our previous stock of knowledge on the
subject. A young French officer, the Comte de
Cholet, who travelled over the line in 1888, and in
the disguise of a Cossack officer, accompanied Ali.
khanoff, the Governor of Merv, upon an interesting
tour of inspection along the Afghan frontier, has
lately written a book, which, though it repays perusal,
is devoted to his personal adventures rather than to
popular instruction.”
A later writer may find some excuse, therefore,
for gleaning in a field from which so scanty a harvest
has already been garnered; and although the ground
which he traverses will be to some extent familiar to
the more advanced students of Central Asian politics
and topography, there will be many who have
not access to the proceedings of Geographical
Societies, or who have not explored the writings of
specialists, to whose concern he may justifiably
appeal.
Justifica-
tion for a
new work
* Em Asie Centrale à la Vapewr. Par Napoléon Ney. Paris.
1888.
* Eaccursion en Turkestam et sur la Frontière Russo-Afghane.
Par Lieut. le Comte de Cholet. Paris. 1889.
INTRODUCTORY 9
It is scarcely possible indeed to imagine a region
of the world at all accessible that opens out so wide
and manifold a horizon of interest. The traveller
who has made a periplus of the universe, and, like
Ulysses,
Much has seen and known ; cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
may yet confess to a novel excitement as he threads
the bazaars of remote Bokhara, or gazes on the
coronation stone and sepulchre of Timur at Samar-
kand. He will not look for the first time without
emotion on the waters of the Oxus, that famous river
that, like the Euphrates and the Ganges, rolls its
stately burden down from a hoar antiquity through
the legends and annals of the East. In the Turkoman
of the desert, and the turbaned Tartar of the Khanates,
he will see an Original and a striking type of humanity.
Something too of marvel, if not much of beauty, must
there be in a country which presents to the eye a
succession of bewildering contrasts; where, in fine
vicissitude, grandeur alternates with sadness; where
the scarp of precipitous mountains frowns over an
unending plain ; where spots of verdure lie strewn like
islets amid shoreless seas of sand; where mighty
rivers perish in marsh and swamp; where populous
cities are succeeded as a site of residence by tents of
felt, and sedentary toil as a mode of life by the
Vagrant freedom of the desert. The lover of ancient
history may wander in the footsteps of Alexander or
retrace the scorching track of Jenghiz Khan; may
Varied
interest of
Central
Asia.
1() RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
compare his Herodotus with his Marco Polo, and
both with facts; may search for some surviving relic
of a lost European civilisation, of the Bactrian or
Sogdian kingdoms, or for the equally vanished mag-
nificence of the Great Mogul. The student of modern
history will welcome the opportunity of renewing his
acquaintance on the spot with the successive steps of
Russian advance from the first colony on the Caspian
to the latest acquisitions on the Murghab and the
Heri-Rud; and will eagerly pause at Merv, the
dethroned ‘Queen of the World,' or inspect the
mouldering ramparts of Geok Tepe, where the Akhal
Tekkes made their last heroic stand against Skobeleff
and the legions of the Great White Czar. Before his
eyes the sands of an expiring epoch are fast running
out ; and the hour-glass of destiny is Once again
being turned on its base.
i. ..But the political problems which the route un-
folds, and to which it may in part supply a key, will
be to many more absorbing still. Is this railway
the mere obligatory thread of connection by which
Russia desires to hold together, and to place in easy
inter-communication, her loosely scattered and hete-
rogeneous possessions in Asia ; or is it part of a great
design that dreams of a wider dominion and aspires
to a more splendid goal? Is it an evidence of con-
centration, possibly even of contraction, or is it a
symbol of aggrandisement and an omen of advance P
Russian expansion in Central Asia has, it is often
said, proceeded in recent years in such inverse pro-
portion, both to the measure of her own assurances
INTRODUCTORY 11
and to the pressure of natural causes, that we are
tempted to ask quousque tandem, and may perhaps
find in General Annenkoff’s achievement the clue to
a reply.
Upon no question is there greater conflict of
opinion in England than Russia's alleged designs
upon India. Are we to believe, as General Grodekoff
(the hero of the celebrated ride from Samarkand to
Herat in 1878) told Mr. Marvin at St. Petersburg in
1882, that “no practical Russian general believes
in the possibility of an invasion of India, and that
‘the millennium will take place before Russia invades
India P’ Or are we to hold with General Tchernaieff,
a once even superior authority, that ‘the Russian
invasion of India is perfectly possible, though not
easy P’ Or, rejecting the mean and the extreme
Opinion on the one side, shall we fly to the other,
and confess ourselves of those who trace from the
apocryphal will of Peter down to the present time
a steadfast and sinister purpose informing Russian
policy, demonstrated by every successive act of ad-
vance, lit up by a holocaust of broken promises, and
if for a moment it appears to halt in its realisation,
merely reculant pour mieua, Sauter, the prize of its
ambition being not on the Oxus or even at the Hindu
Kush, but at the delta of the Ganges and the Indian
Ocean P. Or, if territorial aggrandisement appear too
mean a motive, shall we find an adequate explanation
in commercial cupidity, and detect in Muscovite
statesmanship a pardonable desire to usurp the hege-
mony of Great Britain in the markets of the East P
Russian
designs
upon India.
12 Jº USSIA IV CENTRAL ASIA|
Or again, joining a perhaps wider school of opinion,
shall we admit the act, but minimise the offensive
character of the motive, believing that Russia in-
tentionally keeps open the Indian question, not with
any idea of supplanting Great Britain in the judg-
ment-seat or at the receipt of custom, but in order
that she may have her rival at a permanent dis-
advantage, and may paralyse the trunk in Europe
by galling the limb in Asia? Or, lastly, shall we
affect the sentimental style, and expatiate on the
great mission of Russia, and the centripetal philan.
thropic force that draws her like a loadstone into
the heart of the Asian continent P All these are
views which it is possible to hold, or which are held,
by large sections of Englishmen, and upon which a
visit to the scene of action may shed some light.
Such a visit, too, should enable the traveller to form
Some impression of the means employed by Russia
to reconcile to her rule those with whom she was so
lately in violent conflict, and to compare her genius
for assimilation with that of other conquering races.
Is the apparent security of her sway the artificial
product of a tight military grip, or is it the natural
outcome of a peaceful organic fusion How do her
methods and their results compare with those of
England in India P. Very important and far-reaching
such questions are; for upon the answer to them
which the genius of two nations is engaged in tracing
upon the scroll of history, will depend the destinies
of the East.
There remain two other questions, upon each of
7 WTRODUCTORY 13
which I hope to furnish some practical information.
The first is a comparison of the relative strength for
offensive and defensive purposes of the Russian and
British frontiers, now brought so close together, and
the initial advantages enjoyed by either in the event
The
Erontier
Question
of the outbreak of war. The second is the feasi-
bility, and, if that be admitted, the likelihood or the
wisdom of any future junction of the two railway
systems whose most advanced lines at Dushak and at
Chaman, are separated by a gap of only 600 miles.
General Annenkoff, we know, has all along advocated
such an amalgamation; and although past history,
the prejudices of the two countries, the intervention
of Afghanistan, and a whole host of minor contin-
gencies are arrayed against him, the plan must not,
therefore, be condemned offhand as chimerical, but
is at least worthy of examination.
In concluding this chapter, let me add that I
shallendeavour to approach the discussion of political
issues in as impartial a spirit as I can command. I
do not class myself either with the Russophiles or
the Russophobes. I am as far from echoing the
hysterical shriek of the panic-monger or the Jingo as
I am from imitating the Smug complacency of the
politician who chatters about Mervousness only to
find that Merv is gone, and thinks that imperial ob-
ligation is to be discharged by a querulous diplo-
matic protest, or evaded by a literary epigram.
Whatever be Russia's designs upon India, whether
they be serious and inimical or imaginary and fan-
tastic, I hold that the first duty of English statesmen
14 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL AS/A
is to render any hostile intentions futile, to see that
our own position is secure, and Our frontier impreg-
nable, and so to guard what is without doubt the
noblest trophy of British genius, and the most splendid
appanage of the Imperial Crown.
15
CHAPTER II
FROM LONDON TO THE CASPIAN
‘Eastward the Star of Empire takes its way.”
Journey to St. Petersburg–Difficulty of obtaining permission—Obser-
vations on Russian character—Hostility to Germany and the Ger-
mans—Policy of Alexander III.-Russian feeling towards England
––Russian feeling towards Austria and France—Continuation of
journey–Permission granted—From St. Petersburg to Tiflis—
From Tiflis to Baku and the Caspian—Approach to Uzun Ada.
IN the summer and autumn months an express train
leaves Berlin at 8.30 in the morning, and reaches
St. Petersburg on the evening of the following day.
A traveller from England can either catch this train
by taking the day boat from Queenborough to
Flushing, and making the through journey without a
halt, in which case he will reach the Russian capital
in sixty-one hours; or by taking the night boat to
Flushing, and reaching Berlin the following evening,
he can allow himself the luxury of a night between
the sheets before proceeding on his way. At 8.30
P.M. on the day after leaving Berlin he is deposited
on the platform of the Warsaw station at St. Peters-
burg. The journey vid. St. Petersburg and Moscow
is not, of course, the shortest or most expeditious
route to the Caucasus and the Caspian. The
Journey to
St. Peters-
burg
16 Jø U.S.SYA IN CAEAVTRAI, ASIA
Difficulty
in obtain-
ing per-
mission
quickest route, in point of time, is vid Berlin to
Cracow, and from there by Elisavetgrad to Kharkov
On the main Russian line of railway running south
from Moscow, whence the journey is continued to
Vladikavkas and the Caucasus. A less fatiguing
but rather longer deviation is the journey by rail
from Cracow to Odessa, and thence by sea to
Batoum, and train to Tiflis and Baku. A third
alternative is the new overland route to Constanti-
nople, and thence by steamer to Batoum. I travelled,
however, vid St. Petersburg and Moscow, partly
because I wished to see those places, but mainly
because I hoped at the former to obtain certain in-
formation and introductions which might be useful
to me in Georgia and Transcaspia. Moreover, the
stranger to Russia cannot do better than acquire his
first impression of her power and importance at the
seat of government, the majestic emanation of Peter's
genius on the banks of the Neva.
When I left London I was assured by the repre-
sentatives of the Wagon-Lits Company that all neces-
sary arrangements had been made, that a special
permit, une autorisation spéciale, to visit Transcaspia
had been obtained, and that the rest of the party
had already started from Paris. Not caring to share
in the earlier movements of the excursion, which in-
volved a delay in Europe, I proposed to join them at
Vladikavkas. As soon, however, as I reached St.
Petersburg I had reason to congratulate myself upon
having gone to headquarters at Once, for I found
that matters had not been quite so smoothly
FROM LOWDOW TO THE CASPIAAW 17
arranged, and that there were formidable obstacles
still to be overcome. The Russian Government is
a very elaborate and strictly systematised, but also
a very complicated, piece of machinery; and the
motive power required to set its various parts in
action is often out of all proportion to the result
achieved. It would not seem to be a very serious
or difficult matter to determine whether a small
party—less than a dozen—of tourists should be
allowed to travel over a line, the opening of which
to passenger traffic had been trumpeted throughout
Europe, and an invitation to travel by which had
Originated from the director-general of the line him-
self. However, things are not done quite so simply
at St. Petersburg. It transpired that for the permis-
sion in question the consent of five independent
authorities must be sought:—(1) The Governor-
General of Turkestan, General Rosenbach, whose
headquarters are at Tashkent ; (2) the Governor-
General of Transcaspia, General Komaroff, who resides
at Askabad; (3) the head of the Asiatic department
of the Foreign Office at St. Petersburg, M. Zinovieff;
(4) the Minister of Foreign Affairs, M. de Giers, or
his colleague, General Vlangali ; (5) the Minister for
War, General Vanoffski; the last named being the
supreme and ultimate court of appeal. All these
independent officials had to be consulted, and their
concurrent approval obtained. .
My first discovery was that not one of this number
had yet signified his assent, and very grave doubts
were expressed by General Vlangali, in answer to
C
18 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
inquiries, as to the likelihood of their doing so. I
even heard that the Italian Embassy had applied for
leave for an officer in the Italian army, and had been
point blank refused. The only Englishmen—in
addition to two or three Indian officers, who, joining
the railway at Tcharjui or Merv on their return from
India, had travelled by it to the Caspian—to whom
official permission had so far been granted were the
* Times' correspondent ; Dr. Lansdell, who had
recently started upon another roving expedition of
mingled Bible distribution and discovery in Central
Asia; and Mr. Littledale, a sportsman, who had with
great difficulty obtained leave to go as far as Samar-
kand with a view of proceeding from there in quest
of the ovis poli in the remote mountains of the Pamir.
In this pursuit I record with pleasure the fact that.
the last-named gentleman was entirely successful,
being the first Englishman who has ever shot a male
specimen of this famous and inaccessible animal.
Matters were further complicated by the absence of
the Minister for War, who was accompanying the
Czar in his imperial progress through the south. One
of my earliest steps was to seek an interview with the
representative at St. Petersburg of the Compagnie.
des Wagon-Lits, and to inquire what steps he had
taken or proposed to take. I found that he had as
yet obtained no assurance of official ratification, but
was relying upon the patronage and promises of
General Annenkoff, who was absent and believed to
be in Nice. I was, however, recommended by him.
to call upon M. Mestcherin, the resident engineer to
FROM LONDON TO THE CASPIA W 19
the railway, who had greatly interested himself in the
expedition and was doing his utmost to further its
success. The first item of reassuring news that I had
received fell from his lips. A telegram had been
received from General Rosenbach, to whom the
names of the proposed party had been submitted,
signifying his approval; and another of a similar
character was hourly expected from General Komaroff.
This intelligence was the more satisfactory, because I
heard from M. Mestcherin that it was upon General
Rosenbach's supposed objections that the authorities
at St. Petersburg had principally based theirs; the
General's hostility being attributed to his unwilling-
ness to have a party of foreigners anywhere near the
frontier, pending the unsettled rebellion of Is-hak
Khan against the Afghan Amir in a quarter of Afghan
Turkestan at so short a distance from the Russian
lines. I confess I regarded this as a plausible objec-
tion, though I hardly thought that the situation would
be much aggravated by the casual and almost
meteoric transit of a harmless party of polyglot tour-
ists over the railway line. However, these scruples,
if entertained, had now been abandoned, and the
hope presented itself that the confidence displayed
by General Rosenbach might awake a similar gene-
rosity in the breasts of his official superiors in the
capital. M. Mestcherin had no doubt whatever that
this would be the case. Of certain information which
he gave me on the subject of the railway I shall
speak in a subsequent chapter. I left his apartments
in a more sanguine frame of mind than I had yet
:};
C 2
20 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
ventured to indulge. Nevertheless, the fact that
there had lately been an accident on the line, Owing
apparently to its imperfect construction, in which
more persons than one were said to have been killed,
and the rumoured total breakdown of the bridge over
the Oxus at Tcharjui, were discouraging Omens, and
suggested a possible explanation for the reluctance of
the Russian official world to admit the inquisitive
eyes of strangers. These were arguments, however,
which could have no weight with General Annenkoff,
who was credited with an absolute confidence in the
capacities of his staff, and whose cosmopolitan
sympathies I had no reason to question.
Observa- Passing through St. Petersburg, and being brought
º, into communication with residents there, as well as
with Russians in other parts of my journey, there
were certain impressions upon the more superficial
aspects of Russian politics which I could not fail to
derive. Among these the strongest was perhaps the
least expected and the most agreeable.
If it is an exaggeration to say that every English-
man enters Russia a Russophobe, and leaves it a Rus-
sophile, at least it is true that even a short residence
in that country tempers the earlier estimate which he
may have been led to form of the character of the
population and its rulers. This is mainly attributable
to the frank and amiable manners and to the extreme
civility of the people, from the highest official to the
humblest moujik. The Russian gentleman has all
the polish of the Frenchman, without the vague sugges-
tion of Gallic veneer; the Russian lower class may
FROM LONDON TO THE CASPIAN 21
be stupid, but they are not, like the Teuton, brusque.
The stranger's path is smoothed for him by everyone
to whom he appeals for help, and though manners do
not preclude national enmities, at least they go a long
way towards conciliating personal friendships.
A second reason for the altered opinion of the
Englishman is his early discovery that there is no
widespread hostility to England in Russia; and that
he and his countrymen are by no means regarded as
a German, for instance, or more latterly an Italian
is regarded in France, or as an Austrian used to be
regarded in Italy. Nothing can be more clear than
that the main and dominating feeling of the Russian
mind in relation to foreigners is an abiding and
Overpowering dislike of Germany. This is a chord
upon which any Russian statesman, much more any
Slavophile, can play with absolute certainty of re-
sponse, and which rings even to the touch of a pass-
ing or accidental hand. Dislike of German manners,
distrust of German policy, detestation of German
individuality, these were sentiments which I heard
expressed on all sides without a pretence of conceal-
ment, and which I believe have grown into an
intuitive instinct with this generation of the Russian
people. I could give several instances of this ani-
mosity, but will content myself with two or three
which came under my own notice. A Russian officer
explained to me an alleged case of brutal treatment
of a child by its parents by the remark “Que voulez-
vous 3 C'estun Allemand 1’ From another Russian
official, whose opinion I elicited in conversation, I
Hostility
to Ger-
many and
the Ger-
Iſlä,118
33 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
received the emphatic declaration “Ce Sont des bar-
bares.’ A Russian gentleman and large landed pro-
prietor volunteered the information, in which he saw
nothing remarkable, that he so abhorred Germany that
if passing through that country nothing would induce
him even to spend a night at Berlin. A feeling so
deep as this and so widespread cannot be without
serious and solid foundation any more that it can be
ignored in casting the horoscope of Russia's future.
To trace the sources of this anti-Teuton feeling would
lead me too far from my subject, and would require
a digression that might easily swell into a treatise.
But it is not difficult to discover on the surface of
Bussian life, both public and private, a score of points
at which German contact or competition means
friction, and may readily generate hatred. For not
Only is this sentiment a political sentiment, arising
from the near propinquity and overwhelming prepon-
derance of German power in Europe, from the usur-
pation in Continental politics by a new-fledged empire
of the military ascendency claimed by Russia at the
beginning of this century, and from the belief that
Russia has been thwarted at every point of the inter-
national compass, and has suffered, instead of gaining,
by the Berlin Treaty alike in Servia, Bulgaria, and
Roumania, owing to the dark machinations of Bis-
marck alone;—not only, I repeat, is this a popular
impression, but the individual German is brought
into constant and disagreeable collision with the
Russian in the relations of ordinary life. An aristo-
cracy and landed proprietary largely German, a
FROM LOW DOW TO THE * CASPIAN 23
bureaucracy and official clique stocked with German
names, a reigning dynasty that is of German extrac-
tion; German monopoly of business, trade, and bank-
ing on the largest scale, and formidable German
competition in the more humble spheres of industry;
the preference given by men of business and owners
of estates to German managers, stewards, or agents,
whose thrifty and trustworthy capacities render them
an infinitely preferable choice to the corrupt and
careless Russian; above all, the overwhelming anti-
thesis between German and Russian character, the
one vigilant, uncompromising, stiff, precise; the other
sleepy, nonchalant, wasteful, and lax ;—all these facts
have branded their mark on Russian opinion with
the indelible potency of some corrosive acid, and have
engendered a state of feeling which a prudent fear
may temporarily disguise but will not permanently
mitigate, and which the mutual amenities of emperors
may gloss Over but cannot pretend to annul.
In the present reign this anti-German feeling has
reached a climax. Naturally a man of conservative
instincts, and driven partly by circumstances, partly
by irresponsibility, into illiberal and reactionary ex-
tremes, Alexander III. has for some time devoted
himself to stamping out of Russia all non-Russian
elements, and setting up an image, before which all
must fall down and worship, of a Russia, single,
homogeneous, exclusive, self-sufficing, self-contained.
Foreign names, foreign tongues, a foreign faith,
particularly if the one are Teuton, and the other is
Lutheran, are vexed, or prohibited, or assailed.
Policy of
Alexander
III, -
24 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Russian
feeling
towards
England
Foreign competition in any quarter, commercial or
otherwise, is crushed by heavy deadweights hung
round its neck. Foreign concessions are as flatly
refused as they were once eagerly conceded. The
Government even declines to allow any but Russian
money to be invested in Russian undertakings.
Foreign managers and foreign workmen are under a
bureaucratic ban. German details are expunged from
the national uniform; the German language is for-
bidden in the schools of the Baltic provinces; German
fashions are proscribed at court. ‘The stranger that
is within thy gates’ is the bug-bear and béte noire of
Muscovite statesmanship. There is no cosmopoli-
tanism in the governing system of the Czar. What
Russians call patriotism, what foreigners call rank
selfishness, is the keynote of his régime. “Russia for
the Russians, has been adopted as the motto, not of
a radical faction, but of an irresponsible autocracy,
and is preached, not by wild demagogues, but by an
all-powerful despot.
While this attitude is universally exemplified in
the relations between Russia and Germany, and is
also typical of the commercial and imperial policy
which she adopts towards this country, it is not in
the latter case accompanied or followed by any
personal or national antipathy.
Of political hostility to Great Britain there may
be a certain amount, particularly in the governing
hierarchy and in the army, arising from the obvious
fact that the interests of the two nations have long
been diametrically opposed in the settlement of
FROM LoNDON TO THE CASPIAN 25
Russia's chief end of action, the Balkan Peninsula,
and from the strained relations between the two
countries springing out of the events that so nearly
culminated in war in 1885. This feeling, however,
is accompanied by a candid respect for the confidence,
and what Carlyle somewhere called ‘the silent fury
and aristocratic impassivity’ of the English character,
while in its most aggravated form it is wholly divorced
from any dislike to the individual or repulsion to the
race. Skobeleff, though he used to say “I hate
England, and undeniably looked upon it as the
ambition of his life to fight us in Central Asia—an
action by the way in which he had not the slightest
doubt of success—was on friendly terms with many
Englishmen, and had been heard to say that he never
met an Englishman who was not a gentleman. In
externals, indeed, there is much in common between
the Russian and the Briton, exhibiting, as both do,
along with the temperament, the physique, the com-
plexion and colour of the north, a unity of qualities
that make for greatness, viz. Self-reliance, pride, a
desperate resolve, adventurousness, and a genius for
discipline. Further than this I would not push the
resemblance. A Russian will tell you that to judge
the two people by the same moral standard is as un-
fair as to submit to the same physical test a child and
a grown man. Russia is understood to be working
out her own salvation. If she repudiates the accepted
canons of regeneration, she may perhaps claim, in
self-defence, to civilise herself in her own way.
The prevailing friendliness in Russia towards
26 RUSSIA IW CENTRAL ASIA
Russian
feeling
towards
Austria.
and France
Bnglishmen is a factor not unworthy of note in framing
any induction as to the future; the more so as the same
cannot be said of her attitude towards other people
with whom she is supposed to be on more intimate
terms than with ourselves. Austria she regards with
undisguised hostility, not free from contempt. A
political system so heterogeneous she credits with no
stability. The military power of her southern rival
she derides as a masquerade. To use a phrase I
heard employed by a Russian, ‘Austria stings like a
gnat and bites like an adder; and ought, in the
Opinion of many ardent Muscovites, to be crushed like
the One, or stamped under heel like the other. Her
alleged sympathy with France is a tie of a more
artificial character than is often supposed, and is the
outcome not of national affinities, but of political
needs. It is the necessary corollary in fact to her
detestation of Germany. French politics are followed
with absolute indifference in St. Petersburg, except in
So far as they relate to Berlin; and there is probably
no country in Europe where there is a heartier pre-
judice against music-hall statesmanship and a see-saw
constitution, or a more masculine contempt for the
refinements of an epicene civilisation. It is noteworthy
that in the journalistic and literary amenities, which
writers of the two nationalities interchange, while
the Frenchman plunges at once into headlong adula-
tion, a discreet flattery is the utmost as a rule that
the Russian will concede. -->
The doubts which had arisen as to the prospects
of my journey were still unsolved when I left St.
FROM LONDON TO THE CASPIAN 27
Petersburg; while at Moscow they were yet further
aggravated by the information which I received from
headquarters. I was advised on the highest authority
not to persevere in the attempt, and was warned that
in any case an answer could not be expected for a
considerable time. Subsequently to this I even heard
that Our names had been submitted to the War
Minister, who had declined to sanction them, which
refusal was further declared to be irrevocable. In
spite of this ominous dissuasion, which I had some
ground for believing to be due to a jealousy between
the departments of the Foreign Office and War Office
at St. Petersburg, I decided to start from Moscow,
and did so after waiting there for six days. It was
not till I reached Vladikavkas, on the Caucasus, three
days later, that a telegraphic despatch conveyed to
me the unexpected and welcome tidings that permis-
Sion had after all been conceded, and that the entire
party, the rest of whom were now assembled in a
state of expectancy at Tiflis, might proceed across the
Caspian. All is well that ends well; and I am not
any longer concerned to explore the tortuous wind-
ings of diplomatic policy or official intrigue at St.
Petersburg. General Annenkoff had assured us
that we should be allowed to go, and leave having
been given, with him undoubtedly remained the
honours of war. Later on we heard that the Minister
for War, upon seeing the permission of Generals
Rosenbach and Komaroff, had at Once given his
consent without even informing the Foreign Office.
Conceive the feelings of the latter
Continua-
tion of
journey; ,
permission
granted
28 RUSSIA IN CENTRAI, ASIA
From St.
Petersburg
to Tiflis
Were I writing a narrative of travel, I might
invite my readers to halt with me for a few moments
at St. Petersburg, at Moscow, at Nijni-Novgorod, in
the Caucasus, at Tiflis, or at Baku. I stayed in each
of these places, exchanging the grandiose splendour
and civilised smartness of the capital—with its archi-
tecture borrowed from Italy, its amusements from
Paris, and its pretentiousness from Berlin—for the
Oriental irregularity and bizarre beauty of Moscow,
an Eastern exotic transplanted to the West, an inland
Constantinople, a Christian Cairo. No more effective
illustration could be furnished of the Janus-like cha-
racter of this huge political structure, with its vast
unfilled courts and corridors in the east, and, as Peter
the Great phrased it, its northern window looking
out upon Europe, than the outward appearance of its
two principal cities, the one a Western plagiarism, the
other an Asiatic original. Through the Caucasus we
drove, four horses abreast attached to a kind of family
barouche, by the famous Dariel Road. Piercing one
of the finest gorges in Europe, it climbs a height of
8,000 ft., and skirts the base of a height of 16,000 ft.
This is the celebrated pass that drew a line to the
conquests alike of Alexander and Justinian, the
Caucasian Gates of the ancient world, which shut off
the East on this side from the West, and were never
owned at entrance and exit by the same Power till
they fell into Russia's hands. Above them tower the
mighty rocks of Kazbek on which the tortured Pro-
metheus hung, and away to the right is Elbruz, the
doyen of European summits. This road is for the
FROM LONDO W TO THE CASPIA W 29
present at any rate, and will probably long remain, of
the highest military importance, as it is the first line
of communication both with Armenia and the Caspian;
and its secure tenure dispenses with the delays of
transport and navigation by the Black Sea. Though
skilfully engineered, substantially metalled, and con-
stantly repaired (relays of soldiers being employed
in the winter to cut a passage through the snows), it
cannot be compared for evenness or solidity with the
roads which the British have made in similar sur-
roundings in many parts of the world. It debouches
135 miles from Vladikavkas upon Tiflis, where the
traveller begins to realise that though still in the
same country he has changed continents. There T
found the rest of the party assembled, consisting of
two Englishmen, three Frenchmen, an Italian, and
a Dutchman. With an Englishman, a Pole, and a
Mingrelian, to whom was subsequently added a Tajik
of Bokhara, as our guides and conductors, we con-
stituted about as representative a body as General
Annenkoff in his most cosmopolitan of moments could
have desired.
At Tiflis we received from General Sheremétieff,
acting governor in the absence of Prince Dondoukoff
Korsakoff, who had gone to meet the Emperor, the
official document, or oktriti list, authorising us to
cross the Caspian and to travel in the Russian
dominions in Central Asia. The ordinary passport,
though viséed and counter-viséed, is useless east of
the Caspian, and many a traveller, straining its
limited sanctity, has been turned back from the
From Tif-
lis to Baku
and the
Caspian
30 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
regions to which the oktriti list alone will procure
admission. With this magical piece of paper in Our
possession we started without any further delay by
the single daily train, that leaving Tiflis at ten in the
evening arrives at Baku between four and five on the
following afternoon. There we spent a day inspect-
ing the peculiar features of the place and visiting the
works of Balakhani, some eight miles from the town,
where a forest of tall wooden towers like chimney-
stacks marks the site of the deep wells from which
the crude naphtha either springs in spontaneous jets
from hidden subterranean sources, or is drawn up by
steam power in long cylindrical tubes, and despatched
to the distilleries in the town. Of this petroleum
industry, which has reached the most gigantic pro-
portions, I will say nothing here; because I should
Only be repeating secondhand what is already to be
found in works specially devoted to the subject."
I have the further incentive to silence that of
previous visitors who have described their journey
to Transcaspia scarcely one has resisted the temp-
tation to speech. At 5.30 in the afternoon we put
off from the wharf in the steamboat ‘ Prince Baria-
tinski,’ belonging to the Caucasus and Mercury
Company, which was frequently impressed by Skobe-
leff and his troops in the Turkoman campaigns of
1879, 1880, and 1881. As we steamed out on the
placid waters of the Caspian, whose surface far out
to sea gleamed dully under the metallic lustre of the
* Wide a new edition of The Region of Eternal Fire. By Charles
Marvin. London, 1888.
WHARE AT BAKU— PERSIAN ARBA—PERSIAN WATER-CART –0IL WELLS OF BALAIKHANI.

32 RUSSIA IV CE WTRAI, ASIA
Approach
to Uzun.
Ada.
floating oil, the setting sun lit up an altar of fire
behind the pink cliffs of the Apsheron peninsula,
which would have turned to ridicule the most
prodigal devotion, even in their palmiest days, of the
defunct fire-worshippers of Baku. On the other side
a leaden canopy of smoke overhung the petroleum
Works, and the dingy quarters of the manufacturing
to Wn.
At Sunrise on the next morning rocky land was
visible to the north-east. This was the mountainous
background to Krasnovodsk, the first Russian settle-
ment twenty years ago on the eastern shore of the
Caspian, and the original capital of the province of
Transcaspia. Thither the terminus of the railway is
likely to be transferred from Uzun Ada, on account
of the shallow and shifting anchorage at the latter
place. Later on low sandhills, clean, yellow, and
ubiquitous, fringed the shore or were distributed in
melancholy islets over the surface of the bay. The
whole appearance of the coast is strikingly reminis-
cent of a river delta, a theory which is in close
harmony with the admitted geological fact that the
Oxus once emptied itself by one at least of its mouths
or tributaries into the Balkan Bay. Soon we entered
a narrow channel, at the extremity of which the
masts of ships, the Smoking funnels of steamers, and
several projecting wooden piers and wharves indicated
a position of considerable commercial activity; and at
2.30 P.M. were moored to the landing stage of Uzun
Ada, on which appeared to be gathered the entire
population of the settlement, whose sole distraction
FROM LONDON TO THE CASPIAN 33
the arrival and departure of the steamer must be.
This is the present starting point of the Transcaspian
Railway; and here accordingly I pause to give a
historical retrospect of the origin, raison d'être, con-
struction and character of this important undertaking.
Let any reader who revolts against dull detail omit
the next chapter.
34 RUSSIA IV CE WTRAL ASIA
CHAPTER III
THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY
I’ll put a girdle round about the earth
In forty minutes.
SHAKSPEARE, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act ii. Sc. i.
Origin of the idea of a Central Asian railway—Scheme of M. Ferdinand
de Lesseps—Attitude of England–Idea of a Transcaspian railway
—Adoption of the plan by Skobeleff—Completion to Kizil Arvat
in December 1881—Ideas of further extension—Opposition to the
Transcaspian scheme—Extension from Kizil Arvat to the Oxus
—From the Oxus to Samarkand—Technical information about
the line—Exclusively military character—Material of the line—
Character and pay of the workmen—Method of construction—Cost
—Facilities of construction—Difficulties of water—Difficulties of
sand–Contrivances to resist the sands—Difficulty of fuel and
lighting—Rolling stock of the railway—Stations—Duration and
cost of journey.
origin of VERY early after the Russian Occupation of Turkestan
the idea,
tºº, in 1865–1 must ask my readers to bear very closely
Railway in mind the distinction between Turkestan, or Central
Asia proper, the capital of which is Tashkent, and
Turkomania, or the country of the Turkomans,
which extends from the Caspian to Merv —and its
conversion into a Russian possession, administered
by a Governor-General, in 1867, the question of more
rapid communication with Europe was raised. For
a time the idea was entertained that the streams of
TH E TRANSCASPIA W RAIL WAY 35
the Syr Daria or Jaxartes, and, after the conquest
of Khiva and practical absorption of Bokhara in
1873, of the Amu Daria or Oxus, would provide the
requisite channels of connection; and a great deal
was heard of the future Aral flotilla. But the dif-
ficulties arising from the river navigation, which
have not to this day been successfully surmounted,
speedily threw these schemes into the background,
and the plan of a Central Asian Railway began to
take definite shape. In 1873 a Russian official was
entrusted with the duty of preparing a report on the
feasibility of constructing a line from Orenburg to
Tashkent; and early in the same year, M. Cotard,
who had been one of the engineers employed upon
the Suez Canal, meeting M. Ferdinand de Lesseps,
whose hands were for the moment empty, at Con-
stantinople, suggested to him this fresh field of
conquest. -
M. de Lesseps was nothing loth. He at once put
pen to paper, and in a letter dated May 1, 1873, to
General Ignatieff, then Russian Ambassador at Con-
stantinople (followed later on by one to the Emperor
Scheme of
M. Ferdi-
Imand de
Lesseps
Alexander II.), he unfolded the details of his scheme,
which was no less than the recommendation of a
through railway from Calais to Calcutta, a distance
of 7,500 miles—the portion from Orenburg to
Samarkand to be laid by Russia, and from Samarkand
to Peshawur by England. General Ignatieff replied
with ready enthusiasm, welcoming the idea because
of its commercial and political importance, and not
least because it would show to the World ‘the
D 2
36 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
essentially pacific and civilising character of Russian
influence in those regions.’ He further declared his
‘ intimate conviction that this grandiose enterprise,
though it might appear at first sight both risky and
chimerical, was yet destined to be realised in a future
more or less near.’ The indefatigable M. de Lesseps
then went to Paris, where a small society was formed
to undertake the preliminary topographical surveys.
These were to be submitted to a committee of experts,
who were to report upon the technical feasibility of
the enterprise, and on its future commercial and
fiscal advantages. Definite local surveys were next
to be made, backed by a financial company ; and,
Attitude of
England
finally, the work of construction was to commence,
and to last for six years.
Meanwhile, however, the consent of another high
contracting party was required; and M. de Lesseps
had in the interim opened communications with
Lord Granville. In England the project was not
received with much alacrity; and when certain of
the French engineers, who had been despatched to
India to reconnoitre the ground, arrived upon the
Afghan frontier, permission was refused to them to
advance beyond, on account of the difficulties in
which England might thereby be involved with those
turbulent regions. After their return to Europe, the
project languished; and before long M. de Lesseps,
scenting a more favourable spoil in another hemi-
sphere, withdrew his attention and his patronage to
the Panama Canal. Since then the idea, in its
original shape, has not again been heard of.
THE TRANSCASPIA W RAIL WAY 37
For some time afterwards the design of a Central
Asian Railway slumbered. But the commencement
of the series of Russian campaigns against the Turko-
mans in 1877, and the gradual shifting of the centre
of political gravity in Central Asia from Turkestan
to Transcaspia brought about its revival in another
shape, and has since ended in its realisation, not,
however, by a line over the steppes from the North,
but by one from the Caspian and the West. It was
in 1879, while General Lomakin was prosecuting his
series of ill-adventured expeditions against the Akhal
Tekkes that mention was first made of a Trans-
caspian Railway (his successor, General Tergukasoff
laying stress upon the idea in a report upon the un-
successful campaign of that year, and upon the proper
means by which to subjugate the Akhal Oasis); and
in 1880, after Skobeleff had been appointed Com-
mander-in-Chief, in order to retrieve the Russian
laurels, that the work was actually taken in hand.
At that time it was supposed that the subjugation
of the Turkoman steppes would entail a much more
arduous task than subsequently proved to be the
case, the disastrous defeat of Lomakin at the Tekke
fort of Denghil Tepe, more commonly known as
Geok Tepe, in September 1879, having profoundly
discouraged the Russians. Skobeleff was accord-
ingly given carte blanche in his selection both of the
manner and means of Operation. He was commis-
sioned to conquer and to annex; but was allowed
to do both after his own fashion. Now the main
difficulty in the preceding campaign had arisen
Idea of a
Trans-
caspian
Railway
Adoption
of the plan
by Skobe-
leff -
38 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
from the scarcity and loss of transport animals. g
During the expedition of 1879, 8,377 camels had
perished out of a total of 12,273 employed; and at
the end of Skobeleff's own campaign, a year and a
half later, only 350 remained out of a total of 12,596."
To meet this initial drawback, it was suggested to
Skobeleff that he should employ a light railroad.
While his base still remained at Tchikishliar, near the
mouth of the Atrek River, on the Caspian, a service
of traction engines was projected by General Petruse-
vitch, and subsequently a tramway to the edge of the
Akhal Oasis. But Skobeleff having almost imme-
diately resolved to shift his main base northwards to
|Krasnovodsk, opposite Baku, a new set of proposals
saw the light. A genuine railroad was now spoken
of. A proposal made by an American contractor
named Berry, who offered to construct a line from
the Caspian to Kizil Arvat, a distance of 145 miles,
at his own expense, with material brought from some
disused railroad in the States, and upon completion,
either to hand it over to the Government, or to con-
tinue its working with an annual state guarantee of
132,000l., was refused; and General Annenkoff,
formerly military attaché at Paris, and at that time
Comptroller of the Transport Department of the
Russian Army, who had been entrusted in 1877 with
the transport arrangements in the Turkish war, and
had had considerable experience of military railways
since, was invited by the Commander-in-Chief to his
Wide The War in Turkomania. By General N. I. Grodekoff.
Chaps. ii. and xi. -
THE TRANSCASPIAN RAIL WAY.” 39
aid. He recommended the use of 100 miles of steel
rails that had been purchased for use in the Balkan
peninsula in 1878, in the event of the collapse of the
Congress at Berlin, and had been lying idly stored
ever since in European Russia. These were at once
GENERAL ANNENROFF.
transhipped to Michaelovsk, a point on the coast
considerably to the south of Krasnovodsk which was
selected by Annenkoff as the starting point of the line;
but even so, no decision was yet arrived at as to a
permanent broad-gauge line, orders having been given


40 RUSSIA IN CENTRAJ, ASIA
to the Décauville and Maltseff firms for the supply of
small locomotives and wagons, and of 66 miles of
light movable narrow-gauge rails." It was thought
that these might be used for the immediate convey-
ance of stores to the front, and that the success Or
failure of the smaller experiment would then deter-
mine the policy of extending the broad-gauge line,
which from motives of economy it was decided to lay
at once through the belt of sandhills contiguous to
the shore. For the purpose of the campaign
Skobeleff from the beginning regarded the line as a
purely secondary and accessory means of transport,”
though his eyes were speedily opened to its future
possibilities and importance. So confident, however,
was he of swift success, that, having completed his
own preparations, he announced his intention of
finishing the campaign before the railway, which it
was only intended to construct as far as Kizil Arvat,
145 miles from the Caspian, was ready to be placed
* Fifty miles of light steel rails, to be laid upon a 20-inch gauge, and
100 trucks were ordered from the Russian firm of Maltseff; 16 miles
of rails and 500 trucks from the Décauville works in France. Only
two locomotives were ordered (from the latter firm); as it was intended
to work the railroad by horses, 1,000 Kirghiz animals being bought for
the purpose in Transcaspia. -
* At the first Military Council held at St. Petersburg, as early as
January 1880, to discuss the forthcoming campaign, Grodekoff relates
that Skobeleff, who had already been designated though not appointed
Commander-in-Chief, ‘declared that a railway alone could not be trusted
to bring the expedition to a successful issue, and accordingly heproposed
to employ camels principally, treating the railroad as a secondary line
of communication.”—The War in Turkomania, chap. iii. Again, in
June 1880, he wrote: ‘It is evident that the railway now being con-
structed can of itself be of no importance for the narrow aims of the
Akhal Tekke expedition ' (chap. v.) He continually repeated the same
opinion.
THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY 41
at his disposal—a boast which, as a matter of fact,
he triumphantly carried out.
Meanwhile General Annenkoff, though beaten in
the race of time, had not been idle. A railway
battalion of 1,500 men, with special aptitudes or of
special experience, was recruited in successive com-
panies as required from European Russia; skilful
engineers were engaged; a credit was opened by the
Russian Government; and the pick and shovel
were soon at work upon the virgin Sandhills of the
Caspian littoral. Geok Tepe was carried by storm in
January 1881, and General Annenkoff, having been
wounded in one of the earlier reconnaissances, was
compelled to return to St. Petersburg. But in his
absence the labour was not allowed to slacken ; the
Décauville line had already been abandoned as the
main system, and was used to assist in laying the
broader gauge. In December 1881 the latter was
completed, and the first locomotive steamed into Kizil
Arvat. From these small and modest beginnings,
undertaken with a purely strategic object, and for the
attainment of a particular end, viz. the pacification
of the Akhal Oasis, have grown the 900 miles of steel
that now unite the Caspian with Samarkand.
The success of this preliminary experiment, and
the comparative facility and economy with which the
obstacles of drought and desert had been overcome,
encouraged General Annenkoff to meditate an expan-
sion of his scheme. With this object in view, the
engineer Lessar, who subsequently became well known
in this country from his connection with the Afghan
Comple-
tion to
Rizil Arvat,
Dec. 1881
Ideas of
further
extension
42 RUSSIA IV CE WT'RAJ, ASIA
Boundary Commission, and the Mussulman officer
Alikhanoff, were despatched in the years 1881, 1882 and
1883 to conduct a series of explorations in the terra
âncognita that lay towards Merv and Herat; while at
St. Petersburg Annenkoff himself published a brochure
entitled ‘The Akhal Tekke Oasis and the Roads to
India, in which he advocated, chiefly on commercial
grounds, an extension to Herat, and even a junction
with the Indian Railway system at Quetta. Russian
officers and statesmen thought fit to pooh-pooh the sug-
gestion in their public utterances, General Grodekoff,
in an interview with Mr. Marvin in February 1882,
ridiculing the idea of an extension of the line beyond
Kizil Arvat, and even Skobeleff declaring his total dis-
belief in its continuance beyond Askabad. It is de-
monstrable that these protestations were merely a part
of that policy of glib assurance, that has so often been
employed by Russia to calm the awakened suscepti-
bilities of England. For in Grodekoff’s history of
Skobeleff's campaign we read that the latter took the
keenest interest in the development of the railway :
that from the earliest date he recommended its
extension; and that as far back as June 1880, a year
and a half before his disavowal of further advance to
Mr. Marvin, he had expressed himself in a letter as
follows:–
When peace is restored in the Steppe, the line must be
prolonged, either to Askabad, or, as seems to me more
urgent, to Kunia Urgenj or to the Amu Daria. We shall
thus have steam communication between St. Petersburg and
Samarkand. I am certain that a cheaper or shorter way
THE TRAAVSOASPIAN RAII, WA Y 43
cannot be found of uniting Turkestan with the rest of the
Empire, and of ensuring its safety and the development of
its trade. If we intend to get any return from our present
enormous expenditure, we must popularise the Steppe route
between the Caspian and the basin of the Amu. Here, as
elsewhere, the initiative rests with the Government."
Though the Transcaspian Railway was under
such distinguished patronage, it was not without
enemies, even in high military circles in Russia.
General Tchernaieff, the original conqueror of Turke-
stan, who was appointed Governor General of the
Central Asian Dominions in 1882, foreseeing the
supercession of Turkestan by Transcaspia which
Annenkoff's railway would entail, and having always
contended for a more northerly approach to his pro-
vince, urged an extension from Kizil Arvat to Khiva,
which might in turn be connected with the Caspian,
and whence the waterway of the Oxus would provide
an approach to Bokhara. These projects met with
little support except from the Turkestan partisans,
and were not rendered more palatable by the scarcity
of commercial inducements. When the Transcaspian
programme had finally won the day, Tchernaieff,
piqued at his failure, exploded his irritation in a
letter to the ‘Novoe Vremya’ in the summer of 1886,
entitled “An Academic Railway, in which he threw
a parting douche of very cold water upon General
Annenkoff’s scheme, and declared his own preference
for a line from Saratov on the Volga to Kungrad on
the Amu Daria, between Khiva and the Aral Sea. In
* Grodekoff’s War in Turkomania, chap. v.
Opposition
to the
Trans-
Caspian
Scheme
44 RUSSIA IV CEWTRAL ASIA
Extension
from Kizil
Arvat to
the Oxus
the meantime, however, he had himself ceased to be
a persona grata with the powers that be in Russia;
his name was no longer one to conjure with in the
controversy ; and the star of Transcaspia continued
in the ascendant.
Though projects of advance had undoubtedly
been formulated as well as entertained, Kizil Arvat
remained the terminus till the famous affray on the
Kushk between General Komaroff's troops and the
Afghans on March 30, 1885, that so deeply stirred
public opinion in this country, and all but embroiled
the two nations in war. From that moment the
character and conception of the railway changed.
No longer the prudent auxiliary to a single cam-
paign, it became the mark of a definite policy,
imperial in its quality and dimensions. Till then the
Russians themselves had regarded the line as an iso-
lated and limited undertaking, rather than as part of
a great design. It now emerged as a menace to
England and a warning to Asia. On June 2, 1885,
within two months of the Penjdeh affair, appeared
the Czar's ukase entrusting Annenkoff with the con-
tinuance of the line towards the Afghan frontier. A
second railway battalion of picked men was enrolled
at Moscow. Reaching Kizil Arvat on July 3,
they began work on July 13; and while the British
forces were engaged night and day upon the analo-
gous railways of Hurnai and the Bolan in Beluchistan,
the Russians were as steadily pushing forward their
hostile parallels from the opposite direction. On
T)ecember 11, 1885, the first train ran into Askabad
THE TRANSOASPYA W RAIL WAY 45
(136 miles from Kizil Arvat), which had in 1882 been
made the capital of the newly constituted province
of Transcaspia, and the residence of a Governor-
General. Meanwhile, in February 1884, Merv had
been quietly annexed, and the prolongation of the
line to that place was an inevitable corollary of what
had already been done. On July 14, 1886, the
whilom “Queen of the World’ was reached, 500
miles from the Caspian, the lines actually cutting the
walls of the great fortress of Koushid Khan Kala,
built with such sanguine anticipations only five years
before as an inexpugnable barrier to Muscovite
advance. But Merv could no more be a halting-
place than Askabad ; and, after a pause of six weeks,
to recruit the energies of the railway battalion, the
same year witnessed the extension of the line to
Tcharjui and the Oxus, a further distance of 150
miles, General Annenkoff’s employés having now
reached such a pitch of mechanical proficiency in
their labours that the last 500 miles had been con-
structed in seventeen months, or at the rate of from
a mile to a mile and a half in a day.
There remained only the bridging of the Amu
Daria, a work of which more anon, and the comple-
tion of the line to Samarkand. The imperial ukase
authorising the latter was issued on February 7,
1887. This work was nominally completed in time
for the ceremony of inauguration in May, 1888, and
on the 27th of that month a triumphal train, decked
with flags, and loaded with soldiers, steamed, amid
the roar of cannon and the music of bands, into the
From the
Oxus to
Samar-
kand
46. RUSSIA IV CENT/2A7, ASIA
Technical
informa-
tion about
the line
ancient capital of the East. Some time previously
the starting point of the railway had been shifted
from Michaelovsk to what was considered the supe-
rior landing-place of Uzun Ada, on an island 15
miles to the north-west, where it remains for the
present. The through communication thus estab-
lished has been continued and perfected since, and a
page of the Russian Bradshaw testifies to the regu-
larity, though at present it does not say much for the
speed, of the Transcaspian service. The entire dis-
tance is 1,342 versts, or not far short of 900 miles.
Such was the origin and such has been the history
up to the present date of this remarkable under-
taking.
Next in order I propose to give some details
about the construction, the material, the resources,
and the personnel of the Transcaspian Railway. More
minute information upon these points can be obtained
from either of two publications which have appeared
abrºad. The first is a brochure of 160 pages,
entitled ‘Transkaspien und seine Eisenbahn,’ pub-
lished at Hanover in 1888, and written by Dr. O.
Heyfelder, who was surgeon-in-chief to Skobeleff's
expedition in 1880, and has since been chief of the
medical staff to General Annenkoff's battalions.
This book is, as one might expect of the writer,
whom I had the good fortune to meet in Transcaspia,
a capable and excellent production, distinguished by
scientific as well as local knowledge, and by broad
sympathies. The second publication is in the shape
of two articles which were contributed by M. Edgar
THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY 47
Boulangier, a French engineer, to the ‘Revue du
Génie Militaire, at Paris, in March–June 1887.
This gentleman visited the line while in course of
construction, was treated with characteristic friendli-
ness by the Russian officials, and on his return wrote
the reports to which I allude, and which are marked
by technical accuracy and diligent observation. It
is to be regretted that the temptations of authorship
subsequently persuaded him to dilute and reproduce
his original compositions in the form of a discursive
volume, entitled ‘Voyage à Merv, published in 1888.
To both these writers I am indebted for many facts
and figures, verified and sometimes corrected by per-
sonal investigation, and supplemented by private
inquiries on the spot. - -
In the first place, it must be borne in mind that
the railway has been in its execution and is in its
immediate object a military railway; and that all
the labour which we associate at home with co-
operative industry or private effort has here been
undertaken by an official department, under the con-
trol of the War Minister at St. Petersburg. To us
who in England are not only unacquainted with
military railways, but even (except in such cases
as India) with Government railways, the idea may
appear a strange One. But in a world where any-
body who is not an official is a nobody, and where
military officials are at the head of the hierarchy of
powers, it is less surprising. Not only was the con-
struction of the line entrusted to a lieutenant-general
(General Annenkoff having since been reappointed
Exclu-
sively .
military
character
48 RUSSIA IW CEWTRAL ASIA
Material of
the line
for two years director-in-chief of the railway), but
the technical and, to a large extent, the manual
labour was in military hands. The same may be
said of the working staff at this moment. Civilians
have been and still are employed as surveyors,
architects, and engineers; but the bulk of the staff is
composed of soldiers of the line. The engines are in
many cases driven by Soldiers; the station-masters
are officers, or veterans who have been wounded in
battle ; and the guards, conductors, ticket-collectors,
and pointsmen, as well as the telegraph and post-
office clerks attached to the stations, are soldiers also.
It cannot be doubted that this peculiarity contributed
much to the economy of Original construction, just
as it has since done to the efficiency of daily admin-
istration.
The line itself is on a five-foot gauge, which is
uniform with the railway system of European Russia,
but not with that of British India. The rails, which
are all of steel, were made, partly in St. Petersburg,
partly in Southern Russia, and were bought by the
Government at rather high prices in order to en-
courage native manufacture. They are from 19 to
22 feet long, and are laid upon wooden sleepers, at
the rate of 2,000 sleepers for every mile, being simply
spiked down, after the universal Russian fashion,
without chairs or bolts. Every single piece of timber,
iron, or steel employed was brought from the forests
or workshops of Russia, for the most part down the
Volga and across the Caspian. The sleepers cost 8d.
apiece in Russia, 38, upon delivery in Transcaspia.
THE TRANSCASPIA W RAIL WAY 49
The line is a single one from start to finish, except at
the stations, where there are invariably sidings, and
sometimes triangles, for an engine to reverse; and is
laid upon a low earthwork or embankment thrown up
with the soil scooped out of a shallow trench on either
side. The permanent way is not metalled. Stone for
the railway buildings, particularly sandstone, was
found in great quantity in the quarries of the Persian
mountains. Bricks were in some cases collected from
the ruined cities and villages that everywhere abound,
in others were sun-dried or baked in kilns.
Two railway battalions of from 1,000 to 1,500
Character
and pay of
men each were employed on the works. The first of workmen
these, which laid the rails to Kizil Arvat in 1881, and
whose headquarters are still at the latter place, has
since been engaged in the service of the entire line.
The second—which was specially recruited in 1885
from many regiments, men being chosen with indi-
vidual aptitudes for the work—has laid the long
stretch of rails to Samarkand. The unskilled labour
was performed by natives, chiefly Turkomans, Per-
sians, and Bokhariots, who used their own implements
and tools, and of whom at one time over 20,000
were employed. They made the earthworks, cuttings
and embankments, while the soldiers followed behind
them, placing and spiking down the rails. The com-
mon soldier's pay was from 10s. to 11. a month ; the
engineer's from 4!. to 10!. The wages of the native
workmen varied according to the demand for labour
(there never being any lack of supply), and rose gradu-
ally from 4d. a day to 7d. and even 8d. One of the
E
Method of
construc-
tion
50 PUSSIA IV C FMT/PAL AS/A
employés told me that the Turkomans were the best
labourers, better than the Bokhariots, and much
better than the Persians. The latter are as strong as
oxen, but are incurably idle and very cowardly. No
doubt the employment of the natives in the construc-
tion of the line, and the security they thereby en-
joyed of fair and regular pay, has had a great deal to
do with the rapid pacification of the country; just as
SECTION OF WORKING-TRAIN ON THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY.
the employment of the Ghilzais and native tribesmen
of the Beluchistan frontier, whom I saw engaged
upon the Quetta railway early in 1888, has produced
a most tranquillising effect in Pishin.
While the Russians were occupied in laying the
railway, their local habitation was a working train,
which moved forward with the line itself, and which
contained, besides larder, kitchen, dining, ambulance,

THE TRA VSCASPIAN /PA //, WA Y 51
Smithy, and telegraph wagons, accommodation in two-
storied carriages for 1,500 officers and men. The
latter were divided into two brigades of equal num-
ber, who worked for six hours each out of the twenty-
four, the one from 6 A.M. to noon, the other from noon
to 6 P.M. Twice a day another train came up in the
rear from the base, bringing food, water, material and
rolling stock. The latter was conducted to the front
LAYING THE RAILS.
on a small movable narrow-gauge line three miles
long which was temporarily laid alongside of the main
rails, and which advanced in their company. I was
told by the Colonel of the 2nd Railway Battalion
that the maximum rate of advance was four miles in
the day, and the normal rate over two; though in wind
and rain it sometimes sank to half a mile, or less.
As regards the cost of the entire line I was pre-
E 2
Cost

52 Jº USSIA IV CENTRAI, ASIA
sented with slightly differing estimates; and there
is no doubt that the latter part was executed more
cheaply than the first. Striking an average, how-
ever, over the whole line, we may accept the
following figures as approximately correct:-4,500/.
a mile, all included; though as the rails and rolling
stock, which amounted to about two-fifths of the
entire cost, were supplied to General Annenkoff by
Government Order from Russian workshops, the
charge actually incurred upon the spot did not
amount to more than 2,700l. a mile. Irregular grants
were however made from time to time for particular
objects; and if these are included the total cost would
be quite 5,000l. a mile, upon the former basis of cal-
culation. A considerable additional expenditure has
also been needed since for the repair or reconstruction
of faulty work and for the unfinished platforms,
stations, sheds, and buildings generally along the line,
a credit of 200,000l. having been allowed to General
Annenkoff for those purposes. It is difficult to dis-
tinguish between the cost of the line per se, and its
cost plus these accessories. Nevertheless it is prob-
ably one of the cheapest railways that have ever been
constructed." - -
A few words as to the facilities and difficulties
which were encountered, and the relative strength of
Facilities
of con-
ºrigion which largely determined the cost of execution. It
1 The Gazette Russe for February 1888 estimated the annual cost
to the nation of the Transcaspian railway as at least 400,000l. But
General Annenkoff claims to have reduced this sum by more than one
half. The Council of the Empire has lately, however (July 1889), voted
him a further sum of 600,000l. for the completion of the undertaking.
THE TRANSCA,WPIAAW RAIL WAY 53
has frequently been claimed that this railway is an as-
tonishing engineering phenomenon, almost a miracle,
inasmuch as it traverses a country previously be-
lieved to be inaccessible to such a method of loco-
motion." In opposition to this view I am tempted to
affirm that except for the local dearth of material due
to the appalling desolation of the country, it is the
easiest and simplest railway that has ever been built.
The region which it penetrates is as flat as a billiard
table for almost the entire distance, the steepest gra-
dient met with being only 1 in 150. There was,
therefore, apart from the greater facility of construc-
tion, no difficulty in transporting heavy wagons and
bringing up long and loaded trains. There are no
tunnels, and only a few insignificant cuttings in the
Sandhills. Sometimes the rails run in a bee line for
20 or 25 miles without the slightest deviation to right
or left. In a country for the most part destitute of
water, it is not surprising to find that over a distance
of 900 miles only three bridges were required, across
the Tejend, across the Murghab at Merv, and across
the Amu Daria
the latter a very considerable work
—beyond Tcharjui.” The speed which might be at-
tained on a line possessing such advantages Ought to
be very great; but the far from solid character of the
substructure has hitherto prevented anything beyond
a maximum of 30 miles an hour, while the average
* The Russian writer, I. Y. Watslik, sums up his account of the
enterprise in these words: ‘Thus was this Titanic work gloriously
brought to an end by this indefatigable hero' (i.e. Annenkoff.)
* I speak of bridges of any size or importance. There are fifty-six
bridges in all, if we include those over ditches and dry water-courses.
54 Jº USSIA IN CENTRAL AS/A
Difficulties
of water
speed is from 10 to 20, according to the character of
the region traversed. In time of war, when heavily
charged trains would be following each other in Swift
succession to the front, a higher average than 12 or
15 miles could not reasonably be counted upon.
These—in addition to the pacific attitude of the in-
habitants, who have been thoroughly cowed since
Geok Tepe, the abundance and cheapness of labour,
the absence of contractors, and, lastly, what every
One admits to have been the indomitable energy and
excellent management of General Annenkoff—have
been the main advantages enjoyed by the Russians.
On the other hand must be set the difficulties
of the route, arising in the main from two causes
—the scarcity of water and the plethora of sand.
If in many parts a slight exchange could have
been effected of these two commodities, much
labour might have been spared, and many hearts
would still be gladdened. For the first 110
miles from Uzun Ada there is no sweet water at all,'
the first source of drinkable water being in the
tiny oasis of Kazanjik, whither it has been brought
in pipes from a reservoir filled by a mountain stream.
The latter affords a type of the main, though
a very precarious source of supply; for whilst
during half the year the torrent-beds are empty,
from time to time there rushes down a cataract
that sweeps all before it, tearing up the rails, and
* At the stations of Molla Kari, Bala Ishem, and Aidin there is a
little water ; but it is precarious in quantity, brackish in taste, and
barely drinkable.
THE TRANSOASPIAAW RAILWAY 55
converting the desert into a lagoon. One such cata-
strophe occurred at the opening ceremony, and de-
layed General Annenkoff’s guests many weary hours
near Kizil Arvat. But these incidents are fortunately
rare. To meet the scanty supplies, the distillation of
seawater was originally resorted to, and condensing
machines were established at Uzun Ada and Michael-
ovsk. But latterly the plan has been more favoured
of conveying the water from places where it exists to
those where it does not in great wooden vats, stand-
ing upon platform trucks; and these too may often
be seen permanently planted at the various stations.
Artesian wells were bored at first, but have resulted
in complete failure. A more scientific use is now
being made of water brought in conduits or pipes
from the mountains, and filling the stationary cisterns
by its own pressure ; of natural sources and springs,
and of canalisation. In the sand-dunes between Merv
and Tcharjui, the water is conducted to the line by
subterranean galleries, like the Afghan Karezes, lead-
ing from the wells. The scarcity of water would,
however, be a serious consideration in the event of
the transport of large bodies of troops and baggage
animals in time of war, unless this occurred at a
season when the natural sources were full.
A greater difficulty presented itself in the shape
—perhaps I might almost say, in the shapeless-
ness—of the vast and shifting desert sands. Of
the 650 miles, which are covered by the railway,
between the Caspian and the Amu Daria, 200
at least are through a howling wilderness. This
Difficulties
of sand
56 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Contri-
Vances to
resist the
Sands
may be divided into three main sections: (1) the
first thirty miles from the Caspian; (2) the stretch
between the Merv Oasis and the Oxus; and (3) a
narrow belt between the Oxus and Bokhara. Here
but little vegetation is either visible, or, with certain
exceptions, possible. The sand, of the most brilliant
-yellow hue, is piled in loose hillocks and mobile
dunes, and is swept hither and thither by powerful
winds. It has all the appearance of a sea of troubled
waves, billow succeeding billow in melancholy suc-
cession, with the sand driving like spray from their
summits, and great smooth-swept troughs lying be-
tween, on which the winds leave the imprint of their
fingers in wavy indentations, just like an ebb-tide on
the sea-shore. These were the conditions that pre-
sented the only really formidable obstacle to the
military engineer. . -
Several methods were employed of resisting
this insidious and implacable enemy. Near the
Caspian the permanent way was soaked with sea-
water to give it consistency, the rapid evapora-
tion of the climate speedily solidifying the sur-
face ; in other parts it was covered over with a
sort of armour-plating of clay. This prevented the
earthwork from being swept away, and the sleepers
laid bare. Elsewhere, and in the more desolate
regions, other plans were adopted. The sandhills
contiguous to the line were planted with tamarisk,
wild oats, and desert shrubs, nurseries for which
were started in the Persian mountains; or with that
strange and interesting denizen of the wilderness, the
SAND
CLEARING AWAY THE

THE TRANSOASPIA W RAIL WAY 57
Sawaoul," which, with a scanty and often shabby
uppergrowth, strikes its sturdy roots deep down into
the Sand, and somehow or other derives sustenance
from that to which it gives stability and permanence.
Fascines of the branches of this plant were also cut,
laid at right angles to the rails, along the Outer edge
of the earthwork or embankment, and packed down
under a layer of sand. On the tops of the dunes may
often be seen half-buried wooden palisades, 3 ft. or 4 ft.
high, constructed of light laths, and planted perpen-
dicularly to resist the prevailing winds, which by
piling up the sand against them, arrest its further
progress. These were copied from the fencing em-
ployed to resist the snowdrifts in the steppes of
Southern Russia. In spite of all these precautions
the sand continues and must always continue to be
a serious peril to the line, and when the hurricanes
blow, which are common at certain seasons of the
year, the rails in the regions I have indicated will
always be liable to be blocked, and can only be kept
clear by relief parties of workmen sweeping the
deposit away as fast as it accumulates.
A third difficulty, in the total absence of coal
and (with the exception of the Savaoul, which
* The Saxaoul (haloaylon ammodendron), called zak by the Mongols
further East, is the most widely distributed of the sand-flora of Central
Asia. It is met with on the shores of the sea, and at an elevation of
10,000 feet, and from the Caspian to China. Growing to a height
of sometimes twelve or fifteen feet, and with a thickness near the root
of half a foot or more, it is used by man for fuel, and by camels for
food, the former burning the stumps and branches, which ignite like
coal, and give a great heat, while the latter munch the stems and
twigs.
Difficulty
of fuel and
lighting
58 Jº USSIA / W CENTRAL ASIA
was too valuable to be permanently sacrificed)
of firewood, was the heating of the engines, and
in a less degree the lighting and warming of
the stations, telegraph offices, and trains. Here
it was at first thought that other local resources
might prove sufficient. Naphtha was found in the
hills of Naphtha Dagh and Buja Dagh near the
Caspian, and the narrow-gauge Décauville railway,
which has been spoken of, was opportunely utilised
to run from the station of Bala Ishem to these
springs. Their produce has since turned out to be
either unremunerative or inadequate ; and the residual
naphtha, or astakti, being the refuse left over from
petroleum after distillation, by which the locomotives
are driven, is now purchased from the prolific oil-fields
of Baku. The tenders for the year 1889 specified
the total amount required as 6,000,000 gallons.
Large reservoirs of this naphtha are kept at the
superior stations, the tank at Askabad containing
80,000 gallons; and it is transported along the line
in cistern-cars, holding 2,400 gallons each. In dwell-
ing-houses the nuisance arising from the Smoke of
astakti has been corrected by the use of the Nikitkin
apparatus. When I add that the economy of petro-
leum is six times that of coal, as burned upon
European railways, and that it possesses twofold the
efficiency in generating steam, it will be seen that
Nature, if she has stinted her assistance to the Rus-
sians in other respects, has here bestowed it with no
ungenerous hand. Petroleum is also consumed in
large quantities in lamps, in the form of kerosene oil.
THE TRA NSCASPIA W RAIL WAY 59
About the rolling-stock of the new railway I
found it very difficult to gain precise information.
It is, indeed, as hard to extract accurate statistics
or calculations from a Russian as to squeeze juice
from a peachstone. In this respect he is at the oppo-
site pole of character from the American, who inun-
dates you in the railway carriage with a torrent of
figures demonstrating to a nicety the latest transac-
tions of the business market of his native town, the
number of trains that run per diem through its rail.
way station, or, as he prefers to call it, depôt, or the
income in dollars and cents of its most reputable
citizens. Dr. Heyfelder in his work gives the number
of locomotives on the first section of the line to Amu
Daria as 84, on the second to Samarkand as 26, total
110 ; the total number of freight cars as 1,240, and
of platform cars as 570. M. Mestcherin's figures
were respectively 90, 1,200, and 600, no great dis-
parity. But on the line itself, whereas I was told by
one of the employés that there were only 66 engines
in all, 48 on the first section and 18 on the second
(though 20 more had been ordered), and 600 wagons,
300 of each sort, elsewhere I heard from another
official that there were 150 locomotives on the first
section of the line and 28 on the second, and over
1,000 wagons. I fancy that all these calculations
omit the passenger wagons proper, which are at
present rather a secondary consideration, many of
them being only baggage wagons with windows cut
in the side, and seats introduced down the middle.
Of first-class carriages there is only one, which is
Rolling-
stock of
the railway
6() RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Stations
*.
reserved for the use of the inspector of the line,
but which was courteously placed at the disposal of
our party upon landing at Uzun Ada. We were
also accommodated with one of the best second-
class carriages, which was brand new, and six of
which have recently been ordered in Russia at a
cost of 6,000 roubles, or 600l., each. They consist
of a large wagon built in the foreign fashion, with
two separate compartments containing two long
seats or couches each, and with four similar com-
partments opening on to a gangway which runs
down the side throughout and conducts to a lavatory
and cabinet at either end. More comfortable carri-
ages Inever travelled in. The old two-storied wagons,
which are still running, will shortly be discontinued,
because of the heavy strain they impose on the line.
There are, further, 120 wooden tank cars convey-
ing water or naphtha, and Occasionally attached to
the trains, so as to make them independent of the
stations. General Annenkoff’s calculation was that
he Ought to have 12 pairs of trains running on each
section with 45 wagons each. As the line becomes
developed there will doubtless be a considerable
increase in the rolling-stock, which from my own
observation I should say approached to the lower
rather than to the higher figure. Of engine sheds I
saw but few on the more recent part of the line,
though it is part of the scheme to provide them at
most of the stations.
These are of a widely different character, graduat-
ing from substantial structures in brick and stone to
THE TRANSOASPIAAW RAIL WAY 6]
dingy wooden shanties, half buried in the sand.
There are 61 in all, 45 between Uzun Ada and Amu
Daria, and 16 between Amu Daria and Samarkand;
and their average distance apart is therefore 15 miles."
Five of them, Askabad, Merv, Amu Daria, Bokhara,
and Samarkand, are ranked as first-class stations;
the first only is so far complete, but imposing
fabrics of brick and stone are rising from the ground
On the other sites. Of the second-class stations there
are three—Uzun Ada, Michaelovsk, and Kizil Arvat.
Of the third-class four, and all the rest of the
fourth. A fully equipped station is to consist of
the station and its offices—a guest house (analogous
to the Indian Dak Bungalow), a telegraph office,
a station-master's house, and the quarters for the
employés. Those that have already been raised
consist of single-storied buildings made either of stone
or of sun-baked bricks plastered over with lime, with
stone copings and mouldings; and all have flat roofs
smeared with asphalt from the petroleum wells. The
pattern is a very neat and practical One, and was
furnished by a young German engineer named Urlaub.
It is perhaps worth while mentioning that the com-
missariat arrangements are on the whole decidedly
good. The train stops at least half or three-quarters
of an hour for a mid-day and an evening meal, which
are excellently provided in the railway stations, while
there are constant and almost irritating pauses of
from five to twenty minutes, which can be sustained
by the consumption of first-rate tea at 1d. a glass,
* Wide the List of Stations in the “Appendix.’
62 A USSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Duration
and cost of
Journey
of Superb melons at less than 10. each, and of grapes
at a fraction of a farthing a bunch. Some of the trains
are furnished with refreshment cars, but I did not
happen to travel by one of these.
Finally I may add that regular trains run daily
from the Caspian to the Oxus, though the steamboat
service with Baku is only bi-weekly either way; and
twice a week, at present, from the Oxus to Samarkand.
The entire journey from Uzun Ada to Samarkand
without a break occupies 72 hours, or three days and
nights, for 900 miles, i.e. an average of about 12
miles an hour including halts. The cost of a second-
class through ticket is 38 roubles, or 3!. 16s., i.e. at the
rate of only Id. per mile. Travelling, therefore, is
cheap, though hardly expeditious.
WOIW NIEZIl „HO SIINIIWIH GII, (IN W GIOVTAI-ſ) NI (INW'I

6
3
CHAPTER IV
FROM THE CASPIAN TO MERV
To Margiana from the Hyrcanian cliffs
Of Caucasus, and dark Iberian dales.
MILTON, Paradise Regained, 317.
Uzun Ada, present and future—-Start from Uzun Ada—Character of
the scenery—The Persian mountains—The desert of Kara Kum
—The four oases—Vegetation of the oases—The Akhal-Tekke
oasis—Statistics of its resources—The desert landscape—Varia-
tions of climate—Geok Tepe, the old Turkoman fortress–Story
of the siege of Geok Tepe--Preparations for assault—Assault
and capture, January 24, 1881—Pursuit and massacre of the
Turkomans—Impression left upon the conquered—-Skobeleff and
the massacre.—His principle of warfare——Character of Skobeleff-
His marvellous courage—His caprice—Idiosyncrasies—Anecdotes
of his whims—Story of the Persian Khan—Final criticism—
Turkoman peasants—Askabad—Government of Transcaspia—
Resources and taxation—Buildings of the town—Strategical im-
portance of Askabad and roads into Persia–Use of the railway by
pilgrims to Meshed and Mecca-The Atek oasis and Dushak—
Refusal of permission to visit Kelat and Meshed—-Kelat-i-Nadiri--
The Tejend oasis.
FROM the technical details dealt with in the preceding
chapter, I now pass to a record of my journey and the
experiences that it involved. At the point where my
narrative was interrupted, it had brought my fellow-
travellers and myself to the eastern shore of the Cas-
pian. Uzun Ada, where we landed, and which was
made the western terminus of the railway in August
1886, is certainly not an attractive or inspiring
Uzum Ada,
present
and future
64 PUSSIA / W C E WTRAI, ASIA
spot, though it perhaps hardly deserves the Savage
abuse with which it has been assailed, any more than
it does the laudatory exaggeration of French and
Russian scribes. The word means Long Island, and
the town is accordingly built on a low and straggling
islet of sand, the yellow of which glitters fiercely
between the opposite blues of sky and sea. There is
not a blade of grass or a drop of water to be seen,
and the heat in the summer months must be appalling.
The town consists of a number of small wooden houses
and shops (children must be born and exist at Uzun
Ada, because I actually saw a toy shop) reared in a
promiscuous fashion on the sand, which is elsewhere
covered with sheds, warehouses, and other large
wooden buildings.
Most of the houses arrived, ready made, in num-
bered blocks, from Astrakhan, where they had cost
60l. apiece. A freight charge of 12, and a further
3/. for the expenses of erection, raised the actual
figure to 75l. each. The more important buildings
were constructed upon the spot with material brought
from Russia. I could see the reservoir and engine- -
house where the condensation of seawater is effected;
and though the bulk of the water supply arrives by
train every day from the interior, I observed signs
that these artificial agencies were still in use. The
piers were loaded with bales of cotton and other
merchandise, and a good deal of business appeared to
be going on. Uzun Ada is, however, though prefer-
able to Michaelovsk, a very unsatisfactory anchorage;
for it contains only from 10 to 12 feet of water, and is
WOIW NIMIZ Tl
H
VGIN STIRII
AA
H&IVÄIÐGITIGIJ, TIHL +) NIXIJ

66 RUSSIA IV CENTRAL ASIA
Start from
Uzun Ada.
constantly silting up, the channel requiring to be kept
open by dredges; whilst in winter the bay is some-
times thickly frozen over and quite inaccessible to
navigation. It is not surprising therefore to hear
that a commission has sat and reported in favour of
moving the landing-place to the old harbour of Kras-
novodsk, 80 miles to the north, where the greater
distance is compensated by an ample depth of water
and by excellent facilities for disembarkation. As
soon as the line begins to pay its way, we may expect
to see the removal effected. The flimsy and ephemeral
characterofthe present town, which only numbers about
800 inhabitants, will then be seen to have harmonised
both with its sudden and mechanical origin and with
its abrupt demise; and Uzun Ada will vanish from
existence, unwept and unhonoured, if not altogether
unsung.'
The railway station is at the distance of a few
hundred yards from the landing-stage; and the tra-
veller ploughs his way to the platform (which does
not exist) through an ankle-depth of sand. Four
hours are allowed for an exhaustive inspection of the
* The relative merits of the two termini, and the question of re-
moval, were ably discussed by M. Séménoff, vice-president of the
Russian Imperial Geographical Society, in the Proceedings of that
Society for 1888 (vol. xxiv.). He described Krasnovodsk as providing
a better, more convenient, safer, and deeper anchorage. Neither of
the two places contain supplies of fresh water sufficient to feed the
engines; though near Krasnovodsk is a source that meets the drinking
requirements of the small total of inhabitants (700). On the other
hand, Uzun Ada is recommended by the money that has already been
sunk there, by its greater nearness to Askabad, and, as a consequence,
by the greater cheapness of transport. The question, in M. Séménoff's
opinion, will be mainly determined by the relative cost of debarkation
at the two places.
FROM THE CASPIAN TO MERV 67
Uzun ADA, THE SAND-DUNFS, THE ROPET DAGH, AND THE KARA RUM.
F 2

68 Jø USSIA / W CENTRAL AS/A
Character
of the
scenery.
The
Persian
mountains
local features, or are more probably intended as a
tribute to the possible delays of the Caspian. Finally
the train starts, crosses a long embankment of 1,300
yards, by which the islet is united to the mainland,
and plunges into the sullen dunes of the desert.
I have in the preceding chapter described the
main features of the first 30 miles from the Cas-
pian. A funereal tale of destruction, both to man
and beast, engulfed in their whirling crests, might
these cruel sand-waves tell; and the bones of many
a victim lie trampled fathoms deep under the pitiless
tide. The peaks of the great Balkan range on the
north, rising in points to a height of 5,000 ft., afford
a welcome relief to the eye, and, after a wide de-
pression in the surface level, through which the Oxus
or one of its confluents once disembogued into the
Caspian, are succeeded by the inferior elevation of
the Little Balkans on the south. These are presently
merged in the splendid barrier of the Persian moun-
tains, which, first under the name of the Kuren Dagh,
with an average height of 1,500 to 2,000ft., and later
on, while the elevation increases, as the Kopet Dagh,
rising to 5,000 and 6,000 ft. and even higher, over-
hang the railway, with an axis inclined from north-
west to south-east, for nearly 300 miles, till their
southern Spurs are confounded in the mountains of
Gulistan. On their far side, just over the summit,
runs the Persian frontier, which was fixed by the
treaty with Russia in December 1881, and has been
demarcated by commissioners since. Very grand and
impressive these mountains are, with an outline ever
FROM 7A/B, CASP7A W TO MER V 69
Original and new, and with grey flanks scoured by
deep Oval gullies, either torn by the irresistible action
of water or representing the depressions between the
immemorial geological folds of the mountains as they
emerged from the superincumbent sea. One is the
more inclined to the former view from the recent
experience of the railway itself, which has twice
during the last three months been bodily swept away
for Some distance by one of these terrific rushes,
descending from the hills after a sudden storm.
If the mountains on the south supply a perpetual
variety of shape and summit, there is a more than
equivalent monotony in the spectacle that extends as
far as the eye can reach to the north. Here nothing
is visible but a wide and doleful plain, wholly desti-
tute, or all but destitute, of vegetation, and sweeping
with unbroken uniformity to a blurred horizon.
This desert is the famous Kara Kum or Black Sand,
which, with intervals of dunes and interruptions of
so-called oases, stretches from the Caspian to the
Oxus, and from Khorasan to Khiva and the Aral Sea.
Originally part of the old Aralo-Caspian basin, it has,
partly by an upheaval of surface, partly by the action
of air-currents, been converted into an utter wilderness.
In its worst parts, and they are at first the more
frequent, it consists of a perfectly level expanse,
plastered over with marl, which is cracked and
blistered by the sun, and is covered with a thin top-
dressing of saline crystallisation. So hard is the
surface in dry weather that a camel will barely leave
the impression of its footmark, and that the torrents
The Desert
of Kara
Rum
70 RUSSIA IV CENTRAL ASIA
from the mountains,
unable to penetrate
the crust, lie outspread
in lakes and pools.
That this sorrowful
waste was once at the
bottom of the sea is
proved by the nume-
rous specimens of
Aralo-Caspian Mollusc
fauna that have been
found imbedded in
the sand ; but I do
not suppose that their
value would induce
even the most austere
pupil of science to
veto a proposal, were
such within the bounds
of possibility, for the
resumption of the sta-
tus quo ante on its part.
The desiccated gulfs
and channels which in
some portions furrow
its surface, after sup-
plying an innocent
pastime to a genera-
tion of theorists, are
now generally under-
stood to mark, not former beds of the Oxus, but

FROM THE CASPIAN TO MERV 71
the ancientshore-
line of a much
larger Caspian.
At intervals The four
this desert is bro-"
ken by belts of
more or less culti-
vable soil, which,
under the modest
standards of so
barren a country,
are dignified by
the name of oases.
There are four
such oases be-
tween Uzun Ada
and the Oxus,
viz. those of Ak-
hal, Atek (or the
mountain base),
Tejend, and Merv.
An oasis in these
parts has no re-
lation to the a
priori picture,
painted by our
imagination, in
which rivulets of
Water C. Olli Se
through a wealth
of verdure beneath umbrageous trees. It is simply

72 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Vegetation
of the oases
The Akhal-
Tekke
Oasis
a designation for such portions of the desert as have
been reclaimed, by moisture naturally or artificially
supplied, for the service of man ; the extent of their
fertility depending entirely upon the poverty or abund-
ance of the streams. Geologically their surface con-
sists of a layer of alluvial soil, which has been washed
down by rain and snow from the easily disintegrated
face of the mountains, and has formed a deposit along
the base. In places the fertility has been increased
by the natural action of the later geological periods.
There is a good deal of variety in the vegetation
of these oases. In the more sterile parts they seem
to support little but a stunted growth of tamarisk,
absinthe, camelthorn, and light desert shrubs; though
even here in the spring-time there is a sudden and
magical efflorescence of bright prairie flowers. With
the torrid summer heats these swiftly fade and die,
and the abomination of desolation then sets in.
Elsewhere, under the influence of a richer water
supply, barley, rice, maize, millet, Sorghum, and
lucerne are succeeded in the most fertile districts
by Orchards and gardens, which produce an amazing
Crop of melons, apricots, peaches, and grapes.
Kizil Arvat, the original terminus of the railway,
which is the first important place we reach, and
which has 2,000 inhabitants, and, what is even more
remarkable, a fountain playing at the station, is com-
monly described as marking the beginning of the
Akhal oasis, the belt of country inhabited by that
tough race of brigands, whose long career of raid
and pillage was summarily extinguished at Geok
FROM THE CASPIAAW TO MERV 73
Tepe by Skobeleff in 1881. Of this oasis, which
extends for a length of between 150 and 200 miles
with varying fertility, the Turkomans have a pro-
verb that says: ‘Adam when driven forth from Eden
never found a finer place for settlement than Akhal’;
a boast, the vanity of which is not untempered with
discretion, seeing that it stops short of the assertion
that he ever did settle there. For this unexpected
modesty the traveller in a strange country may well
feel grateful. -
The latest figures relating to the Akhal Tekke
Oasis, which I derive from a report by M. Baieff, who
was sent by the Russian Minister of Finance in 1887
to enquire into the boundary districts of Persia,
Turkomania, and Afghanistan, are as follows. He
reported the oasis to contain 7,904 kibitkas, with a
population of 32,990 natives, as well as 1,700 others,
differently housed. The animal wealth of the oasis
was returned thus : 11,760 camels, 2,500 horses,
150,900 sheep, and 1,600 other cattle. In the light
of what I shall have to say later about the Turkoman
militia, it is interesting to note that he reported the
superior breed of Turkoman horses to have become
almost extinct since the war.
Through an entire day we traversed this plain,
the features of which become positively fatiguing in
their shameless uniformity. Clustered here and there
are to be seen the kibitkas or circular tents of the
Turkomans, who have been tempted back to their
old hunting-grounds. But these, which represent
the peaceful life of the present, cannot be compared
Statistics
of its re-
SOUll'C6 S
The desert
landscape
74 RUSSIA IV CENTRAL AS/A
in number with the small clay watch-towers, dotted
about like pepper-pots all over the expanse, and the
rectangular walled forts and enclosures with towers
at the corners, which recall the fierce unsettled
existence, the dreaded alamans or raids, and the tur-
bulent manners of the past. Occasionally are to be
seen great circular tumuli here called Kurgans,
TURIKOMAN KIBITIKAS.
which are supposed either to be the milestones of
forgotten nomad advance or the cemeteries of the
still more forgotten dead. Some are circular and
others oval in shape; they are sometimes 40 or 50
feet high, with steep sides, and a circumference at the
base of 200 or 300 yards. Ever and anon a solitary
sand-column, raised by a passing puff of air, starts
up, and giddily revolving on its fragile axis whirls

FROM THE CASPIAN TO MERV 75
away over the plain. This spectacle extends to the
northern horizon, where it is lost in the mirage
which is prevalent in these parts, and the liquid
tremulous medium of which transforms the feature-
less dismal plain into luscious lakes of water with
floating islets of trees. Often were the soldiers of
Skobeleff's brigades deceived and disappointed by
this never-stale conjuring trick of the desert; and
the oldest traveller would probably confess to having
succumbed to its ever-green illusion.
Among the remarkable features of this tract of
country, none is more extraordinary than the varia-
tions of climate, which in their violent extremes are
out of all proportion to the latitude in which it lies,
the same as that of Smyrna, of Lisbon, and of San
Francisco. In summer the heat is that of a seven
times heated furnace, and the scanty water-sources
are insufficient to sustain life. The winter cold is
Sometimes Arctic ; entire herds of cattle are frozen
to death in the steppes; a deep snow covers the
ground to the depth of two or three feet; and many
human lives are lost in the storms. The past winter
(1888–9), for instance, has been one of uncommon
severity : the thermometer registered 20 degrees
(Réaumur) of frost; water was sold along the railway
at 28, a pailful; and the needs of fuel have wrought
shocking havoc among the rapidly dwindling
supplies of the Saxaoul. These climatic vicissitudes
render campaigning in any but the spring and
autumn months of the year a very precarious ven-
ture, and might abruptly suspend the most successful
Variations
of climate
76 Jø USSIA / W CENTRAL ASIA
Geok Tepe,
the old
Turkoman
fortress
military operations. The campaign of Geok Tepe
could not have reached so speedy and favourable an
issue but for the abnormal mildness of the winter of
1880–1, when the stars in their courses fought for
Skobeleff.
We passed Bahmi, a place once of some little
importance, and at 2.30 on the afternoon of the day
after leaving the Caspian stopped at the station of
Geok Tepe, about sixty yards from the mouldering
ruins of the famous Tekke fortress. Looking out of
the window beforehand, we had already caught sight
of the western face of the great rampart, and of a
small fort outside where were trees and some mills
worked by the Tekkes during the siege with the aid
of the stream that entered the encampment from this
quarter. Towering above the outer wall we could
also see in the north-western corner a lofty mound,
which was used as a post of observation and as a
battery by the besieged. The entire enclosure, which
is still fairly perfect, measured 2 miles 1,275 yards
in circuit, and the walls of rammed clay—though
crumbling to ruin and though stripped of their upper
half immediately after the capture in order to cover
the bodies of the thousands of slain—are still on the
average about twelve feet high. In their face are to
be seen the holes scooped out by the shells which
imbedded themselves uselessly in the earthy mass;
and on the side running parallel with the line are
still the two breaches on either side of the S.E. angle
which were created by the Russian mines. In the
centre is the main exit, masked by an Outer fortifica-
FROM THE CASPIAN TO MERV 77
tion, from which the impetuous sallies were made
that four times swept down like a tornado upon the
Russian camp. The latter was to the south of the
site now occupied by the station, and between it and
the mountains, from the top of one of which, on
January 24, 1881, Edmund O’Donovan, striving to
push his way to Skobeleff's army, and reaching the
crest at the critical moment, looked down as from
a balloon upon the distant assault, and watched
through his field-glass the crowd of fugitives as they
streamed in the agony of flight across the plain. I
have always thought this One of the most dramatic
incidents of modern history. Clambering up the
ruined bank, I found that it consisted of a double
wall the whole way round, or rather of a single
wall of enormous breadth, between the lofty battle-
ments of which on the top was a place where men
were placed to fire at the besiegers, and where, when
the fortress was stormed, many of them were found
sitting as they had been shot perhaps days before,
with their bodies pierced by bullets, and their heads
fallen forward between their knees." The bones of
' General Grodekoff in his work (chaps. xiv., xv.), supplies the
following details of the Turkoman fortress. It was a quadrilateral
enclosure, its north and south sides measuring respectively 980 and
560 yards, its eastern and western faces 1,680 and 1,575 yards. The
wall consisted of an earthen rampart, 35 feet thick at the base, and
from 21 to 28 feet thick at the top, and 15 feet high, thrown up and
trodden hard by men and horses, and then covered with a 5-feet coat-
ing of mud. On the top of the wall were an inner and an outer parapet
4; feet high, and respectively 2; and 3 feet thick, with a large number
of traverses, designed to prolong the defence, even against an enemy
who had penetrated to the interior. In the Outer parapet loopholes
were cut 9 inches wide, at a distance of 3; feet apart. All round the
outside was a ditch, with varying depth of from 6 to 9 feet, and breadth
78 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
camels, and sometimes of men, may still be seen lying
within the desolate enclosure; and for long after the
assault and capture, it was impossible to ride over
the plain without the horse-hoofs crushing into
human skulls. Visiting this interesting spot in the
company of an eye-witness of the siege, who was
brought into frequent personal contact with the Com-
mander-in-Chief, I was made acquainted with details
about the storming of the fortress, as well as about
the personality of the extraordinary man who con-
ducted it, that have not found their way into the
works dealing with either subject.
The main incidents of the siege and capture of
Geok Tepe are well known, and may be read in the
official report of General Skobeleff, which was trans-
lated into English, and published in this country in
1881." In March, 1880, Skobeleff was appointed
to the chief command. Having made a preliminary
reconnaissance of the Turkoman position in July of
the same year, he retired to the Caspian, completed
his preparations there, and in December returned
with about 7,000 men and over 60 guns to invest the
Story of
the siege
of Geok
Tepe
of from 12 to 17 feet; the Scarp and counterscarp being almost perpen-
dicular, and rifle-pits and steps being dug in places out of the latter.
In the inside, at the foot of the wall, was also a trench, 42 feet broad,
but only from 1 foot to 24 feet in depth. There were 21 gates or open-
ings in the walls, masked by large semicircular traverses outside, the
ditch being crossed by dykes. A branch from the Sakiz-Yeb stream
was conducted into the fort through one of these openings, and having
been separated into two channels, passed out again. A broad open
space ran down the centre of the enclosure, but in the remaining area
it was calculated that there were pitched 13,000 kibitkas.
* Siege and Assault of Denghil Tepe. By General Skobeleff
(translated). London, 1881. - - *.
FROM THE CASPIAN TO MERV 79
fortress, the correct name of which was Denghil
Tepe, Geok Tepe being the title of a small settlement
a little further in the desert. Having first cleared
the Turkomans out of the fortified redoubt of Yenghi
Kala at the foot of the cliffs, he pitched his own
camp there at a distance of a mile from the main
position at Denghil Tepe, within which were gathered,
under the command of Makdum Kuli Khan and his
general, Tekme Sirdar, since dead, the flower of
the Akhal Tekkes, with their wives and families—
some 35,000 persons, assisted by 10,000 horsemen.
Between the 1st and the 24th of January, a first, a
second, and finally a third parallel of siege works
were laid; enfilading batteries were erected to rake
the interior of the fort; four desperate sallies of the
besieged, made under cover of darkness, were suc-
cessfully repelled ; and the Russian lines were steadily
pushed forward till at last they were so close that
the Russian officers walking to and from the council
tent were fired at, that lights were forbidden at night
because they attracted a hail of bullets, and that
Wounded men in the ambulance tents were shot
again as they lay. Some of the troops were in the
trenches, where also Skobeleff's tent was pitched; he
courted every risk himself, and was never so grati-
fied as when he heard that his officers had been in
serious danger and under fire. When the Russians
began to dig their mines for the final assault, their
advanced redoubt was only 70 yards from the Tekke
ramparts, and the troops in the foremost trenches
could actually hear the Turkomans talking together
80 RUSSIA IW CE WTRAL ASIA|
IPrepara-
tions for
assault
Assault
and cap-
ture, Jan.
24, 1881
on the walls, and wondering what their opponents
were doing, poking their snouts like pigs into the
ground. Russian sentinels on the watch-towers fre-
quently overheard the discussions and ejaculations of
the besieged, and reported to the general the wan-
ing spirit of the defence. Nevertheless the Tekkes
fought with amazing desperation and courage. They
would creep out from the fort at night, crawl over
the sand, lying motionless perhaps for hours in the
same position, and finally steal the Russian rifles,
piled right under the noses of the sentinels, and glide
stealthily away. -
On the 20th of January, breaching operations
commenced, and part of the wall was knocked down
by artillery, but was as quickly repaired by the be-
sieged. Finally the two mines, easterly and westerly,
were ready ; the former was charged with over a ton
of gunpowder; and at 1 A.M. On the morning of the
24th, Lieutenant Ostolopoff and Naval Cadet Meyer'
volunteered to carry a charge of gun-cotton to the
walls and explode it in the western breach which had
already been battered open by the cannon fire. This
feat was successfully performed. Meyer was shot by
a bullet through the face, but ultimately recovered,
and with the aid of an artificial palate can still speak.
On the morning of the 24th the troops were in
position at 6 A.M. The attacking force was divided
into three columns, under Colonels Kuropatkin,
| Upon the recommendation of General Gloukhovskoe a Naval
Brigade had originally been summoned from Cronstadt to attempt
the navigation of the Atrek. When this proved a failure the sailors
and their officers were sent on to the front. -
FROM THE CASPIAN TO MERV 81
Kozelkoff, and Haidaroff, advancing two from the
South, and one from the west. At 7 A.M. the breach-
ing battery reopened fire with thirty-six guns upon
the old breach and soon knocked it down again, the
shells crashing through the aperture into the densely
packed interior, where they wrought fearful destruc-
tion. At 11.20 the gunpowder mine was sprung on
the S.E. face; a prodigious column of mingled dust
and smoke shot high into the air, and, falling, dis-
closed a yawning cavity fifty yards wide. At the
same instant the soldiers of the two main storming
columns, shouting “hurrah, rushed at the gap, where
a terrific hand-to-hand fight was waged with bayonet,
lance, and sword. Reserves came up from the rear,
with bands playing, drums beating, and colours
flying, to support the attack.
Simultaneously, the third column, with the aid of
scaling ladders, stormed the western face of the fort.
Inside was to be seen a sea of tents and a panic-
stricken but desperate crowd. From the opposite
direction thousands of fugitives streamed out on to
the plain ; but all through the day more resolute
spirits, concealed in huts or holes inside the enclosure,
continued to start out and fire at the victorious
enemy. Boulangier, in his book, speaking of the
assault, says, “At this solemn moment Skobeleff shone
so splendidly in the eyes of his men, that he seemed
to their imagination to be a type of the god of war.’
As a matter of fact it was rather difficult either for
Skobeleff to shine on this Occasion, or for his men to
see him ; for he took no part in the attack himself,
G
82 RUSSIA IW CEWTRAI, ASIA
Pursuit
and mas-
sacre of the
Turko-
IſlallS
but, as a prudent general should, directed the Opera-
tions from the rear. Boulangier's phrase was based
on a misunderstanding of an account which Dr.
Heyfelder had given him of a mimic repetition of the
assault which Skobeleff ordered a few weeks later for
the entertainment of a distinguished Persian khan,
and which he led with boyish enthusiasm himself.
Within less than an hour of the assault, the three
columns had joined ranks inside the fort; and in
close formation, with massed bands, advanced to
the hill of Denghil Tepe, from which at 1 P.M. the
two-headed eagle, fluttering in the breeze, proclaimed
a Russian victory.
Then ensued the least creditable episode of the
entire campaign. At 4 in the afternoon Skobeleff
led his cavalry through the breach and ordered both
horse and foot to pursue the retreating enemy and
to give no quarter. This command was obeyed with
savage precision by both till darkness fell—by the
infantry (six companies) for a distance of seven miles,
by the cavalry (a division of dragoons and four
Sotnias of Cossacks) for eleven miles, supported by a
battery of horse artillery with long range guns.
Eight thousand persons of both sexes and all ages
were mercilessly cut down and slain. “On the morn-
ing after the battle they lay in rows like freshly
mown hay, as they had been swept down by the
mitrailleuses and cannon. In the fort were found the
corpses of 6,500 men, and some thousands of living
women and children. There too, in General Grode-
FROM THE CASPIA W TO MERV 83
koff's own words, “all who had not succeeded in es-
caping were killed to a man by the Russian soldiers,
the only males spared being the Persian prisoners,
who were easily recognised by the fetters on their
legs, and of whom there were about 600 in all. After
that Only women and children, to the number of about
5,000, were left.” The troops were allowed to loot
without interruption for four days, and booty to the
value of 600,000l. was found inside the fortress. In
the Operations of the day the Russian loss was only
60 killed and 340 wounded ; during the entire cam-
paign 283 killed and 689 wounded. Within the
same time Skobeleff admitted that he must have
destroyed 20,000 of the enemy.
It was not a rout, but a massacre; not a defeat,
but extirpation; and it is not surprising that after
this drastic lesson, the Tekkes of the Akhal oasis
have never lifted a little finger against their con-
Querors.
An incident related to me in Transcaspia afforded
an interesting corroboration of the immeasurable
effect that was produced upon the inhabitants by
this disastrous day. I have already narrated that
the Russian columns advanced to the assault with
Impression
left upon
the con-
quered
drums beating and bands playing, a favourite plan of
Skobeleff's whenever he attacked. Five years later,
when the railway was opened to Askabad, and in the
course of the inaugural ceremonies the Russian mili-
tary music began to play, the Turkoman women and
children raised woful cries of lamentation, and the
G 2
84 Jº USSIA IW OF WTPAJ, ASIA
men threw themselves on the ground with their fore-
heads in the dust."
For the horrible carnage that followed upon the
capture of Geok Tepe, Skobeleff and the Russians
cannot escape reproach. The former, though generous
and merciful towards his own men, had no pity for
an enemy. To an utter contempt for human life he
joined a physical excitement on the battlefield, by
which his followers as well as himself were trans-
ported. It was written of him that “he rode to
battle clad in white, decked with orders, scented and
curled, like a bridegroom to a wedding, his eyes
gleaming with wild delight, his voice tremulous with
joyous excitement.’ War was to him the highest
expression of human force; and in action he seemed
to acquire a perfect lust for blood. The Turkomans
called him Guenz Kamli, or Bloody Eyes, and his
presence inspired them with a superstitious terror.
When organising his forces before the campaign he
particularly requested that no officers with humani-
tarian ideas should be sent to the front. In a letter
to the chief of the staff of the Caucasus Military
District he wrote as follows:–
Skobeleff
and the
Jīlā,SS8,Cre
* Compare with this the account given by General Grodekoff
(chap. xv.) of an incident that occurred during the siege on January 8,
the night of the grand sortie. “Both bodies of Turkoman troops were
close to the Kala (i.e. fortified redoubt) when Suddenly music burst
forth from the trenches, and the Tekkes at Once hastened to retire into
the fortress. This music, it appeared, exercised a most depressing influ-
ence upon the Turkomans, and one which they could not shake off.
It forced the Ishans (i.e. priests) to pray, and caused universal terror;
for whenever the music played they imagined the Russians were
advancing to the assault.”
FROM THE CASPIAN TO MERV 85
The hard necessities of war are everywhere alike, and the
steps taken by Lomakin (in September 1879) require no
justification. There is no doubt as to this in my own mind,
or as to the soldier being permitted to have no opinions of
his own in such matters, and being solely obliged to obey
orders. I must ask you, for the good of the service, and for
the sake of the duty entrusted to me, only to send me officers
whose sole idea is their duty, and who do not entertain
visionary sentiments."
After Geok Tepe had fallen and the rout was
Over, he remarked : “How unutterably bored I am,
there is nothing left to do.’ His own cruelty was not
shared by many of his men, who, when the fight was
Over, might be seen walking about, holding the little
fatherless Tekke children by the hand. I have nar-
rated or revived these incidents, because, repellent
though they be to nineteenth-century notions, and
discreditable to the Russian character, they do not
stand alone in the history of Russian Conquest in
Central Asia,” but are profoundly characteristic of
the methods of warfare by which that race has con-
sistently and successfully set about the subjugation
of Oriental peoples. .
Skobeleff himself candidly expressed it as follows:
‘I hold it as a principle that in Asia the duration of
peace is in direct proportion to the slaughter you
inflict upon the enemy. The harder you hit them
the longer they will be quiet afterwards. My system
* Grodekoff, chap. xvi.
* Compare the massacre of the Yomud Turkomans at Kizil Takir by
General Kaufmann after the fall of Khiva in 1873, and General Loma-
His prin-
ciple of
warfare
kin's bombardment of Tekke women and children at Denghil Tepe in
1879.
86 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
is this : To strike hard, and keep on hitting till
resistance is completely over; then at Once to form
ranks, cease slaughter, and be kind and humane to
the prostrate enemy. A greater contrast than this
can scarcely be imagined to the British method,
which is to strike gingerly a series of taps, rather
than a downright blow ; rigidly to prohibit all pillage
or slaughter, and to abstain not less wholly from
subsequent fraternisation. But there can be no
doubt that the Russian tactics, however deficient they
may be from the moral, are exceedingly effective
from the practical point of view; and that an Oriental
people in particular, on whose memory has been
stamped the print of some such terrible disaster, are
disposed to recognise in the heavy hand of the con-
queror the all-powerful will of God, and to pass at
Once from furious antagonism to peaceful and even
friendly submission.
Of Skobeleff's character and nature many stories
are still told by those who were brought into contact
with him in this campaign." He was one of those
rare spirits who, like Napoleon, exercised a magnetic
influence over other men, and the mere sight of
whose white uniform, flashing like the plume of
Henry of Navarre, electrified his troops on the field
of combat. A hundred exploits testify to his mag-
Character
of Skobe-
leff. His
marvellous
courage
* The criticism of Skobeleff's character is my own, and has not
been borrowed from any one source ; certainly not, as some of the
Russian papers seemed to imagine in noticing my original articles,
from Dr. Heyfelder, who never spoke to me of the general without
affection and respect, or of the Russians generally without admira-
tion.
FROM THE CASPIAAW TO MERV 87
nificent courage and insensibility to danger. He
had only twice been wounded in his life, and fre-
quently declared, “The bullet does not exist that
can strike me down.” On one occasion, before Geok
Tepe, he was leisurely surveying the fortress amid a
storm of bullets, when the staff surgeon joined him.
‘This is no place for you,' said Skobeleff, ‘I order
you to go.' The surgeon protested that by the
general's side he considered himself safe. “I am
invulnerable, was the reply, “but if you do not go,
well, I will immediately put you under arrest.’ The
surgeon having retired, Skobeleff then took a seat,
and calmly sat down to continue his observations
amid the fire of the enemy.
In the Turkoman campaign he declined to allow
any newspaper correspondents with his force—a
decision but for which poor O'Donovan would pro-
bably never have had either the temptation or the
opportunity to strike out for Merv —and did not
have a single newspaper sent after him to the front.
As a commander, though severe upon others, he set
a most dangerous example himself, for he knew no
discipline, and just as he had disobeyed the com-
mands of his superior officers in the Turkish war,
so he neglected the orders of the Emperor in the
Turkoman campaign. Nevertheless, a general at
thirty, and a popular idol when he succumbed to a
discreditable end at the early age of thirty-eight, it
is impossible to say if he had lived what he might
not have done or have become.
His private character was more eccentric still—a
His caprice
Idiosyn-
CI’8,S162S.
88 ; USSIA IV C E WTRAL AS/A
curious jumble of nobility and meanness, of manly
attributes, and of childish temper. At one time he
was bold, imperious, inspired; at another, querulous
and morose; now sanguine, now despondent, changing
his mood, like a chameleon its colour, half a dozen
times in the day. Even his friends were made the
victims of these Protean transformations, being alter-
nately treated with affection and contempt. The
transition would be reflected in his countenance,
which was now beautiful, now ugly, and in his physical
condition, which oscillated between masculine vigour
and nervous exhaustion. After Geok Tepe he was
ill for some weeks, and, though always on horseback,
yet after a long ride he would return so prostrated
that he almost fell from his saddle, and had to retire
to his bed for days. He was a magnificent figure
mounted, and was proud of his horses, which were
always white or grey, as he had a passion for that
colour, and even forgave a personal enemy who with
true diplomacy presented him with a fine white
charger bought for the purpose in Moscow. But his
horses were not safer from his incurable caprice than
were his friends. For when on one occasion after
the fall of Geok Tepe the grey Persian which he was
riding into the fort refused to cross the little canal
that flowed into the camp, he gave it away at Once,
and never mounted it again. His unscrupulousness
is well illustrated by the episode with which he com-
menced his public career. Then a young officer of
hussars in Turkestan, and burning for distinction, he
presented a report to Kaufmann, the Governor-General,
FROM THE CASPIAN TO MERV 89
upon the successful suppression of a horde of brigands
on the Bokharan frontier, in which he claimed to
have killed over forty of the bandits. The whole
thing subsequently turned out to be a myth, there
being no brigands at all."
Two anecdotes I heard in Transcaspia which
afford not a bad illustration of his wayward and ill-
balanced nature. After the fall of Geok Tepe, a
Russian general arrived from the Grand Duke Michael,
at that time Governor-General of the Caucasus, to in-
spect the camp and troops, and to make a report. This
officer, General Pavloff by name, had originally been
appointed, after the death of General Petrusevitch, to
replace Skobeleff, if the latter were killed; but
arriving at Krasnovodsk on the very day of the fall
of Geok Tepe, he was instructed to proceed in order
to discuss with the Commander-in-Chief the future
settlement of the oasis. Skobeleff was very angry
indeed, because this officer, though of inferior military
rank to himself (he having been promoted for the
affair of Geok Tepe), would yet take precedence of
him on this occasion as the representative of the
Grand Duke. Accordingly he did his best to shirk
a meeting altogether, and was infuriated when, the
general having fallen ill at Bahmi, he was at length
compelled to go and meet him, and above all to go
in a carriage, a thing which he had never before done
in time of war. The general proposed that they
should both retire to Krasnovodsk to discuss the
' Wide Autobiographical Sketches, by Vassili Verestchagin (trans-
lated). 1887, vol. ii. p. 257. - --
Anecdotes
of his
whims
90 RUSSIA IN CENTRAI, ASIA
question of decorations, &c. Then the patience of
Skobeleff broke down, or rather his unscrupulous
Story of
the Persian
FChan
resourcefulness came in. A telegram suddenly
arrived with the news that 6,000 Tekkes were ad-
vancing from Merv. It was, of course, impossible
for him to proceed to Krasnovodsk; he must return
at once to the camp. Orders were given for an
expedition to be prepared ; the medical staff was
required to get ready ; and some regiments which
were to leave for Russia on the next day, and had
made all their preparations for departure, were
countermanded at the last moment. Meanwhile the
luckless general, who was the fons et origo mali, had
retired alone to the Caspian. When he was well off
the scene of action Skobeleff's cheerfulness revived.
‘Let us wait a little, he said: “possibly the telegram
may not be true.’ And sure enough another telegram
soon followed saying that it was not 6,000 but 600
Tekkes who were on the way, and that they were
coming, not to attack the Russian camp, but to seek .
their families and friends. The curious thing was,
not that the trick succeeded, but that every soldier
in the force knew that it had been played by Skobe-
leff, and admired him none the less. -
A few weeks after the storming of Geok Tepe, a
distinguished Persian Khan, the Governor or Ilkhani
of Kuchan, whose full name was Shuja ud Daulat
Amir Hussein Khan, rode into the camp with an
escort of 300 Persians to congratulate Skobeleff on
his victory. The latter, who was in a pet, and did
not want to be bored with entertainment, his thoughts
FROM THE CASPIA W TO MER V 9 |
being centred in an advance upon Merv, had already
ridden off to Lutfabad, leaving his guest to the care
of his staff. The eminent Persian was very much
offended at this want of respect, and speaking at a
banquet said that he had come to compliment the
Russian commander, but as the commander was not
forthcoming he must depart. An aide-de-camp at
once galloped off with this ultimatum to Skobeleff,
who presently turned up much against his will, and
organised for the Khan the mimic assault to which I
have before alluded. In the evening a dinner was
given in his honour. The meal, however, had hardly
commenced when an officer arrived from St. Peters-
burg, bringing a decoration for Skobeleff and de-
spatches from the Emperor. Hastily deserting his
place by the Khan, with the feigned excuse of feeling
a draught, Skobeleff commissioned an officer of in-
ferior rank to fill his seat, while he himself moved to
a place lower down to chat with the new arrival
from St. Petersburg. Presently the Khan, being
very much insulted, rose and said “Good-night.’
Skobeleff then made excuses for his breach of manners,
but, remembering the draught, found himself unable
to return to the head of the table. The story, which
I heard from an eye-witness, is interesting Only as an
illustration of his whimsical and petulant temper.
If we were to sum up his character—and I have
laid stress upon it, as that of the only really command-
ing personality whom the history of Russian advance
in Central Asia has produced—we might conclude
that, though a greatly gifted, Skobeleff was not a great
Final
criticism
92 Jº USSIA IV CE WTRAL AS/A
Turkoman
peasants
man, being deficient in stability, in principle, and in
faith. In many respects his character was typical of
the Russian nation, in its present phase of develop-
ment, with one foot, so to speak, planted in a bar-
barian past, while the other is advancing into a new
world of ideas and action. To many it will seem that
he died in a happy hour, both for his country, which
might have suffered from his insensate levity and
passion for war, and for himself, seeing that his
reputation, which a premature death has now en-
shrined in legend, might not have permanently sur-
vived the touchstone of truth. Russian writers are
very sensitive indeed of criticism upon one who was
both a political idol and the darling of the army.
But foreigners are, perhaps, better able than his own
countrymen to ascertain the true perspective of this
meteoric phenomenon. They may confess, what the
ardour of a patriot might tempt him to conceal, that
the light which it shed, though often dazzling, was
sometimes lurid. r
Between Geok Tepe and the capital, Askabad, a
distance of about twenty-eight miles, the railway
passes through a country of more extensive cultiva-
tion and greater fertility. Tending their flocks, or
riding on horses or asses, are to be seen numerous
Turkomans, father and son sometimes bestriding the
same animal. In these peaceful and unimposing
rustics, who would divine the erewhile scourge and
man-hunter of the desert P Clad in his dilapidated
cotton dressing-gown or khalat, and with a huge
brown sheepskin bonnet, almost as big as a grenadier's
F/POM 7"/IE CASP/A IV TO ME/PV 93
bearskin, overshadowing his dusky features, he does
not perhaps look like a civilised being, but still less
would you take him for a converted Dick Turpin or
Claude Duval. Excellent agriculturists these ancient
moss-troopers are said to be, and now that the
heyday of licence and war and plunder has faded
into a dream, they settle down to a peasant's exis-
TURIXOMAN WILLAGE AND ORCHARDS.
tence with as much contentment as they formerly
leaped to saddle for a foray on the frontiers of
Khorasan.
Askabad, which we next reach, has all the appear-
ance of a large and flourishing place. Its station is
of European proportions and appointment. Numbers
of droshkies attend the arrival of the trains; and the
crowded platform indicates a considerable population.
Askabad

94 RUSSIA IN CENTRAI, ASIA
I was informed that the present figures are 10,000;
but these, which I believe to be an exaggerated
estimate, include the troops, of which there are three
rifle battalions and a regiment of Cossacks in or near
the town ; while two batteries of artillery are, I
believe, stationed further south, at Arman Sagait.
Askabad is the residence of the Governor-General and
Commander-in-Chief (the two functions in a military
Tégime being united in the same individual), and the
administrative centre of Transcaspia. The present
Governor is General Komaroff, a man whose name is
well known to Englishmen as the Russian commander
in the famous affair on the Kushk, on March 30, 1885,
which we have named from the contiguous and dis-
puted district of Penjdeh. Into the question at issue
between him and Sir Peter Lumsden I do not wish to
re-enter. I afterwards met General Komaroff, and
enjoyed an interesting conversation with him, to which
I shall have occasion further to allude. He is a short,
stout, middle-aged man, with a bald head, spectacles,
and a square grizzled beard, and cannot be described
as of dignified appearance. Indeed he reminded me
of a university professor dressed up in uniform, and
metamorphosed from a civilian into a soldier. To
administrative energy he adds the tastes of a student
and the enthusiasm of an antiquarian; having, as he
1 Alexander Komaroff was born in 1830, entered the army at the
age of nineteen, being gazetted to the Imperial Guard, was sent to the
Caucasus in 1855, served under General Mouravieff at Kars, was sub-
sequently appointed Governor of Derbent and chief of the military
administration of the native tribes of the Caucasus; was made a
Lieutenant-General in 1877, and Governor-General of Transcaspia in
1883.
FROM THE CASPIAN TO MERV 95
informed me, amassed a collection of the antiquities
of Transcaspia, including a statuette, apparently of
Athene, of the best Greek period, some ornaments in
the style of the beautiful Kerteh collection at St.
Petersburg, and no less than forty specimens of coins
not previously known.
The Government of Transcaspia has, during the
last five years, reached such dimensions that rumours
have been heard of its approaching declaration of
independence of the Caucasus, by the Governor-
General of which it is still controlled ; while a short
time ago General Komaroff is said to have defeated
a scheme to render it subordinate to the Governor-
General of Turkestan, hitherto the greatest potentate
of Central Asia, and to have sought from the Emperor
the privilege of responsibility to him alone. If sub-
ordination to the Caucasus is perpetuated, it will
only be because of the easy and uninterrupted com-
munication between Transcaspia and that part of the
empire, in contrast to European Russia, and because
in time of war the Caucasus would be the base from
which reinforcements and supplies would naturally be
drawn. If, on the other hand, it is placed under
Turkestan, it will be because of the danger of divided
military action in a region so critical as the Afghan
border. In any case, the increasing importance of
Transcaspia affords a striking illustration of a fact, to
which I shall frequently revert, viz. the shifting from
east to west of the centre of gravity in the Central
Asian dominions of the Czar, with its consequent bear-
ings, of incalculable importance, upon the relations
Govern-
ment of
Trans-
caspia
96 Jº USSIA / W C E VTRAI, AS/A
of Russia and Great Britain in the East. Transcaspia,
with an inhabited area of 13,000 square geographical
miles, now consists of three districts and two sub-
districts, each governed by a colonel or lieutenant-
colonel, viz. Mangishlak with its capital Fort Alex-
androvsk on the Caspian, Krasnovodsk, Akhal Tekke
with its capital Askabad, Tejend, and Merv. To these
are added the two territories, administered by com-
missioners, of Yuletan and Sarakhs. Its population
has been ludicrously exaggerated in all extant English
works, and consists, according to the latest returns, of
311,000 persons (exclusive of the Russian army and
administration), of whom the Turkomans of Merv
number 110,000; and it includes all the four prin-
cipal oases already named, besides the Atrek region
which was joined to Akhal Tekke in 1886, and the
minor oases inhabited by the Sarik and Salor Turko-
mans of Yuletan, Sarakhs, and Penjdeh. Of the en-
tire population 83 per cent. are Turkomans, 14 per
cent. Kirghiz (of the Mangishlak peninsula), and the
remaining 3 per cent., or 9,000, Russians, Armenians,
Dersians, Jews, and Bokhariots. e
Resources In 1885 the wealth of Transcaspia in animals was
* computed as follows: 107,000 camels, 68,000 horses,
22,000 asses, 47,000 horned cattle, and 1,400,000
sheep. Of natural resources, 8,064 tons of salt were
reported to have been extracted in the Krasnovodsk
district, and 120,000 gallons of petroleum from the
wells of Bala Ishem. In the same year, i.e., before
the extension of the Transcaspian Railway, the im-
ports were roughly estimated at 300,000l., the exports
FROM THE CASPIA W TO MERV 97
at 77,300l., figures which would be completely dwarfed
by the present returns. In 1885, the following sums
were said to have been raised in taxation : 91,000
roubles house-tax, or rather tent-tax, levied on each
hibitka, 15,000 roubles customs or caravan-tax, 1,200
roubles house-tax levied in the cities. On the other
hand, in 1887 the State and Land Taxes combined are
said to have produced a revenue of 27,400l. from
Transcaspia. These totals, again, supply an imperfect
basis for more recent computations.
Askabad itself has a printing-press, a photographic
establishment, and European shops and hotels. The
houses are for the most part of one storey, and are
freely bedaubed with white. A small fortified emceinte
supplies a reminder of the days, not yet ten years
gone by, when the Russians were strangers and sus-
pects in the land. In the centre of the town is an
obelisk erected in memory of the artillerymen who
were killed in the siege and capture of Geok Tepe,
and at its base are planted the Afghan guns which
were captured in the skirmish on the Kushk. The
town is a purely Russian settlement, though the busi-
ness quarter has attracted a large number of Ar-
menians, Persians, and Jews. City life is avoided by
the Turkomans, who prefer the tented liberty of the
steppe.
Askabad is also a place of high strategical signi-
ficance, as being the meeting-point of the Khivan
and Persian roads. Already the north of Persia
and Khorasan are pretty well at Russian mercy
from a military point of view ; though there is
H
Buildings
of the
town
Strategical
importance
of Askabad
and roads
into Persia.
98 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
some bravado in talking, as the Russians always do,
of the Shah as a vassal, and of Persia as in a parallel
plight to Bokhara or Khiva. Since the Occupation of
Transcaspia the Russians have rendered an advance
still more easy by constructing a military road from
20 ft. to 24 ft. broad, and available for artillery, from
Askabad over the Kopet Dagh to the Persian frontier,
where at present it terminates abruptly at one of the
frontier pillars placed by the Commission near the
hamlet of Baz Girha. The distance is thirty miles from
Askabad. At present there is nothing better than a
mountain track, descending upon the other side to
Kuchan and the high road to Meshed; a contrast which
is due to the failure of the Persians to fulfil their part
of the bargain, Russia having undertaken to construct
the first section of the chaussée to the frontier, while
the remaining portion of forty miles to Kuchan was to
be laid by General Gasteiger Khan for the Government
of the Shah. To this co-operate roadway was to be
joined a steam tramway originally projected by a
merchant named Nikolaieff, which was to cover the
remaining 100 miles to Meshed, and, under the guise
of commercial transit, to provide Russia with a pri-
vate way of entry into Khorasan. There is reason to
believe that, elated with its recent successes in the
matter of a Russian consul at Meshed, the Imperial
Government is urgently pressing for the execution
of this project ; and at any moment we may find that
the centre of interest has shifted from the Afghan to
the Persian frontier. This is a question of which I
shall have something to say later. On. In any case,
FROM THE CASPIAN TO MERV 99
whether a future movement upon Khorasan be forcible
or pacific, this road will without doubt afford the main
and a most effective line of advance. Already it has
been announced in the press that it is beginning to
be used by Bokharan merchants, in connection with
the caravan routes through Persia from the ports of
Bender-Abbas or Bushire, for merchandise from India, .
in preference to the shorter but less safe and more
costly routes through Afghanistan."
A politic act on the part of General Annenkoff was
the issue of a proclamation pointing out the advan-
tages of his railway, in connection with the Askabad-
Kuchan road, to pilgrims of the Shiite persuasion,
both from Western Persia and from the provinces
of the Caucasus, desirous of reaching the sacred city
of Meshed—advantages by which I was informed
that they already profit in considerable numbers.
Not that the Orthodox Sunnite is without his equal
consolations from the line. It is, in fact, becoming a
popular method of locomotion, on the first part of the
way to Mecca, for the devout hadji of Bokhara,
Samarkand, and the still further east. Six thousand
such pilgrims travelled upon it in 1887; and it was
1 Wide the following extract from the journal of the Russian
Ministry of Finance (No. 19, 1889) : “Some successful attempts have
recently been made to introduce certain goods (chiefly green tea) from
India into Bokhara by the roundabout way of Bender-Bushire, Persia,
Askabad, and beyond by the Transcaspian railway. This route has
been chosen by Bokharan merchants, according to the testimony of
the chief official of the Bokharan Customs, in consequence of the
facilities offered by the railway for the transport of goods, and also
because merchandise brought thereby escapes the exorbitant transit
dues imposed by the Afghans.”
Use of the
railway by
pilgrims to
Meshed
and Mecca.
100 . RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
The Atek
Oasis and
Dushak
estimated that the total would reach ten thousand in
I888.
Among the stations passed after leaving Askabad
are Gyaurs and Baba. Durmaz, both of which were
familiar names during the epoch when Russian diplo-
macy averred and British credulity believed that the
limit of Russian advance could be drawn somewhere
or anywhere between Askabad and Merv. The former
is generally recognised as the commencement of the
Atek or mountain-base oasis, in which horticulture
and agriculture continue to prevail, and which is pro-
longed as far as the rich pastures of Sarakhs. The
greater part of it was acquired by treaty with Persia
in 1881. Artik, the next station to Baba. Durmaz, is
Only a few miles from Tutfabad, a Persian town on
the near side of the mountains, round which a loop
was thrown, leaving it to Persia, in the delimitation
that followed upon the treaty of that year. The oasis
ends at Dushak, a place of considerable importance,
inasmuch as it is the present southernmost station of
the line, where the rails run nearest to Afghanistan,
and the consequent starting-point for Sarakhs and
the frontier at Zulfikar, from which it is distant only
130 miles. When any extension of the line in a
southerly direction is contemplated—a subject of
which I shall have more to say—it might possibly be
from Dushak (a Persian name with the curiously apt
signification of Two Branches) that it would start;
and should the idea of an Indo-Russian railway ever
emerge from the limbo of chimeras in which it is at
present interned, it would be from Dushak that the
FROM THE CASPIAN TO MERV 101
lines of junction with Chaman, Quetta, and the Bolan
would most naturally be laid.
Some of my friends on our return journey con-
templated making a little excursion from Dushak over
the Persian frontier to the native Khanate of Kelat-i-
Nadiri and possibly even as far as Meshed, a distance
over a very rough mountain road of eighty miles;
but on telegraphing to the Russian authorities at
Askabad for permission to pass the frontier and to
return by the same route, we were peremptorily for-
bidden, the officer who dictated the despatch subse-
quently informing me that the frontier was not safe in
these parts, a murder having recently been committed
there or thereabouts, and that the consent of the Per-
sian authorities would have had to be obtained from
Teheran, as well as a special authorisation from St.
Petersburg—an accumulation of excuses which was
hardly wanted to explain the refusal of the Russians
to allow three Englishmen to visit so tenderly
nursed a region as the frontiers of Khorasan. Kelat,
indeed, is understood to be the point of the Persian
frontier where Russian influence, and, it is alleged,
Russian roubles, are most assiduously at work; and
where the troubles and risk of future conquest are
being anticipated by the surer methods of subsidised
conciliation. -
I should greatly like to have seen Kelat-i-Nadiri,
which is a most interesting place, and of which more
will be heard in the future. Visited, or mapped, or
described, by Sir C. MacGregor (“Journey through
Khorasan'), Colonel Valentine Baker (“Clouds in the
Refusal of
permission
to visit
Kelat and
Meshed
Kelat-i-
Nadiri
102 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
The Te-
jend oasis
East’), O'Donovan (‘The Merv Oasis'), and Captain
A. C. Yate (‘Travels with the Afghan Boundary
Commission'), it is known to be one of the strongest
natural fortresses in the world. An elevated valley.
of intensely fertile soil, irrigated by a perennial stream,
is entirely surrounded and shut out from external
communication by a lofty mountain barrier, from 800
to 1,200 feet high, with a precipitous scarp of from
300 to 600 feet. The cliffs are pierced by only five
passages, which are strongly fortified and impregnable
to attack. The entire enclosure, which O'Donovan
very aptly compared with the Happy Valley of
Rasselas, and which is a kingdom in miniature, is
twenty-one miles long and from five to seven miles
broad. Its value to Russia lies in its command of
the head-waters of the streams that irrigate the Atek.
In the spring of this year (April 1889) it was rumoured
that Kelat had been ceded by Persia to Russia; but en-
quiries very happily proved that this was not the case.
From Dushak, where we finally lose sight of the
great mountain wall, under the shadow of which we
have continued so long, the railway turns at an angle
towards the north-east and enters the Tejend oasis.
Presently it crosses the river of that name, which is
merely another title for the lower course of the Heri
Rud, where it emerges from the mountains and
meanders over the sandy plain (the oasis is a thing of
the future rather than of the present) prior to losing
itself in a marshy swamp in the Kara Kum. Among
the rivers of this country, none present more striking
contrasts, according to the season of the year, than the
FROM THE CASPIAN TO MERV 103
Tejend. At time of high water, in April and May, it
has a depth of forty feet, and a width, in different
parts, of from eighty yards to a quarter of a mile.
Later on, under the evaporation of the summer heats,
it shrinks to a narrow streamlet, or is utterly exhausted
by irrigation canals. The Tejend swamp is over-
grown by a sort of cane-brake or jungle teeming with
wildfowl and game of every description, particularly
TEKKE CHIEFS OF THE TEJEND OASIS.
wild boars. General Annenkoff's first bridge crosses
the river at a point where it is from 80 to 100 yards
wide. Then follow the sands again; for wherever
water has not been conducted there is sand, and the
meaning of an oasis in these parts is, as I have said,
simply a steppe rendered amenable to culture by arti-
ficial irrigation, there being no reason why, if a more

104 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
abundant water supply could either be manipulated
or procured, the whole country should not in time, if
I may coin the word, be oasified. The sands continue
for nearly fifty miles, till we again find ourselves in
the midst of life and verdure, and on the early morn-
ing of our second day after leaving the Caspian glide
into a station bearing the historic name of Merv.
105
CHAPTER V
FROM MERW TO THE OXUS
But I have seen
Afrasiab's cities only, Samarkand,
J3okhara, and lone Khiva in the waste,
And the black Toorkmun tents; and only drunk
The desert rivers, Moorghub and Tejend,
Rohik, and where the Kalmuks feed their sheep,
The Northern Sir, and the great Oxus stream,
The yellow Oxus.
MATTHEw ARNOLD, Sohrab and Ruslam.
Appearance of the modern Merv–The Russian town—History of the
ancient Merv —British travellers at Merv–Russian annexation in
1884—Fertility, resources, and population of the oasis—Adminis-
tration, taxation, and irrigation—Trade returns—Future develop-
ment of the oasis—Turkoman character—Strategical importance of
Merv — Ferment on the Afghan frontier arising out of the revolt of
Is-hak Khan — Movements of Is-hak and Abdurrahman—Colonel
Alikhanoff, Governor of Merv–The Turkoman militia—Possible
increase of the force—The Turkoman horses—The Khans of Merv
at Baku–The ruined fortress of Koushid Khan Kala–Old cities of
Merv —Emotions of the traveller—Central Asian scenery—The
Sand-dunes again—I)escription of the ancients—Difficulties of the
railway—The Oxus—Width and appearance of the channel—
General Annenkoff’s railway bridge—Its temporary character—
The Oxus flotilla,
WHEN O’Donovan rode into Merv on March 1, 1881,
after following on horseback much the same route
from the Persian frontier as we have been doing by
* The Kohik is the modern Zerafshan, which waters Samarkand and
Bokhara.
Appear-
ance of the
modern
Mery
106 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL AS/A
rail, he confessed to a sense of disappointment at
finding the domes and minarets of the great city of
his imagination dwindle into a couple of hundred
huts, placed on the right bank of a scanty stream.
The visitor of to-day, who, though he be, thanks to
O'Donovan and others, better informed, yet still
expects some halo of splendour to linger round the
ancient Queen of the World, suffers an almost similar
disenchantment. He sees only a nascent and as yet
very embryonic Russian town, with some station
buildings, two or three streets of irregular wooden
houses, and of generally inchoate appearance, and
that is all. No ancient city, no ruins, no signs of
former greatness or reviving prosperity. It is true
that on the other side of the Murghab–at the season
of the year when I saw it a slender but very muddy
stream, flowing in a deep bed between lofty banks,
and here crossed by a wooden pile bridge, fifty-five
yards long—he sees looming up the earthen walls of
the unfinished fortress of Koushid Khan Kala, upon
which the Mervi were so busily engaged during
O'Donovan's stay in 1881. But these have to a large
extent been pulled down or have fallen into decay;
and the romance is not restored to them by the dis-
covery that they now contain several unimpeachable
whitewashed dwellings of European structure and
appearance, which are in fact the Russian Official
quarters, and edifices, and comprise the residences of
Colonel Alikhanoff, Governor of Merv, General Annen-
koff, the colonel commanding the garrison, and others,
as well as public gardens and a small Russian church.
FROM MERW TO THE OXUS 107:
The fact is that this Merv never was an important
city, or even a city at all. It is merely a site, first
occupied by the Tekke Turkomans when under their
famous leader Koushid Khan they swept up the valley
of the Murghab in the year 1856, driving the Sariks
or previous settlers before them, and ousting them.
BRIDGE OVER THE MURGHAB AT MERV.
from their city of Porsa Kala, the ruins of which still
stand twenty miles to the south. Not that the Sarik
city itself had any closer connection with the Merv of
antiquity, the Merv or Maour' or Merou of which
Arab scribes wrote so lovingly, and of which Moore
Sang : —
Merv was the Persian, Maour the Tartar name.

I 08 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
The
Russian
town
And fairest of all streams the Murga roves
Among Merou's bright palaces and groves.
The real and ancient Merv or Mervs—for there
were three successive cities—are situated ten miles
across the plain to the east, and will be mentioned
later on.
It was only after the youngest of these was sacked
at the end of the last century, and the irrigation
works, upon which its life depended, were destroyed,
that the Turkomans moved westwards and made the
western branch of the Murghab their headquarters.
Of a people who led so unsettled a life, and whose
largest centre of population was not a city but a
camp, it would be useless to expect any permanent
relics; and therefore it is not surprising that the
present Merv consists only of the rickety town which
the Russians have built, and which is inhabited mainly
by Persians, Jews, and Armenians, and of the official
quarter before alluded to within the mouldering walls
of the never-completed Tekke fortress. The town
itself, so far from increasing, is at the present moment
diminishing in numbers. A visitor in 1886 describes
its population as 3,000; but it cannot now be more
than one-third of that total. The reason of the
diminution is this. From the time of the annexation
in February, 1884, and while the railway was being
pushed forward to Amu Daria, Merv was the head-
quarters of General Annenkoff and his staff. There
was a sudden inflation of business, shops were run
up, merchants came, and the brand-new Merv fancied
FROM MERW TO THE O XUS 109
that it had inherited some aroma of the ancient re-
nown. A club-house, open, as the Russian military
clubs always are, to both sexes, provided a centre of
social reunion, and was the scene of weekly dancing
and festivity. For the less select, a music-hall re-
echoed on the banks of the Murghab the airs of
Offenbach and the melodies of Strauss. The Turko-
mans, attracted by the foreign influx, flocked in
large numbers from their settlements on the Oasis,
and drove an ephemeral but thriving trade. But
with the forward movement of the railway battalion,
and still more with the occupation by the line of
Bokhara and Samarkand, this fictitious importance
died away, most of the shops were shut, the town
now contains only 285 houses, numbered from one
upwards, and except on bazaar days, which are twice
a week, and when a dwindling crowd of natives col-
lects in the open air on the other or right bank of
the Murghab, very little business appears to be done.
Whether or not the glory of Merv may revive will
depend upon the success or failure of the schemes
for the regeneration of the surrounding Oasis, which
are now being undertaken.
Of the ancient history of Merv, it will be sufficient
here to say that it has been one of even greater and
more startling vicissitudes than are common with the
capitals of the East. Its glories and sieges and sacks
excited the eloquence of chroniclers and the wonder-
ment of pilgrims. Successively, a satrapy of Tarius
(under the name Margush, whence obviously the
Greek Margus (Murghab) and Margiana); a city and
History of
ancient
Merv
(110 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA.
colony of Alexander ; a province of the Parthians,
whither Orodes transported the 10,000 Roman
soldiers whom he took prisoners in his famous victory
over Crassus; the site of a Christian bishopric ; * an
Arabian capital (where, at the end of the eighth
century, Mokannah, the veiled prophet of Khorasan,
kindled the flame of schism); the seat of power of a
Seljuk dynasty, and the residence and last resting-
place of Alp Arslan and Sultan Sanjur; a prey to
the awful scourge of the Mongol, and an altar for the
human hecatombs of Jenghiz Khan; a frontier out-
post of Persia; a bone of armed contention between
Bokhara and Khiva ; a Turkoman encampment; and
a Russian town, it has surely exhausted every revolu-
tion of fortune's wheel, and in its last state has
touched the expiring chord of the diapason of ro-
mance. For English travellers and readers, its
interest lies less in the faded tomes of the past than
in the records of the present century, during which
several visits to it, or attempts to visit it, have been
made by the small but heroic band of British pioneers
in Central Asia.
Dr. Wolff, the missionary, was twice at Merv, in
1831 and again in 1844, upon his courageous errand
of enquiry into the Stoddart and Conolly tragedy at
Bokhara. Burnes halted on the Murghab, but did
British
travellers
at Merv
1 The city was known as Antiocheia Margiana, from Antiochus
Soter, who rebuilt it ; and it was the capital of the Graeco-Syrian pro-
vince of Margiana. *3
* Christianity was introduced at Merv about 200 A.D., and Jacobite
and Nestorian congregations flourished there as late as under Arab
rule.
FROM MERW TO THE OXUS 111
not see Merv itself, on his way from Bokhara to
Meshed in 1832. Abbott and Shakespear were there
in 1840 on their journey to Khiva. Thomson, in 1843,
was the next, and Wolff was the last English visitor
for nearly forty years; MacGregor and Burnaby being
both recalled in 1875, when about to start for Merv,
from the West and North respectively. At length, in
1881, the curtain of mystery, torn aside by the ad-
venturous hand of O'Donovan, revealed the Tekke
Turkoman clans existing under a tribal form of go-
vernment, regulated by a council and presided over
by khans, and debating with feverish anxiety the
impending advance of the terrible “Ouroussi.’
The circumstances of the later and pacific an-
nexation of Merv are well known, having been debated
in Parliament, discussed in Blue Books, and enshrined
in substantial volumes." There can be no doubt that
immediately after the victory of Geok Tepe the
thoughts of the Russians were turned in the direction
of Merv, and Skobeleff was bitterly disappointed at
not being allowed to push on so far. Prudence, how-
ever, and still more the desirability of calming the
suspicions of England, suggested a temporary delay,”
and the employment of more insidious means.
1 Wide especially The Russians at the Gates of Herat. By C.
Marvin, London, 1885.
* On March 25, 1881, in the debate on the evacuation of Kandahar
in the House of Commons, Sir Charles Dilke (then Under-Secretary
for Foreign Affairs) gave the following enigmatic assurance: ‘He was
able to make this statement, that the very first act of the new Em-
peror, upon ascending the throne, was to recall General Skobeleff to
St. Petersburg, and to put a stop to all operations which that general
had been conducting in Asia.”
Russian
annexation
in 1884
112 RUSSIA IW CE WTRAL ASIA
Accordingly, commercial relations were opened with
the inhabitants of the Merv oasis; surveys of their
country, and even of their encampment, were obtained
by Alikhanoff, who under the guise of a merchant's
clerk accompanied a trading caravan thither in
February 1882, and conducted secret negotiations with
the more propitious chieftains; the rouble was
plentifully distributed; " and finally, in the spring of
1884—while British hands were full in Upper Egypt
and no untimely interference was to be expected—the
same Alikhanoff, reappearing upon the scene, enforced,
by significant allusions to a Russian detachment in the
immediate neighbourhood, his demand for a surrender
of the tribe and their oasis to the Czar. The chiefs
acquiesced and took the oath of allegiance. Koma-
roff's troops advanced at full speed, before the Anti-
Russian party, under the lead of Kadjar Khan and
one Siakh-Push, an Afghan fanatic who seems to have
exercised an extraordinary influence over the Tekkes,
could organise a serious resistance. A few shots
were exchanged, and a certain number of Turkoman
saddles emptied; the fortress of Koushid Khan Kala
was occupied; the hostile leaders fled or were cap-
tured; a shower of stars and medals from St. Peters-
burg rewarded the services of conquest or sweetened
the pains of surrender ; and Merv was at last made
part and parcel of the Russian Empire. The flame of
diplomatic protest blazed fiercely forth in England;
but, after a momentary combustion, was, as usual,
* Wide Parliamentary Papers, ‘Central Asia,” No. 2, 1885, pp. 118,
129.
FROM MERW TO THE OXUS 113
extinguished by a flood of excuses from the inex-
haustible reservoirs of the Neva.
The oasis of Merv, which owes its existence to
the bounty of the river Murghab and its subsidiary
network of canals and streams, is said in most works
on the subject to consist of about 1,600 square
miles; though at present but a small fraction of this
extent is under systematic or scientific cultivation.
Its natural fertility is greater by far than that of any
of the three oases hitherto encountered. As early
as the tenth century the Arab traveller, Ibn Haukal,
affirmed that ‘ the fruits of Merv are finer than those
of any other place, and in no other city are to be
seen such palaces and groves, and gardens and
streams.” Vanished, alas ! is all this ancient splen-
dour; but still the cattle of its pastures, the fruits of its
Orchards—grapes, peaches, apricots, and mulberries
—and the products of its fields—wheat, cotton,
barley, Sorghum, Sesame, rice, and melons, yielding
from twenty-fold to one hundred-fold—are superior
to those of any other district between Khiva and
Rhorasan." Linked to it in a chain of fertilised tracts
towards the south and South-west are the minor
oases of Yuletan, Sarakhs, and Penjdeh, inhabited by
the Sarik and Salor Turkomans, living in scattered
encampments or aouls, whose joint numbers are
about 60,000 souls, as compared with the 110,000
Tekke Turkomans of Merv. Of the extraneous
* The rainfall at Merv is fifty days in the year. The mean annual
temperature is 18° (Réaumur); that of the hottest month is 34°, and
of the coldest month 4°.
I
Fertility,
resources,
and popu-
lation of
the oasis
114 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Adminis-
tration,
taxation,
and irriga-
tion
population, 3,500 are Persians and Tartars, nearly the
same number Armenians, over 2,000 Russians and
Poles, 1,000 Khivans and Bokhariots, 300 Jews,
and a residuum of Caucasians, Greeks, Germans,
Hungarians, Afghans, and Kirghiz. These figures,
derived from the latest available returns, are greatly
inferior to the estimates published in all extant
English works, which have ludicrously over-estimated
the totals. The wealth of the oasis, other than in
the products of agriculture, sericulture, and horti-
culture, is expressed in flocks of sheep and goats, of
which there are 700,000 head, horses 20,500, asses
21,500, cattle 44,000, and camels 16,500. Its
principal manufacture is that of the now renowned
Turkoman carpets, of close velvety texture and
uniform pattern, made by the women, and exported
to Europe at the present rate of 4,000 a year, with a
value of 32,000l. I take the following extract
verbatim from one of the letters of the St. Petersburg
correspondent of the ‘Times, to whom also I am in-
debted for the above figures:—
There are forty volosts, or sub-districts, in the Merv circuit,
with four to nine aouls in each. Each volost elects an elder,
and each aoul an aksakal. These all report to their khans,
or pristavs, who, in their turn, report to the chief of the
territory, Alikhanoff. The aksakal and three elders form a
court for the trial of small offences entailing up to five
roubles' fine, or three days’ arrest. The khan has the right of
sentencing to twenty-five roubles' fine and seven days' arrest.
Delegates from each tribe, under the presidency of the
pristav, with the assistance of a kazi, or religious member,
may inflict a fine of fifteen roubles, and a punishment of four
FROM MERW TO THE OLYUS 115
months' imprisonment. Other and more important cases are
decided by Colonel Alikhanoff, with representatives from all
the Sections. The taxes paid amount to five roubles per
kibitka—namely, four roubles forty kopecks for the Exchequer,
and half a rouble for local needs, or the zemstvo. In return,
all caravans entering or passing through Merv pay one-fortieth
of their goods. This was established in 1886, because the
Bokhariots and Khivans made the Russian caravans pay. In
1886 this duty produced 30,293 roubles 69 kopecks. The
crops for the same year were : Sown.—Wheat, 450,000
pouds; barley, 150,000 pouds; rice, 60,000 pouds. Reaped.
—Wheat, 29,700,000 pouds; barley, 4,398,000 pouds;
rice, 2,400,000 pouds. The cotton grown by the Turkomans
is very small, and only for their own use. About eighteen
miles above Merv the Koushid Khan Bend, or dam on the
Murghab, sends an equal flow of water into the two halves
of the Oasis by means of two principal canals, the Otamish
and the Toktamish. These in their turn supply the many
smaller canals of the tribes. This water arrangement is
looked after by an official called the mirab, elected annually.
Each district is subdivided into kelemes, and each keleme
consists of twelve proprietors. Two kelemes make an atalyk,
or Sarkar, and enjoy water for twenty-four hours in turn.
Yuletan is watered in the same way from the Murghab dam,
Kasili Bend. Penjdeh is the worst irrigated district of all,
as the Sariks have destroyed many of the canals.
The import and export trade through Merv and the
overturn altogether are estimated at five millions of roubles.
The figures in 1886 were:–
Import from Bokhara te tº . 585,144 roubles
» , Khiva . tº e & 62,568 ,
53 , Dereguez g e ſº 60,172 ,
,, . , Meshed . e & tº 371,690 ,,
35 , Afghan Turkomania . 58,879 ,
2 3 , Tashkent and Askabad . 740,050 ,
Total . . . 1,878,503 ,
* The poud = 36 English lbs.
Trade
returns
116 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA.
IExport into Bokhara and Khiva. ... 328,632 roubles
25 , Persia. . . . . . 280,000 ,
Total ... • * 608,632 2,
Russian articles sold in the shops at Merv came to about
719,765 roubles. Bokharan goods now enter free of duty by
special favour, so that there is no means of judging their
value. There are also no regular statistics of goods entering
by railway. Altogether the overturn is reckoned at five
millions, which is putting it at its very highest figure.
... In speaking, however, of the resources of the
of the oasis Merv oasis, I am referring to that which is still in
a backward condition, and is capable of immense
development. The soil is well adapted to the growth
of cotton, though little is at present produced, the
Turkomans apparently not having taken very kindly
to the industry, though after the Russian occupation
several tons of American cotton-seed were distributed
gratis among the inhabitants." Here, however, as
well as along the equally suitable banks of the Oxus,
improvement may be expected. The growth of
timber, so necessary in these parched regions, has
also been taken in hand. General Komaroff told me
that the planting of the Oasis had been commenced in
real earnest, and that in time there would be growing
there not less than sixty million of trees. Three million
young saplings were already to be seen at the height
of several feet from the ground at Bairam Ali, ten
miles to the east. At the same time the work of
* The failure of the first attempts is attributed to the fact that the
imported seed Game from plantations lying near the sea coast. Since
it has been brought from the interior the experiment has proved more
successful. .
FROM MER W TO TITE! O YUS | 17
scientific irrigation, hitherto neglected, has been
begun—the repair of the great Sultan Bend Dam,
fifty-three miles further up the course of the Mur-
ghab, by which alone its distribution over the lower
surfaces can be properly regulated, having been com-
mitted to a young Polish engineer named Poklefski,
and the entire district having been made over to the
private purse of the Czar—a guarantee that its
development will not be allowed to slacken, or its
revenues to result in loss to the exchequer of so
economical a monarch." When the new system of
* The following interesting description of the Sultan Bend works
in 1888 is translated from the Comte de Cholet's book, Ea:cursion en
Turkestan, pp. 202–3: ‘An embankment of concrete 58 feet high, acting
as a dam, will completely bar the course of the river from bank to
bank. Its waters, thus driven back, will form an immense lake 375
acres in extent, out of which four sluices will be constructed, at a
height exactly calculated beforehand, so as to allow of the water being
distributed into big canals, carrying it into the interior of the country.
Special dredging machines, invented by M. Poklefski, will be employed
to stir up the waters of the lake, and to prevent the alluvium from
settling ; and as the velocity of the stream, the moment the sluices are
opened, will be greater than that of the original current, only an insig-
nificant portion will sink to the bottom of the canals. The latter, which
are also to be intersected with sluices, and are carried forward with a
regulated fall, will be subdivided into smaller canals, gradually dimin-
ishing in size, and spreading fertility and riches among the Turkomans
far beyond Merv. Even in flood-time, the top of the dam being much
above the normal level of the river, only an insignificant quantity of
water will pass over. The lake alone will be considerably swollen, but
without serious consequences, since its waters will be confined between
the hills that border the Murghab both on the right and left, at a dis-
tance of several versts, and converge exactly at this spot, leaving only
a narrow passage between, which will be barred by the dam. The
small amount of water that may succeed in escaping over the embank-
ment will fall into the old bed of the river, and be hemmed in between
its banks; so that it will not be able to repeat the serious damage to
the country that was caused by the floods of two years ago (1886),
which all but swept away the new town of Merv, and destroyed at its
outset the excellent handiwork of Alikhanoff. Small dams, made only
118 RøSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
canalisation is in working order, it is anticipated that
it will subdue to cultivation a territory of some
200,000 acres, upon which it is proposed to plant
Russian peasants as colonists in equal number with
the Turkomans. If we add to this that Merv is the
very central point of the trade routes from Bokhara
and the Oxus to Eastern Persia, and from Central
Asia to India through Afghanistan, we can believe
that there yet may rise on the banks of the Murghab
a city worthy of the site and of the name.
When Alikhanoff, in the disguise of a clerk, visited
Merv in 1882, his report to the Russian Government
contained the following not too flattering account of
his future subjects: ‘Besides being cruel, the Merv
Tekkes never keep a promise or an oath if it suits
their purpose to break it. In addition to this they
are liars and gluttons. They are frightfully envious;
and finally, among all the Turkomans there is not a
people so unattractive in every moral respect as the
Tekkes of Merv.’” We may conjecture that this
Turkoman
character,
of fascines and sacks of earth, because they will only have to resist a
slight pressure, will stop up the old canals which are no longer to be
used ; whilst all the other constructions, whether dams or sluices, will
be made of concrete, manufactured and cemented on the spot. Two
years hence (i.e. 1890) the whole of this work, in the competent hands
of M. Poklefski, will be completed. Every aloul, every hamlet, every
single proprietor will know exactly the period of the year at which to
irrigate his fields. The surface of arable land will be multiplied almost
tenfold. The whole country will be covered with marvellous crops ;
and the market of Merv will be able to send to Russia and the Caucasus
an immense quantity of first-rate cotton, which has cost nothing to
produce, and, being subject to no duty, can be sold at prices of extra-
ordinary cheapness.’ The estimated cost of the new dam was 24,000l.
* The general reputation of the Turkoman as a Savage and a bandit
may be illustrated by Turkoman proverbs:—
FROM MERW TO THE OXUS 119
is a verdict which he would not now endorse with-
out qualification; and though the broad features of
the national character may remain stereotyped—-
though Turkoman morals are indubitably coarse, and
their standards of honesty low, yet later travellers
who have resided in their midst, or have had occasion
to employ their services, have testified to the posses-
Sion of good qualities on their part, such as amiability,
frankness, hospitality, and a rough code of honour.
M. Bonvalot, the French traveller, who was at Merv
in 1886, wrote a letter to the Journal des Débats, in
which he said, ‘The Russians are of opinion, and I
agree with them, that the Tekkes are worthy people,
very affable and mild, and with a frankness that is
both astonishing and delightful after the rascality of
the Persians and the platitudes of the Bokhariots.”
Their behaviour is largely dependent upon the hand-
ling of the Russians, which has so far been eminently
successful. As the same authority very truly re-
marked in his latest work,' ‘So long as they can get
‘The Turkoman neither needs the shade of a tree nor the protection
of man.”
“When the sword has been drawn, who needs another excuse ?'
“The Turkoman on horseback knows neither father nor mother.’
‘Where there is a city there are no wolves; where there are Turko-
mans there is no peace.”
The prodigious prestige enjoyed by the Turkoman brigands is amus-
ingly illustrated by the story told by Grodekoff (chap. i.) of a Persian
who enjoyed a great reputation for bravery, and was attacked in the
night by a Tekke. The Persian, being the stronger of the two, soon
threw his assailant to the ground; but just as he was taking out his
knife to cut the latter's throat, the Tekke called out : “What are you
doing 2 Do you not see that I am a Tekke 2 " The Persian at once
lost his presence of mind and dropped the knife, which was seized by
the Tekke and plunged into his opponent's heart.
* Through the Heart of Asia to India. By G. Bonvalot. 1889.
120 Jº USSIA IV CENTRAL ASIA
water, toleration, speedy, stern, and equitable justice,
and have their taxes levied fairly, the people of Central
Asia do not as a rule ask for anything more.’
Strategical The overwhelming strategical importance of Merv
importance .
of Merv in relation to India is a dictum which I have never
AKSAKALS, OR ELDERS OF MERV.
been able to understand. I have seen it argued with
irreproachable logic, in magazine articles, that Merv
is the key to Herat, Herat the key to Kandahar, and
Kandahar the key to India. But the most scientific

FROM MER V TO THE OXUS 121
demonstrations of a priori reasoning must after all
yield place to experience and to fact. Russia holds
Merv ; and she could to-morrow, if she chose to bring
about a war with England, seize Herat; not, however,
because she holds Merv, but because she holds the
far more advanced and important positions of Sarakhs
and Penjdeh." But even if she held Herat she would
not therefore imperil Kandahar, while even if she
held both Herat and Kandahar, she would not be
much nearer the conquest of India. A great deal of
nonsense has been talked in England about these so-
called keys to India, and Lord Beaconsfield never
said a truer thing, though at the time it was laughed
at as a sounding platitude, than when he declared
that the keys of India are to be found in London, and
consist in the spirit and determination of the British
people. The political benefits to Russia resulting
from the annexation of Merv were very considerable,
and ought not to be underrated. They were three-
fold, having an easterly, a westerly, and a local
application. It set the seal upon the absorption of
the Khanates, by establishing Russia upon the left
* Wide the prophetic opinion of Sir C. MacGregor on the strategical
importance of Sarakhs expressed in 1875 (Life and Opinions, vol. ii.
p. 15): ‘Placed at the junction of roads of Herat and Meshed by the
Eſeri-Rud and Ab-i-Meshed valleys respectively, and at the best en-
trance to the province of Khorasan from the north, it cannot fail to
exercise a very serious influence on the monientous issue of the Russo-
Indian Question. This must happen, whether it falls into the hands of
the friends of England or into those of her foes. Whether Russia uses
Sarakhs as a base for offensive measures against Herat, or England as
a defensive outpost to defeat any such operations, that position will be
heard of again. And if my feeble voice can effect a warning ere it is
too late, let it be here raised in these words: “If England does not
use Sarakhs for defence, Russia will use it for offence l’’’
122 RUSSIA IV CEWTRAL ASIA
Ferment
on the
Afghan
frontier
arising out
of the re-
volt of
Is-hak
Yhan
as well as upon the right of Bokhara, and leaving
that country very much in the position of metal be-
tween the hammer and the anvil, to be moulded or
flattened at will. It completed the flank circum-
vention of Khorasan, by the erection of a powerful
military post on its eastern or Afghan quarter. And
finally it rounded off the conquest, and centralised
the administration of the Turkoman oases and deserts,
the bulk of which passed straightway, and the residue
of which will ultimately pass, beneath Russian rule.
Nor is the immediate value of Merv to Russia by any
means to be despised, both because of its trading
position, and because, being the centre of a large
Oasis, it could sustain a numerous army at a distance
from its base through one or more winters. These
are advantages on her side which it would be foolish
to ignore, but which it is still more foolish to magnify
into a real peril to our Indian possessions.
When we reached Merv I had hoped to find
Colonel Alikhanoff, the celebrated governor of the
district, to whom I had a letter of introduction. But
he was absent, and the most mysterious and conflict-
ing rumours prevailed as to his whereabouts. I
ascertained afterwards, however, that he had left
suddenly for the frontier with a Russian battalion
and a squadron of the Turkoman cavalry; and the
fact that a Cossack officer, travelling in our company
to rejoin his regiment at Merv, was abruptly ordered
to follow in the same direction showed that something
was on the tapis in that quarter. I mentioned in
my first chapter that the revolt of Is-hak Khan in
FROM MER V TO THE OLYU.S. 123
Afghanistan had been alleged in St. Petersburg as a
reasonable excuse for the prohibition of our journey
to Transcaspia; and I had been much interested at
reading in the Russian journals, which are, as is well
known, subject to official supervision, the most
exaggerated and fantastic estimates of the Afghan
Pretender's chances of success. These reports were
so absurdly biassed as to leave no doubt, not merely
that Is-hak Khan had the clandestine sympathy of
the Russian Government, but that he was publicly
regarded as the Russian candidate to the Afghan
throne. Upon arriving at Merv we heard a rumour
that Abdurrahman was dead, and that Is-hak, who
had been uniformly successful, was marching upon
Kabul. This single item of false information will
give some idea of the inferiority under which Russia
seems to labour as compared with ourselves in point
of news from Afghanistan. Her intelligence comes
in the main vià Balkh and the Oxus to Bokhara, and
appears to be as unreliable as is the news from Bok-
hara commonly transmitted to the British Govern-
ment through Stamboul. However, this news, false
though it was, had been enough to throw the Russian
military authorities into a ferment; and what I after-
wards heard at Tashkent made it clear that there was
a considerable massing of Russian troops upon the
Afghan frontier, and that a forward movement must
even have been contemplated. I asked a Russian
diplomatist what excuse his country could possibly
have for interfering in Afghanistan at this juncture,
even if Is-hak Khan were successful; and he wisely
I24 Jº VSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Move-
ments of
Is-hak and
Abdur-
rahman
professed an ignorance on the subject equal to my
own. But the fact remains that the troops were so
moved, and that at Kerki, the Russian frontier station
On the Amu Daria, there was collected at this time a
body of men, enormously in excess of garrison require-
ments, and therefore of threatening dimensions. In
Tashkent I was informed by an officer that the talk
was all of an invasion of Afghanistan and of war; and
though I do not desire to attach any importance to
the military gossip of a place where bellicose ideas
have always prevailed, and where there is no lack of
spirits who care little about morality, but a great
deal about medals, still I must place on record the
fact that, in a time of absolute peace and with no
possible provocation, the Russians considered them-
selves sufficiently interested in the internal status of
Afghanistan, a country which they have a score of
times declared to be outside the sphere of their legiti-
mate political interference, to make a menacing dis-
play of military force upon her frontier.
There was not at that time the provocation which
the Amir Abdurrahman is since alleged to have given
by the ferment arising out of his vindictive punish-
ment of the rebels and suspects in Afghan Turkestan,
and which was followed in February of this year by
much larger Russian concentration on the boundary.
In neither case was any legitimate excuse likely to
be forthcoming for advance. For in the former in-
stance the success of Is-hak Khan would not have
justified a violation of the frontier by Russia, any
more than his defeat was likely to lead to its violation
FROM MER V TO THE OLYUS 125
by Afghanistan; whilst in the latter, the proceedings
of Abdurrahman, though perhaps well calculated to
cause a great local stir, admitted of no aggressive
interpretation as regards either Russia or Bokhara,
into whose territories so calculating a ruler was not
in the least likely to rush to his own perdition. The
Russian movements on both occasions, if they illus-
trate nothing more, are at least noteworthy as testify-
ing to the anxiety with which they regard the Oxus
frontier, and to the watchful, if not covetous, eye
which they direct upon Afghan Turkestan. Though
the war-cloud has for the present happily rolled by
in that quarter, we must not be surprised if before
long its horrid shadow reappears. When I afterwards
heard at Tashkent of the collapse of Is-hak, the
rumour prevailed that he had fled to Bokhara, and
from there had been removed to his old quarters at
Samarkand. This last report was denied by the
Bussian officials, who repudiated any desire to
countenance the pretender by allowing him an asylum
on Russian soil. A significant commentary on their
denial was afforded by his subsequent retreat at their
invitation to that very spot, where he now resides
surrounded by a considerable retinue, a tool in the
hands of his hosts, and whom we may expect at any
moment to see re-emerge as a thorn in our side, in
the event either of disaster or of death to Abdurrah-
man Khan.
I subsequently met Colonel Alikhanoff and was
introduced to him by General Komaroff. Speaking of
the aptitude which Russia has so often displayed for
Colonel
Alikhanoff
Governor
of Merv
126 RUSSIA IW CENTRAI, ASIA
employing in her own armies those whom she has
already vanquished as opponents, the general told me
that Alikhanoff's father, who was now a general, had
himself fought against Russia in the Caucasian wars.
This provoked the obvious rejoinder, that the way
to become a Russian general was clearly to begin
by having been a Russian foe. Of the personality of
Alikhanoff himself I believe that a somewhat mistaken
impression exists in England. Those who are ac-
quainted with the part that he played in the diplo-
matic subjugation of Merv between the years 1882
and 1884, to which I have already alluded, or who
have read of his great influence in the Turkoman oasis,
and of his Mussulman religion, are apt to picture to
themselves a man of Oriental habits and appearance.
A greater mistake could not be made. Alikhanoff is
a tall man, with ruddy complexion, light hair, and a
prodigious auburn, almost reddish, beard. A Desghian
of Daghestan by birth, whose real name is Ali Khan
Avarski, he has all the appearance of having hailed
from the banks of the Tay or the Clyde. He has been
in the Russian army from early years, and served
under Skobeleff in the Khivan campaign. Already a
major, he was degraded to the ranks in 1875 because
of a duel with a brother officer, and served as a private
in the Russo-Turkish war. When the Turkoman ex-
peditions began in 1879, he went to Asia, reached the
highest non-commissioned officer's rank in the same
year, and returned at the close of Skobeleff's campaign
in 1881. Promoted a captain after his reconnaissance
of the Merv oasis in 1882, and a major after the annexa-
FROM MERW TO THE OXUS I27
tion of Merv in 1884, he is now a full colonel in the
Russian army, Nachalnik or Governor of the Merv
oasis, Warden of the Marches along the Afghan bor-
der, and judge of appeal among the Turkoman tribes,
and at the early age of forty, though reported to be
a dissatisfied man, finds himself the most talked-of
personage in Central Asia. His religion, no doubt,
stands him in great stead. But I do not know what
Other special advantages he possesses beyond his own
ability and courage.
As the central point between Turkestan and
Transcaspia and as commanding the Russo-Afghan
frontier, Merv is an important garrison town. AC-
cording to the latest information, there are stationed
here two battalions of the line, a regiment of COS-
sacks, a battery of artillery, and a company of Sappers.
Here too are always to be found some of the Turko-
man militia, whom Russia, abandoning her old policy
of non-employment of Asiatic troops, has latterly begun
to enlist. There are at the present moment three
Sotnias, or companies, of Turkoman horse, with 100
men in each, which were constituted by a formal
authorisation from the Minister of War in February
1885. To this number were added a few Caucasians
who had already served in the Russian militia on the
other side of the Caspian, and several Russian Officers.
The Turkomans already enrolled are picked men,
there being great competition to join the force, and
the list of candidates is overstocked with names. The
more dangerous and turbulent characters were at first
selected, in order to provide them with a legitimate
The Turko-
man militia
128 RUSSIA IW CENTRAL ASIA
Possible
increase of
the force
outlet for spirits trained in the love of horseflesh and
adventure, but condemned to distasteful idleness since
the abolition of the alaman or border-raid. In the
ranks and among the officers are several men who
fought against Skobeleff at Geok Tepe. They learned
European drill and discipline very quickly, the move-
ments being first explained to them in Turki, while the
commands were subsequently, and are still, given in
Russian. Their uniform is the national khalat, or
striped pink and black dressing-gown, with sheep-
skin bonnet, a broad sash round the waist, and big
Russian top-boots. They are armed with the Berdan
rifle and a cavalry sabre. The pay of the men
is 25 roubles (21. 10s.) a month, and of the officers
from 50 to 100 roubles (5l. to 10l.); but out of this
sum they are required to provide their own horse,
kit, and keep, the Government supplying them only
with rifle and ammunition. Already they have shown:
of what stuff they are made in the affray upon the
Kushk in 1885, when they charged down with ex-
treme delight upon their hereditary foes, the Afghans,
and did creditable execution. I subsequently saw
a small detachment of these troops, who had been
brought over by Alikhanoff to Baku, to greet the
Emperor, and was struck with their workmanlike
appearance.
Although the force is at present limited to 300
men, it may be regarded as being reinforced by a
powerful unmobilised reserve. Nearly every Turko-
man who can afford it keeps a horse, and, unable to.
play the freebooter, is quite ready to turn free lance
VIITTIIN NVIWOYIHILI, GIHAL

Jº() Aſ MER V TO THE O XUS I 29
at a moment's notice. General Komaroff assured me
that the total under arms could without difficulty
be increased to 8,000, and I afterwards read in the
‘Times’ that Colonel Alikhanoff told the correspondent
of that paper that in twenty-four hours he could
raise 6,000 mounted men—a statement which tallies
with that of the general. If there is some exaggera-
tion in these estimates, at least there was no want of
explicitness in the famous threat of Skobeleff, who in
his memorandum on the invasion of India, drawn up
in 1877, wrote: “It will be in the end our duty to
organise masses of Asiatic cavalry and to hurl them
into India as a vanguard, under the banner of blood
and rapine, thereby reviving the times of Tamerlane.’
Even if this sanguinary forecast be forgotten, or if it
remain unrealised, there is yet sound policy in this
utilisation of the Turkoman manhood, inasmuch as it
may operate as an antidote to the deteriorating in-
fluence of European civilisation, which, entering this
unsophisticated region in its own peculiar guise, and
bringing brandy and vodka in its train, is already
beginning to enfeeble the virile type of these former
slave-hunters of the desert.
When General Grodekoff rode from Samarkand
to Herat in 1878, he recorded his judgment of the
value of the Turkoman horses in these words: ‘If
ever we conquer Merv, besides imposing a money
contribution, we ought to take from the Tekkes all
their best stallions and mares. They would then at
once cease to be formidable.' For the policy of con-
fiscation has wisely been substituted that of utilising
K
The Turko-
man horses
130 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL AS/A
the equine resources of the oasis. None the less it is
open to question whether the power and endurance
of the Turkoman horses, reputed though they are to
be able to accomplish from 70 to 100 miles a day for
a week at a time, have not been greatly exaggerated.
Travellers have related astonishing stories second-
hand of their achievements; but those who have had
actual experience are content with a more modest
TURKOMAN HORSEMEN.
tale. Certainly the long neck, large head, narrow
chest, and weedy legs of the Turkoman horse do not
correspond with European taste in horseflesh. But the
English members of the Afghan Boundary Commission
thought still less of them in use. A few only were
bought at prices of from 20/. to 25l. And Colonel
Tidgeway, who was authorised by the Indian Govern-
ment to expend 300!, upon first-class Turkoman

FROM MER V TO THE OXUS 13|
stallions for breeding purposes, did not draw one
penny upon his credit."
It was with perfect justice that General Komaroff The Khans
boasted of the facility with which Russia succeeds in **
enlisting, not only the services, but the loyalty of her
former opponents. The volunteer enrolment of the
Turkoman horse would be a sufficient proof of this,
had it not already been paralleled in India and else-
where. But I can give a more striking illustration
still. On my return to Baku, I saw drawn up on the
landing-stage to greet the Governor-General a number
of gorgeously-clad Turkomans, robed in magnificent
velvet or embroidered khalats, and their breasts
ablaze with decorations. They, too, had come over
to be presented to the Czar. At the head of the line
stood a dignified-looking Turkoman, with an immense
pair of silver epaulettes on his shoulders. This, the
general told me, was Makdum Kuli Khan, son of the
famous Tekke chieftain Nur Verdi Khan by an Akhal
wife, the hereditary leader of the Wekhil or Eastern
division of the Merv Tekkes, and the chief of the
Akhal Tekkes in Geok Tepe at the time of the siege.
Reconciled to Russia at an early date, he was taken
to Moscow to attend the coronation of the Czar in
1883, and is now a full colonel and Governor of the
Tejend oasis—where but lately, in the exercise of his
1 Wide Travels with the Afghan Boundary Commission. By
Lieut.*A. C. Yate. P. 457. 1887. Cf. also the remarks of Sir Peter
Lumsden. Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society. Septem-
ber 1885. It is only fair to state that Sir C. MacGregor formed an
opposite opinion when in Khorasan in 1875. Life and Opinions, vol.
ii. p. 10.
I 2
132 Jø USSIA IN CENTRAL AS/A
administrative powers, he, a Turkoman and an old
Russian enemy, arrested a Russian captain serving
under his command. And yet this was the man who,
in 1881, told Edmund O'Donovan that ‘it was the in-
tention of himself and his staunch followers to fight
to the last should Merv be invaded by the Russians,
and if beaten to retire into Afghanistan. If not well
received there, they purposed asking an asylum
within the frontiers of British India.” Adjoining him
stood his younger brother, Yussuf Khan, son of Nur
Verdi by his famous Merv wife, Gur Jemal, a boy of
fifteen or sixteen at the time of O'Donovan's visit,
but now a Russian captain ; Maili Khan and Sari
Batir Khan, chiefs of the Sichmaz and Bakshi, two
others of the four tribes of Merv ; old Murad Bey,
leader of the Beg subdivision of the Toktamish clan,
who conducted O'Donovan to the final meeting of the
Great Council; and, mirabile dictu, Baba Khan him-
self, son of the old conqueror Koushid Khan, and
hereditary leader of the Toktamish, the one-eyed
Baba, who led the English party at Merv in 1881,
and, in order to demonstrate his allegiance to the
Queen, branded his horses with W.R. reversed and
imprinted upside down. The three last-named are
now majors in the Russian service. Baba's colleague
of the Triumvirate of 1881, Niaz Khan, is also a
Russian officer, but did not appear to be present.
The old Ikhtyar at the date of O'Donovan's arrival,
Kadjar Khan, who led the forlorn anti-Russian move-
ment in 1884, is detained in St. Petersburg. Gur
Jemal, the elderly matron and former chieftainess, of

FROM MERW TO THE O XUS 133
whom I have spoken, and whose potent influence was
so diplomatically enlisted by Russia prior to the
annexation of Merv, was also in Baku, waiting to re-
ceive the compliments, to which she was unquestion-
ably entitled, from the lips of the Emperor. There
were also present the Khans of the Sarik and Salor
Turkomans of Yuletan, Sarakhs, and Penjdeh, and some
imposing Kirghiz notabilities with gorgeous accoutre-
ments and prodigiously high steeple-crowned hats.
The delegation brought with them rich carpets and a
collection of wild animals as presents to the Emperor,
who in return loaded them with European gifts and
arms, and said in the course of his speech that he
hoped to repay their visit at Merv in 1889 or 1890.
I do not think that any sight could have im-
pressed me more profoundly with the completeness of
Russia's conquest, or with her remarkable talents of
fraternisation with the conquered, than the spectacle
of these men (and among their thirty odd compa-
nions who were assembled with them, there were
doubtless other cases as remarkable), only eight
years ago the bitter and determined enemies of Russia
On the battlefield, but now wearing her uniform,
standing high in her service, and crossing to Europe
in order to salute as their sovereign the Great White
Czar. Skobeleff's policy of ‘Hands all round, when
the fight is over, seems to have been not one whit
less successful than was the ferocious severity of the
preliminary blow.
If other evidence were needed of Russia's triumph,
it might be found in the walls of the great earthen
134 RUSSIA IV CE.VT/PAL ASIA
The ruined
fortress of
Koushid
Khan Kala
fortress of Koushid Khan Kala, through which the
locomotive steams immediately after leaving the
station at Merv. Erected in 1881 by forced labour,
8,000 Tekkes being daily engaged upon the enter-
prise, its unfinished and dismantled ramparts are not
less eloquent in their testimony than was the shattered
embankment of Geok Tepe. Sixty feet at their base,
and twenty feet at the summit, and from thirty to
THE FORT OF KOUSEIID. E.HAN KALA.
forty feet high, and originally enclosing a space one
and three-quarters of a mile long by three-quarters of
a mile broad, these huge clay structures, which were
intended finally and utterly to repel the Muscovite
advance, have never either sheltered besieged or with-
stood besiegers. Tike a great railway embankment
they overtop the plain, and in their premature decay
are imposing monuments of a bloodless victory.
The military and political questions arising out of

FROM MERW TO THE OLY US 135
the mention of Merv have almost tempted me to for-
get my undertaking to make some allusion to the old
cities that at different times have borne the name.
When the train, however, after traversing the oasis
for ten miles from the modern town, pulls up at the
station of Bairam Ali, in the midst of an absolute
wilderness of crumbling brick and clay, the spectacle
of walls, towers, ramparts, and domes, stretching in
RUINS OF BAIRAM ALI.
bewildering confusion to the horizon, reminds us that
we are in the centre of bygone greatness. Here,
within a short distance of each other, and covering
an area of several square miles, in which there is
scarcely a yard without some remains of the past, or
with a single perfect relic, are to be seen the ruins of
at least three cities that have been born, and flourished,
and have died. The eldest and easternmost of these
is the city now called Giaour Kala, and variously
Old cities
of Merv

136 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
attributed by the natives, according to the quality of
their erudition, to Zoroaster, or to Iskander, the local
name for Alexander the Great. In these parts any-
thing old, and misty, and uncertain is set down with
unfaltering confidence to the Macedonian conqueror."
I was told by a long resident in the country that the
general knowledge of past history is limited to three
names—Alexander, Tamerlane, and Kaufmann ; the
|Russian Governor-General, as the most recent, being
popularly regarded as the biggest personage of the
three. Giaour Kala, if it be the city of Alexander, is
the fort said to have been built by him in B.C. 328, on
his return from the campaign in Sogdiana.” It was
destroyed by the Arabs 1,200 years ago. In its
present state it consists of a great rectangular walled
enclosure with the ruins of a citadel in its north-east
corner. Next in age and size comes the city of the
Seljuks, of Alp Arslan, the Great Lion, and of Sultan
Sanjur, so celebrated in chronicles and legends, who
in the twelfth century ruled as lieutenant of the
Khalif in the almost independent kingdom of Kho-
rasan. Pillaged and destroyed with true Mongol
ferocity by the son of Jenghiz Khan about 1220, it
now consists of a heap of shapeless ruins, above which
loom the still intact dome and crumbling walls of the
The ubiquity and vitality of the Alexandrine legend is well illus-
trated by the story, told by the Russian traveller Pashino, of an Afghan
whom he met in a train in India in 1875, and who, in reply to the
information that the reigning emperor of Russia was Alexander, or
Iskander, by name, exclaimed : ‘Dear me ! was it not he who con-
quered India, and of whom a great deal is said in the Scriptures 2 ”
* This visit of Alexander rests, however, on insufficient authority,
and cannot be accepted as historical.
FROM J/E/PW TO THE OLYU.S. 137
tomb of the great Sultan himself. The sepulchre of
Alp Arslan with its famous inscription—‘All ye who
have seen the glory of Alp Arslan exalted to the
heavens, come hither to Merv, and behold it buried in
the dust'—has long disappeared, gravestone as well
as glory having perished in the same ruin. Thirdly
comes the Persian city of Bairam Ali, from which the
station on the new railway is named, and which took
its own name from its last defender and Khan, who
perished 100 years ago while resisting the successful
assault of Amir Maasum, otherwise known as Begi
Jan or Shah Murad, of Bokhara. This was the final
and last end of a real and visible Merv, which has
since that date been a geographical designation instead
TOMB OF SULTAN SANJUR.
of a built town. Very decrepit and sorrowful looked
these wasting walls of sun-dried clay, these broken

138 Jº USS/A IV C E VT/PAL AS/A
Emotions
of the
traveller
arches and tottering towers; but there is magnificence
in their very extent, and a voice in the sorrowful
-
RUINED CARAVANSERAI AT BAIRAM ALI.
squalor of their ruin. Prior to O'Donovan, Abbott
was the only visitor who appears to have bestowed
upon them the slightest attention. Excavations have
never yet been properly undertaken on this interest-
ing site, the Russians appearing to be too much
occupied with the political settlement of the country
to be able to turn a thought to archaeology or to
research. But if history is of any account, a lucrative
harvest ought here to await the excavator's spade.
Travelling thus Eastward, and arrested at each
forward step by some relic of a dead civilisation, or
of a glorious but forgotten past, the imagination of the
European cannot but be impressed with the thought
that he is mounting the stream of the ages, and trac-
ing towards its remote source the ancestry from which

FROM MERW TO THE OXUS 139
his own race has sprung. His feet are treading in an
inverse direction the long route of humanity. The
train that hurries him onward into new scenes seems
at the same time to carry him backward into anti-
quity, and with every league that he advances the
mise en scène recedes into a dimmer distance. History
lies outspread before him like the page of a Chinese
manuscript, to decipher which he must begin at the
bottom and work his way upwards to the top.
Wherever he halts, there in a waste of ruin he dis-
covers the flotsam and jetsam of the mighty human
current that rolled down from the Central Asian
plateau on to the plains of Europe and the shores
of the Mediterranean. How eloquent is this dried-up
river-bed, with its huge water-worn boulders lying as
they were thrown up by the eddies of the vanished
Swirl! At last in our time the current would seem
to have turned back upon itself, and man, like water,
is following a law of nature in rising to his original
level. His face is turned Eastward and he seeks his
primaeval home.
In these solitudes, moreover, the traveller may
realise in all its sweep the mingled gloom and
grandeur of Central Asian scenery. Throughout the
still night the fire-horse, as the natives have some-
times christened it, races onward, panting audibly,
gutturally, and shaking a mane of sparks and smoke.
Itself and its riders are all alone. No token or sound
of life greets eye or ear; no outline redeems the
level sameness of the dim horizon; no shadows fall
upon the staring plain. The moon shines with dreary
Central
Asian
scenery
T40 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
The sand-
dunes
again
coldness from the hollow dome, and a profound and
tearful solitude seems to brood over the desert. The
returning sunlight scarcely dissipates the impression of
sadness, of desolate and hopeless decay, of a continent
and life sunk in a mortal swoon. The traveller feels
like a wanderer at night in some desecrated grave-
yard, amid crumbling tombstones and half-obliterated
mounds. A cemetery, not of hundreds of years but of
thousands, not of families or tribes but of nations and
empires, lies outspread around him; and ever and anon,
in falling tower or shattered arch, he stumbles upon
Some poor unearthed skeleton of the past.
The Merv oasis is considered to extend for forty-
five miles east from the bank of the Murghab, and for
the greater part of this distance is well worthy of the
name. Here I saw greater cultivation, a richer
growth, and a more numerous native population than
at any previous stage of the journey. The ariks or
irrigation-channels still contained water, the infiltra-
tion of which accounted for the rich parterres of
green. In and near the ditches grew tall plumed
grasses five feet or six feet high. The native huts,
clustered together like black beehives, showed that
the Mervi had not under their new masters deserted
their old habitations. The men were to be seen every-
where in the fields, lazily mounted on horses or on
asses. When the desert reappears, it comes in the
literal sense of the word with a vengeance. Between
the oasis and the Amu Daria intervene a hundred
miles of the sorriest waste that ever met the human
eye. East and west, and north and south, stretches a
FROM MER V TO THE OLYU.S. 141
troubled sea of sand, each billow clearly defined and
arrested as it were in mid career, like an Ocean wave
curving to fall. I never saw anything more melan-
choly than the appearance of this wilderness, and
its sickle-shaped dome-like ridges of driven sand
with smoky summits, succeeding each other with the
regularity of infantry files. Each has the appearance
of being cloven through the crown, the side facing
towards the north-east, whence the prevailing winds
blow, being uniformly convex and smooth, while the
southern face is vertical and abrupt. From time
immemorial nature's curse has been upon this spot;
and successive travellers and historians have testified
to the dismal continuity of its reputation.
From the quaint Elizabethan translation of
Quintus Curtius, by one J. Brende (1553), I take
the following passage, descriptive of this very region
between the Murghab and the Oxus:—
The nature of the Soyle of whiche countrey is divers and
of sundrye kindes. Some place is plentifull of woode and
vines, and aboundaunte of pleasaunte fruite, the grounde fatte,
well watered, and full of springes. Those partes which be
most temperate are sowed with corne, and the rest be re-
served for fedying of beastes. But the greater part of
the countrey is covered over with baraine sandes, and
withered up for want of moisture, nourishing neither man,
nor bringinge forth fruite. But with certaine windes that
come from the Sea of Ponte (i.e. the Caspian) the sand in the
plaines is blowen together in heapes, which seme a farre of
like great hilles, wherby the accustomed wayes be damned,
so that no signe of them can appere. Therfore such as do
passe those plaines use to observe the starres in the night
as thei do that Sayle the seas, and by the course of them
Descrip-
tion by the
ancients
142 A USSIA IM CE WTRAI, AS/A
direct their journey. The nightes for the more parte be
brighter than the dayes, wherfore in the daye time the
countrey is wild and unpassible, when they can neither finde
any tracte nor waye to go in, nor marke or signe wherby to
passe, the starres beying hidden by the miste. If the same
winde chaunce to come durying the time that men be pass-
ying, it overwhelmeth them with sande.
Not less accurate, and perhaps even more realis-
tic, is the narrative of the illustrious Spanish Hidalgo
Don Ruy de Clavijo, who, crossing the Oxus sands on
December 10, 1404, on his homeward journey from
a mission to the Court of Timur at Samarkand, wrote
as follows:—
On the banks there were great plains of sand, and the
sand was moved from one part to another by the wind, and
was thrown up in mounds. In this sandy waste there are
great valleys and hills, and the wind blew the sand away
from one hill to another, for it was very light; and on the
ground, where the wind had blown away the sand, the marks
of waves were left ; and men could not keep their eyes on
this sand when the sun was shining."
This was the most difficult section of the line to
build, there being next to no natural vegetation to aid
in fixing the sands, and the displacement when gales
blew being tremendous. I have mentioned that the
Russians are now in some places beginning to plant the
sawaoul. This is a slight atonement for the foolish
economy which led them, on their first arrival, almost
to exterminate it in several districts for the sake of fuel.
Difficulties
of the
railway
1 Narrative of the Embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the
Court of Timour at Samarkand, A.D. 1403. Translated by Clements
R. Markham for the Hakluyt Society, 1859.
FROM MEI, V TO THE OLY US 143
A relic of this mistaken policy in the shape of big
stacks of gnarled roots and boughs may still be seen
at several of the stations, which in this region are little
more than rude shanties built of a few planks and
half-buried in the sand. I expect that if General
Annenkoff begins to expend his credit in this horrible
waste, the major part will be swallowed up before he
emerges on the other side.
At last, after a whole day of this desolation, we
again come to cultivated land separated by a line
THE RAILWAY AND THE SANDS.
that might have been drawn by a rule from the Kara
Kum, Passing at a slight distance the town and fort
of Tcharjui, where Bokharan territory begins, and
which is commanded by a Beg or native Governor,
the railway traverses six miles of orchard and
garden and brings us at length to the source and
giver of this great bounty, the Amu Daria or Oxus
itself. There in the moonlight gleamed before us the
broad bosom of the mighty river that from the glaciers
of the Pamir rolls its 1,500 miles of current down to
The Oxus

l 44 Jº USSIA IN CENTRAL AS/A
the Aral Sea. In my ears were continually ringing
the beautiful words of Matthew Arnold, who alone of
English poets has made the great Central Asian river
the theme of his muse, and has realised its extra-
Ordinary and mysterious personality. Just as when
upon its sandy marge the hero Rustum bewailed his
dead son, so now before our eyes
- the majestic river floated on
Out of the mist and hum of that low land
Into the frosty twilight, and there moved
Rejoicing through the hushed Chorasmian waste
Under the solitary moon.
The Gihon of Eden, ‘that encompasseth the whole
land of Ethiopia,’’ the Vak-shu of Sanskrit literature,
the Oxus of the Greeks, the Amu Daria, or River-Sea,
of the Tartars—no river, not even the Nile, can claim
a nobler tradition, or a more illustrious history.
Descending from the hidden ‘ Roof of the world, its
waters tell of forgotten peoples and whisper secrets
of unknown lands. They are believed to have rocked
the cradle of our race. Long the legendary water-
mark between Iran and Turan, they have worn a
channel deep into the fate of humanity. World-wide
conquerors, an Alexander and a Tamerlane, slaked
their horses' thirst in the Oxus stream ; Eastern poets
drank inspiration from its fountains; Arab geographers
boasted of it as ‘superior in volume, in depth, and in
breadth to all the rivers of the earth.’
The bed of the Amu Daria—i.e. the depression
which is covered in time of highwater—ishere between
Width and
appearance
of channel
* Genesis ii. 13.
L'Hſ 100 SIH (INV InfºHVHØJ, HO 9 GIA GIHJ,
ſº
*::
ae
ș
Zae,

FROM MERW TO THE OXUS 145
two and three miles wide; though in summer, when
swollen by the melted snows of the Hindu Kush and
the Pamir, the inundated surface sometimes extends
to five miles. In the autumn and winter, when the
waters have shrunk, the channel is confined within
its true banks, and is then from half a mile to a mile
in width, flowing with a rapid current of most ir-
regular depth over a shifting and sandy bottom.
When Burnes crossed it at Tcharjui in August 1832,
he found the channel about 650 yards across. At
the time of our visit, in October 1888, the stream was
unusually low, and the main channel was of no greater
dimensions. Mud-banks, covered with Ooze or sand,
showed where the current had only recently subsided.
Still, however, did it merit the title, “The great Oxus
stream, the yellow Oxus.’ The colour of the water
is a very dirty coffee-hued brown, the facsimile of
that of the Nile; but it is extremely healthy and can
be drunk with impunity. I was strangely reminded
by the appearance of this great river, by the formation
of its bed, by the structure of its banks, and by the
scenery and life which they displayed, of many a
landscape on the Nile in Upper Egypt. There is the
same fringe of intensely fertile soil along its shores,
with the same crouching clay-built villages, and even a
Bokharan counterpart to the Sakkiyeh and shadoof,
for raising and distributing the life-giving waters of
the stream. Only on the Oxus there is no cliff like
the eastern wall of the Nile at Gebel-et-Tayr, and, alas !
in this northern latitude there is no belt of coroneted
palms.
I,
T46 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL AS/A
General
Annen-
koff’s
wooden
railway
bridge
The problem of crossing the Amu Daria at this
place was regarded as the most serious difficulty by
which General Annenkoff was confronted, and the
bridge by which he solved it, though confessedly only
a temporary structure, is looked upon by his followers
with parental pride. It is an inelegant structure,
built entirely of wood, which was brought all the
way from Russia, and rests on more than 3,000 piles,
which are driven very close together into the bed
of the stream. At first the plan was contemplated
of conveying the railway across upon a kind of
steam ferry worked by a cable which was to be fixed
upon a largish island in mid-stream. But this idea
was presently surrendered in favour of the existing
structure, which was designed by M. Daragan and
built by a Polish engineer, named Bielinski, for the
very moderate sum of 30,000l., the economy of the
undertaking being its chief recommendation to the
authorities. It is constructed in four sections, there
being four branches of the river at this spot, separated
by islands. The united length of the four bridges is
over 2,000 yards. M. Mestcherin told me with pride
that the main part had been put up in the extraordi-
narily brief period of 103 days. The top of the bridge
is inconsiderably elevated above the river, and the
rails, though thirty feet above the lowestwater, are only
five feet above the level of the highest flood. A small
plank platform and handrail runs alongside of the
single line of rails. Our train crawled very slowly
across, and occupied fifteen minutes in the transit.
As soon as the bridge was finished, the Russians
FROM MERW TO THE OXUS 147
with amazing stupidity did their best to ruin it alto-
gether by cutting it in two. A section in the centre
had been so constructed as to swing Open and to
admit of a steamboat, which had been built in St.
Petersburg and put together just below, and in which
it was expected that General Rosenbach, who came
down to attend the inaugural function, would make
a journey up-stream to Kerki. It did not seem to
have occurred to anybody that if the steamer was
only intended for up-stream traffic, it might as well
have been pieced together above the bridge as below.
However, when it approached the gap, this was dis-
covered to have been made just too small. Sooner
Its tempo-
rary cha-
racter
than disappoint the general, who was kept in ignorance
of what was passing, or confess their blunder, the
Russian engineers sliced another section of the bridge
in two, pulling up two of the main clusters of piles.
The result was that the bridge, frail enough to start
with, and with its continuity thus cruelly shattered,
nearly collapsed altogether; and some months were
spent in getting it into working order again. It was
quite anticipated that it would not survive the
unusually high floods of 1888; and no one believes
it can last more than a very few years. An even
greater risk, to which so prodigious a structure built
entirely of wood is by its nature exposed, is that of
fire, ignited by a falling spark. To meet this danger,
six fire stations with pumps and hose have been estab-
lished on the top. However, the bridge will already
have served its purpose, if only in conveying across
the material for the continuation of the railway to
L 2
148 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Samarkand, and must ultimately be replaced by a
more solid iron fabric, the cost of which, according
to the plan of construction, is variously estimated at
from 250,000l. to 2,000,000l. sterling. There is only
one argument, apart from the cost, against an iron
bridge, which may retard the execution. The Oxus
is inclined to shift, not only its bed, but its entire
channel. Tcharjui, now six miles inland, was origi-
nally upon the western bank of the river, and there
cannot be a doubt that, whether it be due, as is said,
to a centrifugal force arising from the rotation of the
earth and compelling rivers to impinge upon their
eastern banks, or to other causes, the eastward
movement of the river still continues. It would be,
to say the least, exasperating to build a big iron
bridge to cross a river, and to find it eventually
straddling over dry land. Training-walls and a great
-- expense would be required to counteract this danger.
Theosu, Below the present bridge were to be seen some of
flotilla, - + . º - * &
the boats belonging to the much-vaunted Oxus flotilla,
so dear to the imagination of Russian Jingoes, as pro-
viding a parallel line of advance upon Afghanistan.
As yet its resources cannot be described as in a very
forward condition. They consist of five vessels, the
largest of which are two paddle-steamers of very light
draught (2} feet when laden), called respectively the
Czar and Czaritsa, of 165 tons each, 150 ft. long and
23 ft. broad, and with engines of 500 horse-power.
The first of these was launched in September 1887.
The cost was 14,000l. Each of them can carry 300
men and 20 officers, and is navigated by 30 men.
GIÐ (IIHEI SITYO GIHI, HO £) NINGICIO

FROM MERV. To THE ONUS 149
They are reputed to be able to do 16 miles an hour
in smooth water. For the present one is to ply
between Amu Daria and Petro Alexandrovsk, just
above Khiva; the other up-stream to Kerki, the
most advanced military position of Russia on the
river, 140 miles from Tcharjui, occupied by agree-
ment with Bokhara, to whom strictly it belongs, in
May 1887, and garrisoned by Russian troops since.
Kerki is an important place, both commercially, as
the market for the Afghan towns of Andkui and
THE OXUS FLOTILLA.
Maimena, and the trading point of transfer between
Turkomania and Afghan Turkestan; and strategically,
as the point from which, either by river or, as is
more probable, by rail (extended hither along the
bank of the Amu Daria from Tcharjui), a Russian
advance may ultimately be expected upon Northern
Afghanistan. Hitherto the difficulties of navigation,
arising partly from the swiftness of current, which
impedes any but powerful steamers, partly from the
shallow and shifting channel which renders the

150 RUSSIA IW CENTRAL ASIA
employment of such almost impossible, have had a
disheartening effect; and it was only after many
vicissitudes that the first effort to reach Kerki was
accomplished. Since that time, however, and in the
Spring of the present year, General Rosenbach has
made the passage to Kerki in the Czar. In the rest
of the flotilla are included two large floats or barges,
capable of carrying 1,000 men apiece, which would
require to be towed up-stream. These barges draw
a maximum of 2 feet of water, will carry a cargo of
160 tons, and cost 5,000l. apiece. It is evident from
these details that the Oxus flotilla, whose strength has
been exaggerated in this country, is still in its infancy;
and that, to whatever dimensions it may swell in the
future, it cannot at present be looked upon as con-
tributing much to the offensive strength of Russia in
Central Asia.
151
CHAPTER WI
|BOKHARA. THE NOBLE
Quant il orent passé cel desert, si vindrent à une cité qui est appelée
Bocara, moult noble et grant.—MARCO Polo.
Continuation of the railway to Bokhara—Scenery of the Khanate—
Approach to the city—Attitude of the Bokhariots towards the
railway—New Russian town–Political condition of the Khanate
—Accession of the reigning Amir–Seid Abdul Ahad—Abolition
of slavery–Novel security of access—History of Bokhara—Pre-
vious English visitors to Bokhara—Road from the station to the
city—The Russian Embassy–Native population—Foreign ele-
ments—Anindustrial people—Bokharan women—Religious build-
ings and practice—The Great Minaret—Criminals hurled from
the Summit—Assassination of the Divan Begi—Torture of the
murderer——Interior of the city—The Righistan—The Citadel and
State prison–The Great Bazaar—Curiosities and manufactures—
Brass and copper ware—Barter and currency—Russian mono-
poly of import trade from Europe—Russian firms in the city—
Statistics of trade–Effects of the railway—Restrictions on the
Sale of liquor——Mussulman inebriety—Survival of ancient cus-
toms—Dr. Heyfelder—The reshta or guinea-worm of Bokhara.
—Bokharan army–Native Court and ceremonial—Tendency to
incorporation—Transitional epoch at Bokhara. -
I OBSERVED in the last chapter that, upon arriving at Continue.
© º - © tion of the
Tcharjui, we had passed from Russian on to Bokharan #."
e & & g e ORIlal’8,
territory. The distinction is of course a somewhat -
artificial one, for though it rests upon treaty stipula-
tions, yet Russia can do in Bokhara what she pleases,
and when she humours the pretensions of Bokharan
152 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Scenery
of the
Rhanate
autonomy, only does so because, being all-powerful, she
can afford to be lenient. The pretence of indepen-
dence was, however, kept up, so far as the construc-
tion of the railway through the territory of the Amir
was concerned—the strip of country traversed by the
line and the ground occupied by the station buildings
being in some cases presented gratis by the good-will
of the Amir, but in the majority of instances bought
either from him or from the local proprietors of the
soil. At that time Russian influence and credit
do not appear to have been quite as omnipotent in
Bokhara as they now are ; for the Oriental landlords,
with characteristic caution, turned up their noses at
the paper rouble, and insisted upon being paid in
silver, which had to be bought for the purpose in
Hamburg, and transported all the way to Central
Asia. I do not know whether the hypothesis of a
similar transaction may be held to have explained
the big padlocked bags, strongly guarded by soldiers,
and evidently containing bullion, that I saw landed
from our steamer at Uzun Ada.
As we advanced further into the Khanate, a new
country spread before us. It displayed the exuberant
richness, not merely of an oasis or reclaimed desert,
but of a region long and habitually fertile. Great
clumps of timber afforded a spectacle unseen since
the Caucasus; and large walled enclosures, overtopped
with fruit-trees, marked the country residences of
Bokharan squires. It was of this neighbourhood
that Ibn Haukal, the Arab traveller, wrote as long
ago as the tenth century: “In all the regions of
vºry HYIOȘI Țo vīNyſſonvā

BOKHARA THE WOBLE 153
the earth there is not a more flourishing or a more
delightful country than this, especially the district of
Bokhara. If a person stand on the Kohendiz (i.e.
the Castle) of Bokhara, and cast his eyes around,
he shall not see anything but beautiful green and
luxuriant verdure on every side; so that he would
imagine the green of the earth and the azure of the
heavens were united. And as there are green fields
in every quarter, so there are villas interspersed
among the green fields. And in all Khorasan and
|Maweralnahr there are not any people more long-
lived than those of Bokhara.'" At Kara Kul, where
the last surviving waters of the Zerafshan find their
home in three small lakes, we reached the district so
famous for its black, tightly curled lambskins, the
Asiatic equivalent and superior to what in Europe we
denominate Astrakhan. At the same time, curiously
enough, the huge sheepskin bonnets, with which the
Turkomans had rendered us familiar, disappeared in
favour of the capacious white turban of the Uzbeg or
the Tajik. Early in the afternoon (we had left Amu
Daria at 7 A.M.) there appeared over the trees on the
north of the linea tall, gracefulminaret, and the spheri-
cal outline of two large domes. We were in sight of
Bokhara Es Sherif, or the Noble, at the present junc-
ture the most interesting and intact city of the East.
Skirting the city, from which we cannot at one moment
have been more than four miles distant, and seeming
to leave it behind, we stopped at the new Russian
1 The Oriental Geography of Ibn Hawkal. Translated by Sir
William Ouseley, Knt. 1800.
Approach
to the city
154 RUSSIA IN CENTRAI, ASIA
Attitude
of the
Bokhariots
towards
the railway
station of Bokhara, situated nearly ten miles from its
gates.
Upon inquiry I found that the station had been
very deliberately planted on this site. A committee,
consisting of representatives of the Russian and
Bokharan Governments and of merchants of both
nationalities, had met to investigate and determine
the question of locality. Some of the native merchants
were in favour of a site nearer the town, though the
general attitude of the Bokhariots towards the railway
was then one of suspicion. It was regarded as foreign,
subversive, anti-national, and even Satanic. Shaitan's
Arba, or the Devil's Wagon, was what they called it.
Accordingly it was stipulated that the line should as
far as possible avoid the cultivated land, and should
pass at a distance of ten miles from the native city.
This suggestion the Russians were not averse to
adopting, as it supplied them with an excuse for
building a rival Russian town around the station
buildings, and for establishing a cantonment of
troops to protect the latter, a step which might have
been fraught with danger in the nearer neighbour-
hood of the capital. Now, however, the Bokhariots
are victims to much the same regrets as the wealthy
English landowners who, when the railway was first
introduced in this country, opposed at any cost its
passage through their property. Already when the
first working train steamed into Bokhara with rolling
stock and material for the continuation of the line,
the natives crowded down to see it, and half in
fear, half in surprise, jumped into the empty wagons,
BOATH ARA THE WO BI, E 155
Presently apprehension gave way to ecstasy. As
soon as the line was in working order they would
crowd into the open cars in hundreds, waiting for
hours in Sunshine, rain, or storm, for the engine to
puff and the train to move. I found the third-class
carriages reserved for Mussulman passengers crammed
to Suffocation, just as they are in India; the infantile
mind of the Oriental deriving an endless delight from
an excitement which he makes not the slightest
effort to analyse or to solve. So great is the business
now done at the station, that in September last General
Annenkoff told a correspondent that since July the
daily receipts from passenger and goods traffic com-
bined had amounted to more than 300l. Etiquette
prevents the Amir himself from travelling by a method
SO repugnant to Oriental tradition; but he exhibits
all the interest of reluctant ignorance, and seldom
interviews a Russian without enquiring about its
progress." -
In a short time the new Russian town of which I
have spoken will start into being. Plots of land ad-
joining the railway have been eagerly bought up by
New Rug-
sian town
Commercial companies, who will transfer their head- .
quarters hither from the native city. An imposing
station building had, when I visited it, risen to the
height of two courses of stone above the ground.
Barracks are to be built; streets will be laid out; a
Residency will receive the Russian diplomatic Agent
* Wide ‘’Buchara nach und vor der transkaspischen Eisenbahn ”
Von Staatstrath Dr. O. Heyfelder. Unsere Zeit, Leipzig, October
1888.
156 RUSSIA IV CEVTRAL ASIA
to the Amir, who now lives in the capital under limi-
tations arising from his restricted surroundings, and
from the fact that according to Bokharan etiquette
every distinguished stranger in the city, himself
included, becomes ipso facto a guest of the Amir, and
is supplied with board and lodging. In another
decade the new Bokhara will have attracted to itself
much of the importance of the ancient city, and
with its rise and growth the prestige of the latter must
inevitably decline. Thus, by a seeming concession to
native sentiment, the Russians are in reality playing
their own game. -
Political Before I describe my visit to the old Bokhara, I
condition tº . .
º, propose to append some observations upon the present
allä, Le
political condition of the Khanate, a subject about
which very scant and imperfect information appears
ever to percolate to England. - *
The existing relations between Russia and
Bokhara are defined by the two treaties of 1868 and
1873, both of which were concluded between Kauf-
mann, on behalf of the Imperial Government, and
the late Amir Mozaffur-ed-din. These treaties left
Bokhara, already shorn of Samarkand and the beau-
tiful province of Zerafshan, in a position of qualified
independence, the privileges of a court and native
government being conceded in return for the surrender
of the waterway of the Oxus, and of certain com-
manding fortified positions, to Russia. So closely,
however, were the Russian toils cast round the
Khanate that these conditions were generally recog-
For a translation of this treaty, vide Appendix V.
JBOKHARA THE WOBLE 157
nised as involving ultimate absorption; and there was
scarcely a single English writer who did not confi-
dently predict that the death of the then Amir would
infallibly be succeeded by total annexation. Sir
Henry Rawlinson, by far the greatest English authority
on Central Asia, expressed the following opinion (in
an essay entitled ‘Later Phases of the Central Asian
Question, written in December 1874): “As soon as
there is rapid and direct communication between the
Caucasus and Turkestan, a Russian Governor-General
will take the place of the Amir, and then, if we may
judge by Our Own Afghan experience, the Russian
difficulties will commence.’ Mozaffur-ed-din has since
died, and Turkestan is linked by a railway—the most
rapid and direct of all communications—to the
Caspian, and yet there is now, and is likely for some
time to continue, an Amir of Bokhara. Russia has
in fact played the part of sacrificing the shadow for
the sake of the substance, and of tightening the iron
grip beneath the velvet glove, with such adroitness
and success that she can well afford for a time to leave
the Khanate of Bokhara alone, with all the trouble
and expense of annexation, and to tolerate a semi-
independent Amir with as much complacency as we
do a Khan of Khelat or a Maharajah of Kashmir.
The analogy to Afghanistan is a faulty one, for the
Bokhariots are not a turbulent or a fanatical people ;
and, though composed of several nationalities, present
a fairly homogeneous whole. -
The late Amir, who was a capable man, though a
debauchee, died in 1885, leaving several sons. The
158 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Accession
of the
reigning
Amir
complete ascendency of Russia was well illustrated
by the events that ensued. Mozaffur had solicited
the recognition as his heir of his fourth son, Seid
Abdul Ahad, although the offspring of a slave; and
this preference had been diplomatically humoured by
the Russian Government, who sent the young man to
St. Petersburg (where now also they are educating
his younger brother) and to Moscow, to imbibe
Russian tastes and to be dazzled by the coronation of
the Czar. In Eastern countries it is of the highest
importance, immediately upon the occurrence of a
vacancy to the throne, to have an official candidate
forthcoming and to strike the first blow—a cardinal
rule of action which Great Britain has uniformly
neglected in her relations with Afghanistan. At the
time of his father's death Abdul Ahad was Beg of
Kermineh, a position which he held, even as a boy,
during Schuyler's visit in 1873. The death of the
old Amir was concealed for twelve hours; special
messengers left at full gallop for Kermineh; the palace
and troops were assured by the loyalty of the Kush-
Begi or Grand Vizier, who marched out of the town
to receive the new Amir. As soon as the death of
Mozaffur leaked out the rumour was spread that
a Russian general and army were advancing upon
Bokhara; and when Abdul Ahad appeared, attended
by General Annenkoff, whose presence in the vicinity
had been judiciously turned to account, he entered
into the inheritance of his fathers without difficulty
and without striking a blow.
His eldest brother, Abdul Melik, who rebelled
BOIXHARA
AND AMIR OF
IKUSH BEGI

BOKHARA THE WOBLE 159
against his father eighteen years ago, has for some
time been a fugitive in India, and is detained by the
British Government at Abbotabad. Another elder
brother, who was Beg of Hissar at the time of his
brother's accession, and who also contemplated
rebellion, was quietly removed as a State prisoner to
Baisun." A third, who was similarly implicated, was
deprived of his Begship of Tchiraktchi and incar-
cerated in the capital.” The opposition, if it exists,
has not dared to lift its head since.
Seid Abdul Ahad is a young man of twenty-eight
or twenty-nine years of age, tall, black-bearded, and
dignified in appearance. I saw him at Bokhara.
Clad in magnificent robes, and riding at the head of
a long cavalcade through the bazaar, he looked
worthy to be an Oriental monarch. Little is publicly
known of his character, which I heard variously de-
scribed as inoffensive and avaricious. He is reputed
- among those who know him to be intelligent, and to
understand the exact limits of his own independence.
It is almost impossible to tell how far he is popular
with his subjects, Oriental respect for the title out-
weighing all considerations of the personality of its
bearer. Moreover, espionage is understood here, as
elsewhere in the East, to play a prominent part in
native régime, and disloyalty is too dangerous to be
common. If he can persuade his people that he is
still something more than a gilded marionette, as the
* For an account of this incident, vide M. Bonvalot's new work,
Through the Heart of Asia, 1889, vol. i. pp. 230–1; vol. ii. p. 23.
* Ibid. vol. ii. p. 23.
Seid Abdul
Ahad
160 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Russians are politic enough to allow him to do, and if at
the same time he tacitly takes his Orders from Tashkent,
there is no reason why he should not retain his crown.
Abolition The Russians take great credit to themselves for
of slavery g - § e
having persuaded the young sovereign to issue a
decree, signed November 19, 1886, totally abolishing
slavery in the State of Bokhara, and giving to each
man a written certificate of his freedom—a step
which would hardly have been necessary if Clause
XVII. of the Treaty of 1873 had been at all faithfully
carried out.
The traffic in human beings, being contrary to the law
which commands man to love his neighbour, is abolished for
ever in the territory of the Khanate. In accordance with
this resolve, the strictest injunctions shall be given by the
Amir to all his Begs to enforce the new law, and special
orders shall be sent to all border towns where slaves are trans-
ported for sale from neighbouring countries, that should any
such slaves be brought there, they shall be taken from their
owners and set at liberty without loss of time.
The relations between the two courts are in the
capable hands of M. Tcharikoff, a most accomplished
man, speaking English fluently—the result of an
early Edinburgh education—and a thorough master
of Oriental politics. -
Novel. It was with no small astonishment that I found
tº of myself in the agreeable company of Dr. Heyfelder, ap-
proaching without let or hindrance the to English-
men almost unknown city of Bokhara. I remembered
having read in a notice in the ‘Westminster Review’
of “Wambéry's Travels’ the words written only thirteen
BOKHARA THE WOBLE 161.
years ago, ‘The very names of Khiva, Bokhara, and
Samarkand are so associated with danger and difficulty
that no European who is not prepared to take his
life in his hand can venture to visit them.' Even at
Tiflis but a few weeks before, M. Henri Moser, the
Swiss traveller, who six years ago visited Central Asia,
and in 1886 published a most vivid and admirable
account of his travels, entitled ‘A travers l'Asie
Centrale, had warned me to be careful of the fanati-
cism of Bokhara, and had expressed a doubt as to
whether a foreigner could obtain permission to enter
the city. When he was there in 1883 himself, though
in the company of a special envoy from the Czar, he
remained a virtual prisoner indoors for three weeks,
and was only once allowed to make an excursion
through the town. I also remembered having read
in the essay, already quoted, by Sir H. Rawlinson,
“No one questions but that the general feeling at
Bokhara is intensely hostile to Russia, and that the
Amir has had and still has the utmost difficulty in
preventing his subjects from breaking out and declar-
ing a holy war against the infidels.’ And yet here
was I, a stranger, and not even a Russian, approach-
ing in absolute security this so-called haunt of bigotry,
and about to spend several days in leisurely observa-
tion of its life and people.
Identified by some writers with the Bazaria of History of
Quintus Curtius, where in the winter of B.C. 328, in Bonus
the royal Chace or Paradise that had not been dis-
turbed for four generations, Alexander the Great and
his officers slew 4,000 animals, and where Alexander
Mſ
162 RUSSIA 7. W C E WTRAL ASIA
himself overcame a lion in single combat, extorting
from the Spartan envoy the exclamation, ‘Well done,
Alexander, nobly hast thou won the prize of kingship
from the king of the woods!’—generally derived from
the Sanskrit name Vihara, or a college of wise men,
associated in local legend with the mythical hero
Afrasiab–there is little doubt that Bokhara is one of
the most ancient cities in the East. Since it emerged
into the light of history about 700 A.D., it has been
alternately the spoil of the most famous conquerors
and the capital of the greatest kings. Under the
Iranian Samanid dynasty, who ruled for 130 years
till 1000 A.D., it was regarded as a pillar of Islam and
as the pride of Asia. Students flocked to its univer-
sities, where the most learned mullahs lectured ;
pilgrims crowded its shrines. A proverb said, ‘In all
other parts of the world light descends upon earth,
from holy Bokhara it ascends.’ Well-built canals
carried streams of water through the city; luxuriant
fruit-trees cast a shadow in its gardens; its silkworms
spun the finest silk in Asia; its warehouses overflowed
with carpets and brocades; the commerce of the East
and West met and changed hands in its caravanserais;
and the fluctuations of its market determined the
exchange of the East. The Samanids were succeeded
by the Turki Seljuks and the princes of Kharezm ;
and then, like a storm from the desert, there swept
down upon Bokhara the pitiless fury of the Mongol,
engulfing all in a like cataclysm of ruin. Jagatai
and Oktai, sons of Jenghiz Khan, made some amends,
by beneficent and merciful rule, for the atrocities of
BOKAIA A' A THE WO/3/A) I 63
their father ; and it was about this time that the elder
brothers Polo, making their first voyage to the East,
“si vindrent à une cité qui est appelée Bocara, moult
noble et grant.’ A change of ownership occurred
when about 1400 the great conqueror Timur—great,
whether we regard him as savage, as soldier, or as
statesman—overran the East, and established a Tartar
dynasty that lasted a hundred years—a period which
has been termed the Bokharan Renaissance. Another
wave of conquest, the Uzbeg Tartars, ensued, again
bringing to the surface two great names—that of
Sheibani Mehemmed Khan, who overthrew the Timurid
sovereigns and established an ethnical ascendency that
has lasted ever since; and Abdullah Khan, the
national hero of Bokhara, which owed to his liberal
tastes much of its later architectural glory, its richly
endowed colleges and its material prosperity. Sub-
sequent dynasties, exhibiting a sorrowful record of
incapacity, fanaticism, and decay, witnessed the
gradual contraction of the once mighty empire of
Transoxiana into a petty khanate. It is true that
Bokhara still refers with pride to the rule of Amir
|Maasum, founder of the present or Manghit reigning
family in 1784; but a bigoted devotee, wearing the
dress and imitating the life of a dervish, was a poor
substitute for the mighty sovereigns of the past. The
dissolution of the times, yearly sinking into a deeper
slough of vice, venality, and superstition, was fitly ex-
pressed in the character and reign of his grandson,
the infamous Nasrullah (1826–1860), whose son,
Mozaffur-ed-din (1860–1885), successively the foe,
M 2
164 RUSSIA IV CE WTRAL AS/A
the ally, and the puppet of Russia, has left to his
heir, the reigning Amir, a capital still breathing some
aroma of its ancient glory, but a power whose wings
have been ruthlessly clipped, and a kingdom indebted
for a nominal independence to the calculating prudence
rather than to the generosity of Russia.
English imagination has for centuries been stirred
by the romantic associations of Bokhara, but English
visitors have rarely penetrated to the spot. The first
who reached its walls was the enterprising mer-
chant Master Anthony Jenkinson, who was despatched
on several adventurous expeditions to the East be-
tween 1557 and 1572, acting in the double capacity
of ambassador to Queen Elizabeth and agent to the
Muscovy Trading Company, which had been formed
to open up the trade with the East. He stayed two
and a half months in the city in the winter of 1558–
59, being treated with much consideration by the
sovereign, Abdullah Khan; and has left a record of
his journey and residence in Bokhara, the facts of
which display a minute correspondence (at which no
one acquainted with the magnificent immobility of
the East would express surprise) with the customs
and manners of to-day." In the eighteenth century
the record was limited to two names—Colonel Garber
in 1732, and Mr. George Thompson in 1741.” In this
* Early Voyages in Russia and Persia. By Anthony Jenkinson
Previous
English
visitors to
Bokhara
and other Englishmen. Edited for the Hakluyt Society by E. D.
Morgan, 1886.
* Vide Professor Grigorieff’s criticism of Wambéry's History of
Bokhara, in the Appendix to Schuyler's Turkistan, vol. i. I can
ascertain nothing about Col. Garber (or Harber) beyond the mention
of his name. Professor Grigorieff was mistaken in coupling the name
BOKHARA THE WOBLE 165
century William Moorcroft and George Trebeck, at
the end of six years' wanderings from India, through
Rashmir, Afghanistan, and Turkestan, reached
Bokhara on February 25, 1825; leaving the city five
months later only to die, the One at Andkui, the other
at Mazar-i-Sherif." In 1832 Lieutenant, afterwards
Sir Alexander Burnes, succeeded in reaching Bokhara
also from India, in company with Dr. James Gerard,
and in concluding a treaty of commerce with the
Amir.” Then in 1842 came the horrible tragedy
which has inscribed the names of Stoddart and
Conolly in the martyrology of English pioneers in
the East. Sent in 1838 and 1840 upon a mission
of diplomatic negotiation to the khanates of Central
Asia, whose sympathies Great Britain desired to enlist
in consequence of her advance into Afghanistan, they
were thrown by the monster Nasrullah into a foul
subterranean pit, infested with vermin, were sub-
jected to abominable torture, and finally were publicly
beheaded in 1842. Dr. Wolff, the missionary, travel-
ling to Bokhara in 1843, in order to clear up their
of Reynold Hogg with that of Thompson. The two travelled together
as far as Khiva (viā Samara and the Aral Sea); but while Thompson
pushed on to Bokhara, Hogg remained behind, and with great difficulty,
being plundered in the steppe, escaped at length to Orenburg. Wide
An Historical Account of the British Trade over the Caspian Sea.
By Jonas Hanway, merchant, 1758, vol. i. pp. 345–52. - t
* Travels in the Himalayan Provinces, dée. By Mr. William
Moorcroft and Mr. George Trebeck, from 1819 to 1825. 2 vols. 1841.
The editor, who published these travels fifteen years after the authors’
death, omitted any account of Moorcroft's stay at Bokhara, both
because the latter's notes were very desultory and imperfect, and
because Burnes had published his work in the interim.
* Travels into Bokhara. By Lieut. Alexander Burmes. 3 vols.
1835. Burnes' account of Bokhara is still one of the best extant.
166 *. RUSSIA IW CENTRAL ASIA
fate, ran many risks, but at length escaped with his
life. For forty years, however, Owing partly to the
terror inspired by this disaster and to the perils of
the journey, partly to the increasing influence of
Russia, who did not encourage English intruders upon
her new preserves, not a single Englishman set foot
in Bokhara. A deep mystery overhung the place
like a cloud, from which occasionally peeped the
glint of Russian arms, or rang the voice of Russian
cannon. A flash of light was thrown upon the pre-
vailing darkness about half-way through this period
by the heroic voyage of the Hungarian Wambéry,
who penetrated to Bokhara in the garb of a mendi-
cant dervish in 1863, and whose work, being pub-
lished in English, awoke a profound sensation in this
country." In 1873, Dr. Schuyler, the American,
visited Bokhara under Russian patronage, in his tour
through the Czar's dominions in Central Asia, and
wrote a work which may be described as monumental,
and is still a classic on the subject.” Dr. Lansdell,
the so-called missionary, was the next English visitor
after Wolff, in 1882. I do not know of any others
till the small batch who have obtained leave to go
since the Transcaspian Railway was made, and whose
experience it is my object to relate.
Upon our arrival at the station we committed
ourselves to a calèche drawn by a troika, or team of
three horses abreast, which had been sent down from
the Russian Embassy in the city to meet us, and
Road from
the station
to the city
* Travels in Central Asia. By Arminius Vambéry, 1864.
* Turkistan. By Eugene Schuyler. 2 vols. 1876.
BOKHARA THE WOBLE 167
started for the capital. But for this good fortune
We might have been compelled to make the journey
either on donkey-back or in one of the huge wooden
springless carts of the country called arbas, the
wheels of which are from eight to ten feet high, and
on whose elevated floor the natives squat contentedly,
while the driver, usually seated on a saddle on the
horse's back, urges the vehicle in the most casual
manner over inequalities that would upset any less
clumsy construction. Donkeys appeared to be the
most popular method of locomotion, it being con-
sidered undignified in that country to walk. Two
and even three men sit astride of the same diminu-
tive animal, dangling their legs to the ground; or a
bearded veteran, with his knees tilted up to his chin
by the ridiculously short stirrups, would be seen
perched upon a heap of saddle-bags, with a blue bale
reared up behind him, which closer inspection re-
vealed to be a daughter or a wife. Blinding clouds
of dust, stirred by the great traffic, rolled along the
road, which lay between orchards of mulberries,
peaches, figs, and vines, or between fields in which
the second grain crop of the year was already spring-
ing, or where hundreds of ripe melons littered the
ground. We passed through several villages of low
clay houses where dusty trees overhung the dry
watercourses and thirsty camels stood about the
wells, skirted a summer palace of the Amir sur-
rounded by a mighty wall of sun-dried clay, and at
length saw drawn out in a long line before us the
lofty ramparts of the city, with buttresses and towers,
The
Russian
Embassy
16S RUSSIA IV ('EVTRAL ASIA
eight miles round, and pierced by eleven gates, open
from sunrise to sunset, but hermetically closed at
that hour against either exit or entrance till the
morrow." -
Entering by one of these, the Sallia Khaneh, we
made our way for over two miles through a bewilder-
ing labyrinth of streets and alleys to the Russian
GATE AND WALL OF BOKHARA.
Embassy, situated near the Ughlan Gate, at the far
end of the city. This is a large native house with
an extensive fruit garden surrounded by a clay wall,
which was lent to the Russians by the Amir, who
had confiscated it from its former owner, both for
* A plan of Bokhara, as also of Samarkand, is given in the Russian
original, but not, unfortunately, in the English translation, of Khani-
koff’s work.

BOKHARA THE MOBLE 169
their own accommodation and for the entertainment
of all distinguished guests. The servants, horses,
grocery, and food are supplied by the Amir, one of
whose officers, called the Mirakhur (literally Amir
Akhor, i.e. Master of the Horse), lives in the outer
court, and sits for the most part of the day smoking
a pipe and tranquilly surveying operations. In one
court are picketed the horses of the Russian guard,
RUSSIAN EMEASSY AT BOE HARA.
consisting of twenty Cossacks of the Ural. In the
next are several guest-chambers, whose furniture
consists of a carpet, a rope bedstead, and a table;
and in a third are the offices and reception-rooms of
the Embassy, all on a scale of similar unpretentious-
ness and in pure native style. On our table was
spread every morning a dastarkham (literally table-
napkin) or collation of sugarplums, dried raisins,
sweetmeats, and little cakes, together with a huge

170. RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
flat slab of brown bread—the traditional hospitality
of the Amir. We never knew what to do with these
dainties, which were not altogether to English taste,
and the various plates with their contents became
quite a nuisance. Washing was rather a difficulty,
because the Only jug known to the natives is a brass
ewer, which holds about as much as a teapot; and
the Only basin a receptacle with a small bowl in the
middle of a large brim, the idea being that it is
sufficient for water to be poured over the hands to
ensure ablution. I created a great sensation with an
indiarubber bath. Every morning the attendants
brought in the provisions of the day for the entire
household, consisting of mutton, chickens, and fruit;
but the uncertain arrival and quantity of these
rendered the hour of meals rather precarious. We
were most hospitably welcomed by the Russian
attaché, who, in the absence of M. Tcharikoff, the
Resident, was acting as chargé d'affaires. He seemed
to be overwhelmed with business, and deputations of
the Amir's ministers, and other gorgeously robed
officials were coming in and out the entire day. If
we lost our way in the town, which it was almost
impossible not to do, we had only to mention
Eltohikhaneh, the name of the Embassy, to be at Once
shown the direction. I remember that as wereached
our destination the sun was sinking. As its last rays
lit up the horizon and threw the outline of dome and
tower into picturesque relief, there rang through the
cool calm air a chorus of piercing cries. The muez-
zins from a hundred minarets were calling the people
BOKHARA THE WO BI, E 171
to the Namaz, or evening prayer. In Bokhara, where
the Mussulmans affect to be great purists, the Ezan,
as it is called, is recited instead of chanted, the latter
being thought a heterodox corruption. For a minute
or two the air is a Babel of sound. Then all sinks
into silence and the shadows descend. At night
the only sound is the melancholy beat of the watch-
man's drum as he patrols the streets with a lantern,
no one being suffered abroad at that hour.
Bokhara is still a great city, for it numbers ap-
proximately one hundred thousand souls. Of these
only one hundred and fifty are Europeans, nearly all
of them Russians, Germans, or Poles. The bulk of the
native population are Tajiks, the aboriginal Iranian
stock, who may generally be distinguished from their
Tartar brethren by the clearness and often by the
brightness of their complexions, by the light colour
of their hair and beards, sometimes a chestnut or
Native
population
reddish-brown, and by their more refined features.
Tajik and Uzbeg alike are a handsome race, and a
statelier urban population I never saw than in the
streets and bazaars of the town. Every man grows
a beard and wears an abundant white turban, con-
sisting in the case of the Orthodox of forty folds, and
a long robe or khalat of striped cotton, or radiant
silk, or parti-coloured cotton and silk. Bokhara has
long set the fashion in Central Asia in the matter of
dress, and is the great clothes mart of the East.
Here the richness of Oriental fancy has expressed
itself in the most daring but artistic combinations of
colour. The brightest crimson and blue and purple
172 A USSIA IAV CAE WTRAL AS/A
Toreign
elements
and Orange are juxtaposed or interlaced ; and in
Bokhara Joseph would have been looked upon as the
recipient of no peculiar favour in the gift of a coat
of many colours. Too often there is the most glar-
ing contrast between the splendour of the exterior
and the poverty that it covers. Many of the people
are wretchedly poor; but living is absurdly cheap,
and your pauper, undaunted by material woes,
walks abroad with the dignity of a patriarch and in
the garb of a prince.
Foreign elements are mingled in great numbers
in the population. Slavery brought the Persians in
old days to the Bokharan market, and has bequeathed
to freedom their children and grandchildren. Usury
brings the Hindus or Multani, as they are called,
from a prevalent idea that Multan is the capital of
India. With their dark complexions and lank black
locks, with their tight dress and red caste marks on
the forehead," they are an unmistakable lot. Living
in caravanserais without wives or families they lead
an unsocial existence and return to their country as
soon as they have made their fortune. Neighbour-
hood brings the Kirghiz, the Turkomans, and the
Afghans. Business brings to Bokhara, as it has
taken all over the world, the Jews, who are here a
singularly handsome people of mild feature and
benign aspect. Confined to an Oriental ghetto and
for long cruelly persecuted in Bokhara, they still
* It is of the Hindus of Bokhara that Dr. Lansdell makes the aston-
ishingly ingenuous remark: “They paint a red circle, about two inches
in diameter, on their forehead, whether by compulsion or for glory
and beauty I know not.”—Russian Central Asia, vol. ii. p. 101.
JROKHAPA 7"/IE WOBI, E 173
exhibit in their prescribed dress and appearance the
stamp of a peculiar people. The head is shaven
save for two long locks hanging in a curl on either
temple; they wear a square black calico bonnet
JEWS OF BOI, HARA.
trimmed with Astrakhan border, and a girdle round
the waist. To my astonishment I met with one who
could speak a little French.
One thing impressed itself very forcibly on my An indus.
- - trial people
mind, namely, that Bokhara is not now a haunt of

174 RUSSIA IV CEWTRAL ASIA
Bokharan
WO]]].6]]
zealots, but a city of merchants. It contains a
peaceful, industrious, artisan population utterly un-
fitted for war, and as wanting in martial instinct as
in capacity. The hostility to strangers, and parti-
cularly to Christians, sometimes degenerating into
the grossest fanaticism, upon which earlier travellers
have enlarged, has either disappeared from closer
contact with civilisation, or is prudently disguised.
I attribute it rather to the former cause, and to the
temperate conduct of the Russians in their dealings
with the natives; because not even when I wandered
about alone, and there was no motive for deception,
did I observe the smallest indication of antagonism
or repugnance. Many a face expressed that blank
and haughty curiosity which the meanest Oriental
can so easily assume ; but I met with no rudeness
or interference. On the contrary, the demeanour of
the people was friendly, and no one when interro-
gated declined to answer a question. An acquaint-
ance of the previous day would salute you as you
passed by placing his hand. On his breast and
stroking his beard. I never quite knew what to do
on these occasions. For not having a beard to
stroke, I feared it might be thought undignified or
contrary to etiquette to finger the empty air.
I have frequently been asked since my return—it
is the question which an Englishman always seems to
ask first—what the women of Bokhara were like P I
am utterly unable to say. I never saw the features
of one between the ages of ten and fifty. The little
girls ran about, unveiled, in loose silk frocks, and
BOKHARA THE WOBLE 175
wore their hair in long plaits escaping from a tiny
skull-cap. Similarly the old hags were allowed to
exhibit their innocuous charms, on the ground, I
suppose, that they could excite no dangerous emo-
tions. But the bulk of the female population were
veiled in a manner that defied and even repelled
scrutiny. For not only were the features concealed
behind a heavy black horsehair veil, falling from the
top of the head to the bosom, but their figures were
loosely wrapped up in big blue cotton dressing-gowns,
the sleeves of which are not used but are pinned
together over the shoulders at the back and hang
down to the ground, where from under this shapeless
mass of drapery appear a pair of feet encased in big
leather boots. After this I should be more or less
than human if I were to speak enthusiastically of the
Bokharan ladies. Not even the generous though fan-
ciful interpretation of Moore, who sang of
that deep blue melancholy dress
Bokhara's maidens wear in mindfulness
Of friends or kindred, dead, or far away,
could reconcile me to so utter an abnegation of femi-
nine duty.
From the people I pass to the city. In a place
so arrogant of its spiritual reputation, it is not sur-
prising that religious edifices should abound. Their
number has, however, been greatly exaggerated. A
devout Sunnite of Bokhara boasts that he can worship
Allah in a different mosque on each day of the year.
But this number must probably be halved. Similarly
Religious
buildings
and prac-
tice
176 Jº USSIA IV CENTRAL ASIA
the alleged total of one hundred and sixty medresses,
or religious colleges, is about double the actual
figure. Both mosque and medresse are, with scarce
an exception, in a state of great dilapidation and
decay; the beautiful enamelled tiles, bearing in blue
and white characters texts from the Koran, having
fallen or been stripped from the lofty pishtaks or
$
s
ºx
S.
º
§
º
§ º
Sº
§
MEDRESSE AT BOKHARA.
façades, and the interiors being in a state of great
squalor. In a panorama of the city are conspicuous
three domes covered with azure tiles. One of these
belongs to the great mosque Musjid Baliand, or
Kalian, variously reported to have been built or re-
stored by Timur, where the Jumma, or Friday service,
is held, attended by the Amir, and in the presence,

BOKHARA THE NO BLE 177
theoretically, of the entire population. The mosque
consists of a vast open court surrounded by a double
and sometimes a triple colonnade. Here it was that
in 1219 Jenghiz Khan, riding into the mosque, and,
being told that it was the House of God, dismounted,
ascended the pulpit, and flinging the Koran on
to the ground, cried out : “The hay is cut; give your
horses fodder’—a permission which his savage horde
quickly interpreted as authority for a wholesale
massacre. The two other domes surmount the
largest medresse of Miri Arab, standing opposite, said
to contain one hundred and fourteen cells, and to
have attached to it two hundred and thirty mullahs,
and exhibiting in its structural detail the best decora-
tive work in Bokhara. These buildings are typical
of the religious life and even of the faith of the
people, which, in the degradation of morals so con-
spicuous in the East of this century, and partly owing
to contact with a civilisation whose politic avoidance
of proselytism or persecution has encouraged indiffer-
ence, have become a hollow form, veiling hypocrisy
and corruption. The fanaticism of the dervishes or
kalendars, as they are called in the ‘Arabian Nights,'
of whom there used to be many Orders in Bokhara,
living in tekkehs or convents, and who stirred a
dangerous bigotry by their wild movements and
appeals, has subsided or taken the form of a mendi-
cancy which, if unattractive, does not threaten a
breach of the peace. Religious toleration, inculcated
on the one side, has developed on the other with an
astonishing rapidity. **.
N
178 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
The Great
Minaret
Between the Musjid Baliand and the Miri Arab
rises the tapering shaft of the Minari Kalian, or Great
Minaret, whence criminals are thrown headlong, and
which no European had hitherto been allowed to
ascend. I have since heard that in the early part of
the present year this rule was for the first time in
history relaxed. The tower, which we had already
seen from the railway, and which reminded me some-
what of the celebrated Kutub Minar, near Delhi, is
nearly two hundred feet high, and is built of concen-
tric rows of bricks stamped with decorative patterns,
and converging towards the summit, where is an
open gallery, on the roof of which reposes an
enormous stork's nest. Some natives sitting at the
base informed me that the keys were not forthcoming,
but that on Fridays the doors flew mysteriously open.
Their refusal to allow Christians to mount to the top
has always been attributed to the fear that from that
height sacrilegious eyes, looking down upon the flat
roofs of the town, might probe a little too deeply the
secrets of female existence. I succeeded in obtaining
a very fair panorama of the city by climbing to one
of the highest points of the numerous cemeteries
scattered throughout the place. From there was
spread out around me a wilderness of flat clay roofs,
above whose level surface towered the Ark or citadel,
built on a lofty mound, the Great Minaret, the ruined
pishtaks of medresses, and the turquoise domes.
Khanikoff says there are thirteen inside the city walls. Burnes,
by an extraordinary oversight, appears to have overlooked them; and
yet they are a very noticeable feature. - .
GREAT MINARET
THE

BOKHARA THE WOBLE 179
The Minari Kalian is still used for public execu-
tion, three criminals—a false coiner, a matricide, and
a robber—having expiated their offences in this sum-
mary fashion during the last three years. Judgment
is pronounced by the native tribunals, with whose
jurisdiction the Russians have not made the smallest
effort to interfere. The execution is fixed for a
bazaar day, when the adjoining streets and the square
at the base of the tower are crowded with people.
The public crier proclaims aloud the guilt of the con-
demned man and the avenging justice of the sove-
reign. The culprit is then hurled from the summit,
and, spinning through the air, is dashed to pieces on
the hard ground at the base.
This mode of punishment, whose publicity and
horror are well calculated to act as a deterrent among
an Oriental population, is not the only surviving proof
that the nineteenth century can scarcely be considered
as yet to have got a firm hold upon Bokhara. But a
short time before my visit the Divan Begi, second
Minister of the Crown, eldest son of the Kush Begi,
or Grand Vizier—the crafty old man who for many
years has guided the policy of the Khanate, and whose
memory extends back to the times of Stoddart and
Conolly—was publicly assassinated by an Afghan in
the streets. He was shot with two bullets, and soon
after expired. Various explanations were given of
this tragedy, One theory being that it was an act of
private revenge for a recent official seizure of the
murderer's property on account of taxes which he
had refused to pay. Others contended that it was
Criminals
hurled
from the
Summit
Assassina-
tion of the
Divan Begi
N 2
180 RUSSIA IV CENTRAL AS/A
Torture
of the
murderer
due to religious animosity, excited by the Persian
descent and Shiite heresy of the slain man—his father,
the Kush Begi, having been a Persian slave who rose
to eminence by marrying a cast-off wife of the late
Amir. But there seemed to be sufficient reason for
believing that the act was really an expiring effort of
outraged patriotism, the blow being directed against
the minister who was supposed to be mainly respon-
sible for the Russophile tendencies of the Government,
and who had inflamed the indignation of the more
bigoted of his countrymen by countenancing the
advent of the railway, and thus setting the seal upon
Bokharan humiliation. Whichever of these explana-
tions be correct, the murderer was successful in his
object, but paid the penalty by a fate consecrated in
the immemorial traditions of Bokhara, though a
startling incident under the new régime. -
He was handed over by the Amir to the relatives
of the murdered man that they might do with him
what they willed. By them he was beaten with sticks
and stabbed with knives. Accounts vary as to the
actual amount of torture inflicted upon the miserable
wretch ; but it is said that his eyelids were cut off or
his eyes gouged out. In this agonising condition he
was tied to the tail of an ass and dragged through the
streets of the town to the market-place, where his
body was quartered and thrown to the dogs. It is
consoling to know that this brutal atrocity—the
vendetta of the East, the old savage law of an eye for
an eye and a tooth for a tooth—was enacted in the
absence of the Russian Resident, who, it is to be hoped,
J30KHARA THE WOBLE 181
would have interfered to prevent its accomplishment
had he been upon the spot.
The interior of the city is a wilderness of crooked º, of
the city
MAIN STREET OF BOKHARA.
alleys, winding irregularly between the blind walls
of clay-built houses, which are without windows and
have no aperture in their front but closely barred
wooden doors. Trees line one of the principal streets
and hang above the frequent tanks and pools, which
are neither so large, so well filled, or so clean as those
in Indian towns. On the contrary, the water is often
low and stagnant; and if the pool is in the neigh-
bourhood of a mosque, being considered holy, it is
used for drinking as well as for washing purposes,
and spreads the germs of the various endemic

The Righi-
stan
182 RUSSIA IV CE.VTRAI, ASIA
diseases. The largest of these reservoirs is the Liabe-
haus Divan Begi, near one of the most frequented
mosques. Eight rows of stone steps descend to the
water, in which men are always dipping their hands.
The surrounding space is a popular lounge; and
cooked meats, confectionery, fruits, and tea are dis-
pensed from rows of stalls under an avenue of mul-
berry-trees.
From dawn to sunset the largest crowd is collected
in the Righistan or market-place in the north-west
of the town." Every square foot of the surface is
LIABEHAUS DIVAN BEGI.
occupied by stalls and booths, which are frequently
shaded by awnings of woven reed balanced on poles
Burnes' account (Travels into Bokhara, vol. ii.) of the varied
sights and peoples in the Righistan is still the best,

BOKHARA THE WOBLE 183
like the umbrellas of the fakirs on the banks of the
Ganges at Benares. Here men come to buy pro-
visions, meat, flowers, and fruit. The butchers'
counters are covered with the kundjuks or fat rumps
of the so-called big-tailed sheep, of which Marco
Polo said, six hundred years ago, that “they weigh
thirty pounds and upwards, and are fat and excellent
to eat.’ Blocks of rose-coloured rock salt from the
mines near Karshi were exposed in great abundance.
Flowers appeared to be very popular, and many of
the men wore a sprig of yellow blossom stuck behind
the ear. Street vendors of meat went about shouting
their wares, which consisted of kebobs and patties on
trays. Fruit was extraordinarily luxuriant and good.
Magnificent melons were sold at not more than a
farthing apiece; and the price of luscious white grapes
was only a rouble (two shillings) for eight pouds, or
288 English lbs. Peaches, apricots, and the cele-
brated Bokharan plums were not then in season.
Not far away was the horse and donkey market;
a horse might be bought for any price from 5s.
to 30l. ; but a very respectable animal would cost
about 10/.
At the extremity of the Righistan rises the Ark or
Citadel, originally built by Alp Arslan, over 800 years
ago, upon a lofty natural elevation a mile in circum-
ference, and surrounded by a high battlemented wall.
The entrance gateway, erected by Nadir Shah in 1742,
is approached by a paved slope and leads between
two towers, above which is fixed the European clock
made for the tyrant Nasrullah by the Italian prisoner,
The Citadel
and State
prison
184 RUSSIA IW CENTRAL ASIA
Giovanni Orlandi, as the ransom for his life." Within
the Ark are situated the palaces of the Amir and the
Rush Begi, the Treasury, the public offices, three
mosques, and the State prison. Sauntering out one
morning quite early I endeavoured to penetrate into
its interior, but was stopped and sent back by the
frowns and gesticulations of a crowd of natives seated
in the doorway. Somewhere in this pile of buildings
was the horrible hole, or bug-pit, into which Stoddart
and Conolly were thrown. It is said for some time
to have been sealed up, though the fact that quite
recently this was a common mode of Bokharan
punishment is proved by the experience of the French
travellers MM. Bonvalot and Capus, who visited the
Bokharan fortress of Karshi in 1882, and were shown
there a subterranean hole from which a sickening
stench exhaled, and in which they heard the clank of
chains, and saw the uplifted despairing hands of the
poor wretches immured below.” The ‘Times’ corre-
spondent who visited Bokhara a few months before I
did was shown a part of the existing Zindan or prison,
which he described in a letter to the ‘Times’ (Octo-
ber 2, 1888). But either the officials must have had
intimation of his visit, or he was not shown the worst
part ; for one of my companions, being admitted with-
out warning, found one hundred prisoners huddled
together in a low room, and chained to each other by
iron collars round their necks, wooden manacles on
* For the pathetic story of this man, vide Schuyler's Turkistan,
vol. ii. p. 90.
* En Asie Centrale. De Moscow en Bactriane, p. 111.
WHWHYI08 HO NVVLSI HÆÐIH CIHL

BOKHARA THE NOBLE 185
their hands, and fetters on their feet, so that they
could neither stand nor turn nor scarcely move. The
Zindan, however, is not the same as the Kana Khaneh,
where Stoddart was tortured; nor must the dungeon,
now covered up with a slab in the floor of the former,
which the ‘Times’ correspondent was shown, be con-
fused with the famous bug-pit. The Zindan with its
two compartments, the upper and lower (i.e. Sub-
terranean) dungeons, were and are outside the Ark.
The Kana Khaneh was inside it, near the entrance
from the Righistan." M. Tcharikoff, the Resident, told
me at Tashkent that the present Amir upon his
accession shut up one of these prisons, the hundred
and thirteen criminals who had long lain there being
brought out, some of them beaten, and a few executed,
but the majority released; and it may have been to
the Ab Khaneh, with its anneale the Kana Khaneh,
that he referred. However this be, the facts I have
related will show that there still remains much to be
done in mitigating the barbarity of native rule.
At all hours the most interesting portion of the
city is the Tcharsu, or Great Bazaar, one of the
largest and most important in the East. It covers a
vast extent of ground, and is said to consist of thirty
or forty separate bazaars, of twenty-four caravanserais
for the storage of goods and accommodation of
merchants, and of six timis, or circular vaulted spaces,
from which radiate the principal alleys, shaded with
mats from the sun, and crowded with human beings
on donkey-back, on horseback, and on foot. Huge
* Wide Khanikoff (translation), pp. 101–2.
The Great
Bazaar
H.86 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
arbas crash through the narrow streets and just
shave the counters on either hand. Behind these,
in small cupboard-like shops, squat the Oriental
tradesmen surrounded by their wares. Long lines of
Splendid camels laden with bales of cotton march
Superciliously along, attached to each other by a rope
bound round the nose, the cartilage of which is for-
bidden to be pierced, in the familiar fashion of the
# East, by a humane decree of the late Amir.
ºil. In different parts we may see the armourers'
factures shops, the turners' shops, where the workman turns
a primitive lathe by the aid of a bowstring; the
vendors of brightly painted red and green wooden
saddles with tremendous pommels inlaid with ivory;
of Shabraques, or saddlecloths, a speciality of Bokhara,
made of crimson velvet gorgeously embroidered with
gold and silver thread, and powdered with silver
spangles; of black, curly lambskin fleeces from
Kara Kul; of leather belts stuck with knives; of the
bright green tobacco or snuff which the natives chew
with great avidity, and which is carried in a tiny
gourd fastened with a stopper; of pottery, coarse in
texture but spirited in design; of water-pipes, or
tehilim, in which two tubes project from a brass-
mounted gourd, one of them holding the charcoal
and tobacco, the other for the smoker's mouth ; of
embroideries executed in large flowery patterns, and
for the most part in crimson silk on a cotton ground,
by a needle fixed in a wooden handle like a gimlet.
Elsewhere are the bazaars for harness, carpets, rope,
iron, hardware, skins, dried fruits, and drugs, the
BOKHARA THE WOBLE 187
latter containing, in addition to medicines, cosmetics
for the ladies' eyebrows and lashes, and rouge for
their cheeks and nails. Whole streets are devoted to
the sale of cotton goods, gaudy Bokharan velvets
and rainbow-coloured native silks and tissues. Here
leather riding-trousers, or chumbar, are procurable,
stained red with madder, and showily embroidered
with silk down the front. There are displayed green
leather boots all in one piece, or long riding-boots
With turned-up toes and ridiculously sharp-pointed
heels.
Russian Samovars, or tea-urns, are sold in great
numbers, and One simmers in almost every shop, tea
being as constant a beverage here as it is in Japan,
or as coffee is in Constantinople. I thought the
jewellery insignificant and poor. But, on the other
hand, the brass and copper work, which is confined
to a separate bazaar, resounding the whole day with
a mighty din of hammers, is original and beautiful.
Elegant kungans, or brass ewers, may be purchased ;
and every variety of bowl, beaten into quaint designs
and shapes, or with a pattern chiselled into the metal
through a surface coating of tin. I was more than
Once offered silver coins of the Graeco-Bactrian
dynasty, bearing the inscription BAXIAETX ET6T-
AHMOX.
Bargaining was only to be pursued with great
patience and much cajolery, the vendor being as a
rule by no means anxious to part with his article
except for a considerable profit. Crowds will collect
round a European as he is endeavouring to make a
IBrass and
copper
Ware
IBarter and
currency
188 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
purchase, following each stage of the transaction
with the keenest interest, and applauding the rival
strategy. The object under discussion will be passed
from hand to hand, and each will give his own
Opinion. Usually a volunteer middleman detaches
himself from the crowd, and with a great show of
disinterestedness affects to conciliate the owner and
to complete the bargain. A good deal of gesticula-
tion must of necessity be employed, for with a total
ignorance of Tartar on the one side, and of English,
German, or French on the other, and only an in-
finitesimal command of Russian on both, progress is
difficult. The shopkeeper is very amenable to per-
Sonal attention. He likes to be patted on the back
and whispered to in the ear; and if, after a pro-
longed struggle, repeated perhaps for two or three
days, you can at length get hold of his hand and
give it a hearty shake, the bargain is clinched and
the purchase is yours. The people struck me as
very stupid in their computations, requiring calcu-
lating-frames with rows of beads in order to make
the simplest reckoning, and being very slow in ex-
change. But I thought them a far less extortionate
and rascally lot than their fellows in the marts of
Cairo or Stamboul. Jenkinson's description of the
Bokharan currency still holds good :—
Their money is silver and copper; for golde, there is none
currant ; they have but one piece of silver, and that is worth
12 pence English; and the copper money are called pooles,
and 120 of them goeth to the value of the said 12d., and is
more common painent than the silver. -
BOKHARA THE WOBLE 189
At the time of my visit the silver tenga was worth
about fivepence, and contained sixty-five of the little
copper puls.
It is quite evident that the Russians possess a
complete monopoly of the import trade from Europe.
Earlier travellers report having seen many Birming-
ham and Manchester goods. I only noticed one shop
where English wares were being sold, and they had
come through a Bombay firm." Russian prints, cali-
coes, and cottons are successfully competing with
the far more beautiful native materials, and hideous
brocades from Moscow debauch the instinctive good
taste of the East. Russian iron, hardware, and
porcelain have driven out the native manufacture of
these articles. European ink, pens, writing-paper,
and note-books are exposed for sale. Kerosene lamps
are beginning to take the place of the mutton-grease
candles, till a year ago the Only means of lighting, and
the sewing-machine buzzes in the cotton-seller's shop.
Since my return I have heard that the entire town is
about to be lighted with petroleum.
* My observations are confirmed by the report of M. Tcharikoff for
the year 1887 (quoted in No. 447 of the Annual Series of Trade Reports
of the Foreign Office, 1889), which contained these words: “English
goods are not able to compete with Russian products, and English
prints are rarely to be met with at present in Bokhara.” Also by
the journal of the Russian Ministry of Finance (1889), which said:
‘Since the construction of the Samarkand section of the Transcaspian
railway the import trade from Russia into Bokhara has made enor-
mous progress. On the one hand, this trade has visibly driven out
goods of English origin from the Bokharan market, whither manufac-
tured goods from India are never sent, with the exception perhaps of
English muslin ; and, on the other hand, it is clear that the exporta-
tion of Russian goods from Rokhara into Afghanistan has increased
also.” -
Russian
monopoly
of import
trade from
Europe
190 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Russian
firmsin
the city
Statistics
of trade
In another direction a great change may be traced
to the last two or three years. For a long time the
considerable trade with Russia was not in Russian
hands. Native merchants, travelling by Orenburg to
Nijni Novgorod, taking with them silk and cotton
stuffs, camels' hair, goats' hair, wool, and furs, and
bringing back Russian commodities, reaped the double
profit. In 1873, Dr. Schuyler reported that there
was only one Russian merchant in Bokhara. As late
as 1885 the agents of the Russian Commercial Com-
pany were the only representatives, and were reported
to be living, almost as prisoners, in a caravanserai.
Now that the railway has been opened, and communi-
cation is easy, the Russians are awakening to the
possibilities of this vast untilled field of operation.
Native monopoly is challenged in every quarter.
There are branches in Bokhara of the Imperial
Russian Bank, of the Central Asian Commercial Com-
pany, and of the Russian Transport Society; and of
private firms, such as those of Messrs. Nadjeschda,
Djukoff, Burnascheff. Durschmitt, Stein, Neumann,
&c., all of whom are doing a lucrative business, and
some of whom have started branches in other towns
of the Khanate. -
The latest statistics of Russo-Bokharan trade, as
supplied by the ‘Times’ correspondent (October 2,
1888), were as follows:— Roubl
Russian imports into the Khanate of Bokhara . 16,675,000
Bokharan exports into Russia . * º . 15,040,000
Surplus in favour of Russia . d it, tº , 1,635,000
From another well-informed source, however, I have
ROKHARA THE WOBLE 191
received a different distribution of the same sum-
total, of 31,715,000 roubles, viz. as follows:—
Ea:ports from Imports into
JBokhara, JBokhara,
Roubles - Roubles
T}okharan trade with Russia . 12,500,000 10,600,000
2 3 3 * Persia. . 2,120,000 5,475,000
» 35 Afghanistan
. and India 420,000 600,000
Total e º . 15,040,000 16,675,000
|
Here, as elsewhere, I have found it extremely difficult
to obtain accurate figures; but in this case I know
that the second computation is official and correct.
In illustration of the extraordinary change which
in its brief existence the railway has already brought
about, let me quote TJr. Heyfelder's own words in a
publication to which I have already referred : *—
In the summer of 1888 landowners from Poltawa came
to the Amir's dominion and bought up live sheep in Kara
Rul, which they took home by the railway. From Moscow
came buyers of lambskins; from Asia Minor, French dealers
for the export of walnut-trees; from the Caucasus, Armenians
and Jews, who bought huge quantities of carpets, so that
the price was almost doubled. Not a single foreigner who
attended the opening ceremonies, not one of the travellers
from France, England, Italy, and Russia, who have journeyed
over the half-finished line, went away without purchasing
Some silks, embroideries, metal-work, arms, or knives. But
they also brought with them European innovations; and
already, in the winter of 1888, the bazaars were stocked with
articles never before seen : porcelain, lamps, glasses, mirrors,
brushes, writing materials, coffee, preserves, biscuits. At the
railway stations appeared cards, cigars, beer, wine, brandy
(the sale of which on their own soil the Bokhariots have
* Unsere Zeit, October 1888. Leipzig.
Effects of
the railway
192 Jº USSIA IN CAE WTRA/, ASIA
Restric-
tions on
the sale of
liquor
Mussul-
man in-
ebriety
prohibited by agreement). European furniture, partly im-
ported, partly imitated in uncouth fashion, came in the wake
of European needs; European buildings in a modest way are
springing up along the railroad; and near his country seat
at Kari, the Amir has, of his own accord, had built two
Russian edifices, the one in modern, the other in old Russo-
Byzantine style. They are in stone, and are architecturally
tasteful and pretty. Moreover, some engineers have con-
structed the station-buildings in beautifully hewn freestone
and marble from the neighbouring rocks, as an example to
the Sarmatians for the use of their rich mountain stones and
marbles.
In the above paragraph will be noticed the state-
ment that the Amir has interdicted the sale of
intoxicating liquor on his own territory, except, it
may be added, for the use of the Russian Agency,
and for the members of the European colony in the
capital. History repeats itself; for, 330 years ago,
Master Anthony Jenkinson, before mentioned, re-
corded the fact that
it is forbidden at Boghar to drinke any other thing than
water and mare's milke ; and whosoever is found to breake
that law is whipped and beaten most cruelly through the open
markets; and there are officers appointed for the same who
have authoritie to goe into any man's house to search if he
have either aqua vitae wine or brage, and finding the same doe
breake the vessels, spoil the drinke, and punish the masters
of the house most cruelly; yea, and many times if they
perceive but by the breath of a man that he hath drunke,
without further examination he shall not escape their hands,
What orthodoxy dictated in the sixteenth century,
policy, in the decay of religious fervour, recommends
now ; but it is greatly to be feared that the second
BOKHARA THE NOBLE 193
will not prove as lasting or as powerful a deterrent
as was the first. At all the railway stations along
the line is to be found a plentiful display of liquor
and spirits, in the fantastic glass bottles, shaped like
animals, that the Russian taste affects. The Russian
soldier in Central Asia has an excuse for insobriety
in the loneliness of his life and the want of more
elevating pastime. But his example is unhappily
contagious. The Mussulmans of the Caucasus have
long ago waived their scruples; the Persians of
Khorasan have been similarly seduced by Russian
importation, and it is to be expected that artificial
restrictions will not save the more Orthodox Sunnites
of Bokhara from a like surrender. Already the Khans
of Merv, habituated to European entertainment, sip
their glass of vodka, and toss off their bumper of
champagne. Where costliness does not intervene,
the licence of an upper class is soon apt to become
the law of a lower. Western civilisation in its East-
ward march suggests no sadder reflection than that
it cannot convey its virtues alone, but must come
with Harpies in its train, and smirch with their
foul contact the immemorial simplicity of Oriental
life.
Nevertheless in many respects the latter still re-
mains intact. Customs and methods prevail which date
from an unknown antiquity, and alternately transport
the observer to the Bagdad of Haroun all?aschid and
to the Hebrews of the Mosaic dispensation. In a low
dark hovel I saw corn being ground by a miserable
horse who, with blinded eyes and his nose tied to
O
Survival
of ancient,
customs
194 RUSSIA IV CENTRAL ASIA
a beam overhead, was walking round and round a
narrow circle, and causing to revolve an upper and a
nether millstone below the surface of the ground. I
saw cotton being carded by the primitive agency of a
double bow, the smaller one being fixed to the ceiling
and the larger one attached to its string by a cord,
and struck by a mallet so as to cause a smart re-
bound. One morning in the bazaar we observed a
crowd collected in the street round a mounted horse-
man, and presently howls of pain issued from the
centre of the throng. It turned out to be the Reis-i-
shariat, a religious functionary or censor of morals—
an office which was revived a century ago by Amir
Maasum—whose duty it is to ride about the town,
compelling people to attend the schools or mosques,
and inspecting weights and measures. He was
engaged upon the latter Operation, and was com-
paring the stone weights in a shop, which are often
substituted for metal because of their cheapness, with
the standard weight. The luckless shopkeeper, con-
victed of fraud, was forthwith stripped bare in the
street, forced to kneel down, and soundly castigated
on the back with a leather thong whip, carried-
by the Reis' attendants. The features of the crowd
expressed a faint curiosity, but not a trace of another
emotion. - -
T)r. It would be hard to exaggerate the part which
Heyfelder g -
the manners and generosity of Dr. Heyfelder, who
has now lived for nearly two years in Bokhara, have
played in the pacification of this whilom haunt of
fanaticism. As early as six in the morning people
BOKHARA THE WOBLE 195
crowd into the Embassy to see him. Very often so
childish is their faith that they do not ask for a pre-
scription, but simply implore his touch. At first the
women declined to unveil, would not allow him to feel
their pulse, and only communicated with him through
the medium of a male relative. Familiarity, however,
is fast obliterating this suspicion. When the lately
murdered Divan Begi was lying on his death-bed, and
his life blood was ebbing away, he kept asking every
few minutes for his doctor. The latter was unfor-
tunately at a distance, and, owing to a block on the
railway, could not come. A fat old Beg, he told me,
came to him one day and said, ‘Can you make me
better? I suffer from eating four dinners a day.”
* Certainly, said the doctor; “eat three. Thereupon
the old gentleman became very angry, and retorted,
‘How can I eat less when I am called upon to enter-
tain venerable guests?' When the young Amir
came back from the coronation of the Czar in Russia,
Dr. Heyfelder asked him what he had liked best in
that country. “The lemonade and ice at Moscow, was
the ingenuous reply; an answer which reminds one
of O’Donovan's tale of the man who had been a ser-
vant of the Persian Embassy in London for nine years,
and who, having returned to his native land, said
that his dearest recollections of the British metropolis
were its corned beef and bitter ale.
The object in which the doctor is specially inte-
rested is the extirpation of the well-known Bokharan
disease, the reshia, or filaria medinensis, a parasite
which cannot even now be better described than in
The reshta,
or guinea-
worm of
Bokhara
O 2
196 RUSSIA IW CE WTRAL ASIA
the words of Anthony Jenkinson three hundred years
agO :--
There is a little river running through the middes of the
saide Citie, but the water thereof is most unholsome, for it
breedeth sometimes in men that drinke thereof, and especially
in them that be not there borne, a worme of an ell long, which
lieth commonly in the legge betwixt the flesh and the
skinne, and is pluckt out about the ancle with great art and
cunning; the Surgeons being much practised therein, and if
shee breake in plucking out, the partie dieth, and every day
she commeth out about an inche, which is rolled up, and so
worketh till shee be all out.
So common is this malady in Bokhara, that every
fifth person suffers from it; and the same individual
may be harbouring at the same time from two to ten,
nay, from twenty to thirty, of these worms. Khanikoff
even relates that he heard of a Khivan who had one
hundred and twenty simultaneously in his body." Their
extraction is not difficult or dangerous, unless, as Jen-
kinson said, part of the worm is broken off and left
in the flesh, when suppuration and consequent risk
may ensue. When extracted it is sometimes from
two to three feet long, and has the appearance of a
long string of vermicelli. A curious feature is, that
the most minute examination of the drinking-water
of Bokhara under the microscope has never revealed
the reshta germ. Nor, again, has Dr. Heyfelder ever
discovered or identified a male specimen. He is in-
clined to think that the female, being oviparous,
pushes her way to the surface of the skin when full
* Bokhara, its Amir and its People. By Khanikoff. Translated
into English, 1845, p. 63.
BOKHARA . THE WO/3/, E! 197
of young—each reshta, upon dissection, being found
to contain from half a million to a million embryo
worms. Either the male dies after fertilisation, or
the parasite is bisexual. The embryos, if occasionally
dosed with a drop of water, will continue to live for
six days. The doctor has made frequent efforts to
obtain statistics from the natives both at Bokhara and
Samarkand, as to the character, area, and probable
causes of the affliction, but has failed to obtain any
replies. It is by no means certain even that it is
necessarily to be traced to the waters of the Zerafshan.
Higher up the river it is more rare. At Kermineh
it is quite an exception, at Samarkand it is only found
when imported, and at Jizak, once a centre of the
disease, it has been immensely reduced since the
Russian occupation and superintendence of the water
supply. The filthy condition of some of the open
pools at Bokhara is quite sufficient to account for its
wide propagation in that place. One of the com-
monest causes of reproduction is the shocking care-
lessness of the barbers, who are the professional
extractors of the worm, and who throw down the
living parasite, which very likely crawls away and
multiplies its species a hundred-thousand-fold in some
pool or puddle. Dr. Heyfelder would have a law
passed that every reshta shall be burned upon ex-
traction. The disease could, however, only be eradi-
cated by a very stringent supervision of the water
supply, and by the compulsory use of filters; the
latter being the means by which the Russians, while
constructing the railway, entirely escaped contagion.
Bokharan
army
198 Jº USS/A IV CENTRAL ASIA
Among the prerogatives which are left to the
Amir are the possession of a native army, and the
insignia and retinue of an Asiatic Court. The former
is said to consist of about 12,000 men (in Vambéry's
time it was 40,000), but resembles an irregular
gendarmerie rather than a standing army. I expect
that its value, which might be guessed by analogy
MILITARY PARADE AT BoKHARA,
with the least warlike forces of the native princes in
India, was very accurately gauged by General Koma-
roff, who smiled when I asked him if he thought
the Bokharan soldiers were any good, and said, “They
are possibly better than the Persians. It is quite
laughable to hear, as we have recently done, of their
being moved down to the Oxus to resist the Afghans.
Their uniform consists of a black sheepskin shako, a

BOKHARA THE WOBLE 199
loose red tunic with leather belt and cartridge-pouch,
abundant pantaloons, and big leather boots. It is
closely modelled on the Russian lines, and includes
even Russian shoulder-straps. Each soldier is armed
with some kind of musket and a sword; and the
words of command, which were framed by a Cossack
deserter named Popoff, who organised the army for
the late Amir, are delivered in a mixture of Russian,
Tartar, and English. The men are said to be volun-
teers, and while serving to receive pay equal to from
10!, to 201, a year. There are also reported to be
two squadrons of cavalry and ten pieces of artillery.
The ideal of military efficiency in Bokhara seems to
be limited to precision in drill, in which I was
assured by some European officers that they are very
successful. Every movement is smartly executed to
the sound of a bugle, and the voice of the officers,
whose uniform is fantastic and appearance contempt-
ible, is never heard. There are some 150 signals,
which it is not surprising to hear that it takes a man
several years to learn. Where the British soldier is
Ordered to pile arms and to stand at ease, the
Bokharan sits down on the ground. Some years ago
the drill contained a movement of a most interesting
character which has since been abandoned. At a
given signal the soldiers lay down upon their backs,
and kicked their heels in the air. This was copied
from the action of Russian troops in one of the earlier
engagements, where, after crossing a river, they were
Ordered to lie down and shake the water out of their
big top-boots. The retreating Bokhariots saw the
200 Jº USS/A IV CENTRAL AS/A
manoeuvre, and attributed to it a magical share in the
Russian victory.
Šºla The Bokharan Court is still surrounded by all the
* pomp and much of the mystery of an Asiatic régime.
The Amir is treated as a sort of demigod, whom
inferior beings may admire from a distance. No
PALACE OF THE AMIR.
glimpse is ever caught of the royal harem. Batchas,
or dancing-boys, are among the inseparable accessories
of the palace, and represent a Bokharan taste as
effeminate as it is depraved. An audience with the
Amir is attended with much formality, and is followed
on his part by an offering of gifts. No European can
be presented except in uniform or in evening dress.

J30R HARA THE WOBLE 201
One of my companions, who was a relative of the
Governor-General, having been granted an audience,
found that he had not the requisite garments in which
to go. Accordingly I had to rig him out in my
evening clothes with a white tie and a Bond Street
shirt. Etiquette further requires the presentee to
ride to the palace on horseback; and a more comic
spectacle than an English gentleman in a dress-suit
riding in broad daylight in the middle of a gaudily
dressed cavalcade through an Oriental town cannot
be conceived. At such moments even the English
breast yearns for a decoration. When the audience
is over a dastarkham is served, one or more horses
with embroidered saddlecloths and turquoise-studded
bridles are brought in, and he “whom the king
delighteth to honour is sent home with a wardrobe
full of brilliant khalats.
The narrative of my experiences at Bokhara will
no doubt leave the same impression upon the minds
of my readers as did their occurrence upon my own,
viz. One of astonishment at the extraordinary change
which must have been effected in the attitude and
demeanour of the people during the last few years.
If the accounts that were received up to that date
about the hostility of the inhabitants be true, it
amounts to little less than a political revolution.
Whether this be due to a merely interested recognition
of the Overwhelming strength of Russia, or to the
skilful diplomacy of the latter, or, as General Koma-
roff hinted to me, to the salutary and all-powerful
influence of the rouble, it must equally be set down
Tendency
to incorpo-
ration
202 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Transi-
tional
epoch at
Dokhara
to the credit of the conquering power. The
allegiance of the Amir may be considered as abso-
lutely assured; not only because a treacherous move
would at once cost him his throne, but because Russia,
having possession of the upper courses of the Zeraf-
shan, could cut off the water supply of Bokhara in a
week, and starve the city into submission,
What diplomacy began the railway is fast com-
pleting. So mercantile, and, it may be added, so
mercenary a people as the Bokhariots, fall ready
victims to the friendly stress of commercial fusion.
Native finance is itself an indirect ally of Russia; for
gradually, as trade is developed, the 2% per cent.
ad valorem duty, both upon exports and imports,
which is still levied under the terms of the Treaty of
1873, as well as the heavy local taxation, amounting
to nearly 1s. 6d. in the pound, exclusive of the tithe
to the Mosque, which is exacted from the subjects of
the Amir, as compared with those of the Czar, will
Operate as inducements towards a closer union.
Looking forward into the future, I anticipate that
Bokhara may still for many years remain a quasi
independent State, but that the capital will gradually
succumb to Russian influence and civilisation, and
that so in time a party may arise among the natives
themselves agitating for incorporation.
For my own part, on leaving the city I could not
help rejoicing at having seen it in what may be de-
scribed as the twilight epoch of its glory. Were I to
go again in later years it might be to find electric light
in the highways. The King of Korea has it at Seoul,
BOKHARA THE WOBLE 203
a surely inferior capital; the Amir of Afghanistan
has it at Kabul; then why not he of Bokhara P. It
might be to see window-panes in the houses, and to
meet with trousered figures in the streets. It might
be to eat zakuska in a Russian restaurant and to sleep
in a Russian hotel; to be ushered by a tehinovnik into
the palace of the Ark, and to climb for fifty kopecks
the Minari Kalian. Who can tell whether Russian
beer will not have supplanted tea, and vodka have
supplemented opium ? Civilisation may ride in the
Devil's Wagon, but the devil has a habit of exacting
his toll. What could be said for a Bokhara without
a Kush Begi, a Divan Begi, and an Inak—without its
mullahs and kalendars, its toksabas and its mirzabashi,
its Shabraques and tehapans and khalats P Already
the mist of ages is beginning to rise and to dissolve.
The lineaments are losing their beautiful vague
mystery of outline. It is something, in the short
interval between the old order and the new, to have
seen Bokhara, while it may still be called the Noble,
and before it has ceased to be the most interesting
city in the world.
204
RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
The
Zerafshan
valley
CHAPTER WII
SAMARKAND AND TASHKENT
Towns also and cities, especially the ancient, I failed not to look upon
with interest. How beautiful to see thereby, as through a long vista, into
the remote Time; to have, as it were, an actual section of almost the earliest
Past brought safe into the Present, and set before your eyes |
The
CARLYLE, Sartor Resartus.
Zerafshan valley—Bokharan irrigation—Danger to the city—
Possible reforms—Population and fertility of the Samarkand
district – History of Samarkand — Description of monuments
renounced — The Russian town—Modern public buildings—
Change wrought by the railway—Absurd rumour of restoration
to Bokhara—The Citadel–Zindan, or prison—The ancient city
—Tomb of Tamerlane—The Righistan–Leaning minarets—
Material of structure—Samples of the best Arabian style—Ruins
of Bibi Khanym—Shah-Zindeh-Need of a Society for the Pre-
servation of Ancient Monuments—Sunset at Samarkand–Russian
garrison—Population—Refuge of political exiles—Journey to Tash-
kent—The Tarantass–Stages of the route–Ruins of Afrasiab–
Bridge of Shadman-Melik—-Gates of Tamerlane—The Waste of
Hunger—The Syr Daria and approach to Tashkent—Great fertility
—The two cities and societies–Political banishment—General
Rosenbach and the Peace Policy—Native Education—Govern-
ment House—Public buildings—Ancient or native city—General
Prjevalski and Lhasa.--Statistics of population——Resources, manu-
factures and commerce—System of government—Revenue and
expenditure—Territorial expansion of Russia.
BokHARA is about 150 miles by rail from Samarkand,
and the only two important points en route are the
Bokharan fortress of Kermineh, which the railway
skirts at a distance of five miles, and the Russian
SAMARKAND A WD TASHKEWT 205
frontier post of Katta Kurgan, where we enter the
Zerafshan province, annexed by Russia in 1868, after
the war with Bokhara that resulted in the capture of
Samarkand. A very wise step this was ; for the basin
of the Zerafshan river, or Gold Strewer, the Polyti-
metus, or Very Precious, of the Greeks, which extends
for about 250 miles between parallel ranges of
mountains, is a veritable garden of Eden, and incom-
parably the most fertile part of Central Asia." The
* I append the latest statistics relating to the Zerafshan river and
basin, taken from a paper by W. Dingelstedt, published in the Scottish
Geographical Magazine for December 1888, and based upon Russian
semi-official reports (Turkestamskia Vedomosţi, 1887, Nos. 35 and 44;
1888, Nos. 5, 6, 13, 14, 15. Middendorf Ocherki Ferghany, St. Peters-
burg, 1887. “The total length of the Zerafshan, from its source to the
lakes where it loses itself, is estimated at about 426 miles, of which
the upper part for 286 miles belongs to Russian Turkestan, and the
remaining, or lower part, to Bokhara. The basin which the river drains
is estimated at about 14,375 square miles, of which 7,285 square miles
are level, and 7,090 square miles are mountainous country, where the
river excavates a deep channel, extracting the fertilising material which
so much enhances its value. Some distance above Samarkand the
river divides into two branches, the Ak Daria and the Kara Daria,
which re-unite about thirteen miles below the town, near the frontier
of Bokhara. Here is the intake of the principal Bokharan canal, the
Raraman, which conducts away the greater part of the water remain-
ing in the river after it has fed all the numerous canals in Russian
Turkestan. During the rest of its course the river continually decreases
in bulk, in consequence of the numerous canals that issue from it on
the right and left banks alternately, and runs for about eighty miles
preserving the name Zerafshan; but at Du-aba (Two Waters) the
greater part of its water is diverted into the canal called Shah-rud,
and the little that remains of the Zerafshan runs under the name of
Kara Kul for about sixty-two miles in the direction of the town of Kara.
Kul. Two miles above the town the river breaks up into two arms,
the Kara Kul and the Taghi-Kyr. Some twenty miles before reaching
the Amu Daria, the now nearly exhausted but still muddy waters of
the Zerafshan flow into the marshy lakes of Denghis, Sunghur, and
Karanga, which have no outlet.
‘The level of the water in the Zerafshan is variable : it is lowest,
during winter and highest in July, the volumes in the two cases being
206 RöSSIA 7. W C E WTAEA/, ASIA
country is laid out less frequently in fields than in
Orchards, producing grapes, figs, peaches, mulberries,
apricots, almonds, plums, pomegranates, apples, and
pears, and giving a return seven times more profit-
able than that from agriculture. Branches of the
Zerafshan, or canals dug from the main stream, form
a network over the face of the land, upon which the
eye traces their course in lines of Osier and willow,
separating brilliant parterres of green. The wealth
of this natural El Dorado is entirely water-derived
and water-fed, and depends upon a system of canali-
sation that is described by Arab historians as having
prevailed unchanged in the ninth century A.D., the
origin of which is fixed by many before the Christian
era, and which by some has even been thought to vie
in antiquity with the kindred system in Egypt.
I do not propose here to give a detailed account
of the Bokharan irrigation works, because this is a
subject that has already fully, and perhaps more
properly, been dealt with in other works. Its most
curious feature to the eyes of a stranger is the ex-
tent to which, in spite of Russian influence and
a twenty years' possession, native tradition and
methods are still pursued. The Russians made some
Bokharan
irrigation
as 1 : 20. The minimum discharge in December, January, and
February is estimated at 1,000 to 1,300 cubic feet per second ; in June,
July, and August, after the melting of the Snows, the maximum is
from 19,000 to 22,000 cubic feet per second. The mean discharge for
the summer half-year is 14,810, and for the winter half-year 2,718, or
for the whole year 8,764 cubic feet per second. This volume of water
is employed in the irrigation (exclusive of the province of Ferghana)
of an area of about 287 square miles, of which about 115 are in the
province of Samarkand, and 172 in the Khanate of Bokhara.'
SAMARKAND A WD TASHAVE WT 207
effort at first to remodel the entire system on more
modern and scientific lines; and a Russian official,
assisted by native experts, is still responsible for the
province of Samarkand. On the whole, however, it
has been found best to leave alone both the existing
machinery, which depends in the last resort upon
popular election by the cultivators of the soil, and the
immemorial methods, which, though devised without
scientific appliances or knowledge of hydraulics, have
yet been conceived with extreme ingenuity and are
passably adapted to fulfil their purpose." In Bokhara
this system leads to a good deal of abuse; for the
Mirab, or ‘Lord of the waters, who is appointed to
administer the water supply of a particular district,
is neither an engineer nor an expert, but commonly
a Court nominee, who owes his selection to favourit-
ism, and, like a Roman Verres, does his best to con-
vert his tenure of office into a policy of insurance
* The official reports, however, before quoted, give a most unfavour-
able verdict, and may compel the Russian Government to take action.
They say: ‘The construction of canals in the Zerafshan province,
though not without some boldness both in design and execution, is
generally defective; the canals are tortuous, too numerous, and liable
to burst and overflow. The intakes of the canals are simply cuttings
in the banks, dammed up occasionally by very unsubstantial weirs of
any fragile material near at hand. The cleaning and the general
maintenance of the canals is most unsatisfactory, as they are allowed
to be obstructed by rubbish of every kind. The whole system of irriga-
tion is a very primitive one; all the constructions to raise, dam, let
out, carry, distribute, and gauge the water are of the most simple de-
scription, and are built of materials close at hand, such as earth, fascines,
stakes, branches, sand, gravel, and sometimes rough stones. The
administration of the canals in Samarkand lies, as a rule, in the hands
of deputies chosen by the people. There are many abuses which the
Russian Government is endeavouring to remove, but the whole question
has proved as yet too complicated and delicate to be dealt with satis-
factorily.”
208 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
against future contingencies." Nevertheless it is said
that the people most interested, viz. the cultivators
of the soil, are satisfied, and that any attempt to en-
force a different, even if a more technical, system
would lead to mutiny.
In the territory of Bokhara the extent of the
irrigation works may be estimated from the fact that
the Zerafshan river has forty-three principal canals
diverted from the parent stream, with a total length
of not less than 600 miles, in addition to eighty-three
similar main canals in the Samarkand province, as
Well as 939 branch canals conducted from them.
The breadth of the canals varies from six to sixty feet.
They are not straight, but sinuous and meandering,
T)anger to
the city
* Wide the testimony of the same reports: “As regards the adminis-
tration of natural as well as artificial water-courses in Bokhara, it is,
notwithstanding the vital importance of water to the land, quite de-
plorable. Not only are ability and knowledge wanting, but, what is
worse, there are many persons interested, rather than otherwise, in
retaining abuses and disorder, these being elements highly favourable
to the exercise of arbitrary power. At the head of the water adminis-
tration in Bokhara is placed the mirab, a powerful personage chosen
by the Amir himself from his immediate followers, against whose de-
cision there is no legal appeal whatever. The mirab acts through
fendjabegs, authorised to give orders in his name, and chosen out of
the members of his own family. The people are represented by arbobs
and their assistants jumban, who are deputed by the proprietors of the
Soil (or rather occupiers, for there is no private property in land in
Bokhara) to defend the interests of cultivators. In reality these depu-
ties are simply tools in the hands of the administration; they are con-
strained to execute the Orders of the mirab and his assistants, and it is
only by means of bribery and astuteness that they can succeed in
serving their constituents. In Bokhara, as compared with Samar-
kand, abuse may be said therefore to reign Supreme; and the deficiency
in the fall of the land, as well as the dependence on Outside authori-
ties, places the work in a condition which cannot but tell in a highly
unfavourable manner on the state of agriculture, and on the Sanitary
condition of the country in general.’
SAMARXA WD A WD TASHIKE WT 209
often forming ravines and gullies, and generally Oc-
cupying far more space than is absolutely necessary
to conduct water. Any inequality of distribution.
is speedily rectified upon the frantic complaints of
the suffering or imperilled districts; and the more
fortunate or better provided have their supplies
temporarily arrested or curtailed for the relief of
their destitute brethren. It is said, notwithstanding,
that Bokhara, being lower down the stream than
Samarkand, is the loser in any partition, however
fairly carried out, and that owing to the steadily
diminishing supply from the uplands, the Oasis is
being contracted, and is yearly ceding some of its
fringes to the implacable encroachment of the dunes:
Certain it is, that cities and oases within twenty miles
of the capital have been so overtaken and destroyed,
and that the sand-flood is advancing rather than re-
treating. There are some who see in this movement
a sentence of impending doom against Bokhara, and
proclaim that the handwriting is already upon the
wall. If those who live upon the spot take a less
pessimistic view, it may be because they know that
its realisation will not occur in their time, or that
they have confidence, both in the schemes of forestry
and water-storage which the Russians have to some
extent taken in hand, and in the last emergency in
the resources of science, to save them from so grim
a consummation. -
Greater unity as well as competence of administra-
tion are reforms, apart from more economical and
scientific methods, which it is well within the power
P
Possible
reforms
210 RUSSIA IV CENTRAL ASIA
of Russia to introduce. A more equable system of
land taxation would follow next upon the programme;
and from neither need any result, other than favour-
able, be anticipated, while regard could be had in
both cases to the prejudices and prescriptions of the
natives.
Popula- The Samarkand district, which we now enter,
tion and
i.º.º. contains, according to the latest statistics, upon an
ºf air area of 24,184 square versts, a population of 464,985
inhabitants, of whom 452,844 are natives, 9,397
Russians, 2,653 Jews, 81 Hindus, and 10 non-Russian
Europeans. The bulk of the people, not congregated
in the big towns, are engaged in agriculture or hor-
ticulture. We may infer the marvellous fertility of
the soil and the alluvial bounty of the Zerafshan
from the fact that three crops are sometimes raised
from the same plot in one year: (1) the winter crop
of wheat, barley, rye, or clover, sown in November
and reaped in the early spring; (2) the spring crop of
maize, rice, Sorghum, or cotton, sown in the spring
and reaped in the early autumn; and (3) the autumn
crop of turnips, carrots, or millet, sown in September
or October and gathered in November. Clover can
be cut five or six times in the year." Through
scenery and amid surroundings of which these sta-
tistics may have furnished, not a picture but an adum-
bration, the traveller approaches the most famous
and romantic city in Central Asia, Samarkand.
History Of the history of Samarkand—the Maracanda of
* the Macedonians, the Samokien of the Buddhist pil-
* Unsere Zeit, October 1888.
SAMARKAND AND TASHKEWT 211
grim Hiouen Tsang, the Sumar Margo of Sir J ohn
Mandeville, the favourite and also the final resting-
place of Timur, the capital, with 150,000 inhabitants,
of Sultan Baber, the combined Athens and Delphi of
the remote East—I shall here say nothing. Whatever
historical allusions have been justified in treating of
other and less widely known places, are superfluous
in the mention of a spot that has long been dear not
only to the informed zeal of the student, but to the
cultured intelligence of the world.
Neither shall I feel justified in giving more than
a cursory account of the great monuments that once
made Samarkand the glory, and that still, in their
ruin, leave it the wonder, of the Asiatic continent.
They have in the main been so well and con-
scientiously described in Schuyler's and other writings,
and, beyond the march of further decay, have altered
so little since their date, that were I to linger over
details I might be convicted of recapitulating badly
what had been excellently said before. The illustra-
tions which are appended will give my readers some
idea of their present condition ; while such remarks
as I shall venture to make upon them will be the in-
dependent suggestions of the writer's observation.
The very purport of this book, already, I fear, some-
what strained in the chapter upon the city of Bokhara,
compels me to turn aside, with whatever reluctance,
from the splendours of the ancient to the more
modest but still appreciable attractions of the modern
to Wn.
The present terminus of the railway at Samarkand
Descrip-
tion of
IIT OFlū-
ments re-
nounced
P 2
212 A USS/A YAV CENTRAI, ASIA
The
Bussian
town
is a scene of great activity; for the station buildings
and offices were, when I visited them, still in the
hands of the masons and had not yet reached the first
story. A broad but dusty road, the first metalled
road I had seen east of the Caspian, planted on both
sides with avenues of poplars, runs for a distance of
nearly three miles to the Russian town. This is a
delightful quarter, completely buried in trees, from
which peep out the white fronts of low one-storied
houses, and is intersected at right angles by boule-
Vards of enormous width overshadowed by lines of
poplars and acacias, and bordered by rivulets of run-
ning water. The principal street is planted with as
many as twelve parallel rows of trees, on either side
of the carriage drive, the footpaths, and the brawling
streams. From an elevation no buildings are visible,
and the Russian town might be mistaken for a
thickly wooded park. From the earliest times this
side of Samarkand has been celebrated for its wealth
of trees and verdure, and for its sylvan retreats, the
favourite residence in bygone days of Tartar nobles,
just as they now are of Russian generals and colonels.
In the tenth century Tbn Haukal left on record that
There are here many villas and orchards, and very few of
the palaces are without gardens, so that if a person should
go to the Kohendiz, and from that look around, he would
find that the villas and palaces were covered, as it were, with
trees; and even the streets and shops and banks of the
streams are all planted with trees.
And in 1404, Don Ruy de Clavijo, visiting Samar-
kand when at the height of its glory under Timur,
SAMARKAND AND TASHKENT 213
wrote this interesting though perhaps insufficiently
concise description —
The city is surrounded on all sides by many gardens and
vineyards, which extend in some directions a league and a
half, in others two leagues, the city being in the middle.
Among these gardens there are great and noble houses, and
here the lord (i.e. Timur) has several palaces. The nobles of
the city have their houses amongst these gardens, and they
are so extensive, that when a man approaches the city he sees
nothing but a mass of very high trees. Many streams of
water flow through the city and through these gardens, and
among these gardens there are many cotton-plantations and
melon-grounds, and the melons of this ground are good and
plentiful; and at Christmas-time there is a wonderful quan-
tity of melons and grapes.
Embowered here and there amid these agreeable
surroundings are to be seen modern buildings of
Some pretentiousness and importance. Of these the
largest are the Governor's house, standing in a fine
park; the military club, similarly situated, and the
Russian church with blue star-bespangled domes.
There are also some public gardens containing a lake.
A certain primness and monotony of appearance may
perhaps be charged against the Russian Samarkand.
But compared with other places I had seen it was
almost a paradise; and if life there be regarded as
exile, at least it can be no insupportable burden.
The climate is delicious,” the elevation above the sea
* The mean annual temperature of Samarkand is 16° (Réaumur);
that of the hottest month is 30°, and of the coldest month 0°. The
average rainfall is sixty days in the year, or double as many as at
Cairo.
Modern
public
buildings
214 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
is considerable—over 2,000 feet—and there is a
civilised society.
Change Here, however, as elsewhere, the railway is effect-
wrought by . -
the railway ing a most extraordinary change. Tolerable though
existence may have been at Samarkand under the
old conditions, it was yet very remote, more re-
mote even than Tashkent, through which place it
was commonly approached from the north. The
GOVERNOR'S HOUSE AT SAMARKAND.
post took nearly a month in arriving from St. Peters-
burg. A telegram to Bokhara, only 150 miles
distant, was obliged to describe a circuit of many
thousands of miles by Tashkent, Orenburg, Samara,
Moscow, and Baku, and very likely did not reach its
destination for days. A far-off echo of the great
world dimly permeated months afterwards to the
banks of the Zerafshan, like the faint murmur in the

SAMARKA WD AWD TASHIKE WT 215
hollow of a sea-shell. General Annenkoff's railway
has changed all this. It has completed the work
which a twenty years' occupation had previously set in
train. Already the old times, when a Bokharan Amir
took his seat upon the Koktash, and when a desperate
attempt was made to entrap and massacre the Russian
garrison in the citadel, have lapsed from memory;
and the present generation of Uzbeg and Tajik can
remember no other dominion but that of the
Ouroussi, which has thereby acquired the stamp of
eternal fitness, and become stereotyped in the
fatalist's creed. Samarkand may be looked upon as
absolutely Russian, if not in part European ; more
Russian certainly than Benares is English, and far
more European than is Peshawur. -
A rumour is from time to time circulated in the
European newspapers that the Amir of Bokhara is
about to apply to Russia for the reddition of Samar-
kand; and it has even been stated that this was the
object of a complimentary embassy recently (March
1889) sent by Seid Abdul Ahad to the Czar. It is
true that years ago, before the Russian position in
Central Asia was as stable as it has since become,
and when the apprehensions of Europe required to
be calmed, declarations were made by Russia of her
intention to restore the city to its native rulers; and
as late as i870 Prince Gortchakoff assured Sir
Andrew Buchanan, the British Ambassador at St.
Petersburg, that ‘it was the desire of the Emperor to
restore Samarkand to Bokhara; but that there was
some difficulty in ascertaining how this could be
Absurd
rumour of
restoration
to Bokhara,
216 Jº O'SSIA IW CE WTRAL ASIA
done without a loss of dignity and without obtaining
guarantees for the welfare of the population which
had accepted the sovereignty of Russia. It is un-
necessary to say that there never was the slightest
intention of carrying out such an engagement, which
if a Russian diplomat alone could have given, an
English diplomat also would alone have believed.
Still less is there any likelihood of such an absurdity
now. Its revival is one of the colossal mare's nests
discovered by the Russian Press. -
At the end of the street in which stands the
humble lodgment that presumed at the period of my
visit to call itself a Gastónitsa, or hotel, loom up
against the sky the gigantic walls and leaning towers
of the three big medresses facing upon the Righistan,
or public square, of the city of Tamerlane. The two
cities, ancient and modern, are, however, separated
by a bare stony hill, once occupied by the fortress
and palace of the sovereign. Its walls have now
been almost entirely demolished ; and in their place
are to be seen the trim outline and modern fortifica-
tions of the Russian citadel. Within this building,
which is entered by a drawbridge across a moat, is
still preserved part of the Amir's former palace; and
here at the end of a court surrounded by an Open
colonnade" is to be seen, behind an iron railing, the
Roktash, or coronation-stone, of the Timurid SOve-
reigns, the Central Asian equivalent to the West-
minster slab from Scone. This celebrated object has
The citadel
* There is an excellent illustration of this court on p. 199 of Mme. de
Ujfalvy-Bourdon's De Paris & Samarkand (1880); as also an accurate
map of Samarkand on p. 177.
ASA MARXA WD A WD TASHKE WT 217
been elaborately described by Schuyler and Lansdell.
It is a mistake, however, to suppose that it always or
has long reposed here. Timur's palace was some dis-
tance away to the west; and the Koktash was shifted
to the citadel by one of the later Bokharan Amirs in
this century. -
In another part of the citadel was the Zindan, or
prison, where, at the time of the Russian occupation,
a subterranean dungeon existed like those to which
allusion has been made at Bokhara and Karshi.
Prisoners were let down into it by ropes; and the
grooves which these had worn were visible in the
stone lining of the top. How universal a method of
punishment this has always been throughout the East
may be illustrated both by the parallel of Jerusalem
in the seventh century B.C., when Jeremiah ‘was let
down with cords into the dungeon of Malchiah that
was in the court of the prison; and in the dungeon
there was no water, but mire ; so Jeremiah sunk in
the mire; ’’ and by that of Cairo under the Mamluks,
where a similar pit, filled with vermin, and emitting
noisome odours, was filled up in 1329 A.D.
Beyond the citadel, and on the other side of a
slight valley, the native or ancient Samarkand covers
the slope of a broad elevation, and from a dusty
wilderness of flat roofs lifts up the glories of its mighty
college gateways, its glazed and glittering arches, its
leaning minarets, and its ribbed and enamelled
domes. On the right hand, above a garden of fruit-
trees, emerges the cupola that overhangs the last
* Jer. xxxviii. 6.
Zindan, or
prison
The
ancient
city
Tomb of
Tamerlane
218 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
resting-place of the great conqueror himself. In the
centre of the landscape are the three huge medresses
or universities that frame the noblest public square
in the world. On the left are the portentous ruins of
the medresse and mosque of Bibi Khanym, the Chinese
wife of Timur, and at a little greater distance is the
exquisite cluster of mosques and mausoleums, raised
GUR AMIR, OR TOMB OF TAMERLANE.
in honour of a saint whose immortality is expressed
by the title of Shah Zindeh, or the Living King.
A few words may be permitted about each of these.
The Gur Amir, or Tomb of Tamerlane, is both from
the historic and the romantic point of view the most
interesting ruin of Samarkand. Here in 1405 the
body of the conqueror, embalmed with musk and
rose-water, and wrapped in linen, was laid in an

TINY THEȚINVAL HO HINOL GHIHI, HO HOIFIGILY


SAMARKA WD A WD TASHKEWT 2.19
ebony coffin, and deposited beneath the engraved
tombstone that we still behold in the vault. The
interest of travellers seems usually to have been con-
centrated upon the upper chamber of the mausoleum,
where, after the Eastern fashion, a series of cenotaphs,
corresponding to the actual sepulchres below, are
disposed upon the floor. The most noteworthy of
these, covered with a block of greenish-black stone,
said to be nephrite or jade, is that of Timur. The
slab has evidently at some time been wrenched from
its place and broken in twain; though it is not certain
whether the fracture is to be attributed, as the legend
runs, to an attempted violation by Nadir Shah.
Around the walls of the tomb chamber is a wainscot-
ing of hexagonal slabs of stone, variously described
by travellers as agate, jasper, and gypsum. The last
designation is nearest the mark; for they are of that
species of alabaster, somewhat transparent in texture,
but with an under-colour like the sea waves, that is
frequently met with in Oriental countries, and is
familiar to visitors in Algeria and Egypt. The
Original tiles and decorations have been stripped or
have fallen from the upper part of the walls; and,
speaking generally, the entire fabric, which is in a
sadly dilapidated and ruined condition, is disappoint-
ing to those who approach it with artistic expecta-
tions, and cannot be compared with the majestic
sepulchres of the later Moguls in India, such as the
mausoleum of Akbar the Great at Sikundra. Never-
theless, the place has a certain attraction not perhaps
unconnected with its lamentable decay. Though I
220 - RUSSIA IN CENTRAI, ASIA
The
Righistan
do not pretend to understand the impulse that drives
pilgrims in shoals to the graves of the departed great,
yet there is something inspiring, even if it be a
melancholy inspiration, in standing above the dust of
one who was both a king among statesmen and a
statesman among kings, whose deeds even at this
distance of time alike astonish and appal, and whose
monumental handiwork, still surviving around, a later
and more civilised age has never attempted to equal,
and has barely availed to rescue from utter ruin.
We next pass to the Righistan, or centre of the
town, and to its triple glory of medresses, or religious
colleges, those of Ulug Beg, the grandson of Timur
(1421), of Shir Dar, or the Lion-bearing (1601)—so
called from its bearing in enamelled tiles on its façade
the Persian lion—and of Tillah Kari, or the Gold-
covered (1618)—so named because of the gilding that
once adorned its face. I have hazarded the statement
that the Righistan of Samarkand was originally, and
is still even in its ruin, the noblest public square in the
world. I know of nothing in the East approaching
it in massive simplicity and grandeur; and nothing
in Europe, save perhaps on a humbler scale—the
Piazza di San Marco at Venice—which can even aspire
to enter the competition. No European spectacle
indeed can adequately be compared with it, in our
inability to point to an open space in any Western
city that is commanded on three of its four sides by
: . Gothic cathedrals of the finest order. For it is clear
that the medresse of Central Asian Mahometanism
is both in its architectural scope and design a lineal
sº
º
º
º

SAMARKAND A WD TASHKEWT. 221
counterpart and forerunner of the minster of the
West. Instead of the intricate sculpture and tracery
crowning the pointed archways of the Gothic front,
we see the enamelled tiles of Persia, framing a portal
of stupendous magnitude. For the flanking minster
towers or spires are substituted two soaring minarets.
The central lantern of the West is anticipated by the
Saracenic dome, and in lieu of artificial colour thrown
through tinted panes, from the open heavens shine
down the azure of the Eastern sky and the glory of
the Eastern sun. What Samarkand must have been
in its prime when these great fabrics emerged from
the mason's hands, intact, and glittering with all the
effulgence of the rainbow, their chambers crowded
with students, their sanctuaries thronged by pilgrims,
and their corporations endowed by kings, the ima-
gination can still make some endeavour to depict.
Upon the structural features I shall confine myself Leaning
to three observations. The minarets of all the me-
dresses appear to be slightly out of the perpendicular,
those of the college of Ulug Beg, which, as has been
seen, is 200 years older than its fellows, conspicuously
so. In a locality which has frequently been shaken
by earthquakes, it surely needs no exceptional gifts
either of acuteness or credulity to attribute to natural
causes an irregularity so extravagant that no Oriental
architect, whatever his taste for the unsymmetrical or
bizarre, could ever have perpetrated it. And yet we
find competent writers exhausting their inventive-
ness in far-fetched interpretations. Schuyler says
the inclination is an optical illusion. Mme. Ujfalvy
minarets
222 Jº USSIA IW CEWTRAL AS/A
attributes it to the skill of the builders. M. Moser also
speaks of it as an architectural tour de force. Kres-
tovski suggests a religious meaning. But Dr. Lansdell
emerges triumphant from the competition of per-
verse ingenuity; for, having ascended one of the
minarets himself, he proclaims the original discovery
that there is no inclination at all !"
Nowhere is the influence of country, of climate,
and of natural resources upon architecture more no-
ticeable than in the buildings of Samarkand. While
the mildness and dryness of the atmosphere enabled
the architect to dispense with many essentials of Our
Northern styles, on the other hand the poverty of local
resources compelled him to go far afield for his decora-
tion, and to be content with brick as his staple material.
Persian artificers seem to have been almost exclusively
employed upon the structures of Samarkand; and the
wonderful enamelled tiles by which they were em-
bellished had in all probability been burnt and glazed
in Persian Ovens. What Eastern architects were
accomplishing at the same time with richer means at
their disposal, may be seen in the mosques and mau-
soleums of the Mahometan conquerors of Hindostan.
Timur, it is true, was antecedent by a century and a
Material of
structure
1 It is, however, in speaking of the medresse of Tillah Kari that Dr.
Lamsdell achieves his greatest masterpiece. He says (Russian Central
Asia, vol. i. 587), “The wall of the Kibleh, or niche, where is supposed
to be the Imaum (or image, called Mikhrab, that presents itself to the
Moslem mind in prayer), is gilded.' Now, as everyone knows, in a
mosque the Mihrab is the prayer-niche (corresponding to the Christian
apse), the Kibla is the orientation of the niche, or direction of Mecca,
and the Imam is the lay-reader or preacher, invited to read the lessons
or to preach from the mimbar (pulpit) in the Friday service.
sº








SAMARKAND AND TASHKEWT 223
half to his descendants Humayun and Akbar, whose
glorious erections we see at Agra and Delhi. But
the Shir Dar and Tillah Kari medresses were almost
exactly synchronous with the fabrics of Jehangir and
Shah Jehan, with the Agran tomb of Itmad-ud-Dow-
lah, with the Pearl Mosque, loveliest of private chapels,
in the citadel at Delhi, and with that most perfect of
tributes ever raised to a lost love, the Taj Mahal on
the banks of the Jumna. There, in the southern.
clime, amid the abundant wealth and resources of
Hindostan, the architect's taste was not satisfied with
anything short of marble and precious stones. Artists
must even be imported from Europe; and the luxu-
riant elegance of Florentine detail is wedded to the
august symmetry of Saracenic forms.
Nevertheless it is in the magnificent simplicity
and solemn proportion of the latter that the edifices
of Samarkand remain without a rival. Differing cir-
cumstances in the different countries overrun by the
Arabs—the influence of previous styles, local and
climatic conditions, the genius of individual masters,
or the traditions of particular schools—produced a
wide variety of types, from the royal palace of Delhi
to that of Granada, from the shrines of Shiraz and
Meshed to the chapels of Palermo, from the mosques
of Damascus and Cairo to those of Cordova and
Kairwhan. In some places majestic outline, in others
intricate detail, was the object or the achievement of
the artist. Fancy was here subordinated to funda-
mental canons, was there allowed to run riot in com-
plicate involution. But it cannot be doubted that the
Samples of
the best
Arabian
style
Ruins of
Bibi
Khanym
224 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL Asia
true and essential character of the Saracenic style is
expressed in grandeur rather than in delicacy, in
chastity rather than in ornament. It was by the
grouping of great masses, and by the artistic treat-
ment of simple lines, that the Arab architects first
impressed their genius upon the world; and in this
respect no more stately product of their talent can
RUINS OF BIBI KHANY.M AT SAMARKAND.
anywhere be found than in the half-fallen monu-
ments of the city of Tamerlane.
The remaining ruins I must dismiss briefly. The
most imposing remains at Samarkand, in bulk and
dimensions, are undeniably the medresse and mosque
of Bibi Khanym, the Chinese consort of Timur, whom
the courtly Don Ruy designated as ‘Caño, the chief
wife of the Great Lord. They are said to have been

IHWYL HYTTIJ, HO GISSTIHOIHIN „HO RIO INIȚILNI

SA MARATA V/) A V/) TAS///(EAT 225
erected respectively by the royal lady and her illus-
trious spouse; and it was this mosque that Timur
caused to be pulled down as soon as it was finished,
because the entrance was too low, and whose rebuild-
ing he superintended with imperious energy from a
litter. What these buildings once were we can only
faintly realise by the aid of the colossal piles of
INTERIOR OF THE MEDRESSE OF BIBI KHANYM.
masonry that still stand, and that tower above the
other ruins of Samarkand as high as do the vaulted
arches of Constantine's Basilica over the southern
end of the Forum at Rome. The only perfect relic in
the ruined enclosure is the vast rahle, or lectern, which
stands on nine low columns in the centre and which
once bore in its V-shaped cleft a ponderous Koran.
This has survived, because it is of marble instead of
Q

226 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Shah
Zindeh
brick, and therefore was too heavy for any conqueror -
to transport, and too solid for any vandal to destroy.
The remaining parts of the building are slowly and
steadily falling to ruin; and in time, unless steps are
taken to arrest the process, will become a shapeless
heap of bricks. - -
The cluster of mosques and chapels with seven
small cupolas, that bear the name of the Living King
—its eponymous saint having been a near relative of
the Prophet, who was martyred here in early times,
and who is supposed to be lurking with his decapi-
tated head in his hand at the bottom of a well,
although with curious inconsistency his coffined
body is also an object of worship in the same build-
ing—is both the most perfect and the most graceful
of the ruins of Samarkand. A ruin unfortunately it
is; for domes have collapsed, inscriptions have been
defaced, and the most exquisite enamelling has
perished. But still, as we mount the thirty-seven
steps that lead upwards between narrow walls, at
intervals in the masonry there open out small re-
cessed mosques and tomb chambers with faultless
honeycomb groining, executed in moulded and
coloured tiles. Gladly would I expatiate upon the
beauty of these Samarkandian tiles—turquoise and
sapphire and green and plum-coloured and Orange,
crusted over with a rich siliceous glaze, and inscribed
with mighty Kufic letters—by which these glorious
structures were once wholly and are still in part
adorned. -
But it is more relevant to point out that beyond
SA MAPKA V/) A W.D 7"ASMIKE WT" 227
having patched up the most glaring traces of dilapi-
dation and made a few attempts, with deplorable
results, to replace destroyed ornament, the Russians
have done nothing, and are doing nothing, whatever
to preserve these sacred relics either from wanton
demolition or from natural decay; and that, what
with the depredations of vandals, the shock of earth-
quakes, and the lapse of time, the visitor in the
MAUSOLEUM OF SHAH ZINDEH.
twentieth century may find cause to enquire with
resentful surprise what has become of the fabled
grandeurs of the old Samarkand. A Society for the
Preservation of Ancient Monuments should at once
be formed in Russian Central Asia, and a custodian
should be appointed to each of the more important
ruins. But this is a step which can hardly be ex-
pected from a Government which has never, outside
of Russia, shown the faintest interest in antiquarian
Q 2
Need of a
Society for
the Pre-
servation
of Ancient
Monu-
ments

228 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
preservation or research, and which would sit still till
the crack of doom upon a site that was known to
contain the great bronze Athene of Pheidias, or the
lost works of Livy.
i. While visiting the Shah Zindeh, I was the fortu-
8, &II].81"-
Rand nate witness of one of those rare sunsets that are
sometimes visible in the East, and which, though
they cannot compete with the troubled grandeur of
our Western skies, are yet incomparable in their
tranquil glory.
The northern outside wall of Shah Zindeh is
bordered by a Mussulman necropolis, which is as
lugubrious and desolate-looking a spot as cemeteries
in Mahometan countries usually are. Broken pillars,
displaced tombstones, and desecrated brick vaults
litter the drab and dusty surface. As we stood in
one of the elevated courts overlooking the boundary-
wall, we observed a funeral proceeding on the other
side. The corpse was brought up lying loosely on a
kind of open bier which resembled a sofa, and was
presently tumbled without much ceremony into a
ditch which had been prepared in the sandy soil.
There was a large attendance of mourners, all males,
who appeared to take an inquisitive interest in the
proceedings, but there was no show of grief or
attempt at a service. Climbing still higher up the
stairway, we emerged on the hill behind the tomb-
chamber of the Saint. The sun was just sinking :
and it was one of those superb evenings only known
in the East, when for a few seconds, amid a hush as
of death, we seem to realise - .
The light that never was on sea or land;
SA MARXAND A WD TASHRTENT 229
and then in a moment the twilight rushes down with
violet wings, and all nature swoons in her embrace.
In the short space of preternatural luminousness that
preceded, the broken edge of the Penjakent mountains
cut the sky like blue steel and seemed to sever the
Zerafshan valley from the outer world. Inside the
magic circle described by their lofty shapes a splendid
belt of trees plunged momentarily into a deeper and
more solemn green, contrasting vividly with the
purple of the mountain background. The middle
space was filled by the colossal arches and riven domes
of Bibi Khanym, which loomed up above the native
city in all the majesty and pathos of irretrievable
ruin. Below and all around, a waste of grey sand-
hills was encumbered with half-fallen tombstones
and mouldering graves. Here and there a horsehair
plume, floating from the end of a rickety pole,
betrayed the last resting-place of a forgotten sheikh
or saint. The only evidence of life was supplied by
the horses of the mourners, themselves out of sight
at the moment, which were picketed amid the waste
of graves. Presently round the corner of the mosque
emerged the long line of turbaned Orientals, grave
and silent. Each mounted his beast without speak-
ing a word and rode away. At that instant a band
of turquoise blue seemed to encircle the horizon and
to flush upwards towards the zenith, where light
amber skeins hung entangled like the filaments of
a golden veil. As these drifted apart and lost the
transient glory; as the turquoise deepened into
Sapphire and died down into dusk; as first the belt
230 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Russian
garrison
Population
of trees and then the outer belt of mountains was
wiped out, a long cry trembled through the breath-
less void. It was the voice of the muezzin from a
neighbouring minaret, summoning the faithful to
evening prayer.
I was told on high authority at Samarkand that
the Russian garrison consisted entirely of Cossack
regiments, and amounted to a total of 10,000 men. I
doubted this statement from the first, because of the
absence of any sign of such large numbers and the
lack of motive for keeping so powerful a force at such
a place; and my suspicions were subsequently justified
by the discovery that there was only half that total of
men, including but one Cossack regiment and three
batteries of artillery. Here, as elsewhere, I found it
excessively difficult to reconcile the conflicting utter-
ances of my different informants, each of whom might
have imparted correct information if he had been
able or willing to do so. I say ‘able’ because I
ended by forming the opinion that one of the com-
monest features of Russian character is a constitutional
incapacity for exactitude of statement.
The population of Samarkand is estimated at
about 40,000 persons, of whom the Europeans number
6,000, while there are as many as 1,500 Jews. The
bazaars struck me as greatly inferior in every way to
those of Bokhara, and there was a marked contrast
in many respects between the native life of the two
cities, the one still independent, the other Russian for
twenty years. In Samarkand the urban population,
or Sarts, as they are here called, were much more
SAMARKAND A WI) TASHKE WT" 231
humbly and shabbily dressed; there was no evidence
of wealth or dignity or leisure, and the street sights
were generally squalid and uninteresting. Even the
native bazaar has been thoroughly transformed under
Russian rule, large blocks of crooked alleys having
been swept away to make place for broad boulevards
converging from the different points of the compass
upon the Righistan. In driving the latter in straight
TCHARSU, OR BAZAAR, AT SAMARKAND.
lines through the heart of the city, the Russians have
been unconsciously following an example set them
nearly 500 years ago by their great forerunner
Tamerlane; for again we owe to the agreeable gossip
of the Spanish Ambassador of King Henry III of
Castile the knowledge that “The lord (i.e. Timur)
ordered a street to be made through the city, pulling
down all houses that stood in the line, a street very
broad and covered with a vaulted roof, and windows

232 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
to let in the light from one end of the city to the
other.’
Refuge of Samarkand has, as I have indicated, more than
political * * tº , ſº
exiles Once been made the residence of important political
refugees, whom it was to the interest of Russia to
conciliate, to watch, or to entertain. Abdurrahman
|Khan, the present Amir of Afghanistan, was here for
many years, and during his residence married a slave
girl from Wakhan, who had already become the
mother of his two eldest surviving sons. His cousin
Ts-hak, the recent pretender, who had fled with him
upon the triumph of Shir Ali, shared his exile at
Samarkand, and returned in his company in 1880,
receiving as the reward of his assumed fidelity the
governorship of Afghan Turkestan. Both of them
are said to have left Samarkand with a less favour-
able opinion of their hosts than that with which they
came, and to have roundly abused the Russians after-
wards; though the attitude of Ts-hak may be pre-
sumed once more to have changed, now that he is
again dependent upon their hospitality, and possibly
expects in the future to be indebted to them for a
throne. I could not discover that at the time of my
visit there were any of these interesting exiles in the
city, though a rumour—denied as soon as uttered—
of the return of Is-hak to his old quarters was
already in circulation.
Journey to While at Samarkand the chance was presented
Tashkent te & * *
to me of making under the best auspices a visit to
Tashkent. Though the distance between the two
places is considerable—190 miles—and can only be
SAMARKAND AND TASHIKE WT 233
covered by road, I eagerly grasped this opportunity
of forming even a slight acquaintance with the capi-
tal of Russia in the East ; being anxious to observe
the visible effects of a dominion that has now lasted
for over twenty years, to acquaint myself with the
ideas that are rumoured to prevail in its military
circles, and to contrast its Court life and etiquette
with the analogous British régime at Calcutta. I
also wished to form some opinion as to the feasibility
of an extension of the Transcaspian line from the
Zerafshan province into Turkestan.
It was not till I was well on my way to Tashkent
that I realised how great, from the most selfish and
The
tarantass
personal point of view, the advantages of that railway
had been. The luckless traveller condemned to the
amenities of a tarantass across the Golodnaya, or
Famished Steppe, hankers after the second-class car-
riages of General Annenkoff as eagerly as did the
Israelites in similar surroundings after the flesh-pots
of Egypt. I know that it is the fashion of English
writers to decry, just as it is of Russians to extol,
the tarantass; but I must confess in this case to a
full and honest share in the prejudices of my country-
men. A kind of ramshackle wooden boat, resting on
long wooden poles, which themselves repose on the
wooden axles of wooden wheels—this is the sorrowful
and springless vehicle in which two of us were to
travel 380 miles, and in which travellers have often
covered thousands. There is one advantage in the
fabrics being entirely of wood—namely, that if it
breaks down en route, as sooner or later it is perfectly
234 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
certain to do, its repair can be effected without much
difficulty. Too nicely pieced a structure would in-
deed be unsuited to the conditions of Central Asian
travel; for the vehicle is required to ford rivers and
cross deserts, now buried in mud, now plunging heavily
through sand, to resist concussions, and to emerge
from mishaps that would dislocate any finer piece of
Workmanship. The Russians have reduced to a
Science the subjugation of the tarantass by means of
straw and mattresses; but the less skilful Englishman,
in the rough places where there is no road, is tossed
about like a cork on tumbled water. Fortunately,
the remaining difficulties usually associated with such
a method of locomotion are here somewhat curtailed;
for there is a postal service along the road between
Samarkand and Tashkent, with relays of post-horses
at the various stations, placed at distances of about
fifteen miles apart. A Podorojna, or special order,
must first be procured from the authorities. This
entitles the traveller to a change of horses at each
station; though, even so, he is far from safe, for the
intimation that all the available horses are tired or
unfed or still feeding, which occurs from time to time
with mathematical regularity, may compel him either
to wait half a day in a grim post-house in the middle
of an odious desert, or to hire whatever animals he
can procure from any well-disposed rustic possessing
a stable in the neighbourhood. The horses are har-
nessed to the tarantass in a troika—i.e. three abreast ;
the middle horse between the shafts having its neck
held tightly up by a bearing-rein attached to a high
SAMARKAND A WD TASHKENT 235
wooden arch rising above its head, while the outside
horses are not even confined within traces, but gallop
along in random fashion, with their heads, as a rule,
looking inquisitively round the corner. A different
driver, Tajik, or Uzbeg, or Kirghiz, each with unmis-
takable physiognomy, mounts the box at each post-
house, and at the end of his stage absorbs without
either gratitude or protest a modest gratuity. -
The road to Tashkent is roughly divided into
three sections by the mountain defile known as the
Gates of Tamerlane and the main stream of the Syr
Daria or Jaxartes; and the distances between its prin-
cipal points are as follows:— -
Samarkand to Jizak . & . 65 miles
2- Jizak to Tchimaz e º . 83 ,
Tchimaz to Tashkent . - . 42 ,
Total e . 190 ,
Our outward journey occupied thirty hours, in-
cluding halts at the post-stations; the return journey,
upon which we suffered from scarcity of horses, thirty-
six. Russian officers, travelling at the maximum rate
of speed, have covered it in twenty-four and even in
twenty-two hours. -
Leaving Samarkand on the north-east, we skirt
the hill Tchupan-Ata-once crowned by the great
observatory of Ulug Beg, but now by the white-
washed tomb of a local saint—and pass at no great
distance from the mass of crumbling tumuli and
mounds that mark the site of an ancient city, associ-
ated with the legendary hero Afrasiab, and supposed
to have been the predecessor of the Maracanda
Stages of
the route
Ruins of
Afrasiab
236 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
of the Greeks. Heaps of rubbish and the accu-
mulations of centuries cover an immense extent,
not unlike the ruins of Fostat or Old Cairo. Excava-
tions have been pursued in a half-hearted and dis-
jointed fashion by the Russians, but no deliberate or
scientific effort has been made to explore whatever
Secrets of the past—and they must be manifold and
important—the ruins of Kaleh-i-Afrasiab can tell.
This is one of the many chances of the future.
After traversing a succession of gardens and
Orchards, we come at the distance of a few miles
from Samarkand to the fords of the main stream of
the Zerafshan. It courses swiftly along over a very
stony bed, and was divided at this season of the year
into four or five channels, of which none were over
a foot and a half in depth. The space between its
banks is, however, several hundred yards in width ;
and in Summer, when the snows in the mountains
melt, is for a short time filled by a raging torrent.
Hard by are the ruins of two stupendous arches,
meeting at an obtuse angle, which are called Shadman-
|Melik by the natives, and which tower magnificently
above the attenuated volume of the autumnal stream."
Nothing is known of the authorship or date of these
huge remains; but it is conjectured that, placed as
they are close to the spot where the Zerafshan divides
into two main streams—the Ak Daria or White River,
and the Kara Daria or Black River—they originally
bridged the two channels at the angle of bifurcation.
Near the Zerafshan in this quarter are several
Bridge of
Shadman-
Melik
* For an illustration of them vide De Paris & Samarkand, p. 172.
SA MARKA WD A WD TASTIKE WT' 237
hundreds of acres that have been planted as a nursery
garden by the Russians, and where are grown vines
(of which there are no less than sixteen varieties in
the country), acacias, and ilanthus.
Upon the other side of the river vegetation
dwindles and finally disappears, and for many miles
we proceed between the low hills of the Pass of Jilan-
uti, culminating at the northern end in a rocky portal
where many a bloody conflict has been waged for
the possession of the Zerafshan valley. The boastful
record of two ancient conquerors is deeply incised
on the smoothed face of the rock—of Ulug Beg,
victorious in 1425, and of Abdullah Khan of Bokhara,
Anthony Jenkinson's host, in 1571, when the inscrip-
tion records that he slew 400,000 of the enemy, so
that blood ran for a month in the river of Jizak.
Very like in character, and not unlike, though less
rugged in surroundings, are these sculptured trophies
to the celebrated inscription of Trajan above the Iron
Gates of the Danube in Europe. In spite of the deeds
and names it commemorates, the Central Asian defile, in
characteristic deference to the overpowering prestige
of a single name, is known as the Gates of Tamerlane.
Not many miles beyond is the extensive but
straggling town of Jizak, with a population of 4,000,
the mouldering walls of whose former citadel serve
as a forlorn reminder of the Russian victory of 1866.
Then ensues the Waste of Hunger, very properly so
called, for a more starved and Sorry-looking region it
would be difficult to conceive ; and as the tarantass
goes bumping along, with the bells hung in the high
Gates of
Tamerlane
The Waste
of Hunger
238 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
The Syr
T)aria and
approach
to Tash-
kent
wooden arch over the central horse's head jingling a
wild discord, and the dust rolling up in Suffocating
volumes, the traveller too is very hungry for the end to
arrive. He can draw but little repose or consolation
from his halts at the post-houses, where a bare wait-
ing-room with wooden tables and uncovered settees
is placed at his disposal, and whose culinary resources
do not rise above the meagre level of a cup of tea and
a boiled egg. Any other or more extravagant rations
he must bring with him. -
At length we reach the Syr Daria, or Jaxartes,
the second great river of Central Asia, terminating at
present, like its greater brother the Oxus, in the Aral
Sea. The channel here appeared to be over a quarter.
of a mile wide, and flowed along with a very rapid
ochreous current. Our vehicle was driven bodily
on to a big ferry boat, worked by the stream, and
attached to a chain, the ferry being commanded by a
fort on the northern bank. Here is the Russian town
of Tchinaz, at a distance of three miles from the old
native Tchinaz, which was taken in 1865. Then ensues
another spell of dusty rutworn desert ; and our
vehicle selects this opportune moment to discard one
of its wheels. But patience is at length rewarded :
tall snow-capped mountains, which mean water, which
in its turn means verdure, rise into view ; we enter
the valley of the Tchirtchik and its affluents, twenty-
five miles in width; and amid the sound of running
water, and under the shade of broad avenues of trees,
forty miles after leaving the Syr Daria we approach
the suburbs of the capital of Turkestan.
SA MARKA WD AWD TASHKE WT 239
By the suburbs of Tashkent I need not refer to
the environs only ; for in reality the Russian town is
One vast suburb, in which the houses stand apart
amid trees and gardensinterspersed with open spaces.
The meaning of the name is ‘city of stone,’ a lucus a
non lucendo title as far as either the Russian, or the
native town, is concerned, though whether it applies
more strictly to the ruins of old Tashkent, twenty
miles away, I cannot say. The size and height of
the trees, principally poplar, acacia, and willow, with
which the streets of the new town are planted in
double and even in quadruple rows, and which are of
course only twenty years old, give a fair indication of
what irrigation and this superb climate when in part-
nership can do. A shoot has simply to be stuck
into the ground, and the rest may safely be left to
Inature.
Tashkent is a very large city, for it covers an area
as extensive as Paris, though with a population, not
of 2,500,000, but of 120,000, of which 100,000 are
congregated in the native or Sart quarter. The
Russian civil and military population are computed
at the same figure, 10,000 each, and so large are the
enclosures or gardens in which the houses stand
apart that the majority of the residents would seem
to have attained the ideal of Arcadian bliss expressed
elsewhere in the historical phrase, ‘Three acres and a
cow.' A valley bisects the two portions of the town,
native and European, which are as separate in every
particular as are the lives of the double element in
the population, neither interfering nor appearing to
Great
fertility
The two
cities and
Societies
240 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
hold communication with the other. In the capitals
of India, at Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras, there is
far greater fusion, both in private and in public life
—the Parsees at Bombay, the resident princes and
noblemen at Calcutta, and the most influential native
merchants in all three, mingling habitually in Anglo-
Indian Society, and taking a prominent part, in some
cases in government, in others in the management of
public institutions. In Tashkent, on the other hand,
several obstacles preclude a similar amalgamation—
the purely military character of the administration,
the dearth of any wealthy or capable men among the
natives, and the recency of the Russian conquest. I
remember once reading the remark that “In Russia
the discipline of the camp is substituted for the order
of the city; martial law is the normal condition of
life; and of no Russian city that I have seen did this
strike me as more true than of Tashkent. Uniforms
are everywhere, parade-grounds and barracks abound,
the extensive entourage associated with a great admin-
istrative centre is military and not civil in character.
It is hardly surprising that under such a system
practical or far-seeing projects for commercial and
industrial development should not be forthcoming;
that the fiscal balance should be habitually on the
wrong side of the budget; or that Chauvinistic and
aggressive ideas should prevail. Where the ruling
class is entirely military, and where promotion is slow,
it would be strange if war, the sole available avenue
to distinction, were not popular.
Tashkent is, perhaps, less than it used to be, the

SAMARKAND AND TASHKENT 241
refuge of damaged reputations and shattered fortunes,
whose only hope of recovery lay in the chances
afforded on the battlefield. But it is still the com-
pulsory place of exile to which the young spend-
thrift and the veteran offender are equally consigned,
the official purgatory following upon the Emperor's
displeasure. One of the principal houses is inhabited
by a Grand Duke, a first cousin of the Czar, who is
said to be a very mauvais sujet. He married the
daughter of a police-officer at Orenburg, and is re-
ported to drink and to beat his wife. The exile of
this degenerate scion of royalty is understood to be
lifelong.
I have already, in an earlier chapter, spoken of the
rumours that had prevailed in the military circles of
Tashkent, shortly before my visit, of an impending
invasion of Afghanistan. It is therefore with pleasure
Political
banish-
ment
General
IRosenbach
and a peace
policy
that I record the fact that the present Governor-
General (General Rosenbach), whose hospitality I
was fortunate enough to enjoy, bears a very different
reputation—having, it is said, been appointed by the
present Emperor to create a diversion from the ad-
venturous policy of his predecessors, Kaufmann and
Tchernaieff, and in order to develop more carefully
the moral and material resources of the country. If
I may judge from the general's own words, it is in
the latter object that he has himself been principally
interested. For he spoke to me of the enormous
growth in the produce of cotton, the export of which
from Tashkent has multiplied twenty-five-fold in the
last five years; and when, mindful of the old charge
R.
24.2 RUSSIA IW CENTRAL ASIA
that the Russians have done nothing to improve the
mental and moral condition of the subject population,
I enquired whether any steps had been taken to open
schools for the natives, he informed me that four
such schools had been started in Tashkent, with an
attendance of from thirty to forty at each, though at
present the natives exhibit no great desire to learn,
and that similar institutions had been started in
Khokand, Hodjent, Katta Kurgan, and Samarkand.
He also told me that an infirmary had been opened
for native women in the capital, and was largely
resorted to by them. Differing from Mr. Schuyler,
who wrote that “Tashkent is not a manufacturing nor
an agricultural centre, nor is it a trade centre, he
regarded his capital as the natural and physical
nucleus of Central Asian trade, and did not anticipate
that its supremacy would be endangered by the
greater advantages now enjoyed by Samarkand.
General Rosenbach has now been for four years in
Turkestan; and while I was there was said to be
likely to leave for some less onerous post in Russia.
I fancy, however, that his own inclinations would,
and I am confident that public interests should,
induce him to devote a somewhat longer time
to the further development of this still backward
country. -
Native . Touching Russian schools for the natives, I may
education supplement what the general told me by the follow-
ing facts. It was in December 1884 that the first of
these schools was opened in native Tashkent, forty
children being selected from the best Sart families to
SA MARKAND A WD TASHKENT" 243
profit by the preliminary experiment. This was so
successful that two other schools were soon opened,
while many Sart families began to employ Russian
teachers. By 1886, eighteen such schools had been
started in Russian Central Asia : a satisfactory
though a modest beginning compared with the 4,000
educational institutions of the Moslems. It has since
been suggested that a Russian class should be added
compulsorily to the latter, which are already richly
endowed by the Vakufs of deceased benefactors, so as
to precipitate the desired Russification of the native
peoples."
Benefiting by the hospitality of Government
House, I had some opportunity of observing the style
in which the Yarim Padishah, or Half-King, as he is
described in Central Asia, represents the Imperial
Government. Schuyler, in his book and in the re-
port which he penned for the American Government,
drew a vivid picture of the state kept up by Kauf-
mann, who never went out without an escort of 100
mounted Cossacks, who permitted no one to sit down
in his presence, and whose return to Tashkent was
always signalised by triumphal arches and the firing
of cannon. General Rosenbach has very different
ideas; and the Government House ménage is now
pushed to the extreme of simplicity—an example
M. Séménoff, in the article before quoted from the Proceedings of
the Russian Imperial Geographical Society for 1888, says that the
Russian schools were at first only attended by the poor, but that they
are now patronised by the richest native families. He also mentions
the medical dispensaries for the natives at Tashkent. Vaccination is
there performed, the lymph being furnished by the patients.
Govern-
ment
House
R 2
244 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
which, while its effect upon the native population is
immaterial, there being no class of sufficient impor-
tance to be dazzled by a show, is unquestionably
of great service to the Russian military circles, in
which the most reckless extravagance used formerly
to prevail. Madame de Ujfalvy-Bourdon in her book
spoke of Government House as “a veritable palace,
with a truly splendid interior, which could not be
surpassed in any capital in Europe; but I fancy that
her faculty of perspective must have been temporarily
disorganised by the prior experiences of a tarantass
and the Kirghiz Steppes. As a matter of fact, its
furniture and appointments are almost jejune in their
modesty. The only two large rooms, the ball-room
and the dining-room, are practically unfurnished.
There is no throne-room or dais; and the only
emblems of royalty are the oil-paintings of the late
Czar and his wife, and of the present Emperor and
Empress, which hang upon the walls. The general
is very proud of an ante-chamber or smoking-room,
the panels and coffered cornices of which have been
entirely carved and painted in Oriental style by Sart
workmen, and upholstered with divans of parti-
coloured Bokharan velvet. When he drives out, his
landau is drawn by a troika of three handsomely
caparisoned horses, whilst the livery affected by his
Tartar coachman is a black velvet cap with peacock
feathers stuck in the brim. I cannot imagine a
greater contrast to the state observed by the Indian
Viceroy, who in a country famed for its lavish os-
tentation, its princely wealth, and its titled classes,
SAMARKAND AND TASIKENT 245
is obliged to support the style of a sovereign, who
resides in a palace, the corridors of which are
crowded with gorgeous figures in Scarlet and gold
liveries, who drives out accompanied by a brilliant
escort, and whose levées are as rigid in their etiquette
as those of Buckingham Palace or St. James'. Behind
the Government House at Tashkent extends a beau-
tiful garden, in which a military band plays, and to
which the public are admitted three times a week.
It contains shaded walks and sylvan retreats, a re-
spectable cascade formed by an artificial dam, and a
pit for bears, which was kept filled by Tchermaieff,
who had a craze for animals, until one of his pets
nearly bit off the leg of a Kirghiz. In addition to
this town residence, the Governor-General has a
Summer villa in the suburbs, corresponding to the
Indian Viceroy's country house at Barrackpore.
In the neighbourhood of Government House are
the principal public buildings of the city, for the
most part of an exceedingly plain and unpretentious
character. A new cathedral had just been completed,
and the detached bell-tower was about to receive its
noisy inmate. The Russians seem to have a passion
for bells, perhaps derived from the ownership of the
biggest bell in the world at Moscow. The form of
the buildings is that with which Russia had already
made me familiar—a low squat dome surmounting
the centre with half domes abutting upon its sides.
It contains a somewhat gaudy iconostasis, or altar
screen, painted partly by amateur, partly by native
talent. When I visited it, the choir, composed
Public
buildings
246 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL AS/A
entirely of soldiers, was practising ; no uncommon
spectacle on Russian soil, the Russians being pre-
eminently a singing people, singing at work and
singing at play, and carrying with them into the
steppes of Asia the songs and staves and choruses of
Europe. The older and now disused cathedral
stands a short distance away. In a public garden
NEW RUSSIAN CATHEIDRAL AT TASHIKENT.
near the road are situated the grave and monument
of Kaufmann, the first Governor-General of Turkestan
and founder of Russian Tashkent, and a man possess-
ing certain, though limited, attributes of greatness.
The most pretentious building in the Russian town is
undoubtedly the Club House, upon which the most
unnecessary amount of money was said originally to
have been spent, and which contains an enormous

SA MARKAND A WI) /ASHAEW71 247
circular ball-room, where dances are held on Sunday
nights, and which would, I should think, accommo-
date quite double the dancing population of Tashkent.
These military clubs, with their billiards and gam-
bling and their weekly réunions and balls, are a
regular feature of Russian life in every town where
MILITARY CI,UB AT TASHRENT.
troops are stationed; they combine the advantages
of an officers' mess with those of an English club and
of a casino in a foreign town. Of the other buildings
the principal are an observatory, a large military
hospital, a theatre, and a museum of Central Asian
antiquities, flora, fauna, and products, a collection
which is still in its infancy, and stands in urgent

248 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
need both of scientific arrangement and of funds." It
contains a number of prehistoric objects, found in
the steppes, of old bronzes dug up at Samarkand and
elsewhere, of specimen tiles from vanished mosques,
and of stuffed birds and animals. Among other
objects I saw a poor specimen of an ovis poli, and a
preserved reshta, the horrible worm which is absorbed
into the human system by drinking the water of the
Zerafshan at Bokhara and elsewhere, and which I
have already described in my last chapter. It re-
sembled a thread of vermicelli, being a light yellow
in colour, and when uncoiled must have been nearly
a yard long. Attached to the museum at Tashkent
is a library originally amassed for the Chancellery of
the Governor-General, and containing the best collec-
tion of works on Central Asia published since the
year 1867 that is to be found in the world. Not
only books and pamphlets, but even magazine and
newspaper articles, are admitted to this collection,
in which I am driven to think that these humble
pages may some day repose. This library is sup-
ported by a small subsidy from the state. It has been
catalogued and arranged in chronological Order
by Mr. W. L. Mejoff, who continues to publish at
St. Petersburg a series of volumes entitled ‘Recueil
du Turkestan, in which every addition appears
duly chronicled, and which is already the most com-
plete bibliography of the Central Asian Question in
existence. -
* M. Séménoff says that this museum ought to have been located
at Samarkand, as offering a wider field for archaeological investigation,
and as being less subject to earthquakes than Tashkent.
LNGIYIFISYI, GIAILW'N HO VINVI0NVĀ

SA MARKAND A WD TASHIKENT 249
I have devoted the greater part of my space to
describing the modern city of Tashkent, because it is
as much the centre of attraction to a traveller with
political interests as is the European in contradistinc-
tion to the native quarter of Calcutta. Just the
inverse was the case at Bokhara and Samarkand.
The native or Sart city of Tashkent cannot, however,
be altogether ignored, for it is three times as exten-
sive as that of Samarkand, and contains as large a
population as that of the whole of Bokhara. It was
taken by storm by Tchernaieff with a force of only
1,950 men on June 29, 1865. Since then the greater
part of the old wall with its twelve gates has been
demolished; although, being situated on the opposite
side of a ravine, it is still wholly separated from the
Russian town. Its tightly packed population, divided
into four quarters and forty wards, comprises a float-
ing element of Kashgarians, Bokhariots, Persians,
and Afghans, and a sedentary majority of Kirghiz,
Tartars, Jews, Hindus, Gypsies, and Sarts, the latter
being the generic title for an urban as distinguished
from a nomad people. Viewed from above, as from
the large recently restored mosque which overlooks
the bazaar, we see nothing but an inclined plane of
dusty roofs, the dearth of colour making it as ugly
as are most Oriental towns from the panoramic point
of view. The real interest and individuality are con-
fined to the streets and, could we but penetrate their
interiors, to the houses. In a spectacular sense the
bazaars are as interesting as any that I saw in
Central Asia, for the Russians, while destroying much
Ancient or
native city
General
Prjevalski
and Lhasa
250 RUSSIA IV C FMT/PAL ASIA
of the labyrinthine intricacy of the old trading quar-
ter, in order to construct new streets and shops, have
built these in strict conformity with the native
style, the only difference being that more spacious
shops open on to a broader street than the ordinary,
the sun here and there finding a chink in the reed
matting spread on poles overhead, and throwing a
BEGLER BEG MEDRESSE, TASHKENT.
lance of light upon the variegated crowd below. The
Jews, since the Russian conquest, no longer suffer
from the disabilities under which their fellow-country-
men still labour at Bokhara.
While at Tashkent I heard that the well-known
Russian explorer, General Prjevalski, with two other
Russian officers, Lieutenants Roborovski and Kozlof,
and M. Bogdanovitch, a mining engineer, had passed

SAMARKA VI) A WD TASHIKE WT' 251
through the capital a few weeks before, and had
there collected an escort of seventeen Cossacks with
which he hoped to penetrate to the mysterious resi-
dence of the Grand Lama of Thibet. This was the
fifth semi-scientific semi-political expedition which
the general had planned to the Thibetan interior ;
and circumstances combined to make the present
opportunity a more favourable one for reaching and
obtaining admission to Lhasa than had ever yet oc-
curred; for with a little war between England and
Thibet dragging its tedious length along, the Dalai
Lama might find it politic to make a breach in the
Chinese wall of exclusion by which his capital has
hitherto been shut out from the world, in favour of
the one nation whose rivalry with England might
enable them to give him a substantial quid pro quo.
Politics might easily be cloaked and disguised under
the garb of science; but few sensible men doubted
that if General Prjewalski ever entered Lhasa, he
would not leave it without some sort of treaty in his
pocket. These speculations, however, were rudely
dashed by the news which arrived a few weeks later
that the intrepid explorer had died on his way at
Verny, the Russian frontier town upon the borders
of Kulja, from an illness which had doubtless been
aggravated, if not caused, by the sufferings and hard-
ships experienced in his earlier journeys. English-
men of every shade of opinion will unite with Russians
in deploring the loss of a man who deserves to be
ranked with Livingstone and Stanley in this century
as a pioneer of scientific exploration in an unknown
252 A USSIA IN CENTRAL AS/A
Statistics
of popula-
tion
and perilous continent. It has since been announced
in the Russian papers that he has been succeeded in
command of the expedition by Colonel Pevtsoff, of the
General Staff, and that the party were to start afresh
in the spring. For the expenses of the expedition a
sum of 7,000l. has been allowed. At the same time
M. Joseph Martin, a French scientific explorer, is to
proceed from Pekin in the direction of Eastern
Thibet; and the two parties hope to join hands at
Thasa in 1890.
I append a number of statistics which may be
found of interest. According to a return prepared
by M. Kostenko, chief of the Asiatic Department of
the General Staff of the Russian Army, the most recent
figures of the population of Russian Central Asia were
in 1885 as follows:–
Date of g
Acquisition Population
Russian acquisitions before 1867 . . | 1,059,214
1868 Zerafshan . g & o tº e 200,000
1870 Kohistan s tº & º { } ſº 31,488
1873 Amu Daria . e * gº tº & 109,665
1874 Transcaspia . sº ë wº g * 57,200
1875 Namangan . * º * , tº * 127,216
1876 Terghana, Alai, and the Pamir . . . 602,345
1881 Akhal Tekke * g tº e g 34,690
5 3 Part of Kulja & tº * & gº 56,720
1884 Merv, Tejend, Atek, Yuletan, Sarakhs,
and Penjdeh tº e tº ſº 170,000
2,448,538
ſ Rhiva wº tº ſº & 400,000
Non-Russian Turkestan H Bokhara . e o . 2,000,000
(Afghan territory' . & 642,000
5,490,538
* What the Afghan territory may be, alluded to by M. Kostenko as
subject to Russian influence, I do not know. He may allude to the
SA MARKA WD AWD TASHKEWT. 253
Another table of statistics, published in the Russian
Journal of the Ministry of Finance in 1885, gave the
population of Turkestan as follows, the figures being
uniformly higher than those of M. Kostenko:—

: a----, Sedentary Nomad Total
District Extent Population Population Population
Square Versts"
Syr Daria 416,750 500,000 654,000 1,154,000
Zerafshan 23,250 360,000 - 360,000
Ferghana 85,000 540,000 150,000 690,000
Amu Daria 86,000 30,000 101,000 131,000
Total . 611,000 1,430,000 905,000 2,335,000
A still further increase is registered by the follow-
ing figures, which appeared in the ‘Moscow Gazette’
of May 1889: Syr Daria, 1,214,000; Zerafshan,
394,000; Ferghana, 716,000; Amu Daria, 133,630.
In Russian Central Asia there is only 1:8 inhabi-
tant to every square verst, as compared with 19-3 in
European Russia, 17-9 in Caucasia, and 71-4 in
Poland, the most thickly populated section of the
Empire. But Siberia is even more sparsely peopled,
for there the proportion is only 0-4. The proportion
of females to males in Central Asia is 90.2 to 100, as
compared with 101.2 in European Russia, 87.9 in
Caucasia, 93-2 in Siberia, and 104 in Poland. The
total population of the entire empire, in both conti-
districts adjacent to the new Russo-Afghan frontier, or to Afghan
Turkestan, or to the provinces on the upper Oxus. Generally speaking,
M. Kostenko's figures are below the mark; and in the case of the Merv
and Akhal Turkomans I have substituted later returns. We may
roughly compute the present population of Turkestan and Transcaspia
(including Khiva and Bokhara, which are effectively Russianised) as
6,000,000. -
* A square verst = '44 of a square mile.
254 RUSSIA IW CEWTRAL ASIA
Resources,
manufac-
tures, and
CO]]]]]].62]'Cé
nents, for 1885 (the latest year for which the figures
are available), was 108,787,235.
From the report already quoted, and from other
sources, I derive the following information. Of
152,500,000 acres in Turkestan, 70,000,000 are use-
less either for pasture or cultivation, consisting of
steppes, mountains, or sands; 75,000,000 are avail-
able only for pasture; and of the remaining 7,500,000,
5,000,000 are under cultivation, and 2,500,000 are
prairie-lands. The principal cereals grown are wheat,
rice, sorghum, millet, and barley. Among textile
products, cotton occupies the first place, flax and hemp
the second and third. Kitchen gardening is widely
extended, particularly for melons and potatoes. The
mean annual production of the cultivated lands in
thousands of pouds is as follows: Wheat, 17,000; rice,
10,000; sorghum,8,800; millet, 5,400; barley, 3,100;
other cereals, 3,600 ; total, 47,900. The nomads of
the Syr Daria and Amu Daria districts raise annually
3,000,000 pouds of corn. The cotton crop of the
districts of Zerafshan, Kuraminsk, and Khojent is
estimated at 400,000 pouds, of Ferghana at 150,000
pouds. Over 1,500 acres have been planted with
American cotton. In the mountainous regions horti-
culture is extensively pursued, and occupies an area
of 250,000 acres, the principal fruits being vines,
apples, pears, cherries, plums, mulberries, and nuts.
The dried fruits of Turkestan are sent to the most
remote districts of Siberia and to the southern parts
of Russia. Sericulture is one of the main branches
of industrial occupation, the figures of annual produce
SAMARKAND AND TASHKENT 255
being as follows: Ferghana, 15,000 pouds; Zerafshan,
10,000; Khojent, 3,000; Tchimkent and Turkestan,
2,000; Bokhara, 60,000; Khiva, 3,000; Kashgar,
10,000; total spun-silk from Central Asia, 103,000
pouds, which, at the price of 125 roubles the poud,
gives an annual revenue of nearly 13,000,000 roubles
(1,300,000l.). The figures of cattle in Turkestan are
as follows: Sheep and goats, 4,810,000; horses,
645,000; camels, 382,200; horned cattle, 525,000 ;
total 6,362,000. The fisheries at the mouth of the
Syr Daria and in the Aral Sea bring in an annual
revenue of about 10,000l., the sale of skins and furs
55,000l. The mineral riches of Turkestan are not
yet properly developed, with the exception of some
coal-mines in the neighbourhood of Khojent, which
produce about 750,000 pouds of coal a year. A
Russian engineer, sent to Central Asia on a special
scientific mission, has recently (1889) reported that
the oil-wells at Penjakent, near Samarkand, contain
at least nine billions of pounds of perfectly pure oil.
Factories and workshops for native manufactures have
greatly increased, and present the following figures:
Syr Daria district, 720 workshops, 3,000 artisans,
140,000l. annual produce; Ferghana, 420 workshops,
2,000 artisans, 80,000l. produce; Zerafshan, 520 work-
shops, 1,000 artisans, 60,000l. produce; Amu Daria,
two workshops, fifty artisans, 5,000l. produce ; total,
1,662 workshops, 6,050 artisans, 285,000l. produce.
The most important manufactories, belonging to the
Russians, are forty in number, including twelve dis-
tilleries of brandy with an annual revenue of 50,000l.,
256 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
five tobacco factories, four of leather, two for the
cleaning of cotton, one of oil, and One of glass.
Among the numerous small native manufac-
tures, the principal are the spinning and weaving of
silk. The small workshops in Ferghana turn out more
than 100,000l. worth of silk, and about 30,000l. of
cotton stuffs. From private dwellings nearly 400,000
yards of home-spun cotton are supplied to the army.
There is also a considerable production of carpets and
woollen stuffs. It is impossible to give exact figures
of the commerce of Turkestan. The volume of yearly
trade in the three principal towns of Tashkent,
Rhokand, and Samarkand has been estimated at
1,000,000l., but this estimate is far below the actual
total. The relative shares were (in 1881) apportioned
as follows:—
Faport Trade from Turkestan.
To the Fair of Nijmi Novgorod ſº * tº . £500,000
32 35 Irbit. ſº tº gº g © . 50,000
55 35 Rrestovski º, º º & . 50,000
To the Fairs of the Steppes . . . {º . 100,000
, Orenburg and Orsk . g ſº • . 130,000
,, Troitsk * , e g tº ſº ſº e . 100,000
,, Petropavlosk . e tº © e e . 50,000
,, Semipalatinsk and Semirechinsk • • . 100,000
Total . . . . $ 1,080,000
Import Trade to Turkestan.
From Orenburg and Orsk . º * e ... ſ. 550,000
,, Troitsk. [… tº e © • e . 200,000
,, Petropavlosk tº tº º e e 150,000
, Semipalatinsk and Semirechinsk. . . . 100,000
, the Fairs of the Steppes • wº º . 200,000
Total . º g tº iſ 1,200,000
SA MARKA WD A WD TASI/KENT 257
The export trade from Turkestan to the Khanates
of Khiva and Bokhara and the Chinese possessions
in Kashgaria was, in 1884, 600,000l., the import trade
550,000l. Between 1866 and 1885 the commerce of
Turkestan was doubled. Among Russian articles
exported to Turkestan, the principal are woollen and
cotton tissues, leather, hardware, and trimmings for
clothing. Turkestan retaliates principally with cattle,
and with about 100,000l. worth of tea from
India. . . . -
In 1886 a decree was promulgated, ordaining a
new administration of the government of Turkestan,
which came into operation on January 1, 1887. Under
this system the country is divided into three provinces,
the Syr Daria and Amu Daria districts, Ferghana,
and Zerafshan, administered by military governors
with extended powers, and subdivided into fifteen
sub-districts, in which administrative and police
powers are assigned to district chiefs, and which sub-
districts are further partitioned into small areas con-
trolled by commissioners of police. The general
legislation of the Empire is only applied in Turkestan
to Finance, Education, and the Postal and Telegraphic
Service. In other departments important deviations
have been introduced, particularly in those of Justice,
the Land Laws, and Taxation. There are two kinds
of Tribunals, those in which Russian law prevails, as
in the rest of the Empire; and popularly elected local
benches, possessing jurisdiction only over natives for
petty Offences and in insignificant civil cases, and
adjudicating according to native custom. As regards
S
System of
govern-
ment
258 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Revenue
and ex-
penditure
the agrarian system, hereditary proprietary rights,
where consecrated by long usage, have been recognised
in the case of sedentary rural populations. Unoccu-
pied lands and virgin forests are appropriated by the
state, but are commonly left in the temporary Occupa-
tion of nomads, enjoying absolute proprietary rights
over their buildings and fixtures. Land transfer
among the natives is determined by local custom,
between natives and foreigners by the written law.
Allotments of state lands, up to a maximum of twenty-
five acres, are made to Russian soldiers belonging to
the Reserve. The sedentary population pay a land-
tax to the Government, the nomads a house or tent-
tax of four roubles per Kibitka. The land-tax is as-
sessed as follows: ten per cent. On the gross pro-
duce of lands under artificial irrigation, fixed for a
period of six years; and ten per cent., fixed yearly,
on the net profits of cultivation of unirrigated
lands.
I have been unable, in spite of efforts, to procure
before going to press the latest statistics of revenue
and expenditure in Turkestan. In the face of a con-
tinued deficit and in the absence of parliamentary con-
trol, the Russians are not anxious to publish figures
that might give the enemy occasion to blaspheme.
There is little doubt that ever since the annexation
they have only worked their Central Asian provinces
at aloss. General Kuropatkin admitted that in the first
ten years, from 1868–1878, the total deficit amounted
to 6,700,000l.—the expenditure on civil administra-
tion having been 2,400,000l., and on military admini-
SA MARKA WD AWD TASHIKENT 259
stration 7,500,000l. (a significant proportion); while
the returns in revenue from the country amounted
only to 3,200,000l. To what extent the second
decade has recouped Russia for the sacrifices of the
first it is impossible exactly to ascertain ; but we are
hazarding no risky assumption if we believe that the
balance is yet very far from being wiped out."
As I am upon figures, I add the following, which
give some idea of the enormous territorial expansion
of Russia, in Europe, and still more in Asia. At the
accession of Peter the Great in 1682, the Russian
Empire covered 1,696,000 square miles in Europe,
3,922,000 in Asia. At his death in 1725 the figures
were 1,738,000 in Europe, and 4,092,000 in Asia;
while the total census was then only 14,000,000.
At the present date the extent is 2,110,436 square
miles in Europe, and 6,451,847 in Asia, or a total of
8,562,283 square miles (of which 94,535 have been
acquired since 1881); while the census, which in 1885
fell just short of 109,000,000, is said now to be nearer
120,000,000.
* M. Séménoff says that the Turkestan budget now shows an annual
surplus of 200,000l. of receipts over expenditure, not including the cost
of the army and military administration. This shows how serious the
deficit must still be.
Territorial
expansion
of Russia.
260 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
CHAPTER VIII
EXTENSIONS AND EFFECTS OF THE TRANSCASPIAN
RAILWAY
There were his young barbarians all at play. -
- - - BYRON, Childe Harold.
Extension to Tashkent—Its advantages—Bourdalik and Karshi Iine—
Tcharjui and Kerki branch—Herat extension—Merv and Penjdeh
branch—Proposed junction with the Indian railway system—
Grave drawbacks—(i.) Fiscal, (ii.) Political—Favourable estimate
of the Transcaspian Railway—-Possible strain in time of war—
Bolitical effects of the railway—Absorption of Turkomania—Influ-
ence upon Persia—Increased prestige of Russia—Commercial
effects—Annenkoff’s prophecies—Commercial policy and success
of Russia — Russian economic policy of strict protection — Its
operation in Central Asia–Russian trade with Afghanistan—
Imports and exports—Anglo-Indian transit trade–British trade
with Afghanistan—Quotation from Foreign Office Report—Rus-
sian monopoly in Northern Persia and Khorasan——Destruction
of British trade with Northern Persia—Commercial future of the
Transcaspian Railway—Strategical consequences of the line—
Shifting of centre of gravity in Central Asia—Greater proximity
of base—Comparison of present with former facilities—Russian
power of attack—Lines of invasion : (i.) Caspian and Herat Line
—Strength and location of the Russian forces in Transcaspia—
Reinforcements from Europe—Difficulty of Caspian marine trans-
port—Latest figures—Difficulty of landing-places—Difficulty of
supplies—Serious in Transcaspia—Importance of Khorasan—
Complicity of Persia–Addition to offensive power of Russia—
(ii.) Strength and utility of Turkestan Army—Total Russian
strength for invasion—Strength of Anglo-Indian Army for offen-
sive purposes—British and Russian reinforcements—The issue—
Russian views of the Transcaspian Railway as a means of offence.
ºn IHAVING now carried my readers to the furthest point
to Tash-
kent of my journey, I propose in this chapter to deal with
EFFECTS OF THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY 261
possible or contemplated extensions of the Trans-
Caspian Railway, and to estimate its consequences,
political, commercial, and strategical, in Central Asia.
There is no doubt that if Tashkent is approached by
rail it will now be not in the first place from the
north, but by a continuation from Samarkand. The
physical obstacles to the construction of such a line
are insignificant; though more cutting and embank-
ment would be necessitated than along the Trans-
caspian route. Two stable and permanent bridges
would, moreover, be required over the straggling
channels of the Zerafshan and over the Syr Daria.
M. Mestcherin told me at St. Petersburg that the
difficulty and expense of building these bridges
would, in his opinion, postpone the suggested exten-
sion, which would be rendered the less necessary by
the gradual transference to Samarkand of the mer-
cantile and eventually, perhaps, of the administrative
business now centred in Tashkent. General Rosenbach
also recognised a probable cause of delay in the cost
of the bridges, but did not agree in the hypothesis of
an ultimate deposition of the present capital in favour
of Samarkand. I drew from his remarks the inference
that in his judgment the connection of the two
places by rail will not be very long postponed—a
conclusion at which I should arrive myself with even
greater confidence, on the a priori ground that, the
Transcaspian Railway having been built for strate-
gical purposes, the Russians are not in the least likely
to be deterred by a gap of less than 200 miles from link-
ing together the two bases of Operations and lines of
262 RUSSIA / W. O'B' W7/2A/, ASIA
Its advan-
tages
advance, the twin arms, so to speak, of the forceps,
whose firm grip may one day be required to draw
the teeth of England in Central Asia. A railway
from Tashkent to Samarkand would enable the
Russians to utilise the military resources not merely
of Turkestan, but even of Omsk, the nearest military
district of Siberia, and to place upon the Oxus at
Tcharjui, at Kerki, or at Kilif, a second army as large
in numbers, and in as short a space of time, as the
main force advancing from the Caspian vid Sarakhs.
The one would menace Balkh, Bamian, and Kabul,
the other Herat and Kandahar; and a British or
Afghan army would have to divide its strength in
order to confront the double danger. - -
Political and commercial reasons recommend the
same extension. Turkestan has hitherto been depen-
dent upon the laborious caravan routes across the
Kirghiz steppes from Orenburg. Transport along
these occupied at the quickest from four to six weeks,
and sometimes in the winter four or five months. A
Governor-General journeying at full speed from his
seat of government to St. Petersburg, or vice versá,
spent three weeks upon the road. Its extreme
isolation severed Tashkent from the world, and in
the absence of intercourse and dearth of any but
telegraphic communication, fostered a mischievous
and even foolhardy spirit of independence. Closer
correspondence with European Russia and the capital
will, politically speaking, be a gain to the peace,
rather than to the war party. From the commercial
point of view the connection of Tashkent with a
EFFECTS OF THE TRANSOASPIAAW RAIL WAY 263
railway system will prove similarly advantageous.
Already both the import and export trades of Fer-
ghana and Turkestan have been diverted to a large
extent to the railway, even though carried no further
than Samarkand. When the rails have been pro-
longed to Tashkent, it will monopolise the entire
traffic, at least with Southern Russia. Not the least
important among its effects will be the stimulus that
may thus be given to the cotton-planting industry of
Turkestan, which has already attained large dimen-
sions, and to which the Russians look in the future to
render themselves wholly independent of foreign
supply. So certain indeed do I feel of the extension
of the line to Tashkent as an event of the near future,
that I would even hazard the prediction that it will
ultimately be continued thence northwards to Oren-
burg," or perhaps to some other point further east
on the Central Siberian Railway, which is now being
planned across Northern Asia, and which is to run
vid Tomsk to Irkutsk; * and that so one part at least
of Lesseps' original design will be completed, though
in an inverse direction, and there will be a circular
railway extending from Moscow and returning again to
it, through the heart of the Asian continent. I do not
say that this will be effected in ten or even twenty years,
but that it will come as the logical corollary to the
* The Russian Ministry of Public Ways has already in the past
Summer applied for funds in order to make surveys for a line from
Samara vić Orenburg to Tashkent.
* According to the official scheme recently approved by a special com-
mission, the line is to run from Zlatoust, through Kurgan, Omsk, Tomsk,
and Kansk to Irkutsk; and ultimately vid, Southern Baikal, Possol-
skaia, Chita, Stretensk, and Khabarooka, to Vladivostok on the Pacific.
264 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Bourdalik-
Karshi
Tine
Transcaspian Railway I have little doubt. Branches
to Khokand and elsewhere will naturally follow.
When the surveys for General Annenkoff’s railway
were being made the idea was discussed of approach-
ing the Amu Daria at a point considerably to the
south of Tcharjui, and of selecting Bourdalik, about
half way between Tcharjui and Kerki, for the point
of crossing. This would have been a more direct
route by nearly fifty miles from Merv to Samarkand,
which would have been reached vid the Bokharan
town of Karshi. On the other hand, it would have
involved a rather longer stretch of the sand desert,
and would have missed the more populous and fertile
portions of the Khanate, and the capital itself, great
Tcharjui-
JKerki
branch
advantages, both commercial and political, from the
opening of which to traffic were rightly anticipated
by the Russian authorities. These considerations
decided them in favour of the Tcharjui route; and
the more southern line is not now spoken of.
In another form, however, the project of bringing
the upper Oxus into communication with the Trans-
caspian system has lately been revived, viz. in the
scheme of a railway along the left bank of the Oxus
from Tcharjui, either to Kerki, the most advanced
military station of Russia on the river, which was
occupied in May 1887, or to Bosaga, the frontier post
in the district of Khamiab. It was hoped Originally
that the need for such an undertaking would be ob-
viated by the success of the Oxus flotilla, which was
intended to supply the principal means of advance
in that direction. But the precarious fortune of the
EFFECTS OF THE TRA WSCASPIAN RAIL WAY 265
navigation, to which I have previously referred, has
shaken these expectations; and when the recent scare
occurred on the borders of Afghan Turkestan in the
spring of 1889, it was announced that the Russians
had decided to carry forward the railway to Khamiab.
This was in all probability a piece of bravado; and
it is unlikely that this branch will be immediately
taken in hand. Should it be constructed in the
future, there can be no misconception as to its charac-
ter and object. These will be purely strategical; and
they will amount to a military menace against Afghan
Turkestan. ~ - -
An even more interesting question is the Southerly
extension of the existing line from some point near
the Afghan frontier in the direction of Herat. In an
earlier chapter I mentioned Dushak as the southern-
most station of the present railway and a possible
starting-point of future advance. When Russia first
pushed forward to and beyond Askabad, the boundary
region between Turkomania, Persia, and Afghanistan
was so little known that the Officials themselves could
form no opinion as to the possibility of conducting a
railway in near vicinity to the Afghan frontier. These
doubts were for ever set at rest by the memorable
expeditions of the Russian engineer M. Lessar, in the
winter of 1881, the spring of 1882, and again in
1883. Skilfully and exhaustively surveying this
terra incognita right up to the walls of Herat, he
showed that the physical and engineering difficulties
of such a project were purely chimerical, and resolved
the impassable mountain barrier, by which the fond
Herat,
extension
266 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
fancy of an uninstructed generation had believed
Herat to be defended on the north, into a chain of
low hills, crossed by a pass about the same height
above the surrounding country as the highest point
of the Mendip Hills above the Bristol Channel. From
Dushak to Sarakhs the line would traverse a level
plain; from Sarakhs it would follow the east bank of
the Heri Rud through a country, now flat, now un-
dulating, but nowhere difficult. Crossing the Paropa-
misus range by a pass over the Barkhut hills, it would
finally debouch upon Kuhsan, sixty-five miles over
the level to Herat. Were this the direction adopted by
the Russian authorities, Dushak would constitute the
obvious point of deviation, while Sarakhs and Pul-i-
|Khatun would naturally figure as stations upon the
- Herat branch.
#in Later topographical surveys, however, as well as
branch other considerations, have latterly served to bring to
the front the rival project of an extension from Merv
up the valley of the Murghab to Penjdeh and the
confluence with the Kushk; and I am authorised by
M. Lessar to say that he has himself abandoned his
preference for the earlier scheme. Under these cir-
cumstances we may expect that if an extension to-
wards the frontier is contemplated in these parts, this
will be the line of advance. Upon the spot no very
precise information was procurable. Plans were said
not yet to have been prepared. There seemed, how-
ever, to be a consensus of opinion that sooner or
later the southerly extension would be taken in hand,
a few persons assigning to it the first place on the
EFFECTS OF THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY 267
programme of construction. Some conflict may be
expected between the peace party and the war party
on the subject, the former agitating for the extension
to Tashkent, which would be mainly of commercial
advantage, the latter for that to Sarakhs or Penjdeh,
which would be a purely military Operation, and the
meaning of which the most elementary knowledge of
the conditions will teach. Herat, already at the
mercy of Russia, would be placed literally within her
clutch. She might not care to violate the Afghan
frontier and run the risk of war with England by
pushing on the rails to Herat itself; but her terminus
would be within a few days' march of ‘the key of
India, and the occurrence of any internal complica-
tion might give the signal for the short remaining
advance. Englishmen are already beginning to pre-
pare themselves for a Russian Occupation of Herat,
not with equanimity, because such a step cannot fail
to involve war, and if effected, must certainly entail
a loss of British prestige, but as the next forward
move of Russia in the Central Asian game. I shall
not be surprised if many now living see a Russian
railway station at Herat in their time.
I come now to the question of the suggested ex-
tension of the line through the heart of Afghanistan,
and its junction with the Indian railway system at
Kandahar. General Annenkoff has both in print and
in reported interviews indulged in the most rainbow-
hued anticipations of such an amalgamation. He
has talked about Englishmen travelling from London
to India in nine days vid the Caspian and Herat; and,
JProposed
junction
with the
Indian
railway
system
268 RUSSIA / W CE WTRAL ASIA
though he seems to have been struck by the impro-
bability that such a line passing through Russian
territory could be utilised by British troops, he has
expressed the ingenuous opinion that it might
certainly be used by British merchants, while an ex-
emption might even be made in favour of British
officers. The physical obstacles to such a through
line are nil. I have pointed out that the extension
to Herat is easy, and is only a matter of time. From
Herat to Kandahar, a distance of 389 miles, there are
no greater difficulties. As long ago as June 25, 1838,
Sir John M'Neill, who showed a knowledge much in
advance of his generation, wrote as follows to Lord
Palmerston from Meshed:— -
I have already informed your lordship publicly that the
country between the frontiers of Persia and India is far more
productive than I had imagined it to be; and I can assure
your lordship that there is no impediment, either from the
physical features of the country or from the deficiency of
supplies, to the march of a large army from the frontiers of
Georgia to Kandahar, or, as I believe, to the Indus.
Count Simonitch, being lame from a wound, drove his
carriage from Teheran to Herat, and could drive it to Kan-
dahar; and the Shah's army has now for nearly seven months
subsisted almost exclusively on the supplies of the country
immediately around Herat and Ghurian, leaving the still
more productive districts of Sebzewar and Farrah, untouched.
In short, I can vouch from personal observation that there is
absolutely no impediment to the march of an army to Herat;
and that from all the information I have received, the country
between that city and Kandahar not only presents no difficulty,
but affords remarkable facilities for the passage of armies.
There is, therefore, my lord, no security for India in the nature
of the country through which an army would have to pass to
EFFECTS OF THE TRANSCASPIAN RAIL WAY 269
invade it from this side. On the contrary, the whole line is
peculiarly favourable for such an enterprise; and I am the
more anxious to state this opinion clearly, because it is at
variance with my previous belief, and with statements which
I may have previously hazarded, relying on more imperfect
information.
What MºMeill said fifty years ago of an army
applies still more to-day to a railway. At Kandahar
the line would be separated by only sixty miles of
level plain from the present outpost of British arms
and terminus of the Quetta Railway at Chaman. From
600 to 700 miles, for the most part over a country as
flat as the palm of the hand, is therefore the very
limited extent of the hiatus that still intervenes.
When we turn to the political aspect of the ques-
tion we are in a very different atmosphere. After
all, the proposed amalgamation must involve two
consenting parties; and if the Russian Government
were to favour the idea, which is so contrary to
traditional Muscovite policy as to be extremely un-
likely, the consent of Downing Street, of the British
House of Commons, and, in the last resort, of the
British people, would still have to be obtained. I
devoutly hope that not one of the three would for a
moment entertain an idea so speculative in its incep-
tion, so problematical in its issues, so perilous in the
lateral contingencies to which it might give birth. I
question if even from a fiscal point of view England
would reap the slightest advantage from the alleged
new outlet to her Indian trade; for this would speedily
be stifled by the merciless prohibitory tariffs of Russia,
Grave
drawbacks
i. Fiscal
270 RUSSIA IV CE WRAI, ASIA
which already have all but ousted English caravan-
borne goods from the markets of Central Asia, and
have seriously handicapped the export of Indian
native produce and manufactures. On the other hand,
Russian merchandise, unimpeded by hostile duties,
would descend in an avalanche upon the markets
of Afghanistan, Beluchistan, and the Indian border;
it would flood the towns of Seistan and Southern
ii. Political
Persia; and England would find that she had stupidly
handed over the keys of her commercial monopoly to
her only formidable rival.
But supposing these views to be exaggerated
or mistaken, assuming commercial profit to Great
Britain resulting from a junction of railways, and
estimating that profit at the maximum, it would yet
be dearly purchased at the cost of national insecurity,
of lowered prestige, and of perpetual danger. The
prolongation of the Russian railway through Afghani-
stan—for if it were prolonged it is to be feared that
as far as Kandahar it would be the work of Russian
capital and of Russian hands—would be regarded
throughout the East as a crowning blow to British
prestige, already seriously imperilled by a long course
of pocketed affronts and diplomatic reverses. It
would imply the consolidation of Russian dominion
right up to the gates of Kandahar (for I am assuming
that in the event of Russia seizing Herat the British
Government would at least retaliate by an occupation
of Kandahar). It would entail a coterminous frontier.
It would bring a possible enemy a month nearer to
the Indus and to India. It would mean that at the
JFFECTS OF THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY 271
slightest breath of disagreement between the Cabinets
of London and St. Petersburg, the British frontier
must be placed in a state of efficient defence against
armed attack. It would involve an enormous con-
centration of troops, and a heavy charge upon the
Indian Exchequer. It would necessitate a standing
increase of the Indian Army. For all these reasons
I earnestly hope that no support will be given in
England to a project so fantastic in itself and likely
to be so dangerous to the Empire.
Passing from the question of the future develop-
ment of the Transcaspian line, I will briefly state
what appeared to me to be its chief sources of
strength and means of influence, and will then attempt
to estimate its bearing upon the relations of Great
Britain and Russia in the East. In the first place, I
am inclined to think that General Annenkoff’s rail-
way has been much underrated in England. Realistic
descriptions of the unprepossessing country which it
traverses, exaggerated versions of the various acci-
dents or stoppages to traffic that have occurred, an
imperfect comprehension of the as yet undeveloped
resources of the new Russian territories, have com-
bined to produce an unfavourable impression. It
Favour-
able esti-
mate of
the Trans-
Caspian
Railway
was even believed for some time in this country that
the line was laid on a very narrow gauge ; and Sir
Charles Dilke, writing so late as the year 1887, de-
scribed the extension south of Askabad, which had
been completed for Over a year, as a steam tramway,
a statement which is still allowed to appear without
correction in the printed collection of his essays.
272 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
From the evidence of my own eyes, of which I have
endeavoured to give a perfectly faithful picture, I
drew a different conclusion. It appeared to me that,
on the whole, and taking into account the poverty of
available resources, the line has been well and sub-
stantially laid; that the rolling stock, though at
present inadequate, is of good material; that the
buildings and appointments have been or are being
excellently constructed; that the permanent way has
been as effectively safeguarded against destructive
influences as the local conditions will permit; and
that, considering the limited amount of traffic that
for some time will pass over the line, compared with
railways in European States, and the avowedly stra-
tegical character of the original undertaking, it is
of a more solid and permanent character than might
have been expected. Attention was drawn by the
‘Times’ correspondent to the absence of a sufficient
number of culverts to draw off the cataracts of water
that descend from the Persian mountains, a defect
which has since been repaired, and I have before
alluded to the ever-present peril of the sands. With
these two exceptions, the line is as safe and as durable
a one as is to be found in any similar region of the
world. -
º To what extent it might, in time of war, be able
time of war to stand the strain of a succession of heavy trains, is
perhaps more open to question. The absence of any
ballast but sand, and the difficulty, in the absence of
timber, of repairing rotten or broken sleepers, though
not noticeable under the conditions of Ordinary traffic,
*
EFFECTS OF THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY 273
might become serious in an emergency. The scarcity
of water and the amount of railway material required
for the conveyance of supplies, co-operating with the
above-mentioned features, incline me to the belief
that, of the two extremes, a lower rather than a
higher estimate should at present prevail of its capa-
bilities—formidable as I shall show these in many
respects to be—in time of war.
Among the consequences directly accruing from
the construction of the railway, I will first call atten-
tion to its political effects on Russia and the Russian
dominions in the East. Twenty-five years ago, when
Russia, recovering from the prostration inflicted by
the Crimean War, began to push into the heart of
Asia, it was from the north and north-west that she
advanced. Her objective was the Khanates of the
middle zone, towards which her route lay over the
Kirghiz Steppes; and she attained her end with the
capture of Samarkand and practical subjugation of
Bokhara in 1868. Turkestan and Khokand were
already conquered, if not finally absorbed; and north
of the Oxus no fresh enemy awaited or merited attack.
Accordingly she shifted her attention to another
quarter, and commenced, at first tentatively and
blunderingly, from the direction of the Caspian
Sea. Ambition, nature, necessity gradually tempted
her on, from Krasnovodsk to Geok Tepe, from Geok
Tepe to Askabad, from Askabad to Merv, and from
Merv to Sarakhs and Penjdeh, until presently she
found herself in possession of a twofold Asiatic
dominion, the one part in Turkomania, the other in
T
Political
effects of
the railway
274 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Absorption
of Turko-
Imania
Turkestan. A mighty river and impassable sands
separated the two and rendered communication pre-
carious. General Annenkoff’s railway has laughed
alike at river and at sands, has passed the impassable,
and has linked together and consolidated the earlier
and the later conquest, welding east and west into a
single Central Asian Empire. Bokhara, it is true, lies
sandwiched between ; but so does Hyderabad between
the presidencies of Madras and Bombay. Panic-
stricken before, Bokhara is impotent now, having
signed away her last expiring chance of freedom when
the first rails started from the Oxus bank. It is
amazing to hear and read of people who still argue
as though Bokhara might rise in rebellion, and the
Russians be forcibly ejected from the Khanate. Tet
all such insane hallucinations be extinguished. The
sentence that Geok Tepe wrote in blood for the
Turkomans, General Annenkoff has translated in a
less truculent vocabulary for the Tajiks. Bokhara is
rather more Russian than Hyderabad is British ; and
the Amir is, if possible, less formidable than the Nizam.
In Turkomania, too, the railway has exercised a
powerful effect. Without it the occupation of Merv,
though peacefully effected, would have remained a
venture, isolated, and possibly followed by risk.
Merv on the railway line has taken its place as one
link in the chain of Turkoman oases, now for the first
time connected together, and has pledged along with
its own allegiance that of Yuletan, Sarakhs, and
Penjdeh. Indeed, the ultimate consequences of the
line are further reaching still; for to a new Turko-
EFFECTS OF THE TRAWSCASPIAN RAILWAY 275
manian empire thus constituted the whole body of
Turkomans, whose tribal differences are as nothing
compared with their blood distinction from Persian,
Afghan, or Tartar, will tend to gravitate; and the
Turkollans of North Persia, Yomuds and Goklans of
the Atrek, Gurgan, and Sumbar Rivers, as well as the
Turkomans—Salors, Ersari, Alieli, Kara, and others—
of the upper pastures of the Kushk and Murghab, of
Andkui and Maimena, and Afghan Turkestan, along
with those of Khiva," will sooner or later cross the
frontier line into Russian territory if she does not first
cross it into theirs. In a word, the construction of
the railway means the final Russification of the whole
Turkoman Steppes from Khorasan to Khiva, and from
the Caspian to the Oxus.
Of the influence of the railway upon Persia I shall
speak again in discussing its commercial and military
consequences. But the political ascendency which it
confirms to Russia may be roughly indicated by a
glance at the map, where it will be seen to command
along its entire length the northern flank of Khorasan,
and has been signally exemplified in the pressure
lately brought to bear by Russia with such complete
success at Teheran, first to secure the appointment
of a Consul-General at Meshed, and subsequently to
enforce the completion of the road to that place from
Influence
upon
Persia,
Askabad. The Russian minister at Teheran has but
to wink his eye in the direction of the Caspian and
1 The Turkomans under Khivan rule are Yomuds, Chadars, Emrali,
Ata and Alili; and their numbers were estimated by Kaufmann and
Betrusevitch at 250,000.
T 2
276 A USSIA 7. W C E WTPAJ, A SIA
Increased
prestige of
Russia
Com-
mercial
effects
Khorasan for the Shah to know exactly what is meant.
The Transcaspian Railway is a sword of Damocles
perpetually suspended above his head, just as the
non-payment of the war indemnity is over that of his
companion in misfortune, the Sultan of Turkey.
Among the political consequences of the railway
must be included the immense augmentation of
Russian prestige in the East. Already redoubtable
for the endurance and bravery of her soldiers, she has
shown her superiority over those hostile forces of
nature with which the fatalistic Oriental has never
found spirit to cope. A railway in the deserts of
Central Asia is a far more wonderful thing to the
Eastern mind than one through the teeming territories
of Hindostan : the passage of the sands more remark-
able than the piercing of mountain ranges. Fatalism,
moreover, if it starts by provoking a sanguinary
resistance, ends in producing a stupefied submission.
A sense of utter powerlessness against the Russians
has been diffused abroad among the Central Asian
peoples, and experience of the overwhelming strength
of their conquerors has brought a corresponding
recognition of their own weakness to the conquered.
The fire of inveterate savagery burns feebly and low.
Like a herd of cattle cowering under shelter during a
thunderstorm, they court the very danger by which
they are at once fascinated and appalled.
I turn next to the commercial effects of the new
railway, a subject upon which I shall express decided
opinions, and Opinions at variance with those that
have hitherto found spokesmen in this country. It
EFFECTS OF THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY 277
has been asserted that little or no commercial interest
has been displayed in the undertaking ; that no
merchants from St. Petersburg or Moscow were
present at the inauguration; that the annual fair at
Baku, established in connection with the line, has so
far proved somewhat of a failure (it has, however, only
been in existence for two years); and, in fine, that the
business classes in Russia have as good as boycotted
the entire concern. I believe this to be an altogether
erroneous impression. I look upon the railway as
possessing a commercial future of the very first and
most serious importance; and I can even conceive this
result, that an enterprise admittedly military in its
inception may come in time to be regarded by Great
Britain as a more formidable antagonist to her
mercantile than to her imperial supremacy in the
East.
In credit to General Annenkoff it must be said
that, partly no doubt with a desire to conciliate Oppo-
sition and to render plausible the pacific character
of the undertaking, but still with no small practical
insight, he has proclaimed from the first that there
was a great trade opening in Central Asia which his
railway was destined to fill. In his original pamphlet,
introducing his scheme to the notice of the public, he
pointed out that the overland trade of India had
invariably enriched the countries through which it
passed. He proposed, in short, to tap the springs of
Central Asian commerce, and to compete with Great
Britain even in the markets of her own dominions.
In a later report, published at St. Petersburg in 1887,
\,
Annen-
koff’s
prophecies
278 RUSSIA IV CENTRAL ASIA
upon the commercial importance of the line, the
General wisely restricted his imagination to a some-
what less ambitious horizon, but with actual experi-
ence to reckon from, issued a revised manifesto of the
commercial possibilities of Russia in Central Asia."
In this publication he pointed out the chance now
presented to Russia of securing a monopoly of the
trade of Khorasan, and estimated that four-fifths of the
exports, amounting to 6,450 tons weight, would pass
by the Transcaspian Railway, and of the imports and
exports together 12,100 tons. He also dwelt upon
the future of the cotton industry of Turkestan,
destined sooner or later to meet the fullest demands
of European Russia, whither the Transcaspian Railway
would provide the speediest and cheapest method
of transport, Turkestan-grown cotton being saleable
under these conditions in Moscow at fourpence a
pound, whereas imported cotton from Egypt, India,
or America is only procurable at an average price of
seven pence a pound. The calculations and forecasts
of General Annenkoff are, I believe, broadly speaking,
correct, and are corroborated by my own inquiries
On the spot, by the accounts of experts, and by the
results so far exhibited by the Transcaspian Railway
returns.
In this relation the Russians have acted with
commendable judgment from the start. Before the
line was pushed on to the Oxus and Bokhara, a
commission was appointed to report upon the prin-
Com-
mercial
policy and
Success of
Russia
* Vide No. 71 of the Miscellaneous Series of Foreign Office Reports,
1887, -
EFFECTS OF THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY 279
cipal lines of communication and trade arteries, and
to specify the points whither to attract and where to
repel commercial intercourse. In accordance with
its recommendations, the line was designed to corre-
spond with the principal caravan routes and water-
ways. In 1884 the telegraph wire was extended to
Bokhara, so as to enable the merchants of that great
emporium to be in touch with the fluctuations of the
European market and vice versd. How rapid and
how complete has been the mercantile conquest
which Russia has subsequently achieved in the
Tartar capital my remarks in an earlier chapter have
shown. At the present moment she may be said to
have absolute command, so far as European imports
are concerned, of the Bokharan market ; and a few
years ago the “Turkestan Gazette’ boasted of having
destroyed foreign—i.e. English—-trade to the value
of 750,000l. with Bokhara alone. In Turkestan the
old caravan route vid Kazalinsk and Orenburg,
which occupied from sixty to a hundred and twenty
days, has been partially deserted in favour of the
longer but more expeditious journey by the rail-
way.
Simultaneously with these results must be noticed
the fiscal policy deliberately pursued by Russia
throughout her dominions, and nowhere with less
compunction or quarter than in Central Asia. In
August 1887, the Russian Minister of Finance, pay-
ing an official visit to the Great Fair at Nijni
Novgorod, addressed to the assembled merchants
this remarkable message from the Czar –
Russian
economic
policy of
strict pro-
tection
280 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Its opera-
tion in
Central
Asia.
The Emperor has ordered me to tell the merchants and
manufacturers here assembled that the successes of Russian
trade and industry are always dear to his heart, and that he
considers those successes as the most important functions of
the life of the State; and that he will regard every service
rendered for the furtherance of Russian trade and industry
as a meritorious act accomplished for the good of the State.
. . . All the measures latterly adopted for stimulating
Russian trade and industry were conceived and ordered to
be carried out by the Emperor. He directs, and will continue
to direct, the economic and financial policy of the country,
and all benign initiative proceeds immediately from him."
Here was a direct proclamation of the principle
of a national economic policy, and the arrogation
of an Imperial authority for the rigid protective
system that is now being unflinchingly applied from
the Baltic to the China Seas.
In Central Asia this policy has been pursued
with deadly consequences to all other competitors,
and most of all to the sole serious competitor with
Russia—Great Britain. In 1881 all European—i.e.
in the main British—products were, with a few speci-
fied exceptions, absolutely excluded from the Russian
possessions in Central Asia. At the same time heavy
duties were imposed upon Indian products, such as
tissues, indigo, and teas, a tariff which in 1886 pro-
duced 25,000l. upon the Indian goods imported
through Afghanistan.” In Russian territory special
* Wide No. 68 of the Miscellaneous Series of Foreign Office Reports,
1889. - -
* The customs regulations for the present year in Russian Turkestan
were promulgated as follows in the Turkestam Gazette of May 1889:—
I. All imports from other parts of the Russian Empire, and all
EFFECTS OF THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY 281
encouragement is given to Russian importation,
while exemptions are granted to neighbouring native
states. The fiscal policy of Russia may be described,
therefore, as prohibitory towards Great Britain, as re-
strictive towards India, as differential towards other
Eastern countries, and as protective towards herself.
In Afghanistan this policy is producing results of
a twofold and marked significance. It is expanding
merchandise and products from Bokhara, Khiva, and China, are ad-
mitted free of customs duties into Russian Turkestan,with the excep-
tions mentioned in III.
II. The importation of Anglo-Indian, Afghan, Persian, Turkish,
and Western European goods not enumerated in III., and also of
powder and warlike stores, is forbidden.
III. The following articles may only be imported on payment of
duty as set forth :— .
(1) Precious stones, real and imitation, pearls, garnets, and un-
worked coral at 4 roubles 8 kopecks per powd.
(2) Laurel leaves and berries at 2 r. 21 k. per powd.
(3) Spices at duties varying between 5 r. and 24 r. per powd.
(4) Sugar products, mainly confectionery and preserves, at 1 r. 65k.
per poud.
(5) Tea at 14 r. 40 k. per powd.
(6) Indigo at 6 r. per powd.
(7) Boots and shoes of Indian leather at 1 r. 1913. per lb.
(8) Muslin at 11. per lb.
(9) Coral, worked and threaded, at 6r. 72.k. per lb.
Early in the same year a decree was published for the establish-
ment of a special customs Service in Transcaspia (vide the Kavkas
newspaper, March 29, 1889), which contained these, among other, pro-
visions:—
I. European, Anglo-Indian, and Persian goods, brought by land
from abroad into the Transcaspian province are subjected to an ad
walorem duty of 2; per cent.
II. Goods passing through the custom house at Uzun Ada for
European Russia or the Caucasus are to pay the full European tariff,
deducting the amount already paid under I.
Since then, however, an official proclamation has been issued at
Askabad, declaring that all goods from Persia will be allowed free
transit through Transcaspia if sent viá Uzun Ada and Baku ; a privi-
lege which had previously been conceded to Persian trade passing
through the Caucasus. (Board of Trade Journal, June 1889.)
Russian
trade with
Afghan-
istan
282 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Imports
and ex-
ports
with great rapidity the interchange of commercial re-
lations between the markets of Northern Afghanistan
and the neighbouring Russian or Russianised provinces,
particularly Bokhara; thus providing Russia with a
new outlet for her manufactures at the same time that
she is politically the gainer by the establishment of
friendly relations with the Afghans. In the second
place, it is crushing British Indian commercial com-
petition in Afghanistan, not merely in the North, but
even as far South as Kabul, and is ousting English
trade from one more field of hitherto undisputed
triumph. A few words about each of these re-
Sults.
The trade between Afghanistan and Bokhara is
Caravan-borne, and is principally in the hands of
Bokharan merchants; though a case has been heard
of a Russian merchant proceeding to Charvilayet, and
successfully trading there in Russian sugar. The
Afghan markets immediately served by the caravans
are those of Maimena, Andkui, Shibergan, Akcha,
and Siripul; and the chief imports from Afghanistan,
exclusive of the Indian transit trade, which consists
of green tea, indigo, drugs, and English muslin,
brought vid Kabul, are wool, sheep, lamb, and fox-
skins, oil seed, and pistachio nuts. The main Russian
exports to Afghanistan are printed goods, sugar, lump,
moist, and candy, trunks, iron, hardware, copper,
drugs, and matches. The Russian Journal of the
Ministry of Finance for 1889 has published the fol-
lowing figures of this Russo-Afghan trade for the past
year, during which time it suffered seriously from the
EFFECTS OF THE TRANSCASPIAN RAIL WAY 283
general disturbance arising out of the rebellion of
Is-hak Khan.
Import of Goods to Bokhara from Afghanistan.
June 1888 (before the rebellion) . tº § . £215,390
July . tº tº ſe t º t e e . 80,720
August . te e & o † & e . 55,414
September * wº g ſº ſº tº tº . 45,924
October . © g * e g * g . 38,611 *
November . & e ſº e º e . 43,812
December. e e g e tº gº º tº 3,511
Eagort of Russian Goods to Afghanistan from Bokhara.
June 1888 (before the rebellion) e º * . # 123,581
July. e g . . . . tº g . 54,558
August . * º & & g g * . 53,241
September . . º g e o & . 33,669
October -
º . . . . . . . . 55,364
December i. g ſº tº º gº * g 5,417
The above figures indicate both the high level of
business transactions between Russia and Afghanistan
that has already been reached in time of peace, and
the complete dislocation arising from warlike proceed-
ings. In the settlement that has since ensued, the
rebound will probably be as rapid ; although the ex-
orbitant transit dues charged by the Afghans, which
have had the effect, as stated in a previous chapter,
of diverting some of the trade to the ridiculously
circuitous route from the Persian Gulf to Askabad,
will for a time exercise a restrictive influence. Never-
theless the official report does not hesitate to conclude
that, “ notwithstanding recent political complications,
Northern Afghanistan presents a market in which
Russian goods find a ready sale, and compete success-
284 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Anglo-
Tndian
transit
trade
British
trade with
Afghan-
istan
fully with Anglo-Indian and other European merchan-
dise.’ - -
It is in the latter respect that the apprehensions
of Englishmen will find most cause for legitimate
provocation. Afghanistan has long and naturally
been regarded as the private preserve of English
traders, who, in the absence of competition from the
North, distributed their goods throughout the country
by means of native caravans, penetrating the main
passes from British India. Some of these goods merely
passed through the country on their way to the now
Russianised markets of Central Asia; a trade which,
though it still exists in the case of such products or
manufactures as Russia cannot herself provide, is
crippled by the double deadweight of Afghan and
Russian prohibitory tariffs, and is brought to an ab-
solute standstill in winter or in times of political dis-
turbance. Its decline may be illustrated by returns
showing that the transit trade vid Herat and Kerki to
Bokhara, which in 1881 amounted to 3,600 camel
loads and 1,025 tons weight, sank in 1884 to 1,700
camel loads and 490 tons weight, and has since all
but vanished; while during the autumn and winter
of last year (1888) communication by caravan between
Kabul and Bokhara ceased altogether.
But the diminution, or even the extinction, of this
transit trade is less significant than the progressive
expulsion of British and Indian manufactures from
the markets of Afghanistan itself. The statistics of
exports from the Punjab into Afghanistan exhibit a
steady decline : Kabul and Herat no longer look to
Jº FFECIT'S OF THE TRAAVSOASPIAAW PA II, WA Y 285
India alone for their foreign or European supplies;
and the latest official report of the Indian Government
contains these words:–
The trade with parts beyond Quetta is as yet not large,
and perhaps it can hardly be expected to become so until
Kandahar is reached. Trade with Kabul is not progressing
as it might have been expected to do, seeing that the railway
runs right up to its border, and that the country has been
free for the last few years from serious political convulsions.
Whether the stagnation of the trade is to be attributed to
Russian customs restrictions on the border of Northern Afghan-
istan, impeding the progress of transit trade between India
and Central Asia, or to the illiberal fiscal régime of the Amir,
or to tribal disturbances from time to time, it is certain in
any case that the trade gives no indication of material increase.
The sale of Russian goods is stated in a Consular report to be
yearly increasing in Persia and in the neighbouring Afghan
territory, from which British goods are being driven out."
The general commercial outlook in Central Asia
is therefore as good for Russia as it is discouraging
for Great Britain. Similar testimony may be cited
from other quarters. The report of Russian trade for
the year 1887 contained this paragraph —
Traders from Khiva, Bokhara, Tashkent, Persia, and even
Asia Minor, are said to have made considerable purchases of
Russian cotton goods at the Fair of Nijni Novgorod in 1887,
instead of, as formerly, supplying themselves with English
productions, which they obtained through Batoum, Asia
Minor, and Persia. The closing of Batoum as a free port,
the abolition of the transit trade across the Caucasus, and the
construction of the Transcaspian Railway have undeniably
resulted in the acquisition of new markets for Russian manu-
* Statement of the Trade of British India from 1883–88. London,
1889. -
Quotation
from
Foreign
Office Re-
port
286 RUSSIA IN CAENTRAL ASIA
facturers in the far East, to our clear disadvantage. Accord-
ing to the report of the Governor of the Transcaspian region,
the sale of Russian goods is not only yearly increasing in
Persia (especially at Kuchan, Bujmurd, and Meshed), but is
driving British goods out of the neighbouring Afghan terri-
tory, as, for instance, out of Herat. Bokhara is reported to
be replete with the products of Russian manufacture. The
Russian diplomatic agent there states that English goods are
not able to compete with Russian products, and that English
prints are rarely to be met with at present in Bokhara.
Native dealers of the Caucasus, Trans-Caucasus, and Turkish
Armenia are reported to have also become large purchasers
of Russian manufactured goods. Great Britain, which for-
merly enjoyed almost the monopoly of the trade in most of
these parts, is now receding there, commercially, into the
background. The Governor-General of Turkestan confirms
the report of his colleague of the Transcaspian region as to
the increasing demand for Russian goods in Central Asia."
Of this import and export trade the Transcaspian
Railway is fast acquiring the entire monopoly, con-
veying to the Caspian, and so to Europe, the cotton,
the raw and dyed silk, the silk and cotton tissues,
the velvets, sheepskins, carpets, leather, dried fruits,
goats' hair, camels' hair, and furs of the East; and
flooding the Oriental markets in return with the prints,
muslins, calicoes, broadcloth and brocades, the hides,
iron tools and implements, cutlery, chinaware, glass,
jewellery, candles, and lamps of European Russia.”
If we turn from the eastern to the western region
of influence—i.e. from Turkestan and Bokhara to
* No. 447 of the Annual Series of Foreign Office Reports, 1889.
* The value of Russian exports over her entire Asiatic frontier,
which in 1884 was 2,470,000l., rose in 1886 to 3,530,000l., ; the value of
imports from Asia rose in the same period from 3,620,000l. to 4,530,000l.
(Wide Board of Trade Journal, p. 505, 1887.)
EFFECTS OF THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY 287
Rhorasan and North Persia—the results are not less
significant, or, from an English point of view,
unsatisfactory. I have already pointed out the
enormous advantage which the completion of the
railway gives to Russia in the practical control of
Khorasan. This province, perhaps the wealthiest
and most fertile in Persia, is approached by three
main caravan routes: (1) the Azerbaijan route vid
Tabriz, Teheran, and Shahrud; (2) the Bender Abbas
or Bushire routes from the Persian Gulf; and (3)
the Astrabad or Shahrud routes from the Caspian.
For Southern and Central Persia, and even for
Southern Khorasan, the roads from the Persian Gulf
will retain their hold, especially for such imports as
Indian teas; but for the towns of Bujnurd, Kuchan,
Dereguez, Kelat, and Meshed, the two northern
routes are already being superseded by the new
Russian road, in connection with the railway, over
the Kopet Dagh from Askabad. The latest Foreign
Office Report says:–
East of Teheran, towards Meshed, and in Mazenderan,
English prints are beaten by Russian productions, and in
Mazenderan it would even be difficult to find a piece of
English origin. . . . It is useless to attempt to compete with
Russian sugar in North Persia. . . . In general hardware.
and cutlery Russia appears to be taking the lead with cutlery
and plated goods from Warsaw, although the expense of
carriage is greater than that from Sheffield. . . . North of
Ispahan the crockery and glassware are almost exclusively
supplied by Russia and Austria.” .
Simultaneously the British Consul at Constanti-
* No. 119 of the Miscellaneous Series of Foreign Office Reports, 1889.
Russian
monopoly
in Northern
Persia and
Khorasan
288 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
nople, in his report for the years 1887 and 1888 on
the trade of that place, speaks as follows:–
Large wholesale import houses in Constantinople, which
formerly did business with Persia and Central Asia, and acted
as middlemen between European manufacturers and the
merchants of those parts, have in recent years lost their cus-
tomers and are gradually disappearing. This is owing in a
measure to new and more direct routes having been thrown
open to markets that were formerly supplied from Constanti-
nople. . . . In Persia, the provinces of Azerbaijan, Khoi, and
Mazanderan alone continue to take their supplies by way of
Constantinople, and then only when the Russian competition
permits of their doing so. . . . Trade with Persia vid Con-
stantinople during the years 1887 and 1888 was not satisfac-
tory. Dealers in Manchester goods suffered considerably,
Owing partly to Russian competition and also to the high
rate of exchange prevailing at Odessa."
Kindred testimony is borne by the French Consul
at Tabriz, who in a letter to the Moniteur Officiel du
Commerce, in July 1888, attributed the increase of
trade between Persia and Russia to three causes—(1)
the proximity of Russia and facility of transport to
good markets, (2) the large consumption Of Persian ... • **
produce in the neighbouring Russian territory, and
(3) the institution of the fair at Baku, which has al-
ready had an immense influence on Persian trade.
He added, ‘It seems likely that the trade of Europe
with Persia will be very seriously affected indeed by
the influences which are linking that country in a
closer commercial union with Russia. But it is Eng-
land which will suffer most by the new situation ; for
* No. 537 of the Annual Series of Foreign Office Reports, 1889.
EFFECTS OF THE TRAWSCASPIAN RAIL WAY 289
Russia makes muslims of better quality than those of
Manchester; and when the price of the Russian mus-
lins, which is rather high at present in consequence
of their novelty, begins to fall a little, the English
manufacturers will have no chance of competing with
those of Russia.”
In other words, British manufactures and products
are being rapidly exterminated from a field in which
they once held undisputed sway; and, while Great
Britain looks on with stolid surprise and British
merchants offer the other cheek to the Smiter,
Russian commercial control is assuredly paving the
way to ultimate political amalgamation."
And yet we have already had sufficient warning
a little further west, in the case of the overland trade
with North and North-west Persia. The abolition of
the transit trade across the Caucasus in 1883, and
the closing of Batoum as a free port in 1886, de-
stroyed 3.I). important branch of British trade both with
Transcaucasia and with Persia, that formerly either
crossed to Baku and the Caspian or entered Persia vid
Poti or Batoum, Ardahan, Kars, and Erivan to Tabriz,
to the value of nearly 1,000,000l. a year. If it be
contended that this trade was merely diverted to the
longer and more costly Trebizond route, the returns of
British imports into Persia by the latter can be quoted
as affording a conclusive demonstration of the positive
* I have discussed at greater length and with additional evidence
the commercial rivalry between Russia and England in Central Asia in
a paper read before the British Association at Newcastle in September,
1889, and published in the Asiatic Quarterly Review for October,
U
T)estruc-
tion of
British
trade with
Northern
Persia,
290 RUSSIA / W CENTRAL ASIA
loss incurred. For, so far from the Trebizond figures
showing an increase, as they might be expected to do,
in consequence of the closing of the Batoum line, they
exhibit a steady annual reduction during the last
three recorded years:–
1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887
f548,921 527,462 679,428 652,823 704,493 578,850 522,480 471,700
while the report of the trade of Trebizond for the
year 1887 contains the accompanying admission that
‘the decrease in cotton goods, especially from the
United Kingdom, is to be explained by the greater
importation of Russian stuffs, which appears to be
yearly on the increase, that of Trebizond alone figur-
ing for 1887 as 10,000l., against 1,920ſ. in 1886.”
From all this evidence it results that in the
policy of excluding Great Britain from the markets
of Persia, as from those of Central Asia, Russia,
whose motto is ‘War to the Knife,' is attaining a
marked success; and that to this success the Trans-
caspian Railway is contributing in no slight degree.
Russian eyes are open, even if British eyes are shut,
to this consummation; and there are those in Russia
who see clearly enough the great commercial future
that, with proper management, may await the Trans-
caspian line. In 1886, M. Palashkofski, builder of
the Caucasian Railway, proposed the formation of a
company in order to buy the line as far as the Oxus,
on condition of a Crown guarantee of four-and-a-half
per cent, interest. On the shares to be issued, and a
Com-
mercial
future of
the Trans-
caspian
Railway
* No. 342 of the Annual Series of Foreign Office Reports, 1888.
EFFECTS OF THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY 291
yearly subsidy from the Government for military
transport. Though the capital subscribed would
have been acceptable to the Russian Government, the
proposal was not entertained, being in direct conflict
with the present imperial policy. Quite lately, how-
ever, rumours have been heard of a great mercantile
combination which is to embrace Eastern Europe
and the whole of Central Asia, including Persia and
Afghanistan, with the Transcaspian Railway as its
pivot. Simultaneously, it is announced that the in-
creasing need for banking accommodation in Central
Asia is to be met either by the foundation of a new
Caspian Bank, with branches in each of the leading
Asiatic cities, or by extending the operations of
already existing institutions, such as the Imperial
Russian Bank, or the Caucasus and Mercury Trading
Company. These vague reports, which illustrate a
growing confidence in the enterprise, tend also to
attach credit to the statement, recently circulated,
that General Annenkoff's line is already beginning to
defray its working expenses, and that whispers of a
surplus have actually been heard."
Finally, I pass to the strategical consequences of
1 The Pall Mall Gazette, in June 1889, published the report of an
interview with General Annenkoff, in which he declared that in 1888
the Transcaspian Railway yielded a net profit of 50,000l. ; gross receipts
having been 240,000l., expenses 190,000l. ; and that in 1889 3 per cent.
would be paid to the shareholders. As there are no shareholders but
the Government, we must attribute the latter remark to the faulty com-
prehension of the interviewer. From later information we learn that
between January 1 and June 1, 1889, there were conveyed by the
Transcaspian Railway 49,410 tons of goods, including 14,762 tons of
Asiatic cotton, 11,568 tons of cereals, 6,379 tons of Sugar, 334 tons of
linen, 39 tons of silk, and 817 tons of manufactured articles.
U 2
292 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Strategical
COIlSe-
quences of
the line
Shifting of
centre of
gravity in
Central
Asia.
the Transcaspian Railway, in discussing which I
speak with the deference incumbent upon a civilian,
though I do not approach the subject without con-
sultation with others amply qualified on military
grounds to pronounce an opinion.
In this context the first and most patent conse-
quence of the railway is that entire shifting of the
centre of gravity in Central Asia to which I have
more than once called attention in previous chapters,
the supersession of Turkestan by Transcaspia, the
dethronement of Tashkent by Askabad. For the
first fifteen years of Russian dominion in Central
Asia, Tashkent was the pivot round which all
revolved, the military and administrative capital, the
cradle of policy, the starting-point of action.
Raufmann and Tchernaieff were successively the
arbiters of the East, and in their authority and inde-
pendence resembled an ancient satrap rather than a
modern viceroy. When in the summer of 1878, just
before the signature of the Treaty of Berlin, it was
thought desirable by Russia to make a hostile
demonstration against Great Britain in the East, a
fact which no student of the Central Asian question
should ever lose sight of in his diagnosis of the
situation, it was from Tashkent that an expedition
of 20,000 men was equipped and led by Kaufmann
himself vid Samarkand to Jam, on the Bokharan
frontier, in Order to menace, and, if necessary, to
invade, Afghanistan. It was from Tashkent that the
Pamir column, under General Abramoff, started
through Ferghana and the Alai to operate in the
EFFECTS OF THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY 293
direction of Kashmir. It was from Tashkent that
the Stolietoff Mission was simultaneously despatched
across the Oxus and the Hindu Kush to Kabul. No
other line of attack upon India was then either
possible or conceivable; for on the other or western
side the Russians were as yet only precariously
established at Krasnovodsk and Tchikishliar on the
eastern shores of the Caspian, and 600 miles of hos-
tile wilderness separated them from the north-west
outposts of Afghanistan. In twenty years, however,
there has been a wonderful change. With the
successes of Skobeleff, Transcaspia threw down her
first challenge to Turkestan. Geok Tepe, Askabad,
Sarakhs, Merv, and Penjdeh marked the successive
stages of the friendly rivalry. Every league of
advance towards Afghanistan was a new point to
the gain of Askabad, to the loss of Tashkent. The
former had a boundless horizon of activity; the
latter was forced to sit still. General Annenkoff’s
railway has now put the coping-stone upon the
edifice; and the Russian Governor-Generalship of
Transcaspia, whether dependent or independent,
emerges a Solid and substantial structure, command-
ing the nearest approach, and congratulating itself
upon the inheritance of the keys to the Indian
Empire of the British Crown. Established at
Askabad, at Sarakhs, and at Merv, with frontier
outposts at Pul-i-Khatun and Penjdeh, with a rail-
way station only ninety miles from Sarakhs, which
itself is only 170 miles from Herat, Russia has ac-
quired and has fortified a new line of advance, and
294 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Greater
proximity
of base
has planted her foot on the path which every Indian
Conqueror has trod from Alexander to Nadir Shah.
But the significance of the situation consists not
so much in what lies in front of her present or
future outposts as in what lies behind. Hitherto
a hostile movement against India has involved the
operation of an advanced army severed from its base
by vast distances, by rivers of great width, and by
mountain barriers of enormous height. Had Kauf.
mann marched upon India through Afghanistan in
1878, he would have had first to cross the Oxus, and
then to climb the Hindu Kush, and even so would
Only have found himself at Kabul with the passes of
the Sufeid Koh and Suleiman ranges between him
and the Indus; whilst his real base at Orenburg, the
furthest point of the then existing railway system,
would have been separated from him by two
thousand miles and by months of time. Hence-
forward a similar design may find its execution from
the opposite quarter, and can rest upon an unbroken
line of connection by steam traffic with the heart of
the empire and the arsenals of European Russia. At
Sarakhs or at Takhta-Bazar the Russian commander
is in communication by wire with Tiflis and St.
Petersburg. He can summon to his aid the resources
of the Caucasus from Baku, or of European Russia.
from the Volga ; and transporting both or either
from the eastern shore of the Caspian by a line of
railway invulnerable to flank attack, can launch
them against the fortifications of Herat or even
meditate a sustained march to the Helmund.
EFFECTS OF THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY 295
Or let me illustrate the development in the
present situation by a comparison with quite recent
times. I have already shown the difficulties under
which an invasion of Afghanistan from the north
would have laboured, and would still labour, if con-
sidered apart by itself. Let us imagine, however,
that Russia had, at any time during the last twenty
years, contemplated such a move from the opposite or
western quarter. How would she have been situated,
and what would have been her chances as compared
with those of England? I will take the two periods
of 1878 and 1885, the dates respectively of the flight
of Shir Ali from Kabul, and the affray on the Kushk,
both of them occasions on which the possibility of
hostilities presented itself very clearly to the Russian
mind. Had the Russians contemplated an invasion
of Afghanistan in the spring of 1879, their nearest
forces at Krasnovodsk would have been separated by
700 miles from Herat, the intervening desert being
occupied by savage and hostile tribes, flushed with
recent victory over Lomakin's battalions. The
British, in possession of Kandahar, were only 390
miles distant, an advantage to the British of 310
miles. As late even as 1883, before Merv had been
annexed, and while the railway terminus was still at
Kizil Arvat, the late Sir C. MacGregor, then Quarter-
master-General in India, who displayed a surer
insight into the military situation than any con-
temporary officer or statesman, wrote as follows:–
I am having two papers got ready—one to show how soon
we could put 10,000 men into Herat, another how soon the
Compari-
son of pre-
sent with
former
facilities
296 RUSSIA IW CE WTRAI, ASIA
Russians could do the same. We are about equal now, and
we could beat them; but every day tells against us."
How true were these concluding words is shown
by the contrast presented within less than two years.
In April 1885, when the two countries trembled on
the brink of war, the situation had positively been
reversed. The nominal Russian outposts were now
at Sarakhs, only 170 miles from Herat, while a Cos-
sack force was actually in possession of Pul-i-Khatun,
forty miles further to the south. In the meantime
the British had increased instead of diminishing their
distance, having retreated to Quetta, a distance of
500 miles from Herat, so that the balance of advan-
tage had swung round to the opposite side. Finally,
I contrast both these positions with that of the
present year. At this moment the most advanced
point of the Russian frontier, as settled by the Joint
Commission, is at Chihil Dukhtaran, where is the
23rd boundary pillar, exactly fifty-five miles as the
crow flies from Herat. The British have pushed for-
ward a modest seventy miles from Quetta to Chaman,
but are still 460 miles from Herat. These figures will
prove more plainly than any number of words the pro-
digious change—I will go further, and say the absolute
transformation—in the scene which the Transcaspian
conquests of the Czar have brought about, and the
seal upon which has been set by the completion of
the new railway. It means that the power of menace,
which the ability to take Herat involves, has passed
from English to Russian hands; that the Russian
* Life and Opinions of Sir C. MacGregor, vol. ii. p. 316.
EFFECTS OF THE TRANSCASPIA W RAILFVA Y 297
seizure of Herat is now a matter not so much of war
as of time ; and that the Russians will thus, without
an effort, win the first hand in the great game that is
destined to be played for the empire of the East.
These are the advantages as regards situation and
Opportunity which their Transcaspian conquests, and
the railway as its sequel, have placed in the Russians'
hands. I now propose to show to what extent they
will be able to utilise them, and what are the counter-
advantages or possibilities to be credited to Great
Britain.
In the event of war being declared between Eng-
land and Russia, and the latter deciding upon an
invasion of Afghanistan, there would be open to her
two main lines of advance—(1) vid the Transcaspian
Railway and Herat, (2) vid Samarkand and Kilif, or
vid the Oxus and Kerki upon Afghan Turkestan, and
ultimately upon Kabul. A third column might be
expected to operate in the direction of the upper
Oxus and the Pamir, endeavouring to effect a descent
by lofty but available passes upon Chitral or Gilgit,
and requiring a British counter-movement on the
side of Kashmir. With the proceedings of this flank
diversion, which might be troublesome but could
not be really serious, I am not in this chapter con-
cerned to deal. Our attention may for the moment
be confined to the two former and principal lines of
advance.
In June 1883, Sir C. MacGregor wrote the follow-
ing letter to Major the Hon. G. C. Napier, than which
no clearer illustration could be quoted of the character
Russian
power of
attack
Lines of
invasion
i. Caspian
and Herat,
line -
298 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
of the problem, and the proper method to approach
its solution. If I do not follow in detail its sugges-
tions, it is because I am dealing with broad con-
siderations of statesmanship rather than with the
technical minutiae of a military plan of campaign, and
because upon the latter a layman is wholly unqualified
to pronounce.
I should be obliged if you could write a paper, showing
how soon the Russians could put a force of 20,000 men down
at Herat. Work it out as though you had to put that
number of men there, and show where you could get the
troops from ; where they would embark; how long they would
take to get to the east coast (of the Caspian); how long to
disembark; what route they would take (1) supposing Persia
was openly on their side, (2) if she was passive, (3) if she
was hostile; what supplies would they require; what baggage;
what transport—they would have to take at least two heavy
batteries with them; what would be the best means which
could be devised for ensuring that we should receive very
early and reliable information of what Russia was doing.' "
The normal strength of the Russian forces in
Transcaspia is about 14,000 men. This includes
eleven or twelve infantry battalions, one brigade or
two regiments of Cossacks, companies of which are
scattered along the frontier, and four batteries of
artillery with thirty guns. In the spring of this year,
in anticipation of possible trouble upon the Afghan
frontier, this total was reported to have been increased
by several thousand men. The points at which the
troops are chiefly concentrated are Kizil Arvat,
Askabad, Geok Tepe, Sarakhs, Merv, and Amu Daria.
Strength
and loca-
tion of the
Russian
forces in
Trans-
caspia
* Life and Opinions, vol. ii. p. 315.
EFFECTS OF THE TRANSCAASPIAN RAIL WAY 299
Detachments are also distributed among the more
advanced posts of Kaahka, Pul-i-Khatun, Takhta
Bazar, and along the line of the Murghab at Meruchak,
Sari Yazi, and Imam Baba." But little delay would
be experienced in placing these forces in the field,
Seeing that they are already almost upon a war foot-
ing. Garrison duty would, however, detain one-third
if not one-half of the total number. To the available
strength must be added the local militia, at present
only three hundred strong, but capable, as I have
before pointed out, of large and rapid extension.
At this point the enormous utility of the Trans-
caspian Railway becomes apparent, as the first line
of communication through the Caspian with the
Caucasus and with Europe—i.e. with the armies of
Tiflis, and of European Russia south of Moscow.
The former has a nominal strength on a peace foot-
ing of 101,500, and a mobilised strength of 270,000
men, and would naturally be set in motion from
Tiflis and Baku, or perhaps if the battalions called
out were stationed on the north of the Caucasus
Range, from Vladikavkas and Petrovsk. The European
contingent would be deposited by rail on the Volga
at Saratov and Tsaritsin, and would consist of such
troops as could be spared from the army corps of
Moscow, Kharkov, and Kazan. Carried in river
steamers down to Astrakhan, they would be trans-
shipped there for Uzun Ada. It is conceivable that
a joint army of 150,000, or even of 200,000 men
* Wide the narrative of the Comte de Cholet, Voyage en Turkestan,
pp. 106, 120, 181, 199.
Reinforce-
ments from
Europe
300 RUSSIA IW CEWTRAI, ASIA
Difficulty
of Caspian
marine
transport
Latest
figures
might, in the event of no complications being appre-
hended on the western frontiers of Russia, be detached
for Central Asian service from these two bases, and
might, with no great delay, be placed upon the
western shores of the Caspian.
Here, however, the Russians would be confronted
with their first difficulty, arising from the dearth of
marine transport. The last ten years have witnessed
an astonishing development of navigation on the
Caspian, the petroleum industry of Baku in particular
being responsible for an entire fleet of magnificent
steamers, owned by private firms, and specially con-
structed for the carriage of oil. Nor has the Govern-
ment been altogether idle; for in addition to the
subsidised fleet of the Caucasus and Mercury Com-
pany, whose vessels were used for military transport
in the Turkoman campaigns, and would again be
serviceable, there is a small naval flotilla, consisting
of gunboats, armed steamers, and steam barges, with
a complement of less than 1,000 men. No call has
arisen for the augmentation of this force, the Persians
being prohibited by treaty from keeping any men-of-
war, or building any forts, upon the Caspian, which
is therefore very justly described as a Russian lake,
whereupon no hostile attacks need be apprehended.
The latest returns of the Caspian marine (Sep-
tember 1888) show that the Government possess 70
steamers of varying tonnage, and that 10 new iron
steamboats were added in the past year. The total
number of steamers in the merchant fleet of the Cas-
pian at the same time was 790. Of sailing vessels there
EFFECTS OF THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY 301
is of course a much larger number (from 1,200–1,500).
It has recently been proposed by a Nijni Novgorod
firm to establish a naval dockyard at one of the prin-
cipal ports. The above figures show that, as regards
numbers, the Russians would be in no want of vessels.
How far the latter would be suited to purposes of
transport, and with what speed they could convey
large bodies of troops to the opposite shore, is a matter
of greater uncertainty. Anyhow naval transport must
be reckoned upon as a certain difficulty at the start,
and as a probable delay to aggressive movements.
A second difficulty would arise from the inade-
quate and backward facilities for disembarkation
upon the eastern shore. Uzun Ada in its present
condition is quite unsuited for the speedy or con-
tinuous discharge of large bodies of troops, or
unlading of animals and stores, affording a shallow
anchorage at the best, besides being frequently frozen
Over in the winter. Krasnovodsk would be the best
and obvious landing-place, but is not yet connected
by rail with the main line.
The troops once landed upon the eastern shore,
the railway would of course transport them to the
front with as much rapidity as the amount of available
rolling-stock and the stability of the line, points upon
Difficulty
of landing-
places
Difficulty
of supplies
which I have already dwelt, would allow. At this
juncture however would emerge, in all its seriousness,
the third and main difficulty, occasioned by the lack
of supplies, the scarcity of forage and fuel, and the in-
sufficient provision of transport animals. How serious
is this question of food alone, few probably who have
302 RUSSIA IW CEWTRAL ASIA
Serious
in Trans-
caspia,
not had some experience of warfare can realise.
The late Colonel Home in his ‘Précis of Military
Tactics’ compared an army on the march with a very
large city, and thus contrasted the two situations:—
Each day a large city receives its daily supply of food.
There is no stint nor stay for those who can purchase. Long
custom and gradual improvements have opened up easy
means of communication between the consumer and the
producer. It is different with an army. An army is a city
flung down suddenly in the country, each day moving, each
day requiring fresh alterations in the arrangements by which
food is conveyed from the producer to the consumer. Yet
this portion of the art of war—one of the most, if not the
most important—receives but Scant notice.
In a country like Transcaspia these difficulties
would be abnormally severe. It would be too much
to expect the Turkoman oases, which barely support
their present meagre population, to provide suste-
nance in addition for several scores of thousand armed
men with their baggage animals and camp following.
In the campaign of 1880–81, Skobeleff was almost
wholly dependent for his grain supplies upon Northern
Persia. Many scores of pages in General Grodekoff’s
account of the war are devoted to the record of that
officer's labours, on behalf of the victualling depart-
ment, in Khorasan; and after Skobeleff's first recon-
naissance, nearly five months were spent in collecting
and concentrating supplies in Transcaspia before the
forward move was made. After the fall of Geok Tepe
and seizure of Askabad, it was the exhaustion of sup-
plies, rather than pacific intentions, that prevented the
EFFECTS OF THE TRANSOASPIA W RAILWAY 303
Russians from occupying in force the Atek oasis, and
even pushing on as far as the Tejend.
In time of war grain would also be required in en-
ormous quantities for the horses, mules, and camels;
whilst of the latter, if any serious forward march were
meditated either upon the Helmund or into Afghan
Turkestan, at least 100,000 would be necessary, at
the average rate in Central Asian warfare of one
camel per man, or, in other words, as large a number
as exists in the whole of Transcaspia. In the total
absence of timber the fuel needed for cooking and
other practical purposes would have to be imported.
These considerations throw a light upon the immense
importance which Russia attaches to the control of
Khorasan, a country well-wooded, of abundant fertility
and great natural resources. They explain her
feverish eagerness to strengthen her hold in that
quarter; and they suggest the conjecture that no
forward move on a large scale will be attempted till
that wealthy province is wholly in her hands. In any
case, the paucity of local contributions renders it
certain that an army advancing from the Caspian
must be largely dependent for its supplies upon
European Russia; and the conveyance of these by
train to the front, and return of empty wagons, would
both exhaust a good deal of the available rolling-
stock, and by occupying the line, would retard the
despatch of troops to the theatre of war.
I do not include in the category of impediments
to Russia's advance the likelihood of her communica-
tions being cut by a flank attack, or of the railroad
Import-
ance of
Rhorasan
Complicity
of Persia,
304 RUSSIA IV CENTRAL ASIA
Addition to
offensive
power of
Russia.
being torn up between the Caspian and Dushak, hope-
ful as some English writers appear to be of such a
contingency. Flank attack from the north over the
barren waste of the Kara Kum is a physical impossi-
bility; over the Persian mountains from the south a
practical impossibility. Were Persia hostile to Russia,
connection with Teheran could easily be cut off at
the narrow neck of land, only sixty miles broad, be-
tween Astrabad and Shahrud ; whilst the Persian
troops in Khorasan by themselves are not worth a
row of ninepins. But Persia is not, and, when war
breaks out, will not be hostile to Russia. On the
contrary, Russia will not go to war unless she has
assured herself, not merely of Persian neutrality, but
of Persian connivance; and those who talk of a
Persian alliance to co-operate with England in the
defence of Khorasan, or in an attack upon Trans-
caspia, are doing the worst service they can to their
country by beguiling her with the most phantas-
magorical and hopeless of illusions.
The considerations which I have named above,
while they modify the alarm which might at first
thought be excited by the position and strength of
Russia in Transcaspia, and while they justify the belief
that a larger army than 50,000 men could not without
considerable delay be placed, or without vast prepa-
ration be maintained, upon the Russo-Afghan frontier
from this side, do not substantially alter the central
and all-important fact, viz. that a movement upon
Herat, the Helmund, or Kandahar, which four years
ago was almost an impossibility by this route, has,
EFFECTS OF THE TRANSOASPIAN RAILWAY 305
since the completion of the Transcaspian Railway,
become a measure of practicable strategy, and has
thereby more than duplicated the offensive strength
of Russia in Asia. When we include in our survey
the forces of Turkestan, and remember that an inde-
pendent though allied movement would simulta-
neously be in course of execution from that quarter,
we shall better understand how tremendous that
strength has now become.
So far our attention has been confined to Trans-
caspia. Turning thence to Turkestan, we find that
in that dominion there is a present force of some
30,000 men, of 5,000 horses, and of 60 guns, partly
scattered over a wide extent, but the main and most
available elements of which are stationed at Tashkent
and Samarkand, with advanced detachments at Katta
Kurgan on the Bokharan frontier, and at Kerki on
the Oxus. Of this army, reinforced as it might be by
a large contingent from the neighbouring military
district of Omsk, at least 20,000, if not 30,000 men,
might be forthcoming for active service, the reserves
being called out for garrison duty in Turkestan. Nor
would such a force operate alone; for, in face of the
difficulty attending the transport and sustenance of
very large bodies of men from the Caspian, other
marching routes might be adopted by which the re-
sources of European Russia might be transported to
Samarkand and the Oxus, either by the Orenburg
postal road to Tashkent, or by the waterway of the
Oxus to Tcharjui. Duration of time must be postu-
lated of the former route, uncertainty, arising from
ii. Strength.
and utility
of Turke-
stan army
- X
306 . RUSSIA 7. W C E WTRAI, ASIA
Total
Russian
strength
for inva-
sion
the precarious river navigation, of the second ; whilst
in both cases the winter months would not be avail-
able as a season for advance, which could only be
effected in the early spring or summer. Nevertheless
the Turkestan army might by these means be doubled
in numbers; while the force so congregated could
either, if required, effect a junction with the Trans-
caspian column at Merv, or, as is much more pro-
bable, might be equipped to execute an independent
attack upon Afghan Turkestan, descending upon the
ferries of the Oxus at Kerki or Kilif and marching
vid Balkh and Tashkurgan upon Bamian, and the
passes of the Hindu Kush that lead to Kabul. Diffi-
culties of transport, supplies, and forage would attend
and hamper the Turkestan, no less than the Trans-
caspian, column, and were in fact experienced by
Raufmann's threatened expedition in 1878. But the
fertility of the Zerafshan basin, as well as the great
resources of Bokhara, which would now be placed
entirely at the disposal of Russia (as they were not
then), would vanquish these obstacles, and render
the Eastern army less dependent upon its base than
the Western. -
Comparing and combining the probable strength
of the two forces, we may arrive at the conclusion that
it would be possible for Russia, after long preparation,
and at a suitable season of the year, to place, by the
aid of the Transcaspian Railway, in conjunction with
previously existing facilities, a twofold force of
100,000 men in all upon the North-west and Northern
frontiers of Afghanistan. Sir Charles MacGregor, in
EFFECTS OF THE TRANSOASPIAN RAIL WAY 307
his famous unpublished memorandum on the Defence
of India, Summed up his argument with the conclu-
sion that Russia could put 95,000 regulars, within
eighty to One hundred days from the period of sum-
mons, into a position whence she could undertake the
invasion of India;' an opinion with which my own
argument is fortunate in finding itself in harmony.
The further, however, she advanced from her double
base, the greater, as has frequently been remarked,
would be the difficulty and danger connected with
the provision of supplies. Skobeleff once said that
it was useless to think of invading India without an
army of 150,000 men—60,000 to enter the country
and 90,000 to guard the communications. The two
last totals might now change places, the Russian
position being so well assured that mutiny in the rear
or attack upon the flank is improbable, and that a
relatively much larger force might therefore be de-
tached for invasion than would be required either for
garrison service or to guard the lines. The calcula-
tions I have given will show that the sum-totals are
not so overwhelming as to be beyond all means of
realisation; whilst, if they were, the danger would
not be by one whit diminished of what is a more pro-
bable contingency by far than so ambitious a pro-
gramme, namely, a swoop either upon Herat or upon
Afghan Turkestan in sufficient force to occupy and to
hold either of those districts, but with no immediate
intention of pushing onwards either to Kandahar or
the Hindu Kush. This is the peril which England has
* Life and Opinions, vol. ii. p. 342 seq.
X 2
308 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Strength
of Anglo-
Indian
army for
offensive
purposes
to face; and within this more limited range of action
the Transcaspian Railway has given Russia a vantage-
ground of incalculable importance.
What, however, is the reply that Great Britain
would have it in her power to make to such a chal-
lenge P. The present strength of the British forces in
India is almost exactly 70,000 British and 148,000
native troops. Of the former certainly not more than
one-half and of the latter an even less proportion could
either be spared for frontier defence or could be kept
in the field for any length of time. If the 100,000
men so engaged were further to be divided into three
sections, to operate respectively against armies ad-
vancing from Herat, Balkh, and the Pamir, it is clear
that from a numerical point of view the situation
would not be a sufficiently favourable one. It must
further be remembered that of the British forces the
major part would be native troops, of the Russian
none at all with the exception of the light cavalry,
and, however gallantly the Sikhs and Ghoorkas and
Indian native cavalry, or even the Sepoys, might or
would fight, they would necessarily be placed at a
disadvantage when competing with the trained Euro-
pean soldiers of the Czar. I have not taken into
account the armies of the feudatory princes in India,
numerically important though they be ; because little
reliance could be placed as yet upon their disci-
pline, and perhaps not too much upon their loyalty;
and in any case they would be good for little but
garrison service. Sir Charles Dilke, in the second of
his recent most interesting articles upon the Indian
EFFECTS OF THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY 309
frontier," gives figures substantially corresponding with
the above. He speaks of two army corps, of 35,000
men each, half European and half Indian, as being
organised on paper, and capable of mobilisation for a
field army, with a reserve of 15,000 men, whose place,
however, would have to be filled by six battalions
from England. He calculates that the first army corps
could be placed at Kandahar six weeks from the date
of mobilisation, and the second army corps at Kanda-
har or Kabul in three months; figures which do not
differ substantially from the immediate capacities of
Russia in relation to Herat.
When, however, we turn from the question of
available troops and the probable period of their ad-
vance, to that of reinforcements, whatever advantage,
if any, Great Britain may claim on the former score,
vanishes altogether, or rather is converted into a
serious deficit. While Russia can bring up her re-
serves from the Caspian, as SOOn as they are ready
there, to the point of disembarkation from the railway
train, in the inside of a week, and can place them
upon the frontier in three weeks or a month, Eng-
land requires nearly four weeks for her reinforcements
to reach Kurrachi, and at least a week, under the
most favourable circumstances, from there to the
present frontier; while the figures previously given
have shown the latter to be removed by several hun-
dred miles from the probable theatre of war and open-
ing scene of conflict. We cannot resist the conclusion,
! “The Baluch and Afghan Frontiers of India.' No. II. Fort-
nightly Review, April 1889.
British and
Russian
reinforce-
ments
310 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
therefore, that England is deplorably in arrear of her
rival in point of time.
I am not saying that these inequalities need have
any appreciable effect upon the final issue; for most
Englishmen have that faith in British character, for-
tified by the lessons of English history, which would
enable them to await the dénouement without alarm.
Nor am I saying that, handicapped as she might find
herself both in numbers and in time, Great Britain
would not be able to make an effective retort, even in
Afghanistan, to a Russian menace. That is a question
which I am not called upon to discuss here." I am
now merely pointing out the extent to which the
relative position of the two Powers has been modified
by recent events in Central Asia, and contrasting the
initial advantages which they respectively enjoy. I
am showing that while English statesmen have
chattered in Parliament, or poured gallons of ink
Over reams of paper in diplomatic futilities at the
Foreign Office, Russia, our only admitted rival in the
East, has gone continuously and Surely to work, pro-
ceeding by the three successive stages of conquest, as-
similation, and consolidation; and that at this moment,
whether her strength be estimated by topographical
Or by numerical considerations, she occupies for
Offensive purposes in Central Asia a position immea-
Surably superior to that of England, and for defensive
purposes one practically impregnable. -
If it be objected to me that I am attributing to
The issue
* I have endeavoured briefly to do so in an article, entitled s Our
True Policy in India,” in the National Review for March 1889. .
EFFECTS OF THE TRANSCASPIAN RAIL WAY 311
General Annenkoff’s railway a character and intention
which its promoters would be loth to admit, and
Crediting it with a deliberate share in infamous de-
signs, I answer that though General Annenkoff
himself has not ignored, but on the contrary has
persistently vindicated its commercial pretensions,
that is not the object with which the railway was
Originally made, nor is it the light in which it is re-
garded by the bulk of Russians. It is a trivial
but significant fact that the Russian illustrated news-
papers, in publishing pictures of the line and its
surroundings both during and since its construction,
have invariably headed the engravings with the words
‘On the road to India.” Upon the opening of the last.
section of the railway as far as Samarkand in May
1888, General Soboleff of the General Staff. One of the
foremost Russian tacticians, and the Russian historian
of the last Anglo-Afghan war, published an article in
St. Petersburg, in which he reaffirmed his favourite.
contention of the possibility of a Russian invasion of
India, and hailed the Transcaspian Railway as the
beginning of the end, which end was to be nothing
short of a future Russian campaign across the Indus.
General Prjevalski, in one of his latest letters, dated
from Samarkand only a month before my visit to
Transcaspia, recorded his opinion of the line, over which
he had just travelled, in these words: “Altogether the
railway is a bold undertaking, of great significance,
especially from a military point of view in the future.”
Prjevalski was somewhat of a fire-eater, and no friend
of England; so that for anyone acquainted with his
Russian
views of
the Trans-
Caspian
Railway
à.S & Iſlea]].S
of offence
312 RUSSIA IW CENTRAL ASIA
character, it is quite unnecessary to put the dots on
his i's. That Russian sympathisers in the foreign
press indulge in similar anticipations, may be illus-
trated by the following extract, translated from the
work of a French writer, which has no other impor-
tance than the candid testimony it affords of the wide-
spread existence of this malignant spirit."
Such is the man (i.e. Annenkoff) who has just struck a
terrible blow at English power in India. If the end of this
century has witnessed no change in the respective positions
of the Russians and English in Asia, we may expect that
the first years of the new century will produce a sensible
modification in the attitude and power of the two adversaries.
The way is traced; the road is free. The Russians are ad-
vancing with giant strides, and by a peaceful conquest. The
English are hated, their authority is crumbling, their prestige
vanishing. The hour is drawing near when they will af
length have to pay the penalty in India for their intrigues
and villanies in Europe. The day when Russia advances
into the country, and proclaims as a reality the hope of
which the inhabitants have long dreamed, all India will rise
to march in her vanguard and drive the English out. Im-
patient spirits need not wait for long. General Annenkoff
has fashioned the dagger which will be planted in the very
heart of English power in India. If he were not already
French at heart, this distinction alone would serve to make
him as popular in France as he is in Russia.
|Pitiful rubbish in truth this is; but, as the writer
claims to have uttered it without rebuff to General
Annenkoff himself, it may be quoted as typical of the
meaner ravings of Russophile Jingoism.
* Russes et Awtºrichiens en robe de chambre. Par Théo. Critt
(Théodore Cahu), 1888.
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3.13
CHAPTER IX
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION
Rambures. That island of England breeds very valiant creatures; their
mastiffs are of unmatchable courage.
Orleans. Foolish curs l that run winking into the mouth of a Russian
bear, and have their heads crushed like rotten apples. You may as well
say, that’s a valiant flea that dare eat his breakfast on the lip of a lion.
SHAKSPEARE, Henry V., Act iii. Sc. vii.
It is a d d big question, and I should be glad to think only two or
three were gathered together to think it out ; but no one seems to care a two-
penny dam. It will not come in their day, but I think it will comre in yours
and mine, and I can’t help seeing its magnitude and our carelessness.
Letter of SIR. C. MACGREGOR to SIR F. RoBERTs, Aug. 13, 1883.
Existence of the problem—Personal impressions—Haphazard charac-
ter of Russian foreign policy—Arising from form of government
—Independence of frontier officers—Responsibility for Russian
mala fides—Compulsory character of Russian advance–Russian
conquest of India a chimera—Russian attack upon India a danger
––Candid avowal of Skobeleff—Evidence of past history—Schemes
of Russian invasion: (i.) 1791, (ii.) 1800, (iii.) 1807, (iv.) 1837,
(v.) 1855–Gortchakoff-Granville agreement of 1872–73–(vi.)
1878–Skobeleff's plan for the invasion of India—Military opera-
tions—Later movements—Subsequent schemes—Civilian endorse-
ment—M. Zinovieff—Reality of Anglo-Russian Question now
universally admitted—Russian illusions about British rule in
India—Evidence of Russian generals—Real feeling in India—
Regrettable Russian ignorance—Russian lines of invasion : (i.)
Erom the Pamir, (ii.) From Samarkand and the Oxus—New
Russo-Afghan frontier—(iii.) Upon Herat—Corresponding Indian
frontier— Diagram of the two railway systems—Comparison of
the rival advantages—England's obligations to Afghanistan—
Their right interpretation—Reductio ad absurdum—Counter-
obligations of Afghanistan—British relations with Afghanistan
in the past—Synopsis of policy pursued—Character of Abdurrah-
314 RUSSIA IN CENTRA/, AS/A
Existence
of the
problem
Personal
impres-
sions.
Haphazard
character
of Russian
foreign
policy
man Khan–His health and the future—Suggested partition
of Afghanistan—The Afghan army—Sentiments of the Afghans
towards Russia and England—The future of Afghan independence
—Prestige of Russian numbers—Policy of appointing British
officers in Afghanistan—Impending developments of the Anglo-
Russian question—(i.) Balkh-Kabul line of advance—(ii.) The
Persian question—Russian ascendency and Persian weakness—
Real aim of Russian policy in Persia—An eye upon the Persian
Gulf—British policy in rejoinder—Opening up of Seistan—Effects
of a Seistan railway—Summary of this chapter.
BUT perhaps it may be said that neither the construc-
tion of the Transcaspian Railway, nor the inimical
pretensions with which some persons have credited
it, can justify the expression of any real alarm as to
the relations of Great Britain and Russia in the East,
and that the theory of present danger or future com-
plication is a dogmatist's dream. I proceed therefore
to discuss the question whether there is, and, if so,
why there is an Anglo-Russian Problem at all, to
state the reasons for belief in its positive existence,
to explain its present aspect, and to indicate its pro-
bable development in the near future. In so doing,
I shall appeal for evidence to my own observations
in the country, to the lessons of history, and to the
published opinions of Russian officers and statesmen.
In the first place let me say that I am prepared
to make large and perhaps uncommon concessions to
the Russophile hypothesis, not for argument's sake,
but because they are demanded by truth, which has
too often been distorted or lost sight of by both
parties in the wordy conflict. I am not one of those
who hold that Russian policy has, either for a century
or for half a century, or for a less period, been
animated by an unswerving and Machiavellian pur-
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 315
pose, the object of which is the overthrow of British
rule in India, and to which every forward movement
is strictly subordinated. When I was in St. Peters-
burg there appeared an article in the English “Stan-
dard’ which drove the Russian papers into a fury,
by likening their advance in Asia to that of a great
glacier crushing everything before it with merciless
persistence, and, though its vanguard may be broken
off and destroyed, ever driven onward by the irresist-
ible pressure of the snows—i.e. the Russian Foreign
Office—behind. A more mistaken idea cannot, I
believe, be entertained. So far from regarding the
foreign policy of Russia as consistent, or remorseless,
or profound, I believe it to be a hand-to-mouth policy,
a policy of waiting upon events, of profiting by the
blunders of others, and as often of committing the
like herself. Her attitude, for instance, towards
Bulgaria and the Christian nationalities emancipated
by the Treaty of Berlin, has been one long series of
unredeemed and almost inconceivable blunders. The
sole advantages that she has so far reaped from the
settlement of South-east Europe, to which she then
consented, have been the abdications of the two
sovereigns, Alexander of Bulgaria, and Milan of Servia,
and it is not yet clear whether or to what extent she
will ultimately be the gainer by either.
Nor can I imagine any other policy as possible
under a régime where there is no united counsel or
plan of action; but where the independence of in-
dividual generals or governors is modified only by the
personal authority of the Emperor, whose will may
Arising
from form
of govern-
ment
316 RUSSIA 7. W CENTRAL ASIA
Independ-
ence of
frontier
officers
Override the unanimous vote of his Council of Minis-
ters, and whose irresponsible fiat, so far from being a
guarantee for stability of conduct, too often results in
incoherence. A sovereign with a very strong charac-
ter may impart a particular bias to the national policy,
or stamp it with the die of his own individuality.
But in the very immensity of his independence there
is latitude for immensity of error; while a weak man,
or a man easily guided by others, and, as is common
with such natures, by a succession of counsellors,
may create a policy of alternate bravado and vacilla-
tion, of mingled strength and imbecility. The Russian
Government has often been as surprised at its own
successes as rival States have been alarmed, and there
is reason to believe that the Kushk episode in 1885,
So far from being, as was supposed in England, part
of a deep-laid design, was an impromptu On the part
of Komaroff and Alikhanoff that burst with as much
novelty upon the Foreign Office of St. Petersburg as
it did upon that of Whitehall.
The one department in which Russian Ministers
have always shown themselves proficient has been in
turning to good account alike the unexpected services
of their own adherents and the unhoped-for blunders
of their adversaries. Should a Russian frontier officer
make an unauthorised move involving the rupture of
some diplomatic agreement, but resulting in success,
his offence is condoned and excused ; in the case of
failure he is easily disavowed. It is scarcely possible
to over-estimate the degree in which the extension of
Russian dominion, particularly in Central Asia, has
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 317
been due to the personal ambition of individuals,
acting in rash independence of orders from home.
When the aggression has taken place and the con-
quest been made, the Russians are sufficiently cognisant
of the A B C of Oriental politics, which a far longer
experience has never taught the English to acquire,
not to retreat from the position taken or the advantage
gained. Tchermaieff was recalled in 1866 for having
exceeded his orders; but the very steps which he
had taken were pushed still further by his successor
Romanovski; while the general himself was ultimately
sent back as Governor-General to the province from
which as Commander-in-Chief he had been recalled.
Success is more commonly rewarded at once by a
decoration and a jewelled sword from St. Petersburg,
every such mark of the Imperial approbation being
an incentive to the activity of those still unadorned.
The condition of affairs I have described is indeed
inseparable from a system where military is every-
where substituted for civil Organisation, and where
the work that requires the genius of the statesman is
entrusted to the temper of the soldier. The wonder
is that the breaches of diplomatic usage or inter-
national obligation are not more frequent. As
regards the occurrence of these, and the charges that
have most reasonably been founded upon them of
Russian duplicity and mala fides, my only surprise is
not that Russia invented the pleas, or gave the under-
taking, but that England, with childlike innocence,
has consented time after time to be gulled by the same
transparent device. Anything more undignified or
Responsi-
bility for
Russian
amala fides
3T8 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Compul-
sory cha-
racter of
Russian
advance
petulant than the now traditional howl from the
London Foreign Office, which is presently appeased
by a diplomatic assurance, and is never followed by
action, cannot well be conceived; and if we have to
complain of being affronted or duped, in many cases
we have only ourselves to thank for the insult. Khiva,
Khokand, Askabad, Merv, and Penjdeh—in each of
these cases we raised a pitiable outcry at the prospect
of annexation, and in each case sat down as humbly
beneath the fact as soon as it had been successfully
accomplished. For half a century English writers
have proclaimed that the loss of Herat will be the
death-knell of India. When the blow falls I am
certain that the British quill will cover reams of fools-
cap, but I am not so sure that the British sword will
flash from the scabbard.
My journey led me in another respect to modify
the views which are commonly held in England as to
the motive of Russia's advance. Though it may be
true that in starting eastward from the Caspian, and
in striking at the Turkoman country, Russia had
England and Afghanistan in distant view, and though
I shall presently quote a most significant despatch
from a Russian statesman proving this point, yet it
is also clear that, once having embarked upon a career
of Transcaspian conquest, she could not possibly stop
either at Geok Tepe, or at Baba Durmaz, or at
Sarakhs, or at Merv. Each link in the chain as it
has been forged has already found itself intertwined
with its successor; and just as the first forward move
into the steppe from Orenburg was bound to culmi-
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 319
nate in the possession of Tashkent, whatever assur-
ances to the contrary might be given by that master
of the Russian epistolary style, Prince Gortchakoff—
so the first Transcaspian muddles of Lomakin were
the inevitable forerunners of Russian barracks at Merv,
and a Russian bridge over the Oxus. It does not
much matter whether the geographical or ethnical
principle be invoked. Either is equally serviceable
for purposes of exculpation. The fact remains that
in the absence of any physical obstacle, and in the
presence of an enemy whose rule of life was depreda-
tion, and who understood no diplomatic logic but
defeat, Russia was as much compelled to go forward
as the earth is to go round the sun; and if any have
a legitimate right to complain of her advance it is
certainly not those who alone had the power to stop
her, and who deliberately declined to exercise it.
Whilst, however, I have confessed that in entering
upon her Central Asian career, I believe Russia to
have been actuated by no far-seeing policy, and in
pursuing it to have been driven largely by the impulse
of natural forces, I am not the less convinced that her
presence there is a serious menace to India, and that
she is prepared to turn it for her own purposes to the
most profitable account. She is like a man who has
tumbled quite naturally, but very much to his own
surprise, into the inheritance of a wealthy relative, of
whom he never heard, but of whom he was the un-
knowing heir ; and who is not deterred by the adven-
titious source of his fortune from turning it to the
most selfish advantage. Russia finds herself in a
Russian
conquest
of India, a
chimera.
320 RUSSIA IN CENTRAI, ASIA
position in Central Asia where she can both benefit
herself by opening up the material and industrial
resources of a continent, and attack at his most
vulnerable point the formidable adversary whose
traditional policy is hostile to the fulfilment of what
she describes as her national aspirations in Europe.
I do not suppose that a single man in Russia, with
the exception of a few speculative theorists and here
and there a giddy subaltern, ever dreams seriously
of the conquest of India. To anyone, Russian or
English, who has even superficially studied the ques-
tion, the project is too preposterous to be entertained.
It would be an achievement compared with which the
acquisition of India by a trading company—in itself
One of the phenomena of history—would be reduced
to child's play; it would involve the most terrible
and lingering war that the world has ever seen; and
it could only be effected by a loss, most unlikely to
Occur, and more serious in its effects upon the human
race than that of India itself, namely, the loss of the
fibre of the British people. To those who solicit more
practical considerations it may be pointed out that,
with all the advantages of transport which she now
enjoys, Russia would still be confronted with the
difficulty of supplies, a difficulty great enough, as I
have shown, even in the earlier stages of conflict in
Afghanistan, but increasing in geometrical progres-
sion with every mile that she advanced beyond Balkh
or Herat; and that the recent extension and fortifica-
tion of the British frontier in Pishin and Beluchistan
will supply her with sufficient preliminary nuts to crack
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 321
before she ever dips her hand into the rich garner
of Hindostan. On the day that a Russian army
starts forth from Balkh for the passes of the Hindu
Kush, or marches out of the southern gate of Herat
en route for Kandahar, with reason may the British
commander repeat the triumphant exclamation of
Cromwell (according to Bishop Burnet) at Dunbar,
‘Now hath the Lord delivered them into my hand l’
But though neither Russian statesmen nor Russian
generals are foolish enough to dream of the conquest
of India, they do most seriously contemplate the
invasion of India; and that with a very definite pur-
pose which many of them are candid enough to avow.
The Parthian retreated, fighting, with his eye turned
backward. The Russian advances, fighting, with his
mind's eye turned in the same direction. His object
is not Calcutta, but Constantinople; not the Ganges,
but the Golden Horn. He believes that the keys
of the Bosphorus are more likely to be won on the
banks of the Helmund than on the heights of Plevna.
To keep England quiet in Europe by keeping her
employed in Asia, that, briefly put, is the sum and
substance of Russian policy. Sooner than that
England should intervene to thwart another San
Stefano, or again protect with her guns a vanquished
Stamboul, Herat must be seized by a coup de
main, and General Annenkoff's cars must be loaded
with armed men. I asked a distinguished Russian
diplomatist under what circumstances his Government
would feel itself justified in violating the Afghan
frontier, so solemnly settled a year and a half ago,
Y
Russian
attack
upon India.
a danger
322 RUSSIA 7 M C // WTAEA/, AS/A
Candid
avowal of
Skobeleff
and challenging a conflict with England in the East.
His reply was very distinct. ‘Upon the occurrence
of either of two contingencies, he said; “if you'tamper
with the Russian dominions north of the Oxus; or if
you interfere with the realisation of our national aims
in Europe.’ It requires no Daniel to interpret the
last-named handwriting on the wall.
If further evidence be required of this intention,
it may be found in the frank confession of every
Russian officer serving in Central Asia, no less than
in the authoritative utterances of Skobeleff, who
usually said a few years in advance what the whole
army repeated a few years afterwards. Twice in
letters he employed the famous phrase about the
tanning of the Asiatic hide. In 1877 he wrote :-
An acquaintance with the country and its resources leads
infallibly to the conclusion that our presence in Turkestan in
the name of Russian interests can only be justified by preci-
pitating to our own benefit the solution of the Eastern Ques-
tion. Otherwise the Asiatic hide is not worth the tanning,
and all our efforts in Turkestan will have been in vain. . . .
Would it not be well to avail ourselves of our new and
powerful strategical position in Central Asia, and our im-
proved acquaintance with routes and means, in order to strike
a deadly blow at our real enemy, unless, which is very
doubtful, the evidence of our resolve to strike at his most
vulnerable point should cause him altogether to give way P
And again, in 1881, after his return from Geok
Tepe, he wrote:—
To my mind the whole Central Asian Question is as clear
as the daylight. If it does not enable us in a comparatively
short time to take seriously in hand the Eastern Question,
in other words, to dominate the Bosphorus, the hide is not
THE ANGLO-RUSSIA W QUESTION 323
worth the tanning. Sooner or later Russian statesmen will
have to recognise the fact that Russia must rule the Bos-
phorus; that on this depends not only her greafness as a
Power of the first magnitude, but also her defensive security,
and the corresponding development of her manufactures and
trade. Without a serious demonstration in the direction of
India, in all probability on the side of Kandahar, a war for
the Balkan Peninsula is not to be thought of. It is indis-
pensable to maintain in Central Asia, at the gates of the
corresponding theatre of war, a powerful body of troops, fully
equipped, and seriously mobilised.
That these ideas were not the offspring of a single
brain, nor the incidental outcome of a Central Asian
policy pursued with other objects, and resulting
in unexpected success, may be demonstrated by his-
torical facts, proving that for an entire century the
possibility of striking at India through Central Asia
has been present to the minds of Russian statesmen;
and that, though such may not have been either the
original motive of advance, or the incentive to sub-
sequent annexation, it has ever sounded the tocsin of
provocation in their ears, and has both encouraged
many a hazardous venture, and palliated many a
temporary reverse.
As early as 1791 a Russian invasion of India by an
army advancing from Orenburg, vić Bokhara and
Kabul, was planned by M. de St. Génie, and carefully
considered by the Empress Catherine.
In 1800 a joint expedition against India was
designed by the Emperor Paul and Napoleon, then.
First Consul of France. A French army of 35,000
men was to march down the Danube to the Black
Evidence
of past
history
Schemes
of Russian
invasion:
i. 1791
ii. 1800
* >
Y 2
324 RUSSIA IW CE WTAEAL AS/A
Sea, to be shipped thence to Taganrog on the Sea of
Azof, and to join a Russian force of greater strength
upon the Volga, whence the united expedition was to
be conveyed by river to Astrakhan, and by sea to
Astrabad, where the overland march through Persia
was to begin for Herat, Farrah, and Kandahar."
Upon Napoleon retiring from the enterprise, the Czar
Paul proposed to undertake it alone, and in a magni-
loquent letter presented India and all its wealth to
the Don Cossacks, who were to supply the invading
armament. His death, after General Orloff, the
hetman, had already marched at the head of a large
army 450 miles from Orenburg, saved the plan from
the disastrous fiasco that would have followed its
continued execution. - *
At Tilsit, in 1807, the idea was revived by Napo-
leon, who suggested a joint invasion to the Emperor
Alexander, to be undertaken with the active assis-
tance of the Shah. The two Emperors, however,
soon drifted into collision themselves, and again the
project lapsed.
* In his memorandum the Emperor Paul wrote in terms which
have supplied a model to every subsequent Russian invasion-monger:
‘The sufferings under which the population of India groans have
inspired France and Russia with the liveliest interest; and the two
governments have resolved to unite their forces in order to liberate
India from the tyrannical and barbarous yoke of the English. Ac-
cordingly the princes and peoples of all countries through which the
iii. 1807
combined armies will pass need have no fear; on the contrary, it
behoves them to help with all their strength and means so beneficent
and glorious an undertaking ; the object of this campaign being in
every respect as just, as that of Alexander the Great was unjust, when
he wished to conquer the whole world.” This language is an almost
verbal anticipation of that employed by Skobeleff eighty years later.
Truly there is nothing new under the Sun.
THE AWGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 325
During the ensuing years Russia, prudently
contracting the range of her ambition, laboured at
strengthening her position in Persia, and utilising the
military resources of the latter, which were then less
relatively contemptible than now, as an advanced
attacking force against India. As early as 1832, the
“Moscow Gazette, in an access of incautiousjubilation,
was found declaring that “We shall soon have no
need to make any treaty with this perfidious people
save at Calcutta.’ And in 1837 Persia was encour-
aged to send that expedition against Herat, in which
Russian officers and engineers, as well as Russian
money, played a prominent part, but which the gal-
lantry of a single Englishman, Eldred Pottinger, covered
with ridicule and disgrace. In the same year the
Russian agent Witkievitch, who subsequently blew out
his own brains from disappointment at the failure
of his mission, was heard of at Kabul, offering a
Russian alliance against England to Dost Mohammed.
For a time the project of a Russian campaign
against India languished. But early in the Crimean
War, a plan of invasion was submitted by General
Duhamel to the Emperor Nicholas; and in 1855, when
that war was drawing to a close, a memorandum was
drawn up by General Khruleſſ, sketching a practic-
able line of advance vid Astrabad, Meshed, and
Herat." European complications prevented much
attention being paid to either of these schemes.
V. 1837
* For a succinct account of these two designs vide Russian Projects
against India, by H. Sutherland Edwards, chap. xii. (1885). General
Duhamel's report contained these words: “When once the necessary
transports are on the Caspian and ready for use, the route from Astra-
V. 1855
326 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Gortcha-
Koff-
Granville
agree-
Iment of
1872–3
The apprehensions, however, excited by the
rumour of these intentions, as well as by the startling
advance of Russia into Turkestan between the years
1860 and 1870, led to the negotiations opened by
Lord Clarendon in 1869, which eventually culminated
in the Gortchakoff Granville agreement of 1872–3,
containing the celebrated engagement given by the
Russian Chancellor that ‘ the Emperor looked upon
Afghanistan as completely outside the sphere within
which Russia might be called upon to exercise her
influence. How far this engagement was respected
by the Russians is shown by the next occasion upon
which the invasion of India figured among the pieces
On the chessboard of Imperial diplomacy.
When the Russo-Turkish War broke out in 1877,
vi. 1878
khan to Astrabad is preferable to any other, because it is the shortest
distance. Once in Astrabad, a footing in Khorasan will be easily ob-
tained, and the remaining distance to Kabul is only 1,250 miles. The
infantry, artillery, and ammunition can be shipped over the Caspian
Sea, whilst the cavalry and ammunition-train will travel from Circassia
through Persia. The march through half-civilised Persia will be com-
paratively easy, that country being already so bound by treaties as to
be incapable of serious resistance, and being moreover threatened from
all sides, and so rendered powerless. What more then remains to be
desired ? Any active co-operation on the part of Persia involves the
same on the part of Afghanistan, on account of the deadly animosity
between the two nations; and this is just the Sine quá non of an attack
upon India. . . . This once accomplished all is won ; for we do not
invade India with a view to making conquests, but in order to overthrow
the English rule, or at least to weaken English power.’
General Khruleff also recommended an advance by Astrabad,
Bujnurd, Kuchan, Meshed, and Herat, adding: ‘Having secured the
neutrality of Persia, and having made ourselves safe on the side of
Khiva, Bokhara, and Khokand, we could at once march a force of
30,000men to Kandahar, sending an embassy from thence to Kabul, which
would finally dispose the natives in our favour and elevate our influence
above that of the English. The entrance of the long-desired corps of
30,000 men into Afghanistan will excite the national antipathy of the
Afghans to the English, and will shake the British power in India.”
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 327
it was thought unlikely in this country and impos-
sible in Russia, that England could keep aloof from
the struggle. The impression prevailed in Russia to
the very end of the campaign, down to the signature
of the Treaty of San Stefano, and even while the
Congress was sitting at Berlin, that England and
Russia would sooner or later be embroiled. It was
with a view to such an emergency that in 1876
Skobeleff, then military Governor of Ferghana, sent
to Kaufmann, the Governor-General at Tashkent, an
elaborate plan for the Russian invasion of India; the
importance of which consists not so much in the
dispositions Or movements recommended, as in the
fact that the earlier part of Skobeleff's programme
was actually carried into execution ; though amid
the chorus of congratulation that hailed the signa-
ture of the Treaty of Berlin in England, the omens
of menace in the East were neglected, and did not
emerge in their full significance till they were found
to have entangled us in a war with Afghanistan
before the end of the year 1878.
Skobeleff's plan, which was subsequently matured
and elaborated at a Council of War held in the
Russian camp outside Constantinople, involved the
simultaneous employment of armed forces and private
intrigue. The Stolietoff mission was commissioned
to Kabul, to negotiate a secret treaty with the Amir
Shir Ali, who had already been conciliated by com-
plimentary letters from Kaufmann; Colonel Grode-
The Stolietoff mission left Samarkand on June 13, 1878, the very
day of the opening of the Congress of Berlin. It reached Kabul on
Skobeleff's
plan for the
invasion of
India.
328 A USSIA IN CENTRAL AS/A
koff was despatched upon his ride from Samarkand
to sound the feelings of Afghan Turkestan; Colonel
Matsaeff was deputed with similar instructions to
Badakshan and Kafiristan. Military operations were
to be undertaken simultaneously by three columns,
with an aggregate strength of over 20,000 men, with
their bases respectively at Petro-Alexandrovsk on the
July 22, 1878, nine days after the Treaty of Berlin had already been
signed, and when telegraphic news of that event was in the possession
both of Stolietoff and of Shir Ali. General Stolietoff left Kabul at the
end of September, with a signed treaty in his pocket ; but the bulk of
the mission under Colonel Rozgonoff remained behind for some
months, urging the Amir ‘to close the door of Kabul against those who
want to enter it from the East; ' ' to be as a serpent, and to make
peace openly with England, but in secret to prepare for war.’ The
crisis came more quickly than either expected. In November war was
declared by England against Afghanistan; on the 22nd Fort Ali Musjid
was captured by the British. On December 2 Roberts carried the Peiwar
Rotal by storm. On December 13 Shir Ali fled from Kabul with the
remainder of the Russian mission, being still encouraged by Kaufmann
‘to treat the English with deceit and fraud, until the present cold
season passes away, when the Almighty Will will be made manifest to
you; that is to say, the Russian Government having repeated the Bis-
millah, the Bismillah will come to your assistance.’ The Bismillah, as
all remember, took the form of absolute refusal on the part of Russia
to interfere in the interests of the unhappy victim whom she had duped
and now deserted, and of the death of Shir Ali himself in February
1879. The entire story, which we owe to the discovery of the Secret
Correspondence by the British troops at Kabul, and which is without
parallel in the annals of diplomatic intrigue, was invaluable for two
reasons: it taught the Afghans the reliance to be placed upon Russian
pledges of assistance, a lesson they have never forgotten; and it shat-
tered the pretty theory of the British Russophiles like a house of cards.
That a power, at peace with ourselves, in the face of an old-standing
engagement that Afghanistan should remain outside the sphere of its
influence, and with the ink upon a fresh international agreement
scarcely dry, should deliberately instigate to war an ally of our own,
and throw the shield of its patronage over a course of the meanest chi-
cane, was more than the most devoted partisan could stomach. So
far as I know, the good-faith of Russia has never on either side in
English politics found an honest spokesman since. Nusquam tuta.
fides has become, by her own teaching, an axiom of common accept-
8,11C0. -
THE AWGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 329
Oxus south of Khiva, at Samarkand, and at Mar-
ghilan. -
The first column, under General Grotengelm, was
to march up the river to Tcharjui and to operate in
conjunction with a column from the Caspian. The
second, under General Kaufmann himself, was to
march vid Jam, on the Bokharan frontier, towards
|Karshi and the Oxus. The third, under General
Abramoff, was to ascend the Alai from Ferghana, and
endeavour to scale the Pamir Plateau, by passes
leading down into Chitral or Kashmir. Nothing
serious resulted from any of these projects; though
Abramoff succeeded in proving that passes of a great
altitude were nevertheless accessible to artillery;
while Kaufmann, having marched as far as Jam, was
obliged to march back again, having in the mean-
time stated his conviction in a letter that his army
was ‘fit to encounter any troops in the world, and
though a march to India with such means was not to
be thought of, yet, if help were forthcoming on the
Other side (i.e. from Afghanistan), he might do a
great deal, and above all would set simmering such
a porridge that the bulldogs would not shake them-
selves clear of it.’"
The interest, however, of these proceedings,
which were designed in strict accordance with
Skobeleff's proposals, lay less in their abortive incep-
tion and premature collapse, than in the later steps
by which, if successful, they were to have been
* Wide C. Marvin's Russians at Merv and Herat and IRussia at
the Gate of Herat.
Military
Operations
Later
In 10 V6-
ments
330 RUSSIA IV CENTRAL ASIA
Subse-
quent
schemes
followed up. Kaufmann, having entered into negotia-
tions for an alliance with the Amir, was to advance
wid Balkh and Bamian to Kabul, whither, if Shir
Ali proved refractory, Abdurrahman Khan was to be
summoned from Samarkand, and encouraged to stir
up civil war; whereas, if all went well, the Russian
position was to be strengthened, and the native army
Organised in Afghanistan; while a host of spies and
emissaries, circulating throughout India, were to
arouse the disaffected elements in the rear of any
British force advancing from the Indus. The latter
would find itself hemmed in between two fires, and in
parlous plight. Victory was to be followed by letting
loose a tornado of wild Asiatic horsemen upon India,
and by a revival of the summary if unsentimental
methods of Tamerlane. In the event of defeat the
Russian army was to retire upon Herat, where it
would be met and succoured by a relief column
pushed forward from the Caspian. -
Such, briefly summarised, was Skobeleff's plan of
campaign for the invasion of India. When the
leading Russian General in Central Asia thinks it
worth while to formulate so precise a scheme, and
when, further, upon the first opportunity presented,
and in contempt of all international morality, his
Government proceeds to give it effect, it can no
longer be contended that Russian designs against
India are the figment of a biassed imagination, or
even that an invasion is outside the region of en-
deavour. Since the death of Skobeleff it is well
known that a revised edition of his scheme, modified
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 331
or extended in accordance with wider knowledge and
more modern conditions, has been elaborated by
General Kuropatkin, who was one of Skobeleff's
right-hand men in Central Asia, and inherited his
traditions and ideas, and who may be regarded as
the leading exponent of Central Asian tactics in the
Russian army. Did circumstances render it desir-
able to-morrow that pressure should be brought to
bear upon England in Afghanistan, every detail of
the plan to be pursued is already drawn up and
decided upon, and the telegraph-wire could set the
machinery in instantaneous motion."
It would be an error, however, to suppose that
schemes for striking at India through Afghanistan
are the emanation of military brains alone, or are to
be attributed to the mingled tedium and irrespon-
sibility of garrison life in the steppes. Statecraft is
at least as much interested as generalship in the solu-
tion of the problem ; and behind the more daring
Spirits who manufacture opportunities or execute
designs upon the frontier, are cooler heads and more
sagacious brains in the public offices upon the Neva,
whose voice, particularly under the existing régime,
possesses at least an equal share in the decision.
The present head of the Asiatic Department of the
* An article, entitled ‘,Constantinople, Russia, and India,’ in the
Quarterly Review of January 1887, by an evidently well-informed
authority, contained this striking sentence : “To those who would fain
believe that this rapid advance is the result of accidental circumstances,
we would, with full knowledge of the subject, reply by challenging any
high official, either Liberal or Conservative, in either India or England,
to say that he had not had absolute proofs before him that the Russian
advance is the result of a well-matured design to dispute our Empire in
the East.’
Civilian
endorse-
ment.
M. Zino-
Vieff
332 RUSSIA IAV CAE WTRAI, ASIA
Foreign Office at St. Petersburg (a post which may be
compared to our Secretaryship of State for India) is
M. Zinovieff, who was formerly Russian Minister at
Teheran, and is profoundly versed in the Central
Asian Question. It is interesting, therefore, to have
from his pen, as typical of the most distinguished
civilian Opinion among the bureaucracy, the admis-
sion that military necessities or frontier security were
not the only motives that led Russia across the
Caspian ; and that statesmen as well as soldiers see
in Afghanistan (the country outside the legitimate
sphere of Russian influence) a fair field for the exer-
cise of their abilities. In a despatch to the Minister
for Foreign Affairs, sent from Teheran in March
1881, upon the policy of retaining the Akhal-Tekke
oasis after the fall of Geok Tepe, M. Zinovieff ex-
pressed himself with much candour as follows:—
It must not be forgotten that one of the causes which
urged us to operations eastward of the Caspian Sea was the
necessity for making an impression upon England, and check-
ing her attempts against us in Central Asia. This was the
consideration that produced our expedition in 1878 to Khwaja
Kala. We then became convinced of the policy of subduing
the Tekkes. It is impossible to believe that in the future
the same necessity will not again arise. . . . Voluntarily to
give up the dearly-bought successes of our present expedi-
tion would be all the more foolish since there is at present a
most important Central Asian Question as yet unsettled—viz.
the future of Afghanistan. . . . Even though Gladstone's
Ministry is opposed to a policy of interference or incorpora-
tion, the English Conservatives, in the event of their return
to power, will not find it impossible to discover sufficient
reasons for the pacification of Afghanistan, in order to realise
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 333
their political programme, which is to push the dominions
and power of England to the uttermost, and to diminish the
importance of Russia in Central Asia. Our advanced post at
the north-east extremity of Khorasan, united as it is with our
base on the Caspian by good lines of communication, will
doubtless compel the English to be more circumspect in their
ambitious schemes, as all the roads to the east and South-east
are now open to us."
In deploying this chain of evidence, I have been
announcing no new discovery; but, on the contrary,
have recapitulated facts for the most part familiar
to every student of the question: facts which render
it impossible for anyone to deny that there is an
Anglo-Russian Question of incalculable seriousness
and vast proportions; facts, moreover, which, by the
resistless force of their own accumulation, have made
so deep an impression upon the public mind in this
country that there is now but one opinion as to the
lessons which they inculcate, and but one voice as to
the duty that they impose. The school of politicians
who described anxiety at Russia's advance upon India
as “old women's fears, have closed the doors of their
discredited academy. The policy of “masterly inac-
tivity’ meets with a hundred contemptuous critics
for a single honest champion; and but a few voices,
feebly bleating in the wilderness, still proclaim the
unshaken security of the Indus Valley Frontier. No
more significant proof of the volte-face which has
been forced upon English opinion can be given, than
that it was under a Liberal Prime Minister, himself
the author of the memorable phrase above quoted,
| Grodekoff’s War in Turkomania, chap. xvi.
Reality
of Anglo-
Russian
Question
now uni-
versally
admitted
334 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Russian
illusions
about
Eritish
rule in
India.
that this country was brought nearer to war with
Russia in Central Asia than it has been at any time
since the Crimean War; that it was by a Liberal Ad-
ministration that a credit of eleven millions sterling
for Imperial defence was demanded, and by a Liberal
Viceroy of India that Beluchistan was annexed, the
Amir of Afghanistan subsidised, and an advanced
British frontier pushed forward into Quetta and
Pishin. Russia may congratulate or commiserate
herself upon having been convicted out of the mouth
of her own witnesses. -
It will have been noticed that what may be de-
scribed as the mainspring of Skobeleff's policy was
the employment of such seditious or insurgent ele-
ments as might be found open to anti-British appeals
in India. And here, accordingly, I am brought in
contact with a cardinal misconception underlying, and
to a great extent vitiating, every Russian argument
bearing upon invasion—namely, the deeply-rooted
conviction, which has been betrayed by every Russian
who has written upon the subject, and which was
expressed to me by every Russian with whom I con-
versed about it, that the British rule in India is one
of odious and incredible tyranny, that the majority of
the Indian people are plunged in bitter affliction, and
that the smallest spark falling in this magazine of
combustibles must produce an explosion that will
blow the British authority to atoms. It is useless to
point out to the Russian that his belief is scarcely
compatible with the fact that over 270,000,000 of
this dangerous material are held in tranquil sub-
TIIE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 335
jection by a force of 70,000 white soldiers, associated
with a native army of double that number—or in
other words, that there is only one armed man in
India to every 1,300 of the population; whereas in
Russian Turkestan and Transcaspia. 45,000 men are
required to control a native population of less than
two and a-half millions, or at the rate of one armed
man to every fifty of the native peoples. These calcu-
lations fail to disturb what is to his mind an a priori
certainty, independent of reasoning, and based on
an imperious confidence both in the popularity of
Russia and in the hatred inspired by England.
Every Russian general of importance in Central
Asia—Kaufmann, Tchernaieff, Skobeleff, Grodekoff.
Petrusevitch—has shared and has re-echoed this be-
lief. Skobeleff wrote as follows, in the letter before
quoted, in 1877 –
Everyone who has concerned himself with the question
of the position of the English in India has declared it to be
precarious, and has said that it is solely maintained by force
of arms, that the European troops are not more than sufficient
to keep the country quiet, and that the native soldiers are
not to be depended upon at all. Everyone who has con-
cerned himself with the question of the possibility of a
Russian invasion of India has declared that it is only neces-
sary to penetrate to a single point upon the Indian frontier,
in order to bring about a general rising. . . . The contact of
even an insignificant force with the frontier of India might
lead to a general insurrection throughout the country, and to
the collapse of the British Empire.
Again, in 1880, in a letter from Transcaspia to M.
Zinovieff at Teheran, we find him saying:—
Evidence
of Russian
generals
336 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL AS/A
My deep conviction, formed in years of almost constant
service in Central Asia, is that our influence and power in
these countries rests on so firm a basis, that we are absolved
from the necessity of supporting our prestige by such extreme
diplomatic, financial, and military measures as the British
Government has been compelled to adopt. Our position in
Asia has nothing in common with our position elsewhere ;
and its origin must be sought for in that arbitrary and
morally unjustifiable state of affairs which England has kept
up in India since the beginning of the present century. The
might of Russia, God be praised, brings with it in Asia
peace, equality, and freedom of person and property; it is
based not on privileged classes, but on the struggling multi-
tude.
More emphatic still is the opinion expressed by
General Soboleff in an article upon Russian and
British rule in Central Asia, published in 1885:—
England lays a heavy hand on her dependent peoples.
She reduces them to a state of slavery only that English
trade may profit and Englishmen grow rich. The death of
millions in India from starvation has been caused indirectly
by English despotism. Thousands of Indian natives only
await Russia's crusade of deliverance. If the English would
only throw aside their misplaced pride, and study a little
more deeply the foundations of Russian rule in Central Asia,
comparing it with their own, they would soon see quite
plainly why the name of Russia enjoys such prestige in Asia,
and why the natives of India hate the dominion of England,
and set their hopes of emancipation upon Russia. Russia
allows full liberty to native customs, and not only does not
overburden her subjects with new taxes, but even concedes
them exemptions and privileges of a most extensive character.
England, on the contrary, is a vampire sucking the last drop
of blood out of India.
General Annenkoff, in his pamphlet introducing the
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 337
Transcaspian Railway, not only reckoned upon the
hatred of England in India as an undisputed factor
in the situation, but pursued the analysis of its raison
d'être further than most of his compeers; indulging
in a series of statements, which, while they do credit
to his powers of advocacy, entirely demolish his
claims to accuracy, and seriously jeopardise his repu-
tation for sense. He represented the Indian ryot as
finding the whole of his slender substance swallowed
up in taxation, and as worse off under the English
than he was under previous rulers. He blamed the
English for allowing the magnificent public works of
their predecessors to fall into ruin. He revived the
cock-and-bull story about ten millions perishing of
starvation in Bengal in 1870. He descanted upon
the systematic annihilation of native manufactures
and industries by the unconditional monopoly of
English capitalists. He condemned the evil effects of
Christian missions, and the introduction of the English
legal system. He might indeed have graduated in a
certain school of English politicians, for he described
the Indian Civil Service as “a means for enriching
the younger sons of the nobility.’ When we find this
astonishing farrago of nonsense solemnly enunciated
by a Russian general, and a man claiming a peculiar
inspiration upon this particular subject, it is not
surprising that similar views are widely distributed
among the Russian people, and are absorbed by them
with credulous avidity."
* Compare also the observations of the Russian writer, Captain
Terentieff, in his work entitled Russia and England in the East, quoted
by Burnaby in the preface of his Ride to Khiva.
Z
338 RUSSIA 7. W C E WTRAI, ASIA
Real
feeling in
dia."
Regret-
table
Russian
ignorance
A firm belief in the destiny of Russia as the heaveri-
sent emancipator of distressed nationalities, and of
peoples groaning under British misrule, is a factor in
the situation which it is difficult to say whether an
Englishman should regard with greater serenity or
regret. On the one hand, he feels that in precise pro-
portion to the magnitude of the illusion will be the
recoil that must ensue upon its collapse. I repeat
what is the testimony of those who have spent a life-
time in India and know it best, when I say that
whatever charges may plausibly or even fairly be
brought against British administration in that country,
whatever the discontent that may be lurking among
native peoples, and however great the hopes that are
habitually associated with change, there is no desire,
and there would be no conspiracy for such a change
as would substitute the mastery of Russia for that of
Great Britain, and replace a dominion which, for all
its austerity or its pride, has uniformly been cha-
racterised by public spirit, integrity, and justice,
by one that has never, either in Europe or Asia,
purged itself of the canker of corruption, coarseness,
and self-seeking. Quite recently . I read in the
leading organ of the native party in India, and
the strongest advocate of the Congress movement,
the significant admission, ‘The princes and people
of India look with positive dread upon Russian
rule.’ -
On the other hand, the almost universal prevalence
of the belief I have described in the Russian mind is
to be deplored ; inasmuch as it buoys up that people
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 339
with unreasonable hopes, and tempts them to aggres-
sive undertakings. Shut up within the narrow walls
of this optimistic creed, the Russian intellect is unable
to look abroad, and correct its judgment by a wider
survey. The little that most Russians hear about
England or English rule in India is filtered through
the columns of a singularly unscrupulous press.
There is, for instance, a powerful, newspaper, called
the ‘Kavkas, published at Tiflis, which not uncom-
monly devotes more of its space to the discussion of
Indian than it does to that of Caucasian politics. The
speeches delivered at the National Congress are faith-
fully reported; and publicity is given to details tend-
ing to prove Indian discontent or hostility. At the
same time the voluntary contributions of native
princes for frontier defence, and similar evidences of
native loyalty, are carefully expunged. It is not sur-
prising that under these circumstances error is wide-
spread, and false inference universal. No people in
Europe travel less than the Russians outside their
own country, or make fewer efforts to acquaint them-
selves with foreign affairs. I question if, apart from
political emissaries, whose interest lies in magnifying
rather than in exposing the illusion, there are a
couple of Russian visitors to India in each year. And
yet I cannot imagine a surer guarantee for the con-
tinuance of peace and the discomfiture of Chauvinism
than that railway passes should be provided by the
Indian Government gratis to parties of Russian tra-
vellers from Tuticorin to Peshawur. After their
return home there would be much less chatter about
Z 2
340 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL AS/A
Indian invasion to the north of the Hindu Kush." It
is to be regretted that even when an intelligent
foreigner with strong Russian proclivities, such as
the Frenchman, M. Bonvalot, whose recent work
* That this is no idle conjecture may be illustrated by the case—
though, so far as I know, it stands alone—of Doctor Pashino, a Russian,
who, after seventeen years' service in the Asiatic section of the Foreign
Office at St. Petersburg, and having subsequently acted as interpreter of
Oriental languages to General Romanovski in Turkestan, paid a series
of visits to India (it was said at the instance of the Emperor Alexander
II.) presumably as a secret agent of the Russian Government, seeing
that he adopted various disguises, and consorted with the Russophile,
or anti-British, elements wherever he went. Nevertheless, in a book
published after his return, he wrote as follows of British rule in India :
‘I had never been able to understand how it was that the English, in
spite of the interminable sermons of their missionaries, showed such a
complete toleration towards the religion of their Indian subjects. In
my double capacity of Russian and resident at Tashkent, I had explained
this fact to myself by the insufficiency of British troops in India, and
by the material weakness of the British nation. But note what wonders
are accomplished by these English, who, in our opinion, have so few
Soldiers in India. Everywhere they open schools, colleges, hospitals.
At this moment (1875) they are busily engaged in founding a university
at Lahore. They give the power and right to every native, who has
passed an examination, to enter the public service. They supply the
natives of India with the means of becoming doctors, lawyers, advo-
cates, and popularly elected representatives. To us Russians it seems
absolutely incredible that in the entire personnel of the Punjab
Treasury there are only five English employés, all the rest being natives.
In time something of the same kind may be seen in Russian Turkestan.
Some day it may no longer be necessary to make such a display of
force to the inhabitants as to-day. But until that happy time arrives,
the Russian troops must always be numerous and everywhere en
évidence. In India, on the contrary, everything is different. There is
no military Governor-General; and even the Viceroy, who resides at
Calcutta, is not there to make war, but to watch over the well-being
and prosperity of the people. The English are so attentive in every-
thing affecting the natives, that every one of their civil servants is
obliged to pass an examination in the languages and religions of the
country; so much so that the natives have no need to learn English.
At present the Hindus are enchanted with the English administration,
and take pleasure in sending their children to English schools. Taxes
are in general heavy in India, but they are not so ruinous for the people
as they seem.’
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 341
I have more than once quoted," has travelled
in India and enjoyed exceptional opportunities of
observing its government, he can say nothing to
enlighten his patrons upon the subject. Gratitude
to Lord Dufferin, whose timely interference rescued
him from death in Chitral, compels him to give his
work an English dedication ; but fidelity to Russia
forbids any admission that might be wounding to her
national pride. He even makes the discovery that
British rule in India ‘shows what can be done by
traders and men of business, who know what they
want and go straight to their purpose. Nevertheless
their power is, whatever they may say, more or less
artificial; they are making their way up stream, which
tires the boldest swimmer, whereas the others (i.e. the
Russians) are following the current, which is far easier.’
Turning, however, from former designs or present
misconceptions relating to a Russian movement
against India, let me briefly describe the status quo
on both sides, Russian and English, and indicate the
advantages or disadvantages experienced by either.
Should Russia, at this moment, feel called upon to
assume the offensive against England in Central Asia,
there can be no doubt that her advance would, as I
have indicated in the previous chapter, be made in
the main from three directions:– -
1. From the upper sources of the Oxus or the
Pamir upon Chitral or Kashmir.
2. From Tashkent and Samarkand upon the Oxus,
Balkh, and Kabul.
3. From Merv and Askabad-upon Herat.
1 Through the Heart of Asia. 2 vols. 1889.
Russian
limes of
invasion
342 A USSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
1. From
the Pamir
2. From
Samar-
kand and
the Oxus
The advanced military stations of Russia in the
province of Ferghana are Marghilan and Osh, which
are immediately north of the great Alai Range. From
this base a column with mountain batteries would
cross the Taldik Pass (11,600 ft.) and the Kizil Art
(14,000 ft.) to Lake Kara Kul (12,800 ft.), whence
it would proceed S.E. up the Aksu towards Tash-
kurgan, descending from thence by one of several
passes, probably the Barogil (12,000 ft.), either upon
Yasin and Gilgit, or upon Chitral and Kafiristan.
From the former base a menacing movement might
be made upon Kashmir; from the latter upon Jella-
labad or Peshawur. Though the regions to be
traversed are enormously lofty, and impassable for
troops during any but the months of June to Sep-
tember, a column might execute a diversion in this
quarter, which, without being positively serious in
itself, would require to be seriously met. It would
encounter no military opposition till it had reached
Chitral or Kashmir. Sir Charles MacGregor contem-
plated an alternative line of Russian advance in this
quarter from the Bokharan state of Kolab, across the
Oxus into Badakshan, and so across the Hindu Kush
into Chitral. Opposition might, however, be encoun-
tered in this direction from the Afghans, who hold
Badakshan in force, and who are hostile to all
strangers.
Upon the second line of advance, Russia would
start with advantages which she has never hitherto
enjoyed; for as far as the northern bank of the
Oxus she would have behind her the entire military
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 343
and material resources of Bokhara. The evidence
which I have amassed in previous chapters will
show that in Bokhara she would find a submissive
and a not altogether unserviceable ally. No possible
obstacle, but the collection of supplies and trans-
port, could delay her in her march to the river,
from which she might descend with irresistible
strength upon Balkh (I use the name Balkh as the
popular and most widely known appellation, though
the ancient city is a heap of ruins, and the modern
capital of Afghan Turkestan is called Mazar-i-Sherif),
or upon Tashkurgan (also a modern town near the
ancient and ruined Khulm). Concentrating and
consolidating her forces in this rich plain, she could
either remain there at her leisure, or push forward
to Bamian and the passes of the Hindu Kush, lead-
ing direct upon Kabul. These passes could be held
against her if a force competent to hold them
were forthcoming, a condition which would depend
upon the joint politics of Kabul and Calcutta. As
far, however, as Afghan Turkestan is concerned, the
Russian progress would probably be a ‘walk over ';
still more, if, as is constantly averred, the inhabitants
of that country are secretly disposed towards her
rule. This line of advance might be rendered the
more formidable by the co-operation of a column
advancing up the river by steamboat or by rail from
Tcharjui.
Between the second and the third Or main line of New
Russian advance—i.e. between the Oxus at Bosaga
and the Russo-Afghan frontier on the Heri Rud at
Russo-
Afghan
frontier
344. RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
3. Upon
Herat
Zulfikar—lies a stretch of country 350 miles in length,
along which was traced in irregular lines the new
frontier of 1885–87. A boundary so arbitrary and
unscientific, and nowhere assisted by physical or
geographical aids to demarcation—a line, as it has
justly been called, of length without strength; a peace
frontier established honoris causd, but not a war
frontier to be fought for or about—can be violated
at any or every point. The base of attack upon this
section of the frontier, were such a step contemplated
by Russia, would naturally be Merv, with its chain of
advanced posts up the valley of the Murghab as far as
Penjdeh. Resistance would depend upon the quality
of the Afghan garrisons of Andkui, Maimena, and
Bala Murghab, which are probably not to be relied
upon at all.
Of the advance upon Herat either from Merv, or
from Sarakhs, or even through Khorasan, I have
spoken at length in preceding chapters. I have
shown that the extreme southern point of the Russian
frontier is less than 80 miles by road from Herat,
that Merv is only 270 miles from Herat, Dushak
the same distance, and Meshed 60 miles less ; I have
shown that the Transcaspian Railway could transport
by any or all of these routes the resources of the
Caucasus and European Russia; and that with these
great facilities to recommend it, Russia is justified
in looking to this line of advance with confidence
as a certain guarantee at any rate of preliminary
Sl] CCéSS.
Such is the military position of Russia along her
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION -345
present Afghan border from Russia to the Pamir.
Taking a leap for the moment over Afghanistan, let
us contrast the English frontier, 500 miles distant at
the nearest point, upon the other side. The British
frontier in the direction facing Afghanistan—for along
nearly one-half of its extent it is not actually coter-
minous with Afghanistan proper, i.e. with the subjects
of the Amir, but is separated from it by a mountain-
ous border-land, peopled by more or less independent
tribes—may roughly be divided into three sections.
1. The western borders of Kashmir and the upper
Indus valley, bordering upon independent, or allied,
or subsidised tribes—a section which, though it
might have to be defended on the north against
attacks such as that to which I have alluded from the
Pamir, is not directly opposed to any Russian or pro-
Russian enemy.
2. The mountainous region beginning with Attock
and Peshawur, and including the embouchure of a
series of passes from Afghanistan, the most impor-
tant of which are the Khyber, Kurum valley, Tochi,
and Gomul or Gwalari. A network of railways
and military roads brings every point along this
frontier into easy communication with India proper,
while powerful fortifications at Attock, Rawul Pindi,
and elsewhere, have been designed to resist possible
invasion." Within a week of the declaration of war,
* The northern terminus of the railway is at present at Peshawur ;
but surveys have already been completed for an extension to Jumrood,
at the mouth of the Khyber. For a more exhaustive description of the
Indian frontier, and its road and railway communications, vide an
article by the writer, entitled ‘The Scientific Frontier an Accomplished
Fact,” in the Nineteenth Century for June 1888.
Corre-
sponding
Indian
frontier
346 RUSSIA IV CENTRAL ASIA
large bodies of troops would be hastening along this
line to the front. The passes that have been named
supply the natural line of advance upon Kabul or
Ghuzni, either of which places could be reinforced,
occupied, or seized long before a Russian army was
within striking distance.
3. An advanced boundary pushed forward wedge-
wise from the Gomul Pass, not as yet thoroughly
pacified, but about to be brought under British in-
fluence, to the Khwaja Amran mountains on the
western confines of Pishin, where it touches Afghani-
stan proper On the south, at a distance of only sixty
miles from Kandahar. This section is connected with
the Indus Valley in its more northerly portion by
excellent military roads, the principal being that from
Dera Ghazi Khan through Thal Chotiali to Quetta, a
distance of less than 300 miles; and in its southerly
portion by the Sind-Pishin Railway, which crosses the
Indus by the magnificent newly-completed cantilever
bridge at Sukkur, bifurcates at Sibi into a double
railway, approaching Quetta on the one side by the
Hurnai, on the other by the Bolan Pass, and is con-
tinued from Quetta over the Pishin valley to the
frontier post of Chaman on the plains at the northern
foot of the Amran range, a tunnel through which is
at this moment in course of construction. Quetta
itself occupies an almost impregnable position, and
has been defended by an array of lines and advanced
military forts, which render invasion from this quarter
all but impossible. An interval of sixty miles of
level plain alone saves Kandahar from being a British
THE ANGIO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 347
possession, but would not stand more than a few days
in the way of its becoming so were such a step
found necessary on the outbreak of hostilities. This
line of British advance is in direct communication by
rail with the seaport of Kurrachi—distant twenty-
five days from England—from which the Pishin fron-
tier can be reached upon the third day.
It will be noticed that there is a significant parity
both in the direction and objective of the rival rail-
way systems that confront each other at the distance
of a few hundred miles, and have been devised to
transport the forces of both Powers to the points most
suitable for advance or most exposed to attack. At
a distance of 750 miles apart, as the crow flies, the
Dushak-Samarkand line of Russia, on the north-
west, runs almost exactly parallel with the Sukkur-
Lahore line of India on the south-east, both lines
covering the respective frontiers which they have
been designed to serve. In both cases double ad-
vanced lines, diverging from the main base at right
angles, strike out, or are intended to strike out, to the
frontier itself: on the Indian side the Sukkur-Chaman
branch (Sind-Pishin Railway) is pushed out from
Sukkur in a north-westerly direction, its objective being
Kandahar; the Rawul Pindi-Peshawur line is pushed
out from Lahore, further to the east, its objective
being Kabul. On the Russian side the corresponding
extensions are not yet completed, but, as has been
shown, are already designed. When finished, the Merv-
Herat line will strike out south-east from the mainline,
its objective being Herat, and will run in an almost
I)iagram of
the two
railway
systems
348 RUSSIA IV CE WTF?AI, ASIA
Compari-
son of the
rival ad-
Vantages
straight line with the Indian rail to Kandahar; the
Tcharjui-Bosaga line will be pushed forward at a
similar angle further to the east, its objective being
Balkh, and the direction again being nearly identical
from the opposite quarter with that of the Indian
Peshawur line. The attitude and position of the two
Powers may be aptly illustrated, in the form of a
diagram, by these respective railway lines, represent-
ing, as they do, either country as standing firmly on
its own ground, and stretching out defiant arms in
front, in the one case to capture or to strike, in the
other to resist or to defend. The diagram is also
useful, as indicating the lines upon which warlike
operations must infallibly commence.
A comparison of the two frontiers, British and
Russian, will show, therefore, that for a zone extend-
ing to from 100 to 200 miles in front of their respective
border-lines, either Power occupies on its own side a
position of preponderant strength. If it be a move-
ment upon Kabul, Ghuzni, or Kandahar that is planned,
Great Britain has no difficulty in forestalling Russia.
If the objective be Balkh or Herat, the advantage
rests as indisputably with the Russians. Unfortu-
nately for the English, it is the latter and not the
former position that will constitute the determining
feature at any rate in the earlier stages of the Con-
flict. Herein lies the inequality between the rival
situations. Great Britain makes no practical gain by
an advance upon Kabul, Ghuzni, or Kandahar, places
which she has often previously captured, held, and
voluntarily abandoned, and to which she will Only
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 349
*
again advance, not for purposes of offence Or annexa-
tion, but under the compulsion of Russian aggression
from the north. Russia, however, makes a very
positive and tangible gain by the seizure either of
Balkh or Herat, inasmuch as they are positions of
first-rate importance, captured from the enemy, and
carrying with them the control of large tracts of
country of great potential fertility and strategical con-
sequence. The advantage to Russia will be all the
greater if she so times her movement upon either place
as to effect the occupation just before winter begins.
No military operations can be undertaken, in Order to
dislodge her, till the ensuing spring; and though in
the meantime the dogs of war might have been baying
over two continents and in many lands, yet snow and
ice are not confined in winter to Afghanistan, and the
bark of the English would so far have been worse
than their bite; while on her side Russia would have
had six clear months within which to fortify either or
both strongholds (Herat has powerful fortifications
already, constructed under the Superintendence of
British engineer officers), and would resume the
Asian campaign in Secure possession of both disputed
points. War or peace, victory or defeat, might ensue;
but she would undoubtedly have scored what may be
described as two by tricks, whatever might be said of
honours, in the Opening hand.
Without entering into details of strategy, which
a civilian is ill-qualified to handle, it is worth while
pausing for One moment to consider what ought to
be the response that England should make to such
England’s
obligations
to Afghan-
istan
350 - RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
a move, involving these initial advantages, on the
part of our antagonists. There exists a school of
politicians, of whom Sir Charles Dilke is the accom-
plished spokesman, who are inclined to emphasise to
the uttermost the pledges that have at different times
been made by the British or Indian Government to the
Amir of Afghanistan, and, who argue that any reluct-
ance to rise to the full scope of the responsibilities
thus assumed, will involve both a serious breach of
faith and a disastrous loss of influence. Sir Charles
Dilke, in the following passage, criticises a paragraph
in an article by myself that appeared in the ‘Nineteenth
Century’ in February 1889 –
There is, to my mind, no conceivable doubt that we are
bound by every consideration of honour to the present Amir.
If by any chance he were to be attacked by Russia, he would
expect our assistance, and, in my opinion, has a right to
count upon it. Mr. George Curzon has taken exception, in
a recent article, to my words—‘We are solemnly pledged to
defend against Russia the integrity of Afghanistan.” “A
pledge, he says, “was given to the present Amir . . . to aid
him in resisting unprovoked aggression on his dominions;
but the very important qualification was appended, “to such
extent and in such manner as may appear to the British
Government necessary.” Mr. Curzon seems to think that
no engagement exists morally compelling us to resist the
infringement of the Afghan new north-west frontier. Now
the pledges of which I spoke are contained in statements
which have been made to the Amir on several occasions.
Mr. Curzon quotes one of 1880. I believe that the words
used in another, in 1883 or 1884, were to the effect that so
long as the Amir conformed to our advice he would be
assisted in repelling unprovoked aggression, and that her
Majesty's Government did not intend to permit interference
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 351
by any foreign Power with the internal or external affairs of
Afghanistan. The Amir has undoubtedly conformed to our
advice, and under this pledge we are, in my opinion, bound
to him. Again, when the Amir came to India in 1885, it
is understood that Lord Dufferin told him that a Russian
advance upon his frontier would be met by England by war
all over the world. It was immediately after this that the
Amir said publicly in Durbar, in Lord Dufferin's presence,
‘The British Government has declared that it will assist me
in repelling any foreign enemy ; and the Viceroy appeared
to accept this as an accurate statement of fact."
Now I do not suppose that any Englishman is
desirous either of withdrawing from the pledged word
of England, or of committing an act of desertion that
would bring upon us the merited hostility of the
Afghans. I do not say that the unprovoked viola-
tion of the north-west Afghan frontier by Russia
can be tacitly accepted, or that England is to submit
without a murmur to so gross an Outrage upon
international faith. Russian statesmen understand
perfectly well that such an act involves a legitimate
casus belli, and they will probably only have delibe-
rate recourse to it when they wish to provoke war
with Great Britain, or after hostilities have already
broken out. English statesmen understand the act
in the same sense, and are not likely to repudiate any
obligation which it may impose upon them. But the
point upon which I insisted before, and which I repeat
now, is, that there is nothing in any engagement to
Abdurrahman Khan, public or private, compelling
British troops to undertake the insane and pre-
posterous task, at the beck even of an allied and
* Fortnightly Review, April, 1889.
Their right
interpreta-
tion
352. RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
loyal Amir, of advancing many hundreds of miles
from their base into a country from which, in the event
of disaster, retreat would be impossible, of forcibly
turning Russia out of the positions which by craft or
by force she might have acquired, and of re-establish-
ing the purely arbitrary frontier-line fixed in 1885–7.
This is the point which must be met, unpalatable
though it may be, and to which the advocates of a
too scrupulous interpretation of promises either have
no answer at all, or return an answer so random and
foolhardy—as, for instance, when they recommend a
British advance in force to Herat and the Oxus, and
the expulsion of Russia from the Khanates—as to
excite ridicule rather than argument. At any
moment the situation may present itself that Russia,
with or without provocation, may decide to infringe
the Afghan boundary, and to Occupy either Balkh or
Herat. What shall England do in reply P. To that
question critics may reasonably be called upon to give
a practical answer. England may, she perhaps will,
declare war; Or, without actually declaring war, she
may assist the Afghans by the loan of British officers
and the gift of money and arms, in an attitude of
active resistance. It is generally conceded that at
such a juncture a British force should at once re-
occupy Kandahar; and should be prepared to occupy
Ghuzni and Kabul, or positions commanding the
approaches thereto, in Co-Operation with and support
of the Afghans, so as to anticipate a Russian attack
from the north. But, whatever may be the immediate
action that statesmen or generals decide to take, it is
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 353
essential that England should retain absolute freedom
of choice as to the employment of means, and that
rash counsellors should not, by magnifying obligations
or by minimising obstacles, draw her into a policy
of militant vagrancy over regions which, if re-
conquered, she would not be prepared to garrison,
and where the utmost that she could effect would be
to re-establish the status quo, only to be violated
again in the future, at the unfettered discretion or
selfish caprice of our opponents.
The argument that any infraction of the newly-
established Afghan frontier must, as a matter of
honour, be followed by a British declaration of war,
subject to no qualifications, has indeed only to be
stated in its most likely mode of application, in order
to be condemned. For, thus translated, what does
it imply P. It means that any temporary, or incidental,
Or marauding, or even unauthorised, violation of the
line between the boundary pillars by a sotnia of
Cossacks, or a squad of Turkoman militia, under the
command of some Alikhanoff or Targanoff, is to
plunge a world in arms. Such a movement might
take place any day, and has already more than once
taken place, in response to an irruption from the
Afghan side, which can either be provoked by in-
tentional Russian insolence, or more covertly effected.
by the circulation of the paper rouble. To contend
that such an incident must of necessity constitute a
casus belli between the two Powers, is gratuitously to
place in the hands of Russia an advantage of Over-
whelming importance, nothing less in fact than the
A. A
IReductio
ad absºr-
dwm,
354 - RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
liberty to force England into a war whenever she
pleases, and at the moment most convenient for herself
or least agreeable to us. Supposing, for example, that
General Boulanger came into power in France, and,
as is very widely anticipated, sought to increase his
popularity with his countrymen by giving us trouble,
perhaps even by going to war with England, in or
about Egypt; and supposing that at such a moment
a telegram arrived from Calcutta that a Russian
detachment had committed an act of “unprovoked
aggression upon Afghan territory and was encamped
On the near side of the pillars—what would be our
position, if with one war already on hand in Europe,
we were forced against our better judgment and by
a false obligation to embark upon a roving expedition
into the heart of Asia? I have assumed no unlikely
contingency; but even if this be scouted as improbable,
it will be in the power of every one of my readers to
imagine a probable case, in which England would
equally be the sufferer.
Counter- To the hyper-sensitive custodians of British
obligations tº
gºshan. honour one is tempted further to address the ques-
tion, whether pledges and microscopic fidelity in their
fulfilment are to be an obligation imposed upon one
party alone, and that the party which has nothing to
gain and not the most to lose by the conflict? Are
we to be bound to the chariot-wheels of the Amir,
while the latter does nothing for us in return ? All
offensive or defensive alliances impose duties and
even risks upon those who make them; but these
duties and risks are mutual, and should not be heaped
THE ANGLO-RUSSIA W QUESTION 355
upon the shoulders of one of the two contracting
parties alone. There is no reciprocity in an engage-
ment by which Abdurrahman is to have a lien upon
the support of British troops in outlying portions of
his dominions, whenever these happen to be invaded,
but under which British soldiers, British officers, even
British civilians, are not otherwise suffered to set
foot in the country for whose alliance they pay in
hard cash—an engagement which does not even admit
the presence of a British Resident at the court whose
policy we affect to control, or of British agents at
the frontier-posts for which we are expected sub-
missively to acquiesce in the summons to fight. To
quote a familiar phrase, the engagement thus inter-
preted is one in which England is to receive all the
kicks and none of the halfpence. A far more re-
munerative task than splitting hairs as to the verbal
significance of British obligations to Afghanistan
would be the attempt to ascertain what are Afghan
obligations to Great Britain.
For fifty years Afghanistan has inspired the
British people with a feeling of almost superstitious
apprehension. So gloomy a Nemesis has attended
British proceedings in that country, our military
annals are stained by so many Afghan memories of
horror, that it is only with the greatest reluctance
that Englishmen can be persuaded to have anything
to do with so fateful a region. And yet there is no-
thing inherent either in the country or in its people,
though the former is rugged and mountainous, and
the latter are turbulent and treacherous, that should
British re-
lations
with
Afghan-
istan in the
past
A A 2
356 Jø USS/A / W. O'B' WTRAI, ASIA
daunt English hearts or defy English arms. Other and
less accessible countries, other and more difficult
peoples, have been successfully assimilated or sub-
dued. We owe our record of Afghan failure and
disaster, mingled indeed with some brilliant feats
and redeemed by a few noble names, to the amazing
political incompetence that has with fine continuity
been brought to bear upon our relations with Sue-
cessive Afghan rulers. For fifty years there has not
been an Afghan Amir whom we have not alternately
fought against and caressed, now repudiating and
now recognising his sovereignty, now appealing to
his subjects as their saviours, now slaughtering
them as our foes. It was so with Dost Mohammed,
with Shir Ali, with Yakub, and it has been so
with Abdurrahman Khan. Each one of these men
has known the British both as enemies and as patrons,
and has commonly only won the patronage by the
demonstration of his power to command it. Small
wonder that we have never been trusted by Afghan
rulers, or liked by the Afghan people ! In the
history of most conquering races is found some spot
that has invariably exposed their weakness like the
joints in armour of steel. Afghanistan has long been
the Achilles' heel of Great Britain in the East. Im-
pregnable elsewhere, she has shown herself uniformly
vulnerable here.
º Without recapitulating ancient history, it may
pursued briefly be stated that our relations with Afghanistan
in the forty years between 1838 and 1878 were suc-
cessively those of blundering interference and of un-
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 357
masterly (I have always supposed it to be a lapsus
calami to write “masterly ’) inactivity. The first
period, which is perhaps the darkest page in English
history, culminated with the restoration of Dost
Mohammed, the sovereign whom we had forcibly de-
posed and defeated, but who ended by forcing his
recognition upon us. The policy of the second
period found some slight justification during his life-
time—-for an abler ruler never controlled a tribal
federation—but was foolishly prolonged after his
death into a very different era, when rival chieftains
were contending for a supremacy, which we did no-
thing whatever to decide, and when finally Shir Ali,
the successful combatant, already estranged from
England by a course of neglect, was known to be
lending an ear to honeyed words from Russia. Then
the policy of unmasterly inactivity broke down with
a crash. The second Afghan war ensued; and after
the now familiar display of mingled valour and in-
capacity, which might have been directly modelled
upon the pattern of 1841, England, having enthroned
a new Amir, found herself confronted with the
question, what was to be the character of the new
Tégime. Lord Beaconsfield, it is known, favoured
the adoption of an advanced or scientific Indian
frontier, committing the border passes to British
custody; and, despairing of another Dost Mohammed,
leaned towards a partition of Afghanistan among
separate chieftains; while he is even said (though
such shortsightedness is scarcely conceivable) to
have meditated the surrender of Herat to Persia.
358 RUSSIA IV CE WTRAL ASIA
Character
of Abdur-
rahman
Rham
Mr. Gladstone, coming into power in 1880, before the
close of the war, declined to endorse so forward a
policy, and an alternative suggestion was required.
No one had a word to say for the old unmasterly in-
activity, which was buried without a sigh, and over
whose gravestone, as above the nameless friar in
Worcester cloisters, might be written the epitaph
“Miserrimus.’ The new theory of a Buffer Afghanistan,
independent though subsidised, and friendly though
strong, was evolved. The British retired; Kandahar
was surrendered ; and Abdurrahman was left to
carve out his own fortune. Accident has produced
in him the very man for the purpose, the sole type of
character that could give stability to so precarious a
structure, and endow a stuffed figure with the sem-
blance of life.
Cruel, vindictive, overweeningly proud, but of
inflexible purpose, fearless heart, and indomitable
energy, he has spent a reign of nine years in inces-
Sant fighting, has broken down and drenched in blood
every revolt of his mutinous subjects, has extended
his dominions over all and more than the lands ruled
by Dost Mohammed, and has even established his
power in the difficult regions of the upper Oxus, in
Badakshan, Wakhan, Shignan, and Roshan. He has
never been friendly to Russia since his return from
Samarkand in 1880; and, though suspicious of
English interference, and loth to see foreigners in his
country, has given the British Government no reason
to question his loyalty. The actual dependence of
Abdurrahman upon England and his increasing
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 359
willingness to admit it to his subjects, were signifi-
cantly illustrated during the Ghilzai rebellion in
August 1887, when a royal proclamation was posted
in the Bazaar at Kandahar, to the effect that the
British were holding in reserve six infantry divisions
(of nine regiments each), as well as cavalry and artil-
lery, ready to march into Afghanistan to assist the
Amir against his enemies. There was of course not a
grain of truth in the assertion.
So long as Abdurrahman lives, a Buffer Afghan-
istan may continue to figure in the list of indepen-
dent states. His health is, however, extremely
precarious; whilst at any time a ruler thus feared,
and in parts detested, is exposed to the danger,
which he recently so providentially escaped, of as-
sassination. His two sons are not of royal blood,
and would therefore not appeal to the loyalty of the
Afghan tribes; nor has either of them shown any
capacity to succeed his father. Upon the death of
the latter it is to be feared that a time of trouble will
again recur, more critical than any of its predecessors,
inasmuch as Russia notoriously looks to such an
emergency as providing an excuse for her next
advance. Rival candidates for the throne will at
once be forthcoming—ſs-hak Khan from Samarkand,
possibly Ayub Khan from India, and very likely some
other claimant in the country or from the Afghan
army—and in the state of civil war thus engendered,
it will not be Russia's fault if she does not pull some
chestnuts out of the fire.
There is very little concealment as to the nature
Pſis health
and the
future
360 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
of Russian projects in Afghanistan. Pilot balloons
are constantly flown in the Russian press to test the
currents of public feeling. Years ago Skobeleff
wrote, ‘It is my conviction that if England and
Russia should have to knock up against each other
in Central Asia, the nearer the better;' and a coter-
minous frontier, involving direct contact, and multi-
plying and magnifying to an incalculable extent the
capacity to strike, is the present object of her ambi-
tion. This coterminous frontier is supplied, in the
Russian argument, by the long and lofty range of the
Hindu Kush, the Great Divide of Central Asia, with
its western prolongations, the Koh-i-baba, and the
Siah Koh, extending to the Persian border south of
Herat. In the territory south of the Hindu Kush
Russia professes no immediate concern. Russian
annexation up to the point named would mean the
absolute Russification of all the Oxus Khanates from
Badakshan westwards; the Russian possession of
Runduz, Khulm, Balkh, Shibergan, Siripul, Andkui,
and Maimena; and further west, of the entire Heri
Rud basin, as well as of the fortress of Herat. I
have pointed out elsewhere that such a consumma-
tion, so far from being retarded by physical obstacles,
is facilitated by geographical and even ethnographical
considerations; whilst in an earlier part of this
chapter I have indicated the strategical advantages
enjoyed by Russia in this quarter. But on the other
hand Englishmen should know what the realisation
of such a project would mean to this country and to
Suggested
partition
of Afghan-
istan
* Nineteenth Century, February 1889.
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 361
the Indian Empire. It would involve the absolute ex-
tinction of a strong and united Afghanistan; for it
would leave only the phantom of an Amir at Kabul,
if it left that. It would hand over to Russia, a
possible enemy, the two granaries of the Oxus basin.
It would necessitate a considerable addition to the
Indian army, and a burdensome charge upon Indian
finance; and, so long as English and Russian in-
terests conflict in any part of the world, it would
place the Indian Empire in perpetual risk of panic.
These are the pros and cons which Englishmen will
be called upon to balance, when the question is ripe
for settlement—a period that may come sooner than
many imagine. We may some day be driven to par-
tition as a pis aller. Tet us at least not embrace it
as a programme.
In the face of such a crisis it may be worth while
to appraise some of the subsidiary factors on either
side. Of the quality of the Afghan army it is difficult
to speak with positiveness. On paper it is said to be
The
Afghan
army
60,000 strong, and has an excellent organisation,
based on the English model, first adopted in 1869 by
Shir Ali, and since improved by Abdurrahman Khan.
There are divisions, brigades, regiments, batteries,
troops, and companies, adopting semi-British uniforms
and English-sounding words of command. But
though characterised by individual bravery, and for-
midable in guerilla or mountain warfare, the entire
force, in the absence of scientific drill or discipline,
is quite unfitted to withstand a European army. The
Russians, who made mincemeat of the Afghan soldiery
362 Jº USSIA IN CE WTRAL ASIA
at the Kushk in 1885, profess the utmost contempt
for them on the battle-field, although they are them-
selves but partial judges, never having encountered
the warlike tribesmen of the Kabul province, who
have several times given the English great trouble.
Since that date, moreover, the Afghan army has been
rendered a more powerful body either for offence or
defence by the distribution of the rifles and ammuni-
tion which the Indian Government has from time to
time given to Abdurrahman, and to the employment
of which he owed his victory last year over Is—hak
Khan. Inferior, however, though the army still may
be from a European standpoint, it yet possesses
fighting material that might be shaped in qualified
hands into a valuable instrument of warfare. It was
rumoured in 1888 that the Amir had applied for
British officers to instruct and drill his troops; and
although the request was either not made, or if made
was not granted, it is the unanimous opinion of
British officers who know the country and its people,
that, led by European commanders, the Afghans
would make as fine a native soldiery as exists any-
where in the East. It is indeed as a recruiting
ground that Afghanistan may develop a new military
and political importance in the near future, the
Russians standing in urgent need of such an auxiliary
owing to the craven and sedentary character of all
the peoples, with the exception of the Turkomans,
whom they have yet subdued; and the English also
requiring to tap some fresh springs of Eastern man-
hood, in view of the progressive deterioration and loss
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 363
of military instincts among those races on whose
hereditary valour they have hitherto relied. To the
English the experiment would be no new one. The
Afridis already make capital soldiers, and have served
us faithfully in several wars. The Jamshidi irregulars
in the Amir's service provided an excellent cavalry
escort to the English Boundary Commissioners in
1884–5. Further to the south, the Beluchi levies,
Organised by Sir Robert Sandeman, are a splendid
body of men, and render invaluable service in the
mountainous region which they patrol. Among the
Pathans, Shinwarris, Duranis, Ghilzais, Hazaras, and
Other fighting tribes of Afghanistan, there is abun-
dant material, which, if properly handled, with a due
regard to tribal idiosyncrasies and traditions, and
under guarantees of fixed payment, might in the
future be converted into a loyal and impenetrable
advanced guard protecting the glacis of the Indian
Empire. It has been calculated that 200,000 fighting
men might be thus recruited between the Russian and
English borders. Russia is fully alive to the existence
of such a possibility; and if we do not use the material
for defence, she will enlist it for offence. -
As regards the respective popularity of the two
nations with the Afghans there is probably not much
intrinsically to choose. In either case there is
sufficient cause for dislike. Against the English
there is the memory of past invasions, the confidence
inspired by Afghan successes, and the contempt ex-
cited by a policy of stern reprisals followed by mis-
interpreted retreat. Against the Russians is the
Senti-
ments
of the
Afghans
towards
Russia and
England
364 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
recollection of the unpardonable breach of faith to
Shir Ali, who was entrapped by their counsels to his
ruin and then abandoned, the more recent Outrage
On the Kushk, and the fear of a future destruction of
native independence. On the other hand, British
officers in the country have left on record that the
Afghans manifested a most friendly bearing towards
them, and spoke of them as brothers; while the
British Commissioners on their return to India, in
October 1886, were received with much respect at
Kabul. There can be no doubt that the surrender of
Kandahar, though open to temporary misconception,
and the general avoidance of recent intrusion into
Afghan politics or the Afghan country, have predis-
posed the mass of the people to a more favourable
attitude towards England than at any time during the
last twenty years. For their part, the Russians, with
a sublime self-satisfaction, are equally convinced that
Afghanistan, in common with the rest of the East,
is thirsting for the Muscovite yoke. Apart from the
circumstances of the hour, the Afghans in all proba-
bility draw little distinction between the merits of the
two Powers, their one object being to keep their own
independence and clan organisation; or, failing that, to
make the best terms, and perhaps keep the worst faith,
that they can with the conqueror. Herein lies a dis-
tinct advantage to the British ; for England has shown
clearly enough that she has no desire to tamper with
Afghan freedom, while Russian advance can mean
nothing short of annexation. To a large extent the
security of the Indian Empire in the future may be
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 365
said to depend upon the chance, now offered to Great
Britain, of appearing, not as the enemy, but as the
saviour, of Afghanistan. The present Amir has testi-
fied his anti-Russian bias, and his resolve to maintain
the territorial integrity of his kingdom in his time by
applying for the services of British officers and the
gift of a siege train, to assist him in the fortification
and defence of Herat; and by planting along his
northern borders, both along Sir West Ridgeway's
frontier, and along the left bank of the Oxus between
Khulm and Kamiab, colonies of the most warlike
Afghan tribes, to resist the process of absorption
which Russian intrigue was rumoured to be already
effecting with the more facile Uzbeg material in those
parts. Too much reliance, however, must not be
placed upon the fighting capacity of the new garrisons.
The rouble is a powerful instrument of conciliation;
and when the Comte de Cholet records a clandestine
visit of an Afghan frontier officer to the tent of Ali-
khanoff at Pul-i-Khatun, he is probably relating no
uncommon incident."
It is scarcely possible to exaggerate the importance
to Great Britain, indicated in the last paragraph, of
confirming the impression which the Afghan tribes
are already beginning to hold, that the English are,
and will be in the future still more, the defenders of
their national liberty. It is the desirability of strength-
ening this conviction that renders the present policy
of England towards Afghanistan One of peculiar
delicacy, and that may be held to some extent to
* Eaccursion en Turkestam, p. 124.
The future
of Afghan
independ-
€11Cé
366 Jº USSIA IAV CAE AWTAEA I, ASIA
Prestige
of Russian
numbers
explain the attitude of reserve for which the Indian
Government might otherwise by some be held open
to blame. Too active an interference in support of a
ruler, whose savage dominion must be resented just
in proportion as it is feared by his subjects, might con-
vey the Opposite impression of a sovereign imposed
by hostile bayonets, and supported by alien rupees.
On the other hand, while the Amir remains loyal, he
has an unquestioned claim upon British backing. The
English can neither afford to desert him, nor to allow
their names to be too closely associated with the acts
of an unmerciful and barbarous system of repression.
If by a just mean the allegiance of Abdurrahman and
the stability of his throne can for some time longer
be secured, and if at the same time we can so clearly
convey to the great Afghan tribes the dependence of
their hopes of continued national existence upon Our
alliance, that, at the death of the Amir, we shall find
them appealing to our help, rather than arming against
our dictation—the Indian Government may consider
that it has solved the Gordian knot by loosening its
folds instead of cutting them in twain.
The Russians are undoubtedly helped by the pro-
digious reputation which they have acquired in
Central Asia owing to an unchecked and apparently
irresistible advance, by the credit that their troops
enjoy of being merely the advanced guard of in-
exhaustible numbers, and by the noise and Swagger
of their movement. It has been noticed by M.
Bonvalot, as well as by British officers and travellers,
that while the inhabitants of these regions are amazed
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 367
at the wealth of England, they are impressed by the
numerical strength of Russia." England from time
to time hurls at them a handful of soldiery, which
advances, conquers, and retires; and they have no
idea of what may be proceeding upon the other side
of the Suleiman or Himalayan wall. Russia, on the
other hand, bears down upon them like the flood of
an incoming tide, sweeping all before it along an ex-
tended line of shore. It is the numbers and the self-
assertion of Russia to which Abdurrahman makes
special allusion in his letter to the Viceroy of India,
acknowledging the final settlement of the Afghan
Boundary —
It is one of the results and consequences of the sincere
friendship of the two parties (i.e. England and Afghanistan)
that the Russian Government, notwithstanding its large
number of troops, its power, and its matural moise and despot-
ism, has entered the door of refraining and abstaining from
conquest and war with these two auspicious Governments, as
it knew that it (the war) would have an unhappy result, and
would entail a heavy loss on itself. Had it not seen the
foundation of the friendship of these two united kingdoms
strong and firm, and the basis of the affection and sympathy
of the two Governments solid and stable, it would hardly
have come down from the palace of its desire and the man-
sion of its wish to subjugate Afghanistan and occupy India.
I look upon the kind friendship of the illustrious British
* Wide Major C. E. Yate's Northern Afghanistan, p. 303: “The
Afghans, I am sorry to say, are just as surprised as the Russians at
the smallness of our army. An Afghan general asked me, “Why don’t
you keep a larger army 2 Look at the Russians. They have no money
but they have lots of men. You have lots of money but no men. Why
don’t you get more ? We are all ready to fight with you side by side,”
he added, and I believe he was sincere in saying so; but still he shook
his head over the small number of our men.”
368 Jº USS/A / W. C. E.WTRAL AS/A
Government as the cause of the flourish of the tree of the
Afghan Government—and it is undoubtedly so."
†, Among the steps that have been suggested for
º, fortifying British influence in Afghanistan, and pro-
# * curing timely warning of hostile intentions on the
part of Russia, is the institution of British officers
at the advanced outposts of Balkh (Mazar-i-Sherif),
Maimena, and Herat. This has long been a venata
quaestio of Central Asian politics, bequeathed from the
days of Dost Mohammed and Lord Lawrence. Dost
Mohammed treated the refusal of such a concession
as a matter of principle, and is said to have trans-
mitted it to his son on his death-bed. Shir Ali, while
never wavering in his opinion about Kabul, where
he argued that the appointment of a British officer
would both be unsafe, and would entail a loss of
prestige upon himself, was disposed at the Umballa
Durbar in 1869 to consider favourably the appoint-
ment of agents at Balkh and Herat. Lord Mayo, how-
ever, was reluctant to commit himself to so positive a
step ; and when the project was revived at the Pesha-
wur conference in 1877, Shir Ali’s envoy would not
hear of any such concession. The murder of Cavag-
nari at Kabul in 1879, after the second Afghan war
had led to his nomination as Resident at the Court of
the Amir, naturally disposed men's minds to revert
to the policy of non-interference, and to magnify the
wisdom of Dost Mohammed and Shir Ali; and the
proposal for a British representative at Kabul has not
* Letter written on August 16, 1887. Wide Parliamentary Papers,
‘Central Asia,” No. 1, 1888, p. 21.
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 369
since been revived. The argument, however, that
might be thought to hold good of the capital does
not equally apply to Herat and Balkh, the former of
which places is inhabited by a mixed Iranian and
non-Afghan race, well-disposed towards the English,'
and not given to violence or intrigue, while the latter
possesses an Uzbeg or Turki population of similar
characteristics. I cannot help thinking that British
officers might now with perfect safety be despatched
to both these places. Herat, indeed, has twice been
governed for a considerable time by Englishmen, by
Pottinger in 1838, and by D'Arcy Todd in 1840, and
has lately been fortified under the direction of British
officers; and if Abdurrahman attaches any value, as
he unquestionably does, to the retention of Afghan
Turkestan and the Herat province, he should be the
first to see the wisdom of such an arrangement. At
Kandahar a similar appointment is perhaps un-
necessary, or is certainly less necessary, as the town
is within a few miles of the British frontier, and its
inhabitants are said to look back regretfully upon the
British occupation of 1879–81. As regards Kabul,
though historical precedent is ominous, and the desire
not to wound Afghan susceptibilities is praiseworthy,
there is an undeniable absurdity in presenting
120,000l. a year and scientific weapons of warfare to
a monarch at whose court we are not even permitted
to maintain a diplomatic representative. Sir Bartle
Frere said very pertinently in 1881:—
* Wide Captain A. C. Yate's Travels with the Afgham Boundary
Commission, p. 375; and Major C. E. Yate's Northern Afghanistan,
pp. 15, 18, 21.
P B
370 Jº USSIA IN CENTRA/, AS/A
I have never believed in the validity of this objection
(i.e. the insecurity of the English envoy), and I should con-
sider it quite chimerical unless it were formally stated by the
ruler himself. In that case, I should point out to him the
absurdity of his calling himself the ruler of a country where
he could not ensure the safety of an honoured guest. I
Impending
develop-
ments of
the Anglo-
Russian
question
should decline to communicate with him except through a
representative accredited to him, like our envoys at other
Asiatic courts, and I should state clearly the impossibility of
our talking of friendly relations with a nation where our
representative would not be welcomed." t
In the same context Sir Charles MacGregor argued
that if A were murdered, we ought to send B, and if
B were murdered, then C, and so on ; a logic which,
however incontestable and, to the student of Anglo-
Afghan diplomacy, refreshing, is more congenial to
Russian than it is to British methods. It may be
pointed out that the present is a singularly opportune
moment for the renewal of such a demand, the attitude
of the Afghans being friendly, and the appointment of
English officers being now less susceptible of inter-
pretation as a badge of Afghan subjection, than as
a guarantee of British alliance. In an emergency
native substitutes, such as we now maintain at Kabul
and Herat, though they may do passably well in
untroubled times, will be found lacking both in
authority and prestige.
Finally I turn to the question of impending de-
velopments of the Anglo-Russian question, and to
the steps, precautionary or otherwise, that should
be taken by this country.
Africa and India. By Sir Bartle Frere. 1881.
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 3.71
Though the attention of both our statesmen and
Our Soldiers has for long been mainly concentrated
upon the Herat-Kandahar line of advance, Owing
to the superior physical advantages of the route for
an invading army, and though the Transcaspian
Railway facilitates and encourages such a movement
on the part of Russia, it will be a great mistake if
we ignore the possibility of the selection of the
Balkh-Kabul line. The very fact that Great Britain
has been spending millions of money, laying miles of
rails, boring a tunnel, and constructing extensive
fortified outworks in Pishin, may tempt the Russians,
who are not fonder than any other people of putting
their head into the lion's mouth, to make an experi-
ment in another direction. Kabul is at once the
capital of the sovereign, and the headquarters and
rallying-place of Afghan fanaticism. Without Kabul
the Russians might boast of no mean conquest in
the acquisition of Herat and Afghan Turkestan.
But the conquest would not be of the Afghan ruler
or of the Afghan people. Once at Kabul, however,
or in command of the routes to Kabul, they would
have driven a wedge into the heart of Afghanistan
itself, and would compel the Amir to become either
a fugitive or a puppet; whilst their position there
would have a secondary effect of equal strategical
importance, inasmuch as it would enable them to
turn the flank of a British army on the Helmund or
at Kandahar. At Kabul, too, the greater proximity
to India will always constitute a temptation to
Russia; though it may be argued that this is counter-
i. Balkh-
Kabul line
of advance
B B 2
372 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
balanced by the greater distance from her base on
the Oxus, and by the danger to which a Russian force
at Kabul would always be exposed, of being cut off
in the winter months, when the defiles of the Hindu
Kush, from 9,000 to 12,000 feet high, are impassable
from ice and snow. On the other hand, the Kabul
district possesses a superior fertility and cultivation
to any other portion of Northern Afghanistan, and
might constitute an advanced base in itself. We
shall do well, therefore, to keep a very watchful eye
upon Kabul and the North, and, as soon as our
defensive operations are completed in Pishin, to see
whether there is not another door to the Indian
stable that still stands ajar. Twice in the last half
century has Kabul been made the cockpit of British
disaster; it may yet come to be regarded as a citadel
of British salvation. :
What action is required, or what steps should be
taken for its protection or reinforcement, it is for
soldiers and strategists to say. It was proposed
after the second Afghan War to continue the rails
from Peshawur up the Khyber Pass to Lundi Kotal
(the frontier outpost held by an Afridi garrison).
This project has since been abandoned; and a limited
extension, only ten miles in length, within British
territory, from Peshawur, to Jumrood at the mouth
of the pass, has been authorised. In face of the
contingencies which I have named, the larger scheme
may again be heard of; and to those who detect in
such a proposal the glimmer of Jingo war-paint, I
make the unhesitating and unequivocal reply, based
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 373
upon a personal inspection of both the Indian and
the Russian frontier railways (in each case origin-
ally constructed for strategical purposes), that there
is no such means of pacifying an Oriental country
as a railway, even a military railway; and that if for
bullets and bayonets we substitute roads and railroads
as the motto of our future policy towards Afghanistan,
we shall find ourselves standing upon the threshold of
a new and brighter era of relations with that country.
Another proposal is to establish an advanced
British position at Peiwar Kotal or thereabouts, at
the head of the Kurum Valley, commanding the ap-
proach both to Ghuzni and from the south to Kabul.
The Kurum Valley is not in Afghan possession, being
one of the assigned districts ceded to Great Britain
by the treaty of Gundamuk in May 1879, and subse-
quently handed over by us, as a reward for faithful
services during the war, to the local tribe of the Turis,
who, being Shiite Mahometans, are antagonistic to the
Sunnite Afghans, and who are understood not merely
not to object to, but even to desire, British reoccu-
pation. It was part of the scheme of Lord Beacons-
field's Scientific Frontier to station a British garrison
at Peiwar, and to raise a local corps for military ser-
vice. A good road, more than once utilised in our
Afghan campaigns, leads up the Kurum Valley from
the present Indian frontier to Peiwar; and the posi-
tion thus acquired would, without wounding Afghan
susceptibilities, possess a double strategical signifi-
cance, both as providing an alternative route to Kabul
and as facilitating the relief or occupation of Ghuzni.
374 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
ii. The
Persian
Question
A second, and in some respects an even more
probable, arena of future activity is presented by
Persia and the Persian Question. Persia stands a
good second to Afghanistan in the category of British
diplomatic failure in the East, the result in this in-
stance less of positive error than of deplorable
neglect. The Russian situation in Persia at the
present moment may be roughly indicated by the
statement that it is the counterpart, on a much more
extended scale, of that which was enjoyed by England
in the early years of this century. The influence
and authority then exercised at Teheran by British
representatives have now been transferred to our
rivals, who possess the further advantage, never
owned by us, of a complete military and strategical
ascendency along the entire northern frontier of
Persia from the Araxes to the Heri Rud. With
Transcaucasia strongly garrisoned by Russian troops,
the Caspian a Russian lake, and Transcaspia a
military province, traversed by a railway, Persia is
in the position of the scriptural vineyard whose wall
is broken down, and the King of kings is as helpless
as a fly in a spider's web. His powerlessness culmi-
nates in the eastern province of Khorasan, where
the commercial monopoly of Russia has already been
mentioned, and which is fast becoming a Russian
mediatised state. The Khans of Bujmurd, Kuchan,
Dereguez, and Kelat wear Russian clothes and learn
the Russian language. Tresents are freely distributed
among them by the Russian authorities in Trans-
caspia, and Russian brandy and arrack complete
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 375
the dissolvent process. Russian agents are scattered
through all the important towns. A Russian Consul-
General with a Cossack escort dominates Meshed.
In the country districts the Russians have earned
popularity by putting a successful stop to the
Turkoman raids by which the miserable native
peasantry was formally harassed and decimated;
while their administration, with its astute exemptions
for native peoples, would be preferred by many to the
imbecile depravity of Persian rule. As long ago as
1875 Sir Charles MacGregor reported in his journey
through the country that the people were longing
for the Russians to come; and later on a petition
to the Czar is said to have been circulated and
extensively signed among the towns and villages of
Khorasan, praying for incorporation.
Not satisfied with an ascendency apparently so
well secured, Russia, in response to the challenge
thrown down by Great Britain in the matter of the
Karun River concession in the South, has recently
been giving a few more turns to the diplomatic screw
in the North. The concessions demanded by Prince
Dolgorouki, and rumoured to have been partially
conceded by the Shah, include a Russian monopoly
of railway construction in Persia, the completion of
the chaussée before spoken of between Askabad and
Meshed, the opening up to Russian navigation of the
Enzeli lagoon, and the construction of a high road
from Resht to Teheran. The demand of a railway
concession has an importance that will presently be
seen. The two concluding stipulations mean the
Russian
ascend-
ency and
Persian
weakness
*-***
376 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
conversion of the Enzeli lagoon, which is the maritime
approach to Resht, into a Russian harbour, and of
Itesht itself into a Russian town; and, as a conse-
quence of this fact and of the improved communi-
cations with the capital, the final Russification of
Teheran. There is not either in the Persian sovereign,
in the Persian administration, in the Persian army,
or in the Persian people, any material capable. of
opposing a prolonged resistance to these or any
demands that Russia may choose by threats to
enforce. The Shah, whatever he may feel, and he
probably feels bitterly, cannot act. The administra-
tion is utterly rotten and corrupt. The only valuable
portion of the army, consisting of the so-called
Cossack regiments at Teheran—i.e. Persians trained,
drilled, and equipped upon the Russian model, and
commanded by Russian officers—is an instrument in
Tºussia's hands. No unity or national spirit exists in
Real aim
of Russian
policy in
Persia
the country. A distinguished foreign diplomat is
said to have Once remarked, after a long Persian ex-
perience: ‘C’est le dernier des pays et le dernier des
peuples.’
What, however, it may be asked, is the significance,
and wherein, if at all, lies the danger of Russian as-
cendency in Northern Persia and Khorasan P. This
question I will answer. I have already pointed out the
serious and irremediable loss inflicted thereby upon
|British trade ; and it is in Persia that the commercial
rivalry between Russia and Great Britain is at present
a factor of more momentous Operation than in any
other part of the East. But Russian statesmanship,
THE ANGLO-RUSSIA W QUESTION 377
here as elsewhere, has a political and strategical as
well as a fiscal aim. Just as the control of N. and N.W.
Persia supplies a base against Armenia and the fron-
tier provinces of Turkey in Asia Minor, so the absorp-
tion of N.E. Persia and Khorasan will provide an
alternative route of advance, either upon Herator,
through Seistan, upon Beluchistan and India itself.
With Khorasan a Russianised province, there will be
no need to violate any Anglo-Afghan frontier; the
resources of that fertile country will furnish the re-
quisite supplies; Herat may either be approached
from the west or for a while may be left severely
alone ; the Khojak and Quetta may be coolly disre-
garded; and the newly-fortified British frontier in
Pishin may even find itself turned from the west.
Such is a more than possible evolution, in the near
future, of Russian policy in Central Asia.
But there is greater mischief than the prospective An eye
overland danger to India lurking in the conception. sº
Russia, hampered in warfare by being mainly a land Gulf
power, has long been on the search for a new sea-
board, and has directed covetous eyes upon the Persian
Gulf. The acquisition of North Persia and Khorasan
is only preliminary to a southerly move towards the
Straits of Ormuz or the Indian Ocean. Now, therefore,
appears in all its significance the demand for a rail-
way concession throughout Persia, as the obvious
and necessary means of effecting that advance. Of
Russian supremacy in North Persia, I do not think
that Englishmen, having foolishly allowed the prize
to slip from their grasp long years ago, have much
378 Jº USSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
British
policy in
rejoinder
right to complain, though with it they are fully en-
titled and Ought to compete. But Russia.atlspahan,
Shiraz, and Bushire, Russia on the Persian Gulf
with a seaport, a naval dockyard and a fleet, is a
-------------, --~~~< *---~~~~"***
very different thing. The commercial argument,
weighty before, is even more weighty here; for at
present England enjoys almost a monopoly, and that
a highly lucrative monopoly, of the import trade with
Southern Persia. But, again, the political and strate-
gical arguments are stronger still. Are we prepared
to surrender the control of the Persian Gulf and to
divide that of the Indian Ocean P Are we prepared
to make the construction of the Euphrates Valley
Railway, or of some kindred scheme of the future,
an impossibility for England and an ultimate certainty
for Russia P. Is Bagdad to become a new Russian
capital in the South P Lastly, are we content to see
a naval station within a few days' sail of Kurrachi,
and to contemplate a hostile squadron battering
Bombay 2
I do not think there can be two opinions among
Englishmen that there is no justification, either in
policy Orin reason, for exposing India to such a danger,
or for allowing South Persia to fall into Russian
hands. But, it may be asked, how can such a con-
summation be prevented P. It can be prevented only
by Great Britain undertaking the task herself, with
no view to territorial annexation or increase of ad-
ministrative responsibility, but with sole regard to the
maintenance in South Persia of British as against
Russian commercial and political interests. In other
THE ANG LO-RUSSIA W QUESTION 379
words, the railways into South Persia that Russia
aspires to lay in the future should be laid beforehand
by Great Britain. Russian ascendency in the North
should be balanced by British ascendency in the
South. There is no need to speak of a territorial
partition of Persia, because I imagine that neither
Power desires such an issue or would welcome SO
serious an increase to its burdens. A partition of
control and influence in Persia is a different thing;
and, with a decrepit people and an expiring régime,
is inevitable in the future. - -
Among possible schemes of railway construction
in South Persia, the opening up of Seistan by such
means is in the first rank of importance. Midway
between Khorasan and the sea, this valuable frontier
province of Persia, susceptible of great agricultural
development, richly supplied with resources of water
now wasted or unused, and possessing abundant relics
of decayed prosperity, invites amelioration. Now a
desert, it might by the construction of canals be con-
verted into a garden, and by the provision of trade
outlets become a treasure-house of natural wealth.
In Persian hands no such destiny is possible, for the
capital, the impulse, and the energy are alike wanting.
Seistan, it is safe to assert, will only resume its former
state by foreign aid. Its position in the map, almost
due west of the British position in Pishin, and con-
tiguous to British Beluchistan, indicates the natural
means of communication and avenue of approach.
The British railway to and beyond Quetta supplies
an already existing starting-point for such a link of
Opening
up of
Seistian
380 R USSIA /AW CENTRAL AS/A
Effects of .
a Seistan
railway
connection, which might be effected either by a
branch from Darwaza, at the head of the Quetta valley,
or from Gulistan, at the base of the Amran range, to
Nushki, and thence to Nasirabad and Lash Juwain ;
Or, as suggested by others, the Kandahar extension,
when completed, might be still further extended to
Girishk, whence, from a more northerly direction, the
same objective could easily be attained. In neither
case do physical obstacles worth consideration inter-
WeI) €.
Such a railway would be essentially a commercial,
and not a strategical undertaking, inasmuch as it
would not merely open up Seistan, but would provide
a southern way of entry into Khorasan itself, which
would be brought into nearer communication with the
Indian Ocean. At the same time its execution might
act as a deterrent to any Russian Operations against
Herat, and would effectually checkmate the flank
movement against Beluchistan, which I just now
described. Of all the possible suggestions for coun-
teracting Russian menace to India by pacific and
honourable means, the construction of such a rail-
way is at once the least aggressive, the cheapest, and
the most profitable. Connection with the seaboard
might be effected later on by a southerly branch to
Gwadur, on the Indian Ocean, or to Bender Abbas,
On the Persian Gulf. Looking still further into the
future, we may contemplate as feasible an extension
of the railway system, thus inaugurated, through
South Persia vid Kirman and Yezd to Ispahan,
Shiraz, and Bushire; in which direction a junction
THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN QUESTION 381
would naturally be effected with the commercial
routes opened up by the Karun River concession, to
which it would constitute the appropriate corollary.
The policy thus recommended is not difficult, and
would in time be enormously remunerative. It in-
volves no offence, and would be the salvation of
Southern Persia. There is not the slightest reason
why it should not be carried out, if the consent of
the Shah were forthcoming; and powerless though he
be in the clutch of Russia in the north, I am unable to
see why, in a matter affecting the southern portion
of his dominions, with which Russia can profess no
straightforward or legitimate concern, Prince Dol-
gorouki should be the sole custodian of the royalear.
In bringing this chapter to a close, I am conscious
of having covered a wide area, from the Pamir to
Persia, and of having inadequately touched upon
many important topics. My object, however, has
been, to the best of my ability, to expose the pre-
sent character and dimensions of the Anglo-Russian
problem, nowhere, so far as I know, discussed in its en-
tirety; to supply the material for a horoscope of the
future by a careful examination of the antecedents,
the position, the designs, the advantages, and also
the drawbacks, of both parties in the possible struggle,
and to indicate to my readers some of the pre-
cautionary measures by which that struggle may
either be averted, or, if not averted, may be contem-
plated by this country without apprehension.
Summary
of this
chapter
382 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
CHAPTER x
RUSSIAN RULE IN CENTRAL ASIA
Not but wut abstract war is horrid—
I sign to thet with all my heart ;
But civlysation does git forrid
Sometimes upon a powder cart.
J. R. Low ELL, The Biglow Papers.
Merits and demerits of Russian rule—Abolition of raids and gift of
security—Russian power firmly established—Its causes—Memory
of slaughter—Overpowering military strength of Russia—Certainty
that she will not retreat—-Popularity of Russia—Laissez-faire
attitude—Treatment of native chiefs—Conciliation of native
peoples—Defects of Russian character—Low civilisation—Attitude
towards Mahometan religion—Towards native education—Bravery
and endurance of Russian character—Military ease of Russian
advance—Contrast between English and Russian facilities—Com-
parative security of dominions—Seamy side of Russian civilisation
—Bad roads—General conclusions as to Russian government—
Schemes for regeneration of the country—Irrigation—Diversion of
the Oxus to its old bed—Cotton plantation—Sericulture and viti-
culture—Colonisation—Attitude of Great Britain—Responsibilities
of Russia.
yºnd FROM a discussion of the rival interests of England
ºuisian and Russia in Central Asia, I proceed, in conclusion,
to give some account of the strength, and if anywhere
it be so, of the weakness of Russian rule. No possi-
bility of future collision, no fear of ultimate conflict,
need deter an Englishman from an honest recognition
of national merit, or of services rendered to the cause
of humanity. In a sphere distinct, and yet not alien,
RUSSIA W R U L E MAW C E VT/PA 7, AS/A 383
from that in which Great Britain has herself achieved
many successes and perpetrated some failures, friendly
criticism is permissible, while jealousy is absurd.
First, then, it cannot be doubted that Russia has
conferred great and substantial advantages upon the
Central Asian regions which she has reduced to her
sway. Those who have read descriptions of the state
of the country from the Caspian to the Amu Daria,
in the pre-Russian days of rapine and raid, when
agriculture was devastated, life and property rendered
insecure, and entire populations were swept off under
circumstances of unheard-of barbarity into a life-long
servitude, can form some idea of the extent of the
revolution by which peace and order and returning
prosperity have been given to these desolated tracts;
and the traveller, who once dared not move abroad
without a powerful escort, is enabled to wander with
impunity over the unfrequented plain. The experi-
ences of Wambéry, of MacGregor, of Valentine Baker,
and of every English voyager in or near the Tur-
koman country, contrasted with my own modest
narrative, illustrate the immensity of the boon. At
a comparatively recent date the members of the
Boundary Commission reported that, till within three
or four years before their visit, Turkoman marauders
used to scour the country as far as Farrah, 150 miles
south of Herat, that between Sarakhs and Kuhsan
the land was utterly depopulated, and that raiding-
parties were pushed to the very walls of Meshed."
* Wide Captain A. C. Yate’s Travels with the Afghan Boundary
Commission, pp. 150–159. - -
Abolition
of raids
and gift of
security
384 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Except among the Persian Turkomans of the Atrek
border, the alaman may be said now to be a thing of
the past. - . -
Tet me quote here the words of Sir Henry
Rawlinson on the subject, spoken at a meeting of
the Royal Geographical Society in 1882 —
No one will question but that the extension of Russian
arms to the east of the Caspian has been of immense benefit
to the country. The substitution, indeed, of Russian rule for
that of the Kirghiz, Uzbegs, and Turkomans throughout a
large portion of Central Asia has been an unmixed blessing
to humanity. The execrable slave trade, with its concomi-
tant horrors, has been abolished, brigandage has been sup-
pressed, and Mahometan fanaticism and cruelty have been
generally mitigated and controlled. Commerce at the same
time has been rendered more secure, local arts and manufac-
tures have been encouraged, and the wants of the inhabitants
have been everywhere more seriously regarded than is usual
under Asiatic rulers. -
This is at once a significant and a handsome admis-
sion, coming, as it does, from one whom Russian
writers are never tired of representing as choregus
of the choir of English Russophobes and Jingoes.
Voyaging through the country myself, and seeing on
all sides the mouldering fortalices and towers that
spoke so eloquently of the savage tenure of the past,
I could not repress a feeling of gratitude to those
who had substituted peace for chronic warfare, and
order for barbaric anarchy. The desolation from
which the land still suffers is the product of natural
causes, whose operation may be checked but cannot
be altogether reversed; and not of human passions,
RUSSIA W R ULE IN CAE WTRAL AS/A 385
which were so long and ruthlessly devoted to making
still more terrible the terrors of the desert. If we
still meet with but a scanty population, if the towns
are more like villages, and the villages like clusters
of hovels, and if civilisation is still in an embryonic
stage, let us remember that it is only a decade since
there was neither sedentary population, nor town,
nor civilisation; and that thus a land is being slowly
won to the service of man which man himself has
hitherto rendered a byword and a curse. The Russian
eagle may at first have alighted upon the eastern
shores of the Caspian with murderous beak and sharp-
ened talons, but, her appetite once satisfied, she has
shown that she also came with healing in her wings.
Turning to the dominion of Russia and the
means by which it is assured, I make with equal
pleasure the acknowledgment that it appeared to
me to be firmly and fairly established, and to be
loyally accepted by the conquered races. Though
we hear a good deal in books of the fanaticism of
Mussulman populations, and might expect still more
from the resentment of deposed authority, or the
revenge of baffled licence, revolts do not occur and
mutinies are not apprehended among the subjugated
peoples. I attribute this to several reasons: to the
ferocious severity of the original blow ; to the power-
lessness of resistance against the tight military grip
that is kept by Russia upon the country; and to the
certainty, which a long course of Russian conduct
has reasonably inspired, that she will never retreat.
A few words about each of these.
Russian
power
firmly es-
tablished.
Its causes
386 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Memory of
slaughter
--~"
Over-
powering
military
strength of
Russia.
The terrifying effect of such a massacre as Geok
Tepe survives for generations. The story is repeated
from father to son, and from son to grandson, losing
none of its horror in the process of lineal transmis-
sion. The ruined walls of the fortress remain to
add a melancholy emphasis to the tale. Meanwhile,
though the fathers were slain, the sons have grown
up into contented citizenship. Several of the sur-
vivors stand high in the service of the conqueror.
A new generation has heard with a shudder the tale
of national downfall, but itself only remembers a
later order, and can scarcely imagine a time when
the Ouroussi were not masters in the land.
The second reason, viz. the overpowering military
strength of Russia in the country, is even more
cogent in its application, and must be held to detract
somewhat from the brilliancy of her achievement.
The proportion of soldiers to subjects in Transcaspia
and Turkestan (figures of which, contrasted with
those of British India, I gave in an earlier chapter)
is such as to render any attempt at opposition a
fiasco. Russian Central Asia is indeed one vast
armed camp, and the traveller, who in the course of
several weeks' journey scarcely sets eyes upon a
Russian civilian, comes away with respect for the
discretion, but without much surprise at the peaceful
attitude, of the people. When the Russians boasted
to me, as they habitually did, of their own popularity,
contrasted with British odium in India, I could not
help remembering that I had seen a great Indian
city of 80,000 inhabitants, and a hotbed of idolatrous
RUSSIA W BULE IV CENTRAL AS/A 387
superstition, held in peaceful control by four English
civilians, without the aid of a single red-coat. I
could not help recalling the lacs of rupees, amount-
ing to hundreds of thousands of pounds sterling,
spontaneously offered by Indian princes, in Order
that this very popularity, of which I now heard so
much, might not be brought any nearer to their
doors, but that the familiar odium might continue to
be their lot. Nor could I forget Lord Dufferin's offer
to the Punjabi chiefs, that their irregular troops
should, under native command, but by the aid of
British instruction, be turned into disciplined bat-
talions, and presented with breechloading rifles and
batteries of guns. Recalling these facts, and com-
paring them with what I saw in Transcaspia, I did
not feel that the inequality was precisely what my
Russian friends supposed.
A conviction of the permanence of Russia and
of Russian conquests is a third and important ele-
ment in explaining the bases of her power. A
forward movement, whether voluntarily undertaken,
or beneath the pressure of circumstances, is seldom re-
pented of and never receded from." No return tickets
are issued to a punitive foray of Cossacks. Advance
is inexorably followed by annexation. ‘Jºy Suis, jºy
Teste, is the watchword of the Russian vanguard.
There is no likelihood of “making it so hot' for
* The case of Kulja, occupied by Russia in 1871, and restored to
China in 1881, may seem, but is not, an exception, for its occupation
was merely temporary and conditional; and, as a matter of fact, the
pledge of retrocession was not redeemed by Russia without a substan-
tial quid pro quo, the extortion of which all but led to war.
Certainty
that she
will not
retreat
C C 2
388 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Bopularity
of Russia
Russia that, for sake of peace, or economy, or men's
lives, she will waver or fall back. A hornets' nest
raised about her head is followed, not by a hasty
withdrawal of the intruding member, but by a
wholesale extermination of the insects. How different
from the English method, which shrinks from annexa-
tion as from a spectre; which publishes to the world,
including the guilty party, its chivalrous design of
Retribution followed by Retreat, and which, instead
of reaping from a frontier campaign the legitimate
harvest of assured peace and good government in the
future, leaves the smouldering embers of revenge in
the ruins of burnt villages and desolated crops,
certain, sooner or later, to burst out into a fresh
conflagration -
Tf, would be unfair, however, both to Russian
character and to Russian policy, to suggest that it is
owing solely to prudential reasons that there is no
visible antagonism to her sway. Such calculations
may ensure its stability, but they do not explain its
favour. I gladly, therefore, add the recognition that,
so far as I was able to ascertain, Russian dominion is
not merely accepted by, but is acceptable to the bulk
of her Asiatic subjects, and that the ruling class,
though feared, is also personally esteemed. Russia
unquestionably possesses a remarkable gift for en-
listing the allegiance and attracting even the friend-
ship of those whom she has subdued by force of
arms, a faculty which is to be attributed as much to
the defects as to the excellences of her character.
Let me first mention the latter.
RUSSIA W RULE IN CENTRAL ASIA 389
The extreme frankness and amiability of Russian
manners cover a genuine bonhomie and a good-
humoured insouciance, which render it easy for them
to make friends and which disarm the suspicion even
of a beaten foe. The Russian fraternises in the true
sense of the word. He is guiltless of that air of con-
Scious superiority and gloomy hauteur, which does
more to inflame animosity than cruelty may have done
to kindle it, and he does not shrink from entering into
social and domestic relations with alien or inferior
races. His own unconquerable carelessness renders it
easy for him to adopt a laissez-faire attitude towards
others, and the tolerance with which he has treated
the religious practices, the social customs, and the
local prejudices of his Asiatic fellow-subjects is less
the outcome of diplomatic calculation than it is of
ingrained nonchalance.
A remarkable feature of the Russification of
Central Asia is the employment given by the con-
queror to her former opponents on the field of battle.
I mentioned in an earlier chapter the spectacle of
which I was a witness at Baku, where the four Khans
of Merv were assembled in Russian uniform to greet
the Czar. This is but a casual illustration of a method
that Russia has consistently employed, and which is a
branch of the larger theory of Massacre followed by
Embraces that was so candidly avowed by Skobeleff.
The chiefs are sent to St. Petersburg to excite their
wonderment, and are covered with decorations to
gratify their vanity. When they come back they are
confirmed in their posts or offices, and are presently
Laissez-
faire
attitude
Treatment
of native
chiefs
390 Jº USSIA IN CENTRAL AS/A
Concilia-
tion of
native
peoples
rewarded with an increased prerogative. Their small
number is, of course, a reason why they may be so
employed with impunity. The English have never
shown a capacity to avail themselves of the services
of their former enemies on a similar scale. I re-
member reading only a short time ago an account
given by an old Boer of the British annexation of the
Transvaal, and the troubles, culminating in Majuba
Hill, that ensued. His explanation of the discontent
and rebellion was a very simple one, and probably
contained a good deal of truth. “If you had made
maaters (chums), he said, “with Oom Paul (Kruger),
and a few others of our leading men, and given them
posts, and if you had listened a little to them, and had
not been so terribly hoogmoedaag (high and mighty),
all would have gone well.’ The ‘high and mighty’
policy has been at the root of a good many English
failures, just as its converse has been responsible for
a good many Russian successes.
With the followers a not less successful policy is
adopted than towards the chiefs. As soon as fighting
is over they are invited back to their homesteads, and
to the security of undisputed possession tempered by
a moderate taxation. The peasant is satisfied, because,
under more scientific management, he gets so many
cubic feet more water from his canals and so many
bushels more grain from his land. The merchant is
pleased, because he sells his wool or his cotton at a
bigger price than it realised before. All are amenable
to the comfort and utility and cheapness of Russian
manufactured articles, in contrast with the clumsy
RUSSIA W RULE IV CE WTRAL ASIA 391
and primitive furniture of their previous lives. Above
all, security is a boon which none can depreciate ;
and if the extinction of the alaman is a cause of
regret to a few scores or hundreds, it is an unmixed
blessing to thousands. Russian authority presents
itself to the native populations in the twofold guise
of liberty and despotism: liberty, because in many
respects they enjoy a freedom which they never knew
before ; despotism, centred in the image of the Great
White Czar, which is an inalienable attribute of
government to the Oriental mind.
We may trace indeed, in the panorama of Russian
advance, a uniform procession of figures and succession
of acts, implying something more than a merely ad-
ventitious series of events. First comes the Cossack,
brave in combat and affable in occupation, at once
the instrument of conquest and the guarantee of re-
tention. Next follow the merchant and the pedlar,
spreading out before astonished eyes the novel wares,
the glittering gewgaws, and the cheap conveniences of
Europe. A new and lucrative market is opened for
native produce. Prompt payment in hard cash proves
to be a seductive innovation. Presently appear the
priest with his vestments and icons, conferring a
divine benediction upon the newly established order;
the tehinovnik and kindred symptoms of organised
settlement; the liquor-shop and its vodka, to expedite,
even while debasing, the assimilative process; the
official and tax collector, as the final stamp of Imperial
Supremacy. Then when a few years, or sometimes
only months, have gone by, imposing barracks rise,
392 Jø USSIA IN CENTRAL AS/A
Defects of
Bussian
character.
Tow civili-
sation
postal and telegraph offices are built, a railway is laid,
colonists are invited, the old times are forgotten, and an
air of drowsy quiescence settles down upon the spot
that a decade before was scoured by predatory bands
or precariously peopled by vagabond tribes.
On the other hand, the Russians have been aided
in the work of pacification by qualities which, though
discreditable to civilised peoples, are familiar by im-
memorial usage as well as by national instinct to
Oriental tribes. To an unrefined race such as the
latter a want of refinement is not shocking. To
peoples with whom lying is no disgrace (vide Ali-
khanoff's description of the Turkomans, quoted in
Chapter V.) untruthfulness presents no novelty. To
a society trained in theft and dishonesty (vide
O'Donovan's ‘Merv Oasis, passim) corruption is no
crime. The conquest of Central Asia is a conquest
of Orientals by Orientals, of cognate character by
cognate character. It is the fusing of strong with
weaker metal, but it is not the expulsion of an im-
pure by a purer element. Civilised Europe has not
marched forth to vanquish barbarian Asia. This is
no nineteenth-century crusade of manners or morals;
but barbarian Asia, after a sojourn in civilised
Europe, returns upon its former footsteps to reclaim
its own kith and kin. Assimilation is less remarkable
when rulers are severed from subjects by a gap of but
a few centuries, and when no impassable chasm of
intellect or character intervenes. A system backward
in Europe is forward in Central Asia; stagnation here
is dizzy progress there ; and coarser agencies are
RUSSIAN RULE IN CENTRAL ASIA 393
better fitted for the work of redemption than a more
polished instrument.
No more striking illustration of the policy of
laissez-faire, of which I have spoken, can be given
than the attitude which Russia has throughout
adopted towards those institutions which are com-
monly the rallying-ground of prejudice and supersti-
tion among Mahometans, namely, the religion and the
education of the native peoples. The former she has
absolutely left alone. The Mullahs have been allowed
to teach and preach the Koran ; the dervishes alone
have been restrained in their fanatical importunities;
mosques have even, in some cases, been repaired by
Russian means; and at one time the Government
actually went so far as to build mosques itself
for the conciliation of the Kirghiz. No Russian pro-
paganda has been tolerated in Central Asia; prose-
lytism is tabooed ; and it is a curious but signifi-
cant fact that we find Russian writers boasting that
their Church has never despatched a missionary to
Central Asia nor made an Asiatic convert. From
one point of view this policy has had the most satis-
factory results; for the bigotry, which persecution or
even covert hostility might have sharpened, has sunk
into an indifference which will pave the way to a
more thorough political union. But how different is
this system from that of the English Church, whose
missionary activity is the wonder, if unfortunately it
Attitude
towards
Mahome-
tan reli-
gion
is not the redemption, of foreign lands, and which
aspires to create converts almost before it has made
citizens ! There is this broad difference between the
394 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Towards
native edu-
cation
problem which has confronted the two nations in
Central Asia—that the Russians have so far come into
contact with only one, and that a Monotheistic creed;
while the English have found themselves plunged
into a weltering sea of Pagan superstition and blind
idolatry. -
The contrast between the rival methods is nowhere
more conspicuous than in the field of native education.
If England has recognised a special and primary
obligation in her dealings with conquered peoples it
has always been in the education and development of
the young. Indeed, her lavish distribution of the re-
sources of culture and knowledge in India is the main
cause of the difficulties with which her administra-
tion is now confronted. Wisdom is justified of her
children, and those who have caught the glamour of
nineteenth-century learning are not content to sink
back into the slough of primordial ignorance. The
Russians have proceeded upon very different lines.
The educational habits and institutions of their
Mussulman subjects have been left untouched. The
nektebs, or primary schools, and the medresses, or
high schools, still communicate their straitened and
stinted learning, their senseless lessons by rote, and
their palsied philosophy, to thousands of Russian
subjects, whom not an effort is made to lift on to
a higher plane of intellectual development. The
Government does not even supervise the collection
or distribution of the vakufs, or religious endowments;
and large sums of money are annually left to the dis-
cretion of unlettered Mullahs and priests. That a
RUSSIAN RULE IN CENTRAL ASIA 395
better era, however, is dawning, and that Russia is
beginning to recognise her duties towards those with
whose rule she is charged, may be gathered from the
details which I quoted in an earlier chapter upon
Tashkent. -
Such, broadly speaking, have been the means by
which Russia has gained her position, and having
gained it, has made it secure : namely, overwhelming
military superiority; a resolute policy; the gift of
material advantages; equable and tolerant adminis-
tration ; personal popularity; and a calculating pru-
dence. Let me add thereto that, in the process, the
conquerors have exhibited qualities of a very high
order, commanding respect and admiration. The
Russian soldier is perhaps the most faithful modern
parallel to the Spartan. He would let the wolf tear at
his vitals without uttering a groan. Endued with great
hardihood and power of self-sacrifice, possessed of a
blind but inspiring devotion to duty, he takes his orders
silently and executes them promptly. The child of a
Northern and Arctic clime, he serves without a murmur
in fervid deserts and under excruciating suns. En-
camped in the wilderness, he builds huts and houses
that recall memories of home, and with singing and
merriment he peoples the solitude with cheerful
fancies. Above all, he is animated by a lofty pride of
birth, and by an unfaltering faith in the destiny of his
country. It is of such stuff that heroes and great
nations alike are made, and by such hands that em-
pires have commonly been built.
Other considerations, however, there are which
Bravery
and endu-
rance of
Russian
character
396 Jº USSIA IN CE WTRAL ASIA
Military
ease of
Russian
advance
must also be taken into view. Apart from difficulties
arising from the nature and climate of the country,
it cannot be contended that, in their career of
Central Asian conquest, the Russians have been con-
fronted with any very formidable obstacles. The
only two critical military operations in which they
have been engaged were the native attempt to recap-
ture the citadel of Samarkand in 1868, after Kaufmann
had marched away in pursuit of the Bokharan army,
leaving Only a small garrison behind ; and the siege
of Geok Tepe. The former was a heroic perform-
ance; the latter was, to some extent, an artificial
success; for Skobeleff's one fear, based on a wide
knowledge of Oriental adversaries, was lest the
Turkomans should escape him by flight, before he
could administer the necessary lesson. As it was,
the siege reflected at least as much credit upon the
Tekkes as it did upon the Russians; for the former,
with no guns, and Only inferior rifles, exposed to a
murderous artillery fire behind the worst possible
defence in the world—viz. a walled enclosure in a
level plain, with higher ground in the possession of
the enemy—exhibited a gallantry beyond praise. The
earlier fights with Kirghiz, Khokandians, and Bok-
hariots were mostly “walks over, and must ordinarily
have degenerated into a rout almost from the start,
if the ludicrous disproportion of slain, returned in
the Russian official reports of the engagements, be
accepted as true. So far the Russians in their
advance have not met one genuinely warlike people
or fought one serious battle. Their prodigious pres-
RUSSIA W RULE IN CENTRAL AS/A 397
tige has had the effect of Joshua's trumpets before
the walls of Jericho. No one knew this better than
Skobeleff, who told an amusing story of the capture
of Ura Tepe by Romanovski in 1866. When the
aksakals (grey-beards) of the town were brought
before the Russian commander they kept asking:
“But where are the giants that breathed out fire P’
Romanovski discreetly answered that he had sent
the giants back to Russia, but would recall them at
the first necessity. -
This is one among many contrasts between
Russian and British conquests in Asia. England
only won India after terrific battles, and only holds
it by the allegiance of warlike peoples. Indeed, she
is far safer in the masculine hands of Sikhs and
Mahrattas and Rajputs, than among her tenderly
reared nurseries of hot-house Babus. Great, however,
as was the task set before England in comparison with
Russia, in acquisition, still greater is the strain of
retention. The English are thousands of miles from
home, and are severed therefrom by continents and
oceans. The Russians are still in Russia. From St.
Petersburg to Tashkent, or from Odessa to Merv, a
Russian never leaves Russian soil; he is still in the
fatherland, speaking the same language and observ-
ing the same customs. The expansion of Russia is
the natural growth of the parent stem, whose stately
circumference swells larger and larger each year.
The expansion of England is the throwing out of
a majestic branch which exhausts and may even
ultimately break off from the maternal trunk. Or,
Contrast
between
IEnglish
and
Russian
facilities
398 RUSSIA IW CENTRAL ASIA
Compara-
tive secu-
rity of
dominions
to adopt another metaphor, Russia, in unrolling the
skein of her destiny, keeps one end of it fast held in
her Own hand, and is in unbroken connection with
the other extremity. England has divided her skein
into a multitude of threads, and has scattered them
broadcast over the globe. In Central Asia the
Russians are residents as well as rulers. In India
the English are a relief band of occupants, lease-
holders of a twenty years' term, yearning for the
expiration of their contract, and for the ship that
will bear them home. In Turkestan and Transcaspia
Russians are more obvious to the naked eye than are
their subjects, and, as I have said, Russian soldiers are
far more obvious than Russian civilians. In India
the English are swallowed up in a mighty ocean of
humanity. You may travel for days, if at any dis-
tance from the railway, and never catch sight of a
white man; and your rara avis when you find him
will not have scarlet plumage.
A further contrast is presented by the relative
security or insecurity of the two dominions. Many
and different enemies have it in their power to wreak
mischief upon India. With an extensive and for the
most part defenceless seaboard, she is exposed to
hostile navies. Her commerce finds a hundred
different outlets, not one of which is safe from attack.
Upon the north and north-west she is galled and
worried by the stings of fanatical tribes. Russia
alone can drive her into a ferment by moving a
single sotnia of Cossacks a few furlongs. On the
other hand, the Russian Empire in Central Asia is im-
RUSSIAN RULE IN CENTRAL ASIA 399
**
pregnable. Every avenue of approach is in her own
hands; there is no enemy at her gates. No Armada
can threaten where there are no seas; no hostile
army can operate at such a gigantic distance from its
base. England can do her no positive injury. Her
commerce is overland and cannot be touched; her
communications are secure and cannot be severed.
We have no interest in further advance. Our hands
are full. Russia is growing and spreading, is head-
strong and young; and rash fingers are never want-
ing to beckon her on. Aggression may be sense for
her ; it is folly for us. The utmost we hope for is
to arrest her before the Rubicon of our honour is
reached; the least we desire is to provoke her to
plunge into the stream.
I have indicated the brighter and redeeming fea-
tures of Russian civilisation in Central Asia. There
is a seamy side as well. Drunkenness and gambling
and prostitution have followed, as is their habit, in
the wake of Western morals and culture. At so
great a distance from headquarters, and where the
only avenue of distinction is presented by the public
service, there is great jealousy and constant intrigue
among officers and functionaries. Independence en-
courages self-seeking and arrogance, and there are
plenty of hands ready to pull the successful performer
down. Every prominent actor in Central Asian
politics has a host of enemies, and is fought about
like a theological dogma by opposite schools. General
Annenkoff, for instance, is upheld by a clientèle of
staunch partisans, but is not less sturdily denounced
Seamy side
of Russian
civilisation
400 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL AS/A
*
by an opposition clique. For a time one of the hos-
tile camp, General Bazoff by name, was placed in
managing control of the earlier section of the Trans-
caspian Railway. The result was incessant squabbling
between the two men; and to such a pitch was the
ill-feeling carried that, at the opening ceremonies,
when the rails had been temporarily washed away by
a torrent near Kizil Arvat, Bazoff did all in his power
to incommode and retard the progress of Annenkoff’s
guests. M. de Cholet also relates that in the frontier
districts, at a distance from the central authority,
peculation and corruption are rife. The Pristavs, or
chiefs of centres, defraud the Government by appro-
priating part of the taxes, detection being difficult in
the absence of a regular census."
In the humbler details of local administration, in
such matters as roads, means of communication, and
the like—the very province in which the English
excel—the Russians are incurably languid and idle.
The roads of Central Asia, even the postal roads
and main lines of connection, have long been famous
for their execrable badness. Skobeleff, in a letter
in 1877, on his way from Central Asia to take part
in the Turkish war, wrote that, “if known to Dante,
the Central Asian roads would have served as an
additional horror to hell.’ And yet, dating his letter
from Kazalinsk, he was travelling upon and was
speaking of the main postal route from Tashkent to
Orenburg. Samarkand, Tashkent, and Askabad were
the only places where I saw tolerable roads. Else-
Bad roads
* Voyage en Turkestan, p. 103.
RUSSIA W R Uſ, E IN CENTRAJ, ASIA 401
where they are merely cart-tracks, unmetalled, full
of ruts and holes, and deeply buried in dust. Upon
the Afghan frontier there are practically no roads at
all; though it is approached by two, of Russian con-
struction, from Karibent to Sarakhs, and from Merv
to Takhta-Bazar. -
The information which I have given about Russian
policy in the wider spheres of education, manners, re-
ligion, and morals, will have prepared my readers
for the conclusion that, while the Russian system may
fairly be described as one of government, it cannot be
described as One, to any considerable extent, of im-
provement or of civilisation. There seems to be
altogether lacking that moral impulse which induces
unselfish or Christian exertion on behalf of a subject
people. Broad and statesmanlike schemes for the
material development of the country, for the ameliora-
tion of the condition of the natives, for their adap-
tation to a higher order of things, are either not
entertained, or are crushed out of existence by the
superior exigencies of a military régime. Barracks,
forts, military roads, railway stations, post and tele-
graph offices, the necessary adjuncts of government,
abound; but the institutions or buildings that bespeak
a people's progress have yet to appear. Hence while
there may exist the tranquillity arising from peace-
ful and conciliatory combination, there is not the
harmony that can result only from final coalescence.
It is, of course, true, as I have frequently reminded
my readers, that Russia has only too recently entered
into possession for any very marked results to be as
HD D
General
conclu-
sions as to
Russian
govern-
ment
402 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Schemes
for regener-
ation of
the country
Irrigation
yet visible; while the opportunities afforded among a
nomad or agricultural people, where thereareſew cities
and no national life, are necessarily small. Enough
has been done in the matter of pacification and con-
solidation to excite our respect. But in Turkestan a
twenty years' tilth and seed time might be expected to
have produced a more bountiful harvest; and the
doubt is suggested whether the Russians, though they
may have the ability to conquer and the strength to
keep, have the genius to build a new fabric out of
old materials.
Attention must, however, in all fairness, be drawn
to the schemes of improvement now in course of ex-
ecution, or of attempted execution, and to which
casual reference has more than once been made.
These include irrigation, plantation, and colonisation
On a large scale. But in each case it must be pre-
mised that the plans exist, so far, in greater complete-
ness upon paper than anywhere else; and, accord-
ingly, the account I give of them represents their
genesis in the brain of the reformer, rather than
their positive realisation in fact. Later travellers
may perhaps report the successful filling in of the
somewhat grandiose outlines.
Ihave described the schemes in course of execution
for the improved irrigation of the Merv oasis; and have
indicated how, by amore scientific economy of the exist-
ing water-supply, by the construction of reservoirs in
the Persian mountains to storeasudden and unpremedi-
tated rainfall, as well as of conduits and watercourses
to conduct it to the plains, the Oases of Akhal and Atek
RUSSIA W RULE IN CE WTRAI, ASIA 403
may be expected to enlarge their cultivable area.
More ambitious schemes have, however, been talked
about. The project has been mooted of uniting the
streams of the Murghab and the Tejend, and even
of utilising their surplus resources in order to reclaim
a portion of the Kara Kum. Those, however, who
are best acquainted with the country, and speak from
a practical knowledge of engineering, deny the feasi-
bility of such a consummation, for the simple reason
that the surplus postulated does not exist. In sum-
mer the river-beds are sometimes quite dry; and
although water is undoubtedly wasted by the clumsy
methods of the Turkomans, yet sufficient cannot be
spared to undertake reclamation beyond the existing
limits of the oases; and as the population increases,
which, under pacific rule, it rapidly will, every avail-
able drop will be required upon the spot. Moreover,
the diversion of water into new channels through so
inveterate a wilderness is apt to turn out a very
disappointing enterprise, Owing to the rapid atmo-
spheric evaporation, and to the thirsty appetite of
the sands.
Much the same objection exists, but on a far
larger scale, to the schemes, of which a great deal
was heard at one time, for a restoration of the Oxus
to its old bed, diverging from the present main
stream in the neighbourhood of Khiva towards the
Sary Kamish lakes in the Ust Urt desert," and thence
Above the Sary Kamish lakes there are no less than four old
beds of the Oxus : (1) the oldest, or Unguz, beginning eighty miles
below Tcharjui, and running parallel with the modern Amu Daria to
- D D 2
Diversion
of the
Oxus to
its old bed
404 RUSSIA IW CE WTRAV, ASIA
by the dried-up Uzboi bed, to the Igdi wells and the
Balkan Bay in the Caspian. This idea is as old as
the time of Peter the Great, who sent an envoy to ex-
amine the former channel, and to report upon the
feasibility of the project, with a view to opening up a
new waterway into the heart of Asia. The construc-
tion of the Transcaspian Railway has to a great ex-
tent obviated the present necessity for such an under-
taking; while exhaustive scientific surveys have simul-
taneously demonstrated its practical infeasibility, or,
at any rate, the unremunerative outlay of the experi-
ment. Herr Kiepert's famous and scornful criticism
of the project, when at the height of its favour, as
‘the great Central Asian Sea-serpent, though bitterly
resented at the time, has apparently survived to wit–
ness its own justification. The difference of levels
between the Sary Kamish lakes and the Caspian is so
great that it is calculated that forty years would be
spent in filling the former before the idea could be
entertained of taking the overflow into the Caspian.
General Gloukhovskoe himself, who is understood to
be favourable to the scheme, has estimated the cost
Tort Rabakli, and thence westwards to the Sheikh wells; (2) a channel
leaving the Amu Daria near Khazarasp, passing by Khiva and running
to the wells of Charishli on the Uzboi ; variously known throughout
its length as Zeikyash, Yaman Kagikyal, and Tonu or Sonu Daria ;
(3) the Doudan, starting a little to the east of the town of Khanki, and
running by the hill of Man Kir and through the lakes of Tunukla to the
south-east corner of the Sary Kamish lakes; (4) the Darialik, beginning
five miles west of Kunia Urgenj, and falling into the Sary Kamish lakes
at their north-east corner. Wide Grodekoff’s War in Turkomania,
vol. i. chap. i. Colonel Petrusevitch, who surveyed the last-named bed,
demonstrated the possibility of utilising it as far as the Sary Kamish
lakes, water having flowed through it thus far, when the Amu Daria
burst its banks in 1878. - - -
RUSSIA W RULE IN CENTRAL ASIA 405
of its undertaking at four millions sterling. A further
danger is the desiccation that might be entailed upon
Khiva and the Amu Daria province on the right bank
of the river, one of the most fertile portions of the
Russian dominions. It is improbable, therefore, un-
less the Oxus repeats its perambulatory humours of
the past, which it shows no immediate likelihood of
doing, that any artificial attempt to alter its direction
will be made in our time.
Plantation has been resorted to in many parts, as
allusions in previous chapters have shown, in the in-
terest both of improved fertilisation of the soil, and
an increase of moisture in the climate. The branch
of industry, however, from which Russia, with pro-
bable justice, expects the greatest return, is that of
cotton plantation, which, after a long apathy, is (if
official reports are to be relied upon) being vigor-
ously pursued both on the banks of the Amu Daria
and in Turkestan. American seed has been imported
into the country; American scientific methods and
appliances have been studied; and in observance of
the commercial policy which I have more than
Once sketched, an American company that applied
for a concession met with a peremptory refusal, the
Russians intending to keep an absolute monopoly
of the industry, both growth and export, in their own
hands. General Annenkoff, in the paper on the
Commercial Importance of the Transcaspian Railway,
from which I have before quoted, gave the figures of
the present produce of cotton in Central Asia as
follows:—
Cotton
plantation
406 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Bokhara . .6 g e . 2,000,000 pouds
Rhiva º g e & º 500,000 ,
Khokand . & e º . 300,000 ,
Amu Daria d º & . 500,000 ,
Total . º . 3,300,000 ,
and those of the exports of cotton vid Orenburg before
the construction of the railway as–
1883 . . . . . . 603,000 pouds
1884 . º & º e . 626,000 ,
1885 . . º sº © tº . 668,000 ,
The book which he is understood to be about to publish
upon the railway will no doubt contain more recent
statistics. So far the fertility of the Central Asian
cotton-seed has not been developed to anything like
the same extent as its American rival. One poud (36
lbs.) of the former in its impure state yields only 9 lbs.
of pure material; while the corresponding amount of
American seed produces 15 lbs. One desiatine (i.e. 2%
acres) of land in Central Asia will give from 12 to 14
pouds of pure cotton; the same area in America will
give from 22 to 30. The present annual requirements
of Russia are stated at about 8,000,000 pouds of cotton,
which she imports from Egypt, India, and America,
at an average price of 11 roubles (22s.) a poud.
General Annenkoff, as I have previously mentioned,
claims to be able to offer his railroad-borne cotton
from Central Asia in the market of Moscow at 6;
roubles a poud. With the united supply of Merv,
Bokhara, Ferghana, and Khokand, Russia expects to
be entirely self-supporting in another decade.
Of the rapid extension of the industry in Central
* 1 poud = 36 English lbs. ; 62 pouds = 1 ton.
Jº USSIA W RULE IN CENTRAI, ASIA 407
Asia, the following figures will give some idea. In
1884, only 750 acres in Turkestan were devoted to
the plantation of American cotton. In 1886 the area
was 30,000 acres, and for the first time an annual
meeting of planters was held at Tashkent. In 1886
the export from Central Asia, mainly by the Trans-
Caspian Railway, though at that time carried no fur-
ther than Merv, was 55,000 bales of 100 kilogrammes
(220 lbs.) each. In 1887 the total was reckoned
at 120,000–200,000 such bales; in 1888 the area
under cultivation was 87,500 acres in Turkestan,
and the total export was 521,000 bales, made up as
follows:–
Bokhara . g © e ſº 122,000 bales
Khiva gº e te e tº . 57,000 ,
Tashkent . tº º e * 180,000 ,
Persia s s jº ſe & . 81,000 ,
Erivan . * tº § tº . 81,000 ,
Total . tº ſº 521,000 ,
From the latest report (for 1888) of the trade
of St. Petersburg and Consular District, I derive the
following:—
The consumption in Russia of cotton grown in Bokhara,
Rhiva, and Khokand is steadily increasing; although as at
present produced, the great bulk of these cottons is not suit-
able for spinning the finer number of yarn most in demand.
The staple, as a rule, is both short and irregular, the fibre
rather dry and weak, and the cotfon imperfectly cleaned."
Among other industries pursued or attempted on a sericulture
and viti-
considerable scale, and susceptible of great expan- culture
* No. 564 of the Annual Series of Foreign Office Reports, 1889.
408 RUSSIA IN CAEWTRAL ASIA
Colonisa-
tion
sion, in the Central Asian dominions of Russia, are
the production of silk and of wine, and the growth of
rice. Out of 800,000l. worth of raw silk, and 200,000l.
worth of spun silk, annually consumed by Russia,
only from 30,000l. to 60,000l. worth come from
Central Asia; and there is therefore an excellent
opening for enlarged production. During the last
few years, however, the industry, owing to the wide-
spread existence of disease among the silkworms, has
been on the decline; the returns of the market of
Rhojent showing a fall from 30,000 pouds of cocoons
sold in 1885 for 30,000l., to 4,000 pouds sold in 1888
for 5,000l. Establishments have been founded for the
examination of the eggs, with a view to the eradica-
tion of the disease; and fresh supplies of eggs are
now being imported from other silk-growing countries.
The culture of the vine is largely practised, under the
most favourable conditions of soil and climate, by the
natives, who manufacture a very superior beverage.
With due care and with improved methods, Turkestan
may be made to supply the entire needs in this respect
of Siberia, as well as of Central Asia. Of rice, though
a great deal is grown, none has till lately been ex-
ported to European Russia. But the Transcaspian
Railway will now encourage the growth by facilitating
the exportation.
Lastly I come to the Russian projects of colonisa-
tion, which again look exceedingly well on paper, but
as regards fulfilment are as yet very much in the air.
The banks of the Amu Daria and the Oasis of Merv
are the regions to which the emigrant is specially
RUSSIA W RULE IN CENTRAL ASIA 409
invited; and quite recently General Annenkoff, in a
lecture before the Imperial Geographical Society of
St. Petersburg, drew a pretty comparison between
the settlements on the Yellow China River, and the
future Russian colonies on the Oxus. There is this
fundamental difference between the two, that the
Chinese colonists are Chinamen, while the Russian
colonists are to be Russian, or, in other words, that the
one are indigenous, while the others will be aliens. It
cannot be said that the Russians have anywhere in Asia
as yet attained much success as colonists. In the
Syr Daria district they commenced the experiment in
1875 of the free settling of peasants, the planting of
Crown colonies at fixed points having already proved
a complete failure. A few villages were founded in
the ensuing years; but until 1884 the progress was
very slow. In 1885 there were reported to be eight
peasant settlements, and four colonies of German
Memnonites, with 514 families, and about 2,500
persons. In 1886 six more Russian villages were
established, with 324 families, extending over the
two neighbouring districts. These are the latest
procurable figures. -
The very taste for nomad life which their constant
migrations have shown really disqualifies the Russians
for the sedentary and laborious existence of the settler.
Whole communities will roam away from home upon
the slightest pretext, or upon the breath of some faint
rumour touching the rich gardens of Turkestan or
the prolific harvests of Merv. A story is related of
a well-to-do colonist who wandered south from Siberia,
q. 10 RUSSIA IN cRNTRAL ASIA
abandoning an excellent farm, simply because he had
heard that a certain weed, by which his holding was
troubled, ceased to grow beyond a particular limit.
The Government of the Steppe to the north-east of
Turkestan, and more especially the province of Semi-
rechinsk, or the Land of the Seven Streams, have
hitherto been the chief scene of Russian colonisation.
In the latter, where the process commenced in 1854,
there are said to be over 30,000 colonists. But the
emigrants, who were mainly Cossacks of rude habits
and unsettled life (the Russian Minister of Agriculture
described them in a report as a coarse and almost
savage band, addicted to idleness, intoxication, theft,
and vice), or peasants from Siberia, driven southwards
by the cold, appear to have been thoroughly unsatis-
factory; while Chinese competition from the neighbour-
ing province of Ili and from Chinese Turkestan, par-
ticularly that of the Dungans or Chinese Mahometans,
and Taranchis or Turki Mahometans, has proved a
serious hindrance. The natives, who, like all China-
men, consume less food and work for less wages than
any other people in the world, lower the price of
agricultural produce, and derive a further advantage
from their intimate knowledge of the local systems of
irrigation. Disgust overtakes the discomfited Euro-
pean ; he packs up his goods and chattels, and be-
comes a vagrant once more. Further east, in the
Russian province of Manchuria along the Amoor
River, Chinese competition has proved so formidable
that the Government has felt called upon to interfere.
In the Pri-Amoorski district there were reported in
RUSSIA W RULE IN CENTRAL ASIA 411.
1888 to be 40,000 Asiatic aliens; in the Ussuri dis-
trict 14,000. The Russian Governor-General in his
last report included these words: ‘The Manchurians
form an element which is dangerous to the interests
of our Russian colonists, as by their intelligence, in-
dustry, endurance, and frugality, competition of any
foreign labour system whatever with theirs is pre-
vented.’ To restrict this influx and the consequent
fall in prices, it was proposed that the Russian Govern-
ment should lay a special capitation or income tax
upon all Chinese and Koreans in Russian territory,
and in the scheme of universal taxation should allow
an exemption to naturalised Russian subjects and
Russian traders. .
These incidents will show that Russian colonisa-
tion in Central Asia is not such smooth sailing as
might be expected; and that projects, however brave,
may be widely removed from reality. General An-
nenkoff in his lecture recommended the following
steps as the prelude to more successful ventures:
improved and extended irrigation; the circulation of
maps with spots adapted to settlement distinguished
upon them ; the institution of model farms and agri-
cultural schools in order to create a supply of com-
petent managers and overseers; and the collection of
models of appliances used in America for the cultiva-
tion of cotton. Nevertheless there do not exist in
Central Asia the insuperable obstacles of climate and
surroundings that have rendered British colonies in
India an impossibility, and have thereby deprived the
English of this most potent instrument of assimilation;
412 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
and the Amu Daria fringe may one day be peopled
with untidy long-haired Moujiks, and dotted over
with pine-log huts.
Such, so far as I have been able to ascertain them,"
are Russia's position and prospects, her virtues and
failings, in her recently acquired Central Asian
dominions. Englishmen may regard her presence
there with equanimity and watch her progress with
friendly interest. They may compare her doings north
of the Hindu Kush and Himalayas with their own to
the south, and may perhaps derive some lessons, or
imbibe some warnings from the contrast. They need
grudge Russia none of her triumphs, nor be led, either
by national jealousy or by possible antagonism in the
future, into competition with her in a field which
their own hands are too full to enter. Let no English-
man be found repeating the infatuated nonsense that
has sometimes found its way into print in magazine
articles, about turning Russia out of Central Asia, or
sweeping her from the Khanates. She is not to be
evicted; and of all peoples we are the last to supply
the crowbar brigade. The limits to British dominions
in Central Asia are fixed by natural conditions, which
we should be insane to ignore or overleap, and
which sever us, as by oceans, from Tartar prairies
or Turkoman steppes. The inheritance of these
lands, with their historic past, their sordid present,
Attitude
of Great
Britain
* I have made repeated applications to Russian official quarters for
further information, both in figures and in facts; but entirely without
success. If the Russians are anywhere misrepresented or misunder-
stood in foreign countries, it is commonly their own fault; for they
stupidly refuse the sole means of correction or Substantiation.
PUSSIA W RULE IN CE WTRAL ASIA 413
and the mysterious possibilities of their future, has
devolved upon a race yet young among nations,
endowed with surpassing vitality, and destined to
greatness. At least let us wish her God-speed in the
undertaking.
Tet it be borne in mind, however, and by none
more than the Russians themselves, that if the future
of these regions is in their own hands, upon their
shoulders rests a proportionate responsibility. So far
everything has been easy enough. Armies have col-
lapsed; the conquered have been pacified; opposition
has vanished; order has been assured. The scarcely
formulated ambitions of Peter the Great have been
realised, and have been multiplied a hundredfold in
the process of realisation. A new continent has been
usurped, and a mighty empire has been won. But,
as the Duke of Wellington remarked to Lord Auck-
land in 1839, “In Asia, where victories cease difficul-
ties begin.” Demolition has been simple ; but a call
for constructive ability is now made. Russia is re-
quired to build a new edifice upon the old founda-
tions, to lift a people from the sloth of centuries,
and to teach them the worth of manhood. The in-
veterate walkers in darkness have seen a great light.
They are entitled to share the warmth of its illumina-
tion. Means of regeneration exist in abundance. A
railway built for purposes of war ought in proper
hands to become a security for peace. A few crumb-
ling Khanates alone remain as an expiring relic of the
past, which, with all its pageantry and its horrors, is
shrivelling up like a parchment scroll beneath the
Responsi-
bilities of
Russi
414 RUSSIA IW CE WTH AI, ASIA
action of fire, and will only leave its charred remains
as a memento for another generation. The field is
clear, and no rival threatens. If Russian brains can
only estimate the sense of duty, or even of ulterior
profit, at a little higher price than ephemeral vain-
glory, and if Russian hands can desist from flying
at the least breath of suspicion to the hilts of their
Swords, there is no reason why a future of benefi-
cence and even of splendour should not await the
Central Asian dominions of the Czar.
A PTPE N DIC E S
APPENDIX T
--6<>6-
TA BİLE OF STATTOMS AND DISTAVCES OV THE
TRANSCASPIAW RAIL WAY, 1889
Name of Station
. Uzun Ada,
. Michaehovsk
. Molla Kari
. Bala, Ishem
Aidin
. Pereval
Akcha Kuma
. Kazanjik
. Uzun Su
Ushak
. Kizil Arvat
. Kodj.
. Bahmi
. Artchman .
. Suntcha,
. Bacharden .
. Kelata
. Geok Tepe.
. Bezmein
. Askabad
. Gyaurs
. Aksu .
Distance in Versts
(two-thirds of a mile)
0
26
48
82
112
127
143
174
190
21.3
243
270
294
324
343
354
381
406
428
4 48
4.80
497
416 RUSSIA IN CEWTRAL ASIA
e T)istance in Wersts
Name of Station (two-thirds of a mile)
23. Baba. Durmaz . e º º e . 518
24. Artik. º e o tº g © . 536
25. Kaakha . º o º & e , 568
26. Arman Sagait . e e 0. © , 586
27. T)ushak . g e e O e . 607
28. Takir. e e e º 6 e . 627
29. Tejend e º º º o © , 651
30. Geok Seour e & º tº e , 673
31. Jujukli e º º o e º , 698
32. Dort Kuyu. tº tº º tº & . 723
33. Karibata . e º e º e . 746
34. Merv . ſe e º º e © . 770
35. Bairam Ali ſº º º e g ... 796
36. Kurban Kala . º © º e ... 813
37. FCeltchi . te © º e e . 831
38. Ravnina . e e tº º º , 853
39. Uch Adji . e Q º o O . 872
40. Peski. ſº & º º º e . 901
41. Repetek . e e º e s . 931
42. Karaul Kuyu . e º º e . 954
43. Barchani . . . º e e s . 976
44. Tcharjui . g te te & º . 989
45. Amu Daria e º o e ſº . 998
46. Farab tº º e º e tº . 1,002
47. Kadji Devlet . O e e º . 1,023
48. Kara Kul . º & e e o . 1,042
49. Yakatat . º e º º ſº . 1,066
50. Murgak . º & º e e . 1,084
51. Bokhara . tº e & e e . 1,107
52. Kuyu Mazar . e º e º . 1,131
53. Kizil Tepe . t e e e e . 1,147
54. Malik e º tº º e * . 1,169
55. Kermine . o e e o º . 1,193
56. Ziadin e e e © o s . 1,217
57. Tugai Robat . g © e e . 1,242
58. Katta Kurgan . e e e º . 1,269
59. Nagornaya. e o º e e . 1,293
60. Juma. e e e º º te . 1,319
61. Samarkand º º tº º s . 1,343
APPENDIX II
TAJ3 L E O I' DISTA MC ES IN CENT/PAL ASIA
THE Sources from which the following table has been compiled are
scattered in a great number of works, and it may claim, I believe,
to be the first published attempt of its kind. Where I have found
conflicting computations of distance, an endeavour has been made
to determine the more trustworthy estimate, though, in a country
where routes are not clearly marked, and where space is measured,
not by mile-posts, but by marches, absolute precision is scarcely to
be procured. Where places are connected by rail, the distance has
been reckoned by the line, and not by road. In the selection of
cases for mention, any compiler must lay himself open to the charge
of arbitrary choice. My object has been to give the figures of
distance between such places as are likely to have an important
bearing upon the future development of the Central Asian Question,
more particularly such places as are on the main lines of Russian or
British advance. I can certify, from my own experience, how
seriously a student may be retarded in the effort to comprehend a
strategical argument or position by the absence of such knowledge,
and what a wonderful aid to understanding is the fortunate accident
of its possession.
Miles
Alexandretta to Grain (Persian Gulf) . º ſº e . 920
Andkui to Balkh . * g g g & º g . 100
75 Bosaga (Oxus) . w g g * & . 60
25 Maimena e º o • • #3 tº; , 80
3 * Maruchak . g g e $ e & , 180
Askabad to Dushak * g t * e & tº . 106
,, . Herat . º te & * e * g . 368
92 Khiva . & ſº g e § º e . 280
» Kuchan * o © 9 g g g . 70
52 Merv . e. º t * . . . º . 215
3 5 Meshed & t; e e to g t; . 168
418 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Askabad to Sarakhs
Astrabad to Bujmurd
5 3 EIerat
52 Kuchan
25 Meshed
25 Shahrud
Balkh to Bamian
52 BOSaga
35 EIerat
• 35 Eabul
, Kilif (Oxus)
IBokhara to Balkh .
53 Karshi & •.
2 3 Khiva (by steppe)
} } , (vid Tcharjui)
5 5 Eilif
2 3 Maimena
55 Samarkand .
2 3 Tcharjui e gº tº
T)era Ghazi Khan to Quetta . tº tº e
Dera Ismail Khan to Ghuzni (vid Gomul Pass)
53 Kandahar . .
Herat to Bamian §
22 Farrah
55 Girishk * tº ‘tº
22 Kabul (vid Daulatyar) , .
35 Kandahar tº g
35 Quetta
2 3 Sibi e
Kabul to Balkh . .
25 Bamian .
95 Herat
25 Jellalabad
, Kandahar
52 Peshawur g g * *
Randahar to Dera Ismail Khan (Indus)
55 Herat * º
53 Kabul
25 Quetta.
Rerki to Karshi
32 Eilif
32 Tcharjui .
Miles
198
200
557
267
34.7
60
... • 220
80
370
330
50
276
S6
280
330
226
350
150
70
295
250
340
390
I 55
314
500
389
533
630
330
| 10
500
100
328
180
340
389
328
144
80
100
140
TA BAE, F, OF DISTA WC. E.S.
419
Khiva to Askabad. º t
Fort Alexandrovsk (Caspian) .
,, Fort Perovski (Syr Daria)
5 y Jizak g º º
2 3 Kazalinsk (Syr Daria)
2 3 Kindarli Bay (Caspian) .
, Kizil Arvat e e s º
2 3 Krasnovodsk (by Sary Kamish Lakes)
5 2. Merv * • • * *
35 Orenburg (by steppe)
22 35 (vid Kazalinsk)
Kizil Arvat to Askabad
2 3 Geok Tepe .
35 Tchikishliar
Kohat to Kabul (vid Kurum Valley)
Krasnovodsk to Fort Alexandrovsk
35 Khiva .
2 3 Tchikishliar .
Kuhsan to Herat .
22 Sarakhs se *
Rungrad to Mertvi Kultuk Bay (Caspian)
Kurrachi to Chaman . g e g
Maimena to Andkui
* 5 Bala Murghab
Merv to Herat
35 Khiva.
,, Penjdeh
32 Sarakhs
,, . Tcharjui .
Meshed to Askabad
,, . Herat .
25 Ruchan
35 Pul-i-Khatun
22 Sarakhs & & e
Mohammerah (Karun River) to Ahwaz.
55 2 3 Dizful .
; 2 35 Ispahan
35 2 3 Shustar
2 Teheran
25 –3
Orenburg to Bokhara (by steppe) . w º *
25 25 (vid Tashkent and Samarkand)
2 3 Khiva (by steppe)
Miles
280
676
396
472
330
543
315
f;33
350
866
996
| 36 .
108
220
212
412
533
249
65
147
299
690
SO
100
273
350
133
94.
155
168
230
98
90
100
82
| 72
411
I 36
. 621
. I 146
. I 628
866
420 Jº USSIA / W C EAWT/PA/, AS/A
Orenburg to Khiva (vić Kazalinsk)
35 Kazalinsk (Syr Daria)
} } Samarkand.
2 : Tashkent
Penjdeh to Bala Murghab
3 y Herat . - t
} } Maruchak
2 3 Merv . e e º - e º
Quetta to Dera Ghazi Khan (Indus) (vid Hurnai) .
3 * 2 3 5 3 (vid Pishin)
5 y Herat t º
35 Randahar
5 3 Sibi
Resht to Teheran .
Samarkand to Balkh
35 Bokhara . & º ſº o
5 y Kabul . w º - º *.
J 4 ECarshi
35 Tashkent.
Sarakhs to Kuhsan
22 Herat,
25 Pul-i-Khatun
Tashkent to Khojent
j 3 Rhokand
52 Orenburg
35 Samarkand
Tcharjui to Bokhara
33 Rerki .
33 Rhiva (by Oxus).
Teheran to Astrabad e
55 Bushire
2 3 Ispahan
35 Meshed
25 Shiraz .
Uzun Ada to Askabad .
22 Kizil Arvat
22 Merv
22 Oxus
27 Samarkand
Miles
996
. 667
. 1478
. 1291
46
140
28
I 33
260
295
533
144
100
210
300
150
630
113
190
147
170
40
95
177
. I 291
190
80
140
260
240
780
280
550
600
300
162
51.3
665
S95
421
AEPENDIX III
CIIRONOLOGY OF EVENTS IN CENTRAL ASIA,
1800—1889
T HAVE compiled the following chronology, not without considerable
research, from a wide variety of sources. So far as I know, there is
only one other chronological table in existence relating to the same
question, viz. that at the end of the first volume of Dr. Tansdell’s
“Russian Central Asia.' Dr. Lansdell's list, however, being restricted
to the record of Russian advance in Central Asia, contains no dates
of Afghan or Persian history, nor any mention of the dealings of
England and Russia with either of those countries. Neither in its
own department is it perfect, being sometimes diffuse in recording
facts of no moment, while it elsewhere omits relatively important
incidents. My own compilation is no doubt susceptible of vast
improvement, but, within its limits, aspires to be a fairly adequate
record of English and Russian movements in the regions described
in the foregoing volume as Central Asia ; dates connected with out-
lying countries or history being only introduced here and there,
where they are correlative to the main chain of events. The sub-
joined list is brought up to the autumn of the present year, or a period
five years later than Dr. Lansdell's catalogue.
First British mission (of Captain Malcolm), and treaty with
Persia. & * * * * © § * . 1800
Proposed invasion of India by the Emperors Paul and
Napoleon . © g & tº wº e & , 1800
The Turkomans of Mangishlak appeal to be made Russian
subjects, but subsequently revolt º º § . 1800
War between Russia, and Persia . tº e te sº 1802–6
Accession of Mohammed Rahim Khan of Khiva . © . 1806
Scheme of Indian invasion by the Emperors Alexander and
Napoleon . g § e º Q º e . 1807
First treaty between France and Persia te tº te , 1807
Second and abortive mission of Malcolm to Persia & , 1808
422 RUSSIA / W C E WTAEAL ASIA
Second treaty between Great Britain and Persia . . March 1809
Russian administration introduced into the Kirghiz steppes . 1812
Treaty of Gulistan between Russia and Persia (by which
Russia gained Imeritia, Mingrelia, Daghestan, Kara-
bagh, Derbent, Baku, Shirvan, and Ganjeh) . Oct. 1813
Treaty of Teheran between Great Britain and Persia . Nov. 1814
Mission of Ponomareff to the Turkomans . - º . 1819
Visit of Mouravieff to Khiva, . - g º • . 1819
Mission of M. de Negri to Bokhara iº º 1821
Surveys of the East Caspian by Mouravieff . * * . 1821
First Russian caravan to Bokhara º º - º . 1824
Moorcroft and Trebeck visit Bokhara, and die on their return
through Afghan Turkestan e - - . . . 1825
Accession of Nasrullah, Amir of Bokhara . & - . I 826
35 Allah Kuli Khan of Khiva e e º . I 826
55 Dost Mohammed, Amir of Afghanistan . . 1826
Mission of Menzikoff to Teheran . º º - º 1826
War renewed between Russia and Persia. . - e IS26–8
Erivan captured by Paskievitch . - º º . Oct. 1827
Treaty of Turkomanchai between Russia and Persia (by
which Russia gained Erivan and Nakhchivan) . Feb. 1828
Treaty of Adrianople between Russia and Turkey (by which
Russia gained Poti, etc.) . • e º 6. . I 829
Captain A. Conolly's overland journey to India . - . 1829
Tekke Turkomans appear in the Merv country . . circ. 1830
Dr. Wolff's first journey to Merv and Bokhara . e . 1831
Tieutenant A. Burnes' journey to Kabul, Bokhara, Merv,
and Meshed º º º º sº - * . 1832
Unsuccessful Persian expedition against Herat . º . 1833
Death of Futteh Ali and accession of Mohammed Shah in
Persia. g º e º o g º . . . 1834
Fort Novo-Alexandrovsk established by Perovski on eastern
shore of the Caspian . - * e * * > . 1834
Russian mission of Demaison to Bokhar * e & . 1834
2, Vitkievitch 25 . - e . 1835
Trading expeditions of Karelin and Blaramberg to the Turko-
Iſla,I\S , s º * ºn º º e º º . 1836
Persia, instigated by Russia, marches against Herat . . 1837
Siege of Herat and defence by Eldred Pottinger
- Nov. 1837 to June 1838
Mission of Burnes to Kabul . º º - Sept. 1837
Russian agent Vitkievitch at Kabul . g º . Dec. 1837
CIIROWOLOGY OF EVENTS 423
Stoddart sent as British envoy from Teheran to Bokhara . 1838
Wood explores the Upper Oxus to Lake Sir-i-kul. 's . 1838
British occupation of Karrack . º g tº & . 1838
Treaty between England and Shah Suja ſº g . June 1838
Beginning of first Afghan war . g e g . Nov. 1838
Unsuccessful expedition of Perovski against Khiva . . I 839
Capture of Kandahar . * º º . April 1839
Capture of Kabul, flight of Dost Mohammed, and restoration
of Shah Suja º e ſº º t Aug. 1839
First British expedition into Kelat . e * . Nov. 1839
Rising of Dost Mohammed . . . . . . Sept. 1840
Defeat and surrender of Dost Mohammed . & . Nov. 1840
Mission of Abbott, Shakespear, and Conolly to Khiva . . 1840
Mission of Bouteneff, Khanikoff, and Lehmann to Bokhara . 1841
Mission of Conolly to Khokand . º * tº º . 1841
First treaty between Great Britain and Kela ū º . 1841
Treaty between Great Britain and Persia . tº e . I 841
Naval station of Ashurada occupied by Russia. . . . 1841
Assassination of Sir A. Burnes at Kabul . t . Nov. 1841
Murder of Sir W. Macnaghten at Kabul . g . Dec. 1841
Siege of British forces in Kabul . & Dec. 1841 to Jan. 1842
Retreat and massacre of British army . * º . Jan. 1842
Arrival of Lord Ellenborough in India * ſº . Feb. 1842
Advance of British relief column under Gen. Pollock . April 1842
Execution of Stoddart and Conolly at Bokhara . . June 1842
March of Gen. Nott from Kandahar to Kabul Aug. to Sept. 1842
General Pollock re-enters Kabul . g e tº . Sept. 1842
Evacuation of Afghanistan . ſº te º * , Oct. 1842
Dost Mohammed restored to throne . & te * . 1842
First treaty (concluded by Danilevski) between Russia and
JKhiva. º e * º * tº e * 1842
Second journey of Dr. Wolff to Bokhara . g s . 1843
Visit of Taylour-Thomson to Merv and Khiva . g . 1843
Anglo-Russian agreement between the Emperor Nicholas .
and Lord Aberdeen . te g º e g . 1844
Accession of Khudayar Khan of Khokand . * & . 1844
Submission of Great Horde of Kirghiz. g e 1844
Abandonment of Fort Novo-Alexandrovsk in favour of Fort
Novo-Petrovsk (afterwards in 1857 christened Fort
Alexandrovsk) . e º ſº & º g . 1846
Treaty of Erzeroum between Turkey and Persia . tº . 1847
First Russian fort built at Aralsk, on the Aral Sea . . 1848
424. Jº USSIA IN OF WT'RAJ, ASIA
Commencement of the Aral flotilla . e º g . 1848
Accession of Nasr-ed-din, Shah of Persia . º . Sept. 1848
|Fort No. 1, or Kazała, built on the Syr Daria . 1849
Convention between Great Britain and Persia . e . 1851
Reconnaissance by Blaramberg against Ak Musjid § . 1852
Ak Musjid, on Syr Daria, captured by the Russians and made
Fort Perovski . tº • * e & e . 1853
Anglo-Persian convention concerning Herat & * . 1853
The Russians establish a military station at Fort Verny 1854
Second treaty between Great Britain and Kelat . & . 1854
First treaty between Great Britain and T)ost Mohammed
March 1855
Surrender of Herat to the Persians . g g . Oct. 1856
Second treaty between Great Britain and Dost Mohammed
Jan. 1857
War between Great Britain and Persia Nov. 1856 to March 1857
Treaty of Paris between Great Britain and Persia . March 1857
Accession of Khudadad Khan of Kelat g º § . 1857
Tekke Turkomans expel Sariks and occupy Merv . . . . 1857
Indian Mutiny . ſº We • º & e 1857–8
Mission of Ignatieff to Khiva and Bokhara . tº sº . 1858
Russian mission of Khanikoff to Herat sº º g . 1858
Expedition of Dandevil against the Turkomans . e . I 859
Government of India transferred from the East India Com-
pany to the Crown . & ſe . . e . 1859
Accession of Mozaffur-ed-din, Amir of Bokhara . tº . 1860
Treaty of Pekin between Russia and China . & & . I 860
The Russians recommence military operations in Central
Asia . s tº g tº º t e & . 1860
Persian expedition against Merv repulsed by the Tekkes . 1861
Death of Dost Mohammed . & . June 1863
Voyage of A. Wambéry to Khiva, Bokhara, and Samarkand. 1863
Overland telegraphic convention between England, Turkey,
and Persia. {º g * e e º º . 1863
Capture of Aulieata and Hazret by the Russians. . July 1864
Storming of Tchimkent by Tchermaieff. * g . Oct. 1864
Circular of Prince Gortchakoff . . º e . Nov. 1864
Accession of Seid Mohammed Rahim Khan of Khiva . . I S65
Formation of Turkestan province tº * * . Feb. 1865
Storming of Tashkent by Tchermaieff . g wº . June 1865
Yakub Beg captures Kashgar . º *: * t , 1865
Tchernaieff replaced by Romanovski . • . g , 1866
CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS 425
Defeat of Bokharan army at Trjar . . . May 1866
Capture of Khojent (May), Ura Tepe, and Jizak . . Oct. 1866
Yakub Beg captures Yarkand . te tº * º I866
Formation of Government of Turkestan under Kaufmann Sept. 1867
Capture of Samarkand. º ve ë ge & . May 1868
Final defeat of Bokharan army . te e g . June 1868
Annexation of Zerafshan province by Russia te . Nov. 1868
First treaty between Russia and Bokhara . e e . I 868
Civil war in Afghanistan . e e º * tº 1863–8
Final triumph of Shir Ali Khan . ë * * . Jan. 1869
Flight of Abdurrahman Khan to Samarkand e & . 1869
Umballa Conference between Lord Mayo and Shir Ali. March 1869
First overtures from Lord Clarendon to Prince Gortchakoff
about Afghanistan . g e º e g . 1869
Occupation of Krasnovodsk, on the east shore of the Caspian,
by Stolietoff . e g e ę tº . Nov. 1869
Rarshi and Shahri Sebz restored by Russia to Bokhara . I 870
Occupation of Michaelovsk and Molla Kari by the Russians 1870
First expedition against the Turkomans to Kizil Arvat . 1870
Occupation of Kulja by the Russians . tº * . July 1871
Reconnaissances of Markozoff to Sary Kamish Lakes and on
the Atrek . ſº tº * & © ſº g . I 871
Russian fort erected at Tchikishliar . º e e . 1871
Second Russian reconnaissance to Kizil Arvat and Bahmi ... 1872
Gortchakoff-Granville Agreement as to boundaries of Afghan-
istan e ſº e º *. e e . Oct. 1872
Captain Marsh's ride through Khorasan g e * . 1872
Seistan Boundary Commission . e º * e 1872
Persian Railway Concession to Baron de Reuter . g . IS72
Russian treaty with Yakub Beg and recognition of independ-
ence of Kashgar { } tº Qº 9 e tº . 1872
Russian expedition against Khiva g & * * . 1873
Capture of Khiva te § tº g tº May 1873
Annexation of Amu-Daria province by Russia. . . Aug. 1873
Treaty between Russia and Khiva t s * ,, 1873
Fortress of Koushid Khan Kala begun by the Merv Tekkes. 1873
Second treaty between Russia and Bokhara. g . Oct. 1873
First visit of the Shah to Europe, April to September . . 1873
Journey of Colonel Valentine Baker in Turkomania and
Khorasan . g . 1873
Formation of military district of Transcaspia sub General
Lomakin . * § & t; * g . April 1874
426 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Journey of Col. Ch. MacGregor in Khorasan & e , 1875
Capt. Burnaby's ride to Khiva . g g o . . . 1875
Rebellion in Khokand . º © ſº & © * . 1875
Nur Verdi elected Khan of Akhal tº g . 1875
Annexation of Khokand and formation of Russian province
of Ferghana . * d {} § • * . Feb. 1876
Expedition of Prjevalski to Lob Nor . § g & . 1876
Treaty of Jacobabad between Great Britain and Kelat. Dec. 1876
Third Russian expedition to, and retreat from, Kizil Arvat . 1877
Defeat and death of Yakub Beg . * ſº e . 1877
Abortive conference at Peshawur between Sir T. Pelly and
Nur Mahomet Shah . tº & e g . Feb. 1877
T)eath of Koushid Khan of Merv, and election of Nur Verdi
PChan of Akhal . & te § -g º tº . 1878
Kaufmann threatens invasion of Afghanistan and India June 1878
Pamir column despatched under General Abramoff . , 1878
Arrival of Stolietoff mission at Kabul . & & July 1878
Russian fort built at Chat, on the Atrek . & . Aug. 1878
Second visit of the Shah to Europe ë {} tº * . I 878
British envoy turned back from Khyber Pass te . Sept. 1878
Colonel Grodekoff’s ride from Samarkand to Herat
Oct. to Nov. 1878
Second Afghan war begun . . g * * . Nov. 1878
Flight of Shir Ali p & g © . g T)ec. 1878
Death of Shir Ali and accession of Yakub Khan . . Feb. 1879
Treaty of Gundamuk with Yakub Khan . tº . May 1879
Assassination of Sir L. Cavagnari at Kabul . § Sept. 1879
Third Afghan war begun . g ſº º wº . ..., 1879
Defeat of Tomakin by the Turkomans . e g . , 1879
Reoccupation of Kabul. e e & ſº . , Oct. 1879
Yakub Khan deported to India . ſº tº . Dec. 1879
Skobeleff appointed Commander-in-Chief in Transcaspia Mar. 1880
Death of Nur Verdi Khan of Akhal and Merv, and election
of Makdum Kuli Khan . . . . . May 1880
Skobeleff lands at Krasnovodsk . "tº g tº * * ,, 1880
Bahmi occupied . . . g & § tº ſº June 1880
Recognition of Abdurrahman Khan as Amir g . July 1880
T)isaster of Maiwand . . . tº & tº tº § ,, 1880
|March of Sir F. Roberts from Kabul to Kandahar. Aug. 8–31, 1880
Battle of Kandahar . g ū º * ſº Sept. 1, 1880
First reconnaissance of Geok Tepe ſº g g July 1880
Commencement of the Transcaspian Railway & g- . 1880
C/I/ēOWOLOGY OF EVEAVTS 427
Colonel Stewart on the Turkoman frontier . . . & . 1880
Storming of Geok Tepe by Skobeleff . * º . Jan. 1881
Occupation of Askabad º g g tº ,, 1881
O'Donovan at Merv . & e º tº Mar, to July 1881
Evacuation of Kandahar . * ſº º g . April 1881
Formation of Transcaspian Province sub General Rohrberg
: May 1881
Annexation of Akhal-Tekke oasis * & . . . ,, 1881
Transcaspian Railway opened to Kizil Arvat g . T)ec. 1881
Frontier convention between Russia and Persia . y ,, 1881
Visit of Alikhanoff in disguise to Merv. . g . Feb. 1882
Surveys of Lessar. te g . g & ge . 1882—1883
Retrocession of Ili province and Kulja to China . e . 1882
Quetta District handed over on a rent to the British . . 1882
Formation of the Government of the Steppe. sº tº . 1882
Tchernaieff appointed Governor-General of Turkestan . . 1882
Completion of Transcaucasian Railway, Tiflis to Baku . . 1882
55 25 25 Tiflis to Batoum . 1883
Occupation by Russia of Tejend oasis . ge e . Oct. 1883
Quetta District ceded to Great Britain . ty # or . 1883
Shignan and Roshan occupied by Abdurrahman Khan . . 1883
Komaroff appointed Governor-General of Transcaspia . . I 883
Annexation of Merv . & te º * & . Feb. 1884
Occupation of Sarakhs . tº e * . April 1884
Frontier negotiations between Great Britain and Russia . 1884
Recommencement of Quetta Railway . e e º . 1884.
Recall of Tchermaieff and appointment of Rosenbach . . 1884
Sir P. Lumsden sent as British Boundary Commissioner. Oct. 1884
The Russians occupy Pul-i-Khatun . e ,, 1884
The Russians occupy Zulfikar and Akrobat, and advance upon
Benjdeh . e º ſº g te . . . Feb. 1885
Fight between the Russians and Afghans at Tash-Kepri, on
the Kushk g º te g e . Mar. 30, 1885
Rawul Pindi conference between Tord Dufferin and Abdurrah-
man Khan. ge tº e iſe e t . April 1885
War scare in Great Britain . & tº $ *g . , 1885
Sir P. Lumsden recalled . * º º & . May 1885
Transcaspian Railway resumed . & * g . June 1885
Accession of Seid Abdul Ahad, Amir of Bokhara. . Nov. 1885
British and Russian Boundary Commissioners meet again , 1885
Annexation of Batoum. Q tº * tº t; . 1886
Bolan Railway constructed to Quetta . tº & . . . 1886
428 A USSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Demarcation of Afghan boundary up to separation of Com-
mission . * tº * & tº e Sept. 1886
Return of British Commission through Kabul to India. Oct. 1886
Occupation of Kerki by Russia e e te May 1887
Negotiations at St. Petersburg continued and concluded July 1887
Final settlement and demarcation of Afghan frontier Winter 1887
Surrender of Ayub Khan to the British, and detention in
India. ſº g g g & e * * * . I 887
Quetta Railway continued to Kila Abdulla . . . . Jan. 1888
Tunnel commenced through the Amran Mountains . . 1888
Transcaspian Railway reaches Samarkand . o . May 1888
Revolt of Is-hak Khan against Abdurrahman Khan
July to Sept. 1888
Retreat of Ts-hak Khan to Samarkand. tº g * . I 888
Karun River concession by Persia to England . . Oct. 1888
Concession to Baron de Reuter for Imperial Bank of Persia
Jan. 1889
War scare on the Oxus boundary tº ſº Feb. to Mar. 1889
Convention between Russia and Persia º . Mar. 1889
Third visit of the Shah to Europe º jº . May to Oct. 1889
429
APPENDIX IV
DIRECTIONS TO TRAVELLERS IN TRANSCASPIA
IN Chapter I. I have indicated the various direct routes to the
Caucasus and the Caspian. A train leaves Batoum every morning
and Tiflis every night for Baku, which is reached the next afternoon.
The steamers of the Caucasus and Mercury Company sail for Uzun
Ada twice a week, returning also twice a week. The distance,
duration, and cost of journey from Uzun Ada to Samarkand I have
mentioned in Chapter II.
The most favourable seasons of the year for making a journey
into Central Asia are the spring and autumn. In the summer the
climate is inordinately hot. In the winter it is icy cold ; the rail-
way may be blocked, and the harbours are frequently frozen.
Accommodation in Transcaspia and Turkestan is scanty and
miserable. There are so-called hotels at Askabad, Merv, and
Samarkand, but they would be called hotels nowhere else. Travellers
must take with them sheets, pillows, blankets, towels, and baths.
They will find none in the country. It is possible, however, to
sleep in the railway carriages, and where feasible they should always
be preferred.
Clothing must be taken adapted to both extremes of tempera-
ture; for it is often very hot in the daytime and very cold at night.
For an Englishman a pith helmet, similar to those worn in India, is
a useful protection, but does not seem to be affected by the Russians,
The latter wear the universal flat white cap, with cotton crown. It
can be bought at Tiflis, Baku, or anywhere in Russian territory,
and is the most serviceable and least conspicuous headpiece that can
be worn, the more so as the calico covering is removable and can be
washed. Riding-breeches and boots are useful for extended journeys
or hard work in the interior ; and to those unaccustomed to Cossack
or native saddles an English Saddle is a necessity.
To Englishmen the language is a great stumbling-block. English
is an extreme rarity in Transcaspia. French and German are not
430 RUSSIA IV CENTRAL ASIA
spoken except by Russian officers of the higher class. The languages
required are Russian for use with the Russians, and Persian or
Tartar (Turki) for the natives. It is well worth while picking up a
little Russian beforehand in order to make oneself understood by
the former. With the natives an interpreter or dragoman is simply
indispensable ; and a man should be engaged at Tiflis or elsewhere
who can show testimonials of ability to speak the languages, and of
travelling experience in the countries to be traversed.
The cost of travelling and living is absurdly cheap, and estimates
framed on European standards may be halved. . -
There is a native copper and silver currency at Bokhara. Every-
where else, and at Bokhara also, the paper rouble is the staple
medium of exchange. London bankers have no correspondents in
Central Asia, but notes or letters of credit can be cashed at Tiflis,
and Russian paper money is changeable everywhere.
Along the railway very respectable food can be procured at the
buffets. The same applies to the large towns. For any excursion
or deviation from the beaten track a prior supply is a sine qué mon,
and no harm is done by laying in a stock of tinned meats, preserves,
chocolate, &c. at Tiflis or Baku.
It is a cardinal rule to avoid the drinking water of the country.
Passable wine from the Caucasus and Samarkand is procurable.
So is Russian beer. Excellent tea is always ready in the Samovars,
which are the lares et penates of the Russian in foreign lands, ac-
companying him wherever he goes, and which are equally patronised
by the natives. Air-cushions are invaluable for a tarantass journey.
Wax candles are often a great blessing. Familiar precautions must
be taken against Small but familiar pests. -
It is useless to think of landing in Transcaspia without having
procured an oktriti list, or special permit, authorised or signed by
the Minister of War, which must be applied for at St. Petersburg.
An ordinary passport must also be taken, as it is examined and
registered by the local police in every Russian town. If the frontier
is to be crossed into Persia, this should have been viséed beforehand
at the Persian Embassy in London, or by a Persian Consul in some
neighbouring place. **
It is hopeless at present to attempt penetrating into Afghanis-
tan. Witness the experience of Mr. Stevens, the bicyclist, and of
the French travellers, M.M. Pepin and Bonvalot. For postal
journeys in Russian territory a podorojna must be procured from
the postal station, and countersigned by the authorities. Payment is
always required before starting, and covers the entire expense of
DIRECTIONS TO TRA VELLERS 431
teams, provided at the several post-stations throughout the journey.
The document must be produced at each station and handed to the
postmaster. The vehicle is hired separately, or; if wanted for long
distances, is frequently bought. A gratuity to the drivers is the
Only extra expense.
Transcaspia and Western Turkestan are not in themselves to be
visited for purposes of sport, although they are on the high road to
the sportsman’s El Dorado, the Pamir, and the home of the Great
Mountain Sheep.
Letters to and from Transcaspia are only precariously delivered,
and are liable to be opened in transitw.
4.32 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL AS/A
APPENDIX V
TREATY BETWEEN RUSSIA AND BOKHARA (1873)
CONCLUDED BETWEEN GENERAL AIDE-DE-CAMP KAUFMANN, Gover-
NOR-GENERAL OF TURKESTAN, AND SEID MOZAFFUR, AMIR OF
BOKHARA.
ART. T.-The frontier between the dominions of His Imperial
Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias and His Highness the Amir
of Bokhara remains unchanged.”
The Khivan territory on the right bank of the Amu Daria
having been incorporated in the Russian Empire, the former frontier
between Khiva and Bokhara, from the oasis of Khelata to Gugertli,
is abolished. The territory between the former Bokharo-Khivan
frontier on the right bank of the Amu Daria from Gugertli to Mes-
chekli, and from Meschekli to the point of junction of the former
Bokharo-Khivan frontier with the frontier of the Russian Empire,
is incorporated in the dominions of the Amir of Bokhara.
ART. II.-The right bank of the Amu Daria being severed from
the Khanate of Khiva, the caravan routes leading north from Bokhara
into the Russian dominions traverse exclusively the territories of
Bokhara and Russia. The Governments of Russia and Bokhara,
each within its own territory, shall watch over the safety of these
caravan routes and of the trade thereupon.
ART. IIT.—Russian steamers, and other Russian vessels, whether
belonging to the Government or to private individuals, shall have
the right of free navigation on that portion of the Amu Daria which
belongs to the Amir of Bokhara.
ART. IV.-The Russians shall have the right to establish piers
and warehouses in such places upon the Bokharan banks of the Amu
Daria as may be judged necessary and convenient for that purpose.
The Bokharan Government shall be responsible for the safety of
* I.e. since the Treaty of 1868.
TREATY BETWEEW RUSSIA A WD BOKHA RA 433
these erections. The final and definite selection of localities shall
rest with the supreme Russian authorities in Central Asia.
ART. V.—All the towns and villages of the Khanate of Bokhara
shall be open to Russian trade. Russian traders and caravans shall
have free passage throughout the Khanate, and shall enjoy the
special protection of the local authorities. The Bokharan Govern-
ment shall be responsible for the safety of Russian caravans on
Bokharan territory. -
ART. VT-All merchandise belonging to Russian traders,
whether imported from Russia to Bokhara, or exported from Bok-
hara to Russia, shall be subject to an ad valorem duty of 2; per
cent., in the same manner as an ad valorem duty of ºn is charged in
the Russian province of Turkestan. No other tax, duty or impost
whatsoever shall be imposed thereupon.
ART. VII.-Russian traders shall have the right to transport
their merchandise through Bokhara free of transit dues.
ART. VIII.-Russian traders shall have the right to establish
caravanserais for the storage of merchandise in all Bokharan towns.
The same right is accorded to Bokharan traders in the towns of the
Russian province of Turkestan. t
ART. TX. —Russian traders shall have the right to keep com-
mercial agents in all the towns of Bokhara, in order to watch over
the progress of trade and the levying of duties, and to enter into
communications with the local authorities thereupon. The same
right is accorded to Bokharan traders in the towns of the Russian
province of Turkestan.
ART. X.--All commercial engagements between Russians and
Bokharans shall be held sacred, and shall be faithfully carried out
by both parties. The Bokharan Government shall undertake
to keep watch over the honest fulfilment of all such engagements,
and over the fair and honourable conduct of commercial affairs in
general.
ART. XI.-Russian subjects shall have the right, in common
with the subjects of Bokhara, to carry on all branches of industry
and handicraft on Bokharan territory that are sanctioned by the
law of Sharigat. Bokharan subjects shall have a similar right to
practise all such occupations on Russian territory as are sanctioned
by the law of Russia.
ART. XII.-Russian subjects shall have the right to acquire
gardens, cultivate lands, and own every species of real property in the
Rhanate. Such property shall be subject to the same land-tax as
F. T
434 RUSSIA IW CENT/PAJ, ASIA
Bokharan property. The same right shall be enjoyed by Bokharan
subjects in the whole territory of the Russian Empire.
ART. XIII.-Russian subjects shall have the right to enter.
Bokharan territory when furnished with permits, signed by the
Russian authorities. They shall have the right of free passage
throughout the Khanate, and shall enjoy the special protection o
the Bokharan authorities. -
ART. XIV. —The Bokharan Government shall not in any case
admit on to Bokharan territory any foreigners, of whatever nation-
ality, arriving from Russian territory, unless they be furnished with
special permits signed by the Russian authorities. If a criminal,
being a Russian subject, takes refuge on Bokharan territory, he shall
be arrested by the Bokharan authorities and delivered over to the
nearest Russian authorities. -
ART. XV.-In order to maintain direct and uninterrupted rela-
tions with the supreme Russian authorities in Central Asia, the
Amir of Bokhara shall appoint one of his intimate counsellors to be
his resident envoy and plenipotentiary at Tashkent. Such envoy
shall reside at Tashkent in a house belonging to the Amir and at
the expense of the latter.
ART. XVI. The Russian Government shall in like manner
have the right to appoint a permanent representative at Bokhara,
attached to the person of His Highness the Amir. He shall reside
in a house belonging to the Russian Government and at the expense
of the latter. *
ART. XVII.-In conformity with the desire of the Emperor of
All the Russias, and in order to enhance the glory of His Imperial
Majesty, His Highness the Amir Seid Mozaffur has determined as
follows:–The traffic in human beings, being contrary to the law
which commands man to love his neighbour, is abolished for ever in
the territory of Bokhara. In accordance with this resolve, the
strictest injunctions shall immediately be given by the Amir to all
his Begs to enforce the new law, and special orders shall be sent to all
the frontier towns of Bokhara to which slaves are brought for sale
from neighbouring countries, that should any such slaves be brought
thither, they shall be taken from their owners and shall be set at
liberty without loss of time.
ART. XVIII.- His Highness the Amir Seid Mozaffur, being
sincerely desirous of strengthening and developing the amicable re-
lations which have subsisted for five years to the benefit of Bokhara,
approves and accepts for his guidance the above seventeen articles
TREATY BETWEEW RUSSIA A WD BOKHAPA 435
composing a treaty of friendship between Russia and Bokhara.
This treaty shall consist of two copies, each copy being written in
the two languages, in the Russian and in the Turki language.
In token of the confirmation of this treaty and of its acceptance
for the guidance of himself and of his successors, the Amir Seid
Mozaffur has affixed thereto his seal. Done at Shaar on the 10th
day of October, 1873, being the 19th day of the month Shayban, of
the year 1290.
F F 2
436 RUSSIA IN CENTRAI, A SIA
APPENDIX VI
TREATY BETWEEN RUSSIA AND PERSIA (relating to
Akhal-Khorasan Boundary), 1881
IN the name of God the Almighty. His Majesty the Emperor and
Autocrat of All the Russias, and His Majesty the Shah of Persia,
acknowledging the necessity of accurately defining the frontier of
their possessions east of the Caspian Sea, and of establishing therein
security and tranquillity, have agreed to conclude a Convention for
that purpose, and have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries:
His Majesty the Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias, on
the one hand, Ivan Zinovieff, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
Plenipotentiary at the Court of His Majesty the Shah ;
His Majesty the Shah of Persia, on the other, Mirza Seid Khan,
Mutemid-ul-Mulk, his Minister for Foreign Affairs;
Who, having exchanged their respective full powers, found in
good and due form, have agreed on the following Articles:
ART. I.-The frontier line between the possessions of the Russian
Empire and Persia, east of the Caspian Sea, is fixed as follows:
Beginning at the Hassan Kuli Gulf, the course of the River
Atrek serves as the frontier as far as Chat. From Chat the frontier-
line follows in a north-easterly direction the ridges of the Songu
Dagh and Sagirim ranges, thence extending northward to the Chandir
River, reaching the bed of that river at Tchakan Kala. From
Tchakan Kala it runs in a northerly direction to the ridge of the
mountains dividing the Chandir and Sumbar valleys, and extends
along the ridge of these mountains in an easterly direction, descend-
ing to the bed of the Sumbar at the spot where the Akh-Agaian
stream falls into it. From this point eastward the bed of the
Sumbar marks the frontier as far as the ruins of Medjet Daine.
Thence the road to Durun forms the frontier-line as far as the ridge
of the Kopet Dagh, along the ridge of which the frontier extends
south-eastward, but before reaching the upper part of the Germab
Pass, turns to the south along the mountain heights dividing the
TREATY BET'WEEW RUSSIA A VD PERSIA 437
valley of the Sumbar from the source of the Germab. Thence taking
a south-easterly direction across the summits of the Misino and
Tchubest mountains, it reaches the road from Germab to Rabat,
passing at a distance of one verst to the north of the latter spot.
From this point the frontier-line runs along the ridge of the moun-
tains as far as the summit of the Dalang mountain, whence, passing
on the northern side of the village of Khairabad, it extends in a
north-easterly direction as far as the boundaries of Geok Keital.
From the boundaries of Geok Keital the frontier-line crosses to the
gorge of the River Firuze, intersecting that gorge on the northern
side of the village of Firuze. Thence the frontier-line takes a south-
easterly direction to the summits of the mountain range, bounding
on the south the valley through which the road from Askabad to
Firuze passes, and runs along the crest of these mountains to the
most easterly point of the range. From here the frontier-line crosses
Over to the northernmost summit of the Aselm range, passing along
its ridge in a south-easterly direction, and then skirting round to the
north of the village of Keltechinar, it runs to the point where the
Zir-i-Koh and Kizil Dagh mountains join, extending thence south-
eastward along the summits of the Zir-i-Koh range until it issues into
the valley of the Baba. Durmaz stream. It then takes a northerly
direction, and reaches the oasis at the road from Gyaurs to Lutfabad,
leaving the fortress of Baba. Durmaz to the east. -
ART. II.--Whereas, in Article I. of the present Convention, the
principal points are indicated through which the frontier between
the possessions of Russia and Persia is to pass, the High Contracting
Parties are to appoint Special Commissioners, with a view of
accurately tracing on the spot the frontier-line, and of erecting
proper boundary-marks. The date and place of meeting of the said
Commissioners shall be mutually agreed upon by the High Con-
tracting Parties. -
ART. III.--Whereas the forts of Germab and Kulkulab, situated
in the gorge through which the stream watering the soil of the Trans-
caspian province passes, lie to the north of the line which, in virtue
of Article I. of the present Convention, is to serve as the boundary
between the territories of the two High Contracting Parties, the
Government of His Majesty the Shah engages to evacuate the said
forts within the space of one year from the date of the exchange of
the ratifications of the present Convention, but shall have the right
during the said period to remove the inhabitants of Germab and
Rulkulab to within the Persian frontier, and to establish them there.
On its part, the Government of the Emperor of All the Russias
4.38 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
engages not to erect fortifications in these said localities nor to
establish any Turkoman families therein.
ART. IV.--Whereas, the sources of the River Firuze, as well as
of other streams watering the soil of the Transcaspian province con-
tiguous to the Persian frontier lie within the Persian territory, the
Government of His Majesty the Shah engages on no account what-
ever to permit the establishment of fresh settlements along the
course of the said streams and rivulets from their sources to the
point where they leave Persian territory, and not to extend the area
of land at present under cultivation, and under no pretence whatever
to turn off the water in larger quantities than is necessary for irri-
gating the fields now under cultivation within the Persian territory.
With a view to the immediate observance and fulfilment of this
stipulation the Government of His Majesty the Shah engages to
appoint a sufficient number of competent agents, and to subject any
infringer thereof to severe punishment.
ART. V.-With a view to the development of commercial inter-
course between the Transcaspian province and Khorasan, both High
Contracting Parties engage to come to a mutually advantageous
agreement as soon as possible for the construction of wagon-roads
suitable for commercial traffic between the above-mentioned provinces.
ART. VI.-The Government of His Majesty the Shah of Persia
engages to strictly prohibit the export from His Majesty's dominions
along the whole extent of the frontier of the provinces of Astrabad
and Khorasan, of all arms and war material, and likewise to adopt
measures to prevent arms being supplied to the Turkomans residing
in Persian territory. The Persian frontier authorities shall afford
the most effective support to the agents of the Imperial Russian
Government, whose duty it shall be to watch that arms are not
exported from the Persian territory. The Government of His
Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias, on its part, engages to
prevent arms and war material being supplied from Russian territory
to Turkomans living in Persia.
ART. VII.-With a view to the observance and fulfilment of the
stipulations of the present Convention, and in order to regulate the
proceedings of the Turkomans residing on the Persian frontier, the
Government of His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias shall
have the right to nominate agents to the frontier points of Persia.
In all questions concerning the observance of order and tranquillity
in the districts contiguous to the possessions of the High Contracting
Parties, the appointed agents will act as intermediaries in the
relations between the Russian and Persian authorities.
TREATY BETWEEN RUSSIA A WD PERSIA 439
ART. VIII.--All engagements and stipulations contained in
Treaties and Conventions concluded up to this time between the two
High Contracting Parties shall remain in force.
ART. TX.-The present Convention, done in duplicate, and
signed by the Plenipotentiaries of both parties, who have affixed to
it the seal of their arms, shall be confirmed and ratified by His
Majesty the Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and His
Majesty the Shah of Persia ; the ratifications to be exchanged
between the Plenipotentiaries of both parties at Teheran within the
space of four months, or earlier, if possible.
Done at Teheran the 21st December, 1881, which corresponds to
the Mussulman date of the 29th Mucharem, 1299.
440 RUSSIA IV CE WTRAL ASIA
APPENDIX VII
JBIBLIOGRAPHY OF C E NTRAL ASIA
I. CENTRAL ASIA IN GENERAL.
Selection from early travels.
General information.
Bokhara.
FChiva.
Turkestan.
Turkomania and the Turkomans.
i
II. THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY.
III. AFGHANISTAN.
1. General information.
2. Anglo-Afghan wars.
The first Afghan war, 1838–1842.
The second Afghan war, 1878–1880.
3. The Afghan Frontier Question.
4. Beluchistan.
5. Euphrates Valley Railway.
IV. PERSIA.
The following Bibliography, though it contains a great number of
titles that have not hitherto been collected, and covers a surface
distinct from any previous publication, makes no claim to be con-
sidered exhaustive. It might without trouble and with the aid of
the excellent bibliographies that have been published by Russian
authorities, have been extended to tenfold its present dimensions.
A mere selection from Mejoff’s copious volumes would alone have
sufficed for this object. I have purposely limited it, however, in
obedience to the following considerations. My desire has been to
Ila,I\le .
1. The chief books relating to the subject-matter of this volume,
! Recueil du Turkestan, comprenant des livres et des articles sur l'Asie
Centrale, composé par W. J. Mejoff. 3 vols., St. Petersburg, 1878, 1884, 1888.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF C ENTRAL ASIA 441
*.e. Russian and British Central Asia, that have appeared during
the not too remote past, and principally since the beginning of this
century, omitting such writings as have either become wholly obso-
lete or have ceased to merit attention.
2. The books most easily accessible to English readers, and for
the most part written in, or translated into, the English language.
I have accordingly only mentioned the principal Russian, German,
and French works. In the case of Russian publications, assuming
a general unfamiliarity with the Russian alphabet, I have either
reproduced the titles in English characters and appended a trans-
lation of their meaning, or have given the latter alone. -
3. The more recent books dealing with the latest phases of the
Central Asian question, such as the Russo-Afghan frontier question
and the Persian question.
4. Such writings, irrespective of their merit or claim to live, as
have hitherto been published outside Russia, upon a Central Asian
or upon the Transcaspian Railway. This literature is only of
ephemeral interest, but for the purposes of my book it has a certain
importance, because the interest is that of to-day.
The classification under four main headings—T. Central Asia in
general. II. The Transcaspian Railway. III. Afghanistan, and
TV. Persia—does not pretend to be a mutually exclusive one. Some
books, notably those of extended travel or political criticism, might
justly claim to be ranked under two, if not three, of the headings.
Such works have been placed in the category to which they seemed
most distinctively attached. The general principle of classification
has been adopted, because the four subjects named are those most
likely to appeal to the student as the objects of independent investi-
gation. In the case of Central Asia and Afghanistan, geographical,
historical, or political lines of cleavage have suggested a natural sub-
division into minor headings. The books are arranged throughout
in chronological order, the date of the subject-matter (in the case of
history) being accepted as the criterion in preference to that of
publication. .
Restricting my range of vision in this bibliography, as in the book
to which it forms an appendix, to those parts of Central Asia in
which Great Britain and Russia have a common interest, and whose
history and fortunes are bound up with the policy of the two empires,
I have included no special references to Russian advance or power
in Siberia, Mongolia, Chinese Turkestan, or Thibet. The bibliography,
like the volume, may be defined as referring to the regions between
the Caspian on the west and Khokand on the east, and from the
442 RUSSIA IV CIAWTRAL ASIA
Indian frontier and the Persian Gulf on the south to the Syr Daria
and the Aral Sea on the north. Scientific works, i.e. works relating
to the physical features, climate, ethnography, flora, fauna, and
products of Central Asia, I have, as a general rule, excluded, as
unsuited to this work. Neither have I incorporated references to
the proceedings of scientific societies, nor articles from magazines,
periodical publications, and journals; although much useful litera-
ture, only to be disinterred after prodigious labour, lies embedded in
these uninspiring surroundings.
Dr. Lansdell, at the close of his second volume, prints a biblio-
graphy, differently classified, and compiled with immense assiduity,
but upon less eclectic principles. A student is more likely to be
bewildered than relieved by the spectacle of 700 titles, covering 22
pages of very small print, and relating to Russian Central Asia alone.
His bibliography, further, like his chronology, omits all reference to
Persia, Afghanistan, and the Frontier Question, and ceases in 1884
My bibliography of the three last-named subjects is, so far as I know.
the first that has appeared.
In the compilation of the following catalogue valuable assistance
has been most amiably lent to me by Mr. G. K. Fortescue, Assistant
Librarian of the British Museum.
T. CENTRAL ASIA IN GENERAL.
1. Selection from Early Travels.
Hiouen Thsang. Mémoires sur les contrées occidentales : traduits
du Sanscrit en chinois en l’an 648; et du chinois en français,
par M. Stanislas Julien. Paris: 1853, 1858. -
Ibn Hawkal. The Oriental Geography of T. H., an Arabian traveller
of the 10th century. Translated by Sir William Ouseley, Kt.
London : 1800.
Rubruquis, W. de. The Journal of Friar William de Rubruquis, a
Erenchman of the Order of the Minorite Friers, into the East
Parts of the Worlde, A.D. 1253. (Hakluyt Society.) London :
1859.
Polo, Marco. Travels in the Thirteenth Century, being a description
by that Early Traveller of Remarkable Places and Things in
the Eastern Parts of the World, translated, with notes, by
W. Marsden. Dondon : 1818.
The Book of Ser Marco Polo the Venetian, concerning
the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East. Newly translated and
BIBL/OGRAPHY OF CIENTRAL ASIA 443
edited, with notes, &c., by Colonel Henry Yule. 2 vols.
Tondon : 1871, 1875.
Ibn Batutah. The Travels of Ibn Batutah (1324–5). Translated by
S. Lee. London : 1829. -
Voyages of Ibn Batutah. London : 1853.
Clavijo, Don Ruy Gonzalez di. Narrative of the Embassy of
Ruy Gonzalez di Clavijo to the Court of Timour at Samarkand,
A.D. 1403–6. Translated by C. R. Markham (Hakluyt Society).
London : 1859. -
Baber. The Life of Muhammed Babar (Thakir Al-Din), Emperor of
Hindostan. (Written by himself in the Jaghatai Toorki lan-
guage.) Translated by J. Teyder and W. Erskine, with notes
and a geographical and historical introduction. Together with
a map of the countries between the Oxus and Jaxartes, and a
memoir regarding its construction by C. Waddington. London :
1826. -
— Another edition abridged by R. M. Caldecott. London :
1844.
Jenkinson, A. Early Voyages and Travels to Russia and Persia by
A. J. ("557–1572) and other Englishmen. With some account
of the first intercourse of the English with Russia and Central
Asia by way of the Caspian Sea. Edited by E. D. Morgan
and C. H. Coote (Hakluyt Society). 2 vols. London : 1886.
Tavernier, J. B. The Six Voyages of John Baptista Tavernier
through Turkey into Persia and the East Indies, finished in the
year 1670, made English by J. P. To which is added a descrip-
tion of all the Kingdoms which encompass the Euxine and
Caspian Seas, by an English traveller. Tondon : 1678.
--— Voyages de, d'après des documents nouveaux, par Ch.
Jovet. Paris : 1866.
Struys, Jan. The Voiages and Travels of J. S. through Italy, Greece,
Muscovy, Tartary, Media, Persia, East India, Japan . . . Together
With an account of the authors . . . dangers by shipwreck . . .
slavery . . . torture, &c. And two Narratives of the taking
of Astracan by the Cossacks, sent from Capt. D. Butler. Done
out of Dutch by J. Morrison. London : 1684. -
Chardin, Sir J. Travels into Persia and the East Indies. London :
1686.
Voyages en Perse et autres lieux de l'Orient. Nouvelle
édition augmentée d'une notice de la Perse depuis les temps
les plus reculés jusqu'à ce jour, par L. Langlès, 10 vols.
Paris : 1811,
444 Jº USS/A IAV CAEAVTRAL AS/A
Aſanºway, Jonas. An Historical Account of the British Trade over
the Caspian Sea ; with a Journal of Travels from London
through Russia into Persia and back again through Russia,
Germany, and Holland ; to which are added the Revolutions
of Persia during the present century, with the particular His-
tory of Nadir Kouli, &c. 4 vols. 1753. 2 vols. 1754. London :
1753, 1754, 1762.
An Historical Account of the Present Troubles of Persia
and Georgia. Continuation of J. H.’s History to the end of
1753. London : 1756.
2. General Information.
Forster, Geo. Journey from Bengal to England, overland. 2 vols.
London : 1808.
Evans, Lt.-Col. De Lacy. On the practicability of an Invasion of
British India. London : 1829.
Conolly, Capt. A. Journey to the North of India, overland from
England through Russia, Persia, and Afghanistan. 2 vols.
Tondon : 1834, 1838.
M“Neill, Sir J. Progress and present position of Russia in the
|East. 1836, 1854.
Hagemeister, J. de Essai sur les ressources territoriales et commer-
Ciales de l'Asie Occidentale, le caractère des habitans, leur in-
dustrie et leur organisation municipale. St. Petersburg : 1839.
Urquhart, D. Diplomatic Transactions in Central Asia from 1834
to 1839. Tondon : 1841.
Brogress of Russia in the West, North, and South, by
Opening the sources of opinion and appropriating the channels
of Wealth and Power. London : 1853.
Wood, Capt. J. A personal Narrative of a Journey to the source of
the River Oxus, by the route of the Indus, Kabul, and Badakh-
shan, in 1836, 1837, 1838. Tondon : 1841. -
A new edition. With an Essay on the Geography of the
Valley of the Oxus by Col. H. Yule. London : 1872.
Humboldt, Alea’. von. Asie Centrale. Recherches sur les chaines de
montagnes et la climatologie comparée. 3 vols. Paris: 1843.
Pſell, Xavier H. de. Les Steppes de la mer Caspienne, le Caucase,
la Crimée et la Russie Méridionale. 3 vols. Paris : 1843–5.
Travels in the Steppes of the Caspian Sea. London : 1847.
Mitford, E. L. A. Land March from England to Ceylon forty years
ago. 2 vols. London : 1884. .
gºs-
RTBI, TOGRAPHY OF C E WTRAI, ASIA 445
Zimmermann, Lieut. C. Denkschrift über den untern Lauf des
Oxus zum Karaburgas-Haff des Caspischen Meeres und über
die Strombahn des Ochus oder Tedshen der Neueren zur
Balkan Bay. Berlin : 1845.
Khanikoff, W. de Mémoire sur la partie méridionale de l'Asie
Centrale. Paris : 1861.
Anonymous. Report on the Trade and Resources of the Countries
on the N.W. Boundary of British India. Lahore : 1862.
Valikhanoff, Capt., and Veniwkoff, M. 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
Rokan, also descriptions of Chinese Turkestan and Dzungaria.
By Capt. Valikhanoff, M. Veniukoff, and other Russian travel-
lers. Translated by J. and R. Michell. London : 1865.
Veniwkoff, M. The Pamir and the Sources of the Amu-Daria.
Translated by J. Michell 1866.
—— Opyt Voiennago Obozreniya Russkikh Granits v Asii.
(Attempt at a military sketch of the Russian frontiers in Asia.)
St. Petersburg : 1873.
Les plus récentes explorations russes en Asie. T.: M.
Rheinthal à Kashgar. II.: M. Nikitin a Khokand. Russische
Revue. St. Petersburg : 1876.
On Geographical discoveries in Asiatic Russia, 1577–1877
(Russian).
List of Russian travellers in Asia from 1854–1880 (Russian).
Yule, Col. H. Cathay and the Way Thither (Hakluyt Society).
London : 1866.
Wambéry, A. Travels in Central Asia. Journey from Teheran
across the Turkoman Desert, on the east shore of the Caspian,
to Khiva, Bokhara, and Samarcand, performed in 1863. Lon–
don : 1864. -
Sketches of Central Asia. Additional chapters on my
Travels, Adventures, and on the Ethnology of Central Asia.
Iondon : 1867, 1868.
Russlands Machtstellung in Asien. Leipzig.: 1871.
Centralasien und die englisch-russische Grenzfrage. Gesam-
melte politische Schriften. Leipzig : 1873.
Central Asia and the Anglo-Russian Frontier Question.
Translated by F. E. Burnett. London : 1874.
Life and Adventures written by himself. London: 1883,
1884, 1885, 1886, 1889. -
The Coming Struggle for India. London : 1885.
446 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Bell, Major Evans. The Oxus and the Indus. London : 1869,
1874.
Hellwald, F. von. Die Russen in Centralasien : eine geographisch-
historische Studie mit einer Uebersichtskarte. Wien : 1869.
The Russians in Central Asia. A critical examination
down to the present time of the Geography and History of
Central Asia. Translated from the German by T. Wirgman.
London : 1874.
Centralasien. Landschaften und Völker in Kaschgar, Tur-
kestan, Kaschmir und Tibet. Mit besonderer Rücksicht auf
Russlands Bestrebungen und Seinen Kulturberuf. Leipzig :
I875.
Trench, Capt. F. The Russo-Tndian Question, historically, strate-
gically, and politically considered ; with sketch of Central
Asiatic politics. London : 1869.
The Central Asian Question (a lecture). London : 1873.
Romanovski, M. Notes on the Central Asiatic Question. Trans-
lated by R. Michell. Calcutta : 1870.
Rostenko, Col. L. F. Srednyaya, Aziya i vodvorenie v nei Rooskoi
grajdanstvennosti. (Central Asia and the Installation therein
of Russian Civilisation). St. Petersburg : 1871.
Goldsmid, Sir F. J. Central Asia and its Question. London: 1873.
Fedehenko, A. Letters from Khokand to the ‘Turkestan Gazette.’
Translated from the Russian by R. Michell.
Outlines of Geography and History of the Upper Amu-
Daria (Russian). St. Petersburg ; 1873.
Taylor, Bayard. Travels in Cashmere, Tibet, and Central Asia.
Compiled and arranged by B. T. New York : 1874.
Stumm, H. Russia's advance Eastward. Translated by C. E. H.
Vincent. London : 1874.
——— Russia in Central Asia. Historical Sketch of Russia's Pro-
gress in the East up to 1873, and of the incidents which led to
the campaign against Khiva, with a description of the military
districts of the Caucasus, Orenburg, and Turkestan. Translated
by J. W. Ozanne and H. Sachs. London : 1885.
Terentieff, Capt. M. A. Statistical Sketch of Central Asia (Russian).
St. Petersburg : 1874. - -
——— Russia and England in the Struggle for Markets in Central
Asia (Russian). St. Petersburg: 1875. (Translated into Eng-
- lish.) Calcutta : 1876.
Polto, Col. W. A. Steppe Campaigns. Translated from Russian by
F. C. H. Clarke. London : 1874.
JBIBL/OGRAPHY OF C E WTPAJ, ASIA 447
Girard de Rialle, J. Mémoire sur l'Asie Centrale, son histoire, ses
populations. Paris : 1875.
Les peuples de l'Asie et de l’Europe. Paris: 1885.
Bretschneider, E. Chinese Mediaeval Travellers to the West. Don-
don: 1875.
Notices of the Mediaeval Geography and History of Central
and Western Asia, drawn from Chinese and Mongol writings,
and compared with the observations of Western authors in the
middle ages. Tondon: 1876.
|Mediaeval Researches from Eastern Asiatic Sources. Frag-
ments towards the knowledge of the Geography and History of
Central and Western Asia, from the 13th to the 17th Century.
2 vols. (Tribner's Oriental Series.) London: 1888.
Rawlinson, Sir H. C. England and Russia, in the East. A series
of papers on the condition of Central Asia. London: 1875.
Hutton, James. Central Asia, from the Aryan to the Cossack.
London : 1875. -
Reclus, Elisée J. J. Nouvelle Géographie universelle. La Terre et
les hommes. Vol. VI., l'Asie Centrale. Paris: 1875–1881.
English translation of the above. London : 1878, &c.
Hochst tier, F. von. Asien, Seine Zukunftsbahnen und seine
Kohlenschätze. Eine geographische Studie. Wien : 1876.
Cazelet, E. England's Policy in the East : Our Relations with
Russia. London : 1876.
Cory, Colonel A. Shadows of Coming Events; or, the Eastern
Menace. London: 1876, 1881.
Paquier, J. B. Le Pamir ; Étude de Géographie physique et
historique sur l'Asie Centrale. Paris: 1876.
Gordon, Lieut. Col. T. E. The Roof of the World. Edinburgh:
1876.
Wood, Major Herbert. The Shores of Lake Aral. London :
1876.
Vidal de Lablache, P. Les Empires Anglais et Russe en Asie.
Baris : 1877. -
Minaeff, M. Ocherki Tseilonn i Indii (Sketches of Ceylon and
India). St. Petersburg : 1878.
Jankenau, H. von, and Oelsnik, L. Das heutige Russland. 2 vols.
Leipzig; 1878.
Russia, Past and Present, adapted from the above by H.
M. Chester (S.P.C.K). London: 1881.
Rhorochkine, A. P. Recueil d’Itinéraires dans l'Asie Centrale.
(Ecôle des Langues Orientales.) Paris: 1878.
448 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Radloff, Thomas. Itinéraire de la vallée du Moyen Zerefchan.
(Traduit par L. Leger.) 1878. 8
Villeroi, B. de. A Trip through Central Asia. Calcutta : 1878.
Cotton, Sir S. The Central Asian Question. Dublin : 1878.
Karazin, N. N. Les pays où l'on se battra. Voyages dans l'Asie
Centrale. Traduit du Russe par T. Lvoff et A. Teste. Paris
1879. - -
Scènes de la vie terrible dans l'Asie Centrale. Traduit du
Russe par T. Lvoff et A. Teste. Paris : 1880.
Frédé, P. Les Russes sur le chemin de l'Inde. Paris : i879.
Anonymous. Invasions of India from Central Asia. London :
1879. •
Martens, M. F. de. La Russie et l'Angleterre dans l'Asie Centrale.
(Extrait de la Revue de Droit International et de Législation
comparée.) Paris : 1879.
Russia and England in Central Asia. London : 1879.
Boulger, D. C. The Life of Yakoob Beg. London : 1878.
England and Russia in Central Asia. 2 vols. London :
1879.
Central Asian Portraits ; the celebrities of the Khanates
· and neighbouring states. London : 1880.
Central Asian Questions. Essays on Afghanistan, China,
and Central Asia. London : 1885.
Legrand, M. Les Routes de l'Inde. Paris : 1880. |
G'rodekoff, Colonel N. L. Colonel Grodekoff"s Ride from Samarkand
to Herat in 1878. (Translated by Charles Marvin.) London :
1880. •
Leroy-Beaulieu, A. L'empire des Tsars et les Russes. Paris :
1881.
Danewski, W. * La Russie et l'Angleterre dans l'Asie Centrale.'
London : 1881.
Ugeny, E. von. Russland und England : aussere und innere Gegen-
sätze. Leipzig : 1881.
Imbault-Huart, C. Recueil de documents sur l'Asie Centrale.
(École spéciale des Langues Orientales vivantes.) Paris : 1881.
Kuropatkin Col. A. M. Kashgaria ; Historical and Geographical
Sketch of the Country, its Military Strength, Industries, and
Trade. Translated from the Russian by W. E. Gowan. Cal-
cutta : 1882. -
Keane, A. H. Asia ; with ethnological appendix. Edited by Sir
R. Temple. (Stanford's Compendium of Geography and
Travel.) London : 1882, 1888. -
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CENTRAL ASIA 449.
Marvin Ch. Reconnoitring Central Asia; pioneering adventures
in the region lying between Russia and India. London : 1884.
—— The Region of Eternal Fire ; an account of a journey to
the petroleum region of the Caspian in 1883. London : 1884,
1888. .
The Russian Advance towards India ; Conversations with
Skobeleff, Ignatieff, and other Distinguished Russian Generals
and Statesmen on the Central Asian Question. London :
I882. > * * -
Poºvalot, G. En Asie Centrale. De Moscou en Bactriane. Paris :
1884. . º
En Asie Centrale. Du Kohistan à la Caspienne. Paris :
1885. :
Du Caucase aux Indes a travers le Pamir. Paris: 1889.
Through the Heart of Asia ; over the Pamir to India.
(Being a translation of the above.) 2 vols. London : 1889.
Howorth, H. History of the Mongols from the Ninth to the Nine-
teenth Century. 4 vols. London : 1876–1888.
Roskoschny, II. von. Das asiatische Russland. Leipzig : 1884.
Potagos, Dr. Dix années de voyages dans l'Asie Centrale et l'Afrique
Equatoriale : Traduction de MM. A. Meyer, I. Blancard, L.
Labadie, et A. E. Burnouf. Paris : 1885. -
Haymerle, A. von. Ultima Thule. England und Russland in
Central-Asien. Separat-Abdruck aus Streffleur's Oesterreichi-
scher militärischer Zeitschrift. Wien : 1885.
Subotin, A. Russia and England in the Markets of Central Asia,
(Russian.) St. Petersburg: 1885. -
Weil, Capt. La Campagne des Russes dans le Khanate de Kokhand.
Paris : 1885. -
Kuropatkin, Col. A. N. Les Confins Anglo-Russes dans l'Asie
Centrale. Traduit par Capt. G. le Marchand. Paris : 1885.
Paquin, Capt. La Russie et l’Angleterre dans l'Asie Centrale.
Paris : 1885. - -
Iamsdell, Rev. H. Russian Central Asia. 2 vols. London : 1885.
Through Central Asia ; with a map and appendix on the
diplomacy and delineation of the Russo-Afghan Frontier.
London : 1887. •
Hawker, Rev. J. Russia's Limits. London : 1885.
Edwards, H. S. Russian Projects against India, from the Czar
- Peter to General Skobeleff. London : 1885. .*
Heumann, Capt. Les Russes et les Anglais dans l'Asie Centrale.
(Publication de la Réunion des Officiers.) Paris : 1885.
G (§
450 A USSIA / W. CAE WTAEA/, AS/A
Malivkin, M. W. History of the Khanate of Khokand. (Russian.)
Kazan : 1885.
Bawter, W. E. England and Russia in Asia. London : 1885.
Albertus, I. Die Englisch-russische Frage und die deutsche
Rolonial-Politik. Innsbruck : 1885.
Moser, H. A travers l'Asie Centrale : Impressions de voyage.
Paris : 1886. -
Priowa, A. Les Russes dans l'Asie Centrale. Paris : 1886.
L. M. H. La Russie et l’Angleterre en Asie Centrale ; d'après
la brochure de M. Lessar ſentitled ‘Quelques considéra-
tions sur les territoires contestes et sur la situation générale
de la Russie et de l’Angleterre en Asie Centrale'). Paris:
1886. -
David, Major C. Is a Russian Invasion of India Feasible %
London : 1887. -
Wachs, Major Otto. Die Politische und Militärische Bedeutung des
Raukasus. Berlin : 1889. -
(Wide also Parliamentary Papers passim.)
3. Bokhara.
Meyendorff, Baron G. de Voyage d’Orenbourg & Boukhara fait en
1820 a travers les Steppes qui s'étendent à l'est de la mer
d'Aral et au-delà de l’ancien Jaxartes. Paris : 1826.
The same; translated by Colonel Monteith. Madras: 1840.
The same ; translated by Captain E. F. Chapman. Cal-
cutta, ; 1870.
Burmes, Sir A. Travels into Bokhara ; being an account of a
Journey from India to Cabool, Tartary, and Persia in 1831–33.
London : 1834, 1835, 1839.
Wolff, Joseph. Researches and Missionary Labours amongst the
Jews, Mohammedans, and other Sects. London : 1835.
Narrative of a Mission to Bokhara in the Years 1843–
1845 to Ascertain the Fate of Colonel Stoddart and Captain
Conolly. 2 vols. London : 1846. Edinburgh : 1852. -
— Travels and Adventures. 2 vols. London : 1860–1861.
Grover, Captain J. An Appeal to the British Nation in Behalf of
Colonel Stoddart and Captain Conolly, now in Captivity in
Bokhara. London : 1843. -
The Ameer of Bokhara and Lord Aberdeen. London :
1845.
The Bokhara Victims, London : 1845.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF C E WTRAL ASIA 451
Rhanikoff, M. de. Bokhara ; Its Amir and its People. Translated
from the Russian by the Baron C. A. de Bode. London : 1845.
Mohan, Lal. Travels in the Panjab, Afghanistan, and Turkistan,
to Balk, Bokhara, and Herat. London : 1846.
Lamansky, E. Esquisse géographique du bassin de la mer d’Aral,
et quelques traits des moeurs des habitants de Boukhara, Khiva
et Kokan. Paris : 1858.
Gavazzi, Modesto. Alcune notizie raccolte in un viaggio a Bucara.
Milano ; 1865. --
Wambéry, Arm. History of Bokhara. London : 1873.
Aostenko, Colonel L. F. Puteschestvie v Bukhara Russkoi missii.
(Description of the Journey of a Russian Mission to Bokhara in
1870.) Translated by R. Michell. St. Petersburg: 1881.
(Wide also Selection from Early Travels—Ibn Haukal, Marco
Polo, Clavijo, Atkinson, Hanway—and Vambéry's ‘Travels in
Central Asia ; ' Schuyler's “Turkistan’; Moser's ‘A travers
l'Asie Centrale ; ’ and Lansdell’s ‘Russian Central Asia.')
4. Khiva.
Cherkassi, Prince A. B. A. Narrative of the Russian Military Ex-
pedition to Khiva in 1717. Translated from the Russian by R.
Michell. 1873.
Khanikoff, Y. B. Poyeasdka iz Orska v Khiva i obratno. (Journey
from Orsk to Khiva and back in 1740–41, by Gladisheff and
Muravieff.) St. Petersburg: 1851. .
Muravieff, M. M. Voyage en Turcomanie et à Khiva, fait en 1819
et 1820. Traduit du Russe par M. G. Lacointe de Laveau.
Paris : 1823.
Same ; translated from Russian, 1824, by P. Strahl; and
from German, 1871, by W. S. A. Lockhart, Foreign Press
Department, Calcutta. Calcutta : 1871.
Gens, General. Nachrichten über Chiwa, Buchara, Chokand, &c.
2 vols. St. Petersburg : 1839.
Abbott, Capt. J. Narrative of a Journey from Heraut to Khiva,
Moscow, and St. Petersburg. 2 vols. London : 1843, 1856,
1867, 1884. -
Perovski, General. Narrative of the Russian Military Expedition
to Khiva in 1839. Translated by J. Michell. Calcutta :
1867. -
Zimmermann, Lieut. C. Memoir on the Countries about the Caspian
and Aral Seas, illustrative of the late Russian Expedition
G G 2
452. RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
against Khivah. Translated from the German by Capt.
Morier. London : 1840. -
Rer, D. On the Road to Khiva. Tondon : 1874. .
Jerch, P. von. Khiwa oder Kharezm. Seine historischen und
geographischen Verhältnisse. St. Petersburg : 1873.
MacGahan, J. A. Campaigning on the Oxus, and the Fall of Khiva.
London : 1874, 1876. - -
Anonymous. Khiva and Turkestan. Translated from the Russian
by Capt. H. Spalding. London : 1874.
Stumm, Hugo. Der russische Feldzug nach Chiwa. Berlin : 1875
Burnaby, Capt. F. G. A. Ride to Khiva ; Travels and Adventures
in Central Asia. Tondon : 1876, 1877, 1882, 1884.
Riza Qowly Khan. Relation de l’Ambassade au Kharezm de R. Q. K.
Bubliée, traduite et annotée par Charles Schefer. Paris: 1876–
1879. - .
Marmier, X. Les Russes à Khiva. Paris : 1878.
Barbier, M. E. Expédition du Khiva. Paris.
(Wide also H. Wood’s ‘Shores of Lake Aral ; Moser’s “A
Travers l'Asie Centrale;’ and Lansdell's ‘Russian Central
Asia.’
5. Twrkestan.
JBurslem, Capt. R. Peep into Toorkhistan. Tondon : 1846.
Pashino, P. J. Turkestanskii Krai (1866). St. Petersburg: 1868.
Bektchwrim. Remarks on Turkestan (Russian). Kazan : 1872.
Petrovski, W. F. Materiali dlia torgovoi statistiki Toorkestanskago
Kraya (Materials for Commercial Statistics of Turkestan). St.
Petersburg : 1874. - +
Pełżholdt, A. Turkestan auf Grundlage einer im Jahre 1871 unter-
nommenen Bereisung des Landes geschildert. Teipzig : 1874.
|Umschau im russischen Turkestan im Jahre 1871, nebst
einer allgemeinen Schilderung des “Turkestan’schen Beckens.’
Teipzig.: 1877. - -
Schuyler, Eugene. Notes of a Journey in Russian Turkistan, Kho-
kand, Bukhara, and Kuldja. 2 vols. London : 1876.
Mejoſ, V. J. Recueil du Turkestan, comprenant des livres et des
articles sur l'Asie Centrale en général et le province de Turkes-
tan en particulier. 3 vols. St. Petersburg : 1878, 1884, 1888.
Kostenko, Col. L. F. Toorkestanskii Krai. (Turkestan Region.) 3
vols. St. Petersburg ; 1880. -
Uifalvy, C. E. de. Expédition scientifique française en Russie, en
Sibérie et dans le Turkestan. 6 vols. Vol. i. : Le Kohistan,
J3 IB//OGRAPHY OF C E WTRAL ASIA 453
le Ferghanah et Kouldja. Vol. ii. : Le Syr Daria et le Zeraf-
chane. Paris : 1878–1880.
Uífalvy-Bowrdon, Marie de. De Paris à Samarkand, le Ferghanah,
le Kouldja, et la Sibérie occidentale. Impressions de Voyage
d’une Parisienne. Paris : 1880.
Maeff, Col. W. A. Materiali dlia Statistiki Toorkestanskago Kraya.
(Materials for Statistics of Turkestan.) St. Petersburg.
Mushkätoff, Prof. J. W. Turkestan (Russian). Vol. i. St. Peters-
burg ; 1886.
6. Twºrkomania and the Turkomans.
Michell, R. Memorandum on the Country of the Turcomans, giving
an account of the East Coast of the Caspian. 1873.
Epitome of Correspondence relating to Merv, with histori-
cal and geographical accounts of the place and itineraries.
1875.
Bagdanoff. Review of Expeditions and Explorations in the Aral
Caspian Region from 1720 to 1874. St. Petersburg: 1875.
Baker, Col. Val. Clouds in the East. Travels and Adventures on
the Perso-Turkoman Frontier. London : 1876.
Kuropatkin, Col. A. M. Turkomania and the Turkomans. (From the
Russian Military Journal.) Translated by R. Michell. 1879.
Petrºlsevitch, Gen. The Turkomans between the old Bed of the
Oxus and the North Persian Frontier. Translated by R.
Michell from the Transactions of the Caucasus Branch of the
Imperial Russian Geographical Society, No. XI. Tiflis : 1880.
Marvin, Ch. The Eye-witnesses’ Account of the Disastrous Russian
Campaign against the Akhal Tekke Turkomans. London :
1880, 1883.
Merv, the Queen of the World ; and the Scourge of the
Man-stealing Turkomans. With an exposition of the Khor-
assan Question. Tondon : 1881.
The Russian Annexation of Merv. London : 1884.
Weil, Capt. La Tourkménie et les Tourkmènes. Paris : 1880.
L'Expédition du Général Skobeleff contre les Tourkmènes.
Paris : 1885.
O. K. (Olga Novikoff, née Kiryeeff). Skobeleff and the Slavonic
Cause. London : 1883.
Dantchenko, V. J. W. Personal Reminiscences of General Skobeleff.
Translated by E. A. Brayley Hodgetts. London : 1884.
Adam, Mme. Le Général Skobeleff. Paris : 1886.
454 RUSSIA IV CEWTRAL ASIA
Skobelaff, Gen. Official Report on the Siege and Assault of Denghil
Tepe. Translated into English. London : 1881.
Masloff, Capt. A. M. Zavoevanie Akhal Teke. (The Conquest of
Akhal Tekke). St. Petersburg ; 1882.
Gºrodekoff, Gen. M. I. Voina v Turkmenie. (The War in Turkomania.)
4 vols. St. Petersburg ; 1883.
O'Donovan, E. The Merv Oasis : Travels and Adventures East of
the Caspian, during the years 1879, 1880, 1881, including five
months’ residence among the Tekkes of Merv. 2 vols. London :
1882, 1883.
Merv : A story of Adventure and Captivity. London :
1883.
Galkine, M. de Notice sur les Turcomans de la côte orientale de
la Mer Caspienne. Paris: 1884.
Radde, Dr. G. Worlâûfiger Bericht tiber die Expedition nach
Transcaspien und Khorasan. 1887. -
Penkin, Z. M. The Transcaspian Province, 1866–1885. Alpha-
betical Index to the titles of books and articles relating to
the Transcaspian province and adjacent countries. (Russian.) St.
Petersburg : 1888.
(Wide also Conolly's ‘Overland Journey to India, Wambéry's
“Travels in Central Asia, Rawlinson’s ‘England and Russia.
in the East,” Moser's ‘A Travers l'Asie Centrale, Lansdell’s
“Russian Central Asia, Boulger's ‘England and Russia in
Central Asia,’ and “Central Asian Questions,’ Marvin's works
passim, works under the heading “Transcaspian Railway,’ and
Parliamentary Papers passim.)
II. THE TRANSCASPIAN RAILWAY.
Bykovski, G. I. de. Le tour du monde en 66 jours, et de Londres et
de Paris en 4 jours aux Indes par la Russie. Projet de la
jonction des chemins de fer Européens avec les chemins de fer
de l’Inde. Paris : 1872.
Cotard, Ch. Le chemin de fer Central-Asiatique. Paris: 1875.
Bogdanovitch, E. Exposé de la question relative au chemin de fer
de la Sibérie et de l'Asie Centrale. Paris : 1875.
Annenkoff, Gen. M. Akhal Tekinski Oazis i pooti v Indiyou. (The
Akhal Tekke Oasis and Routes to India.) St. Petersburg:
1881.
Marvin, Ch. The Russian Railway to Herat and India. London:
1883.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CENTRAL ASIA 455
Marvin, Ch. The Railway Race to Herat. An account of the
Russian Railway to Herat and India. London : 1885.
Boulangier, E. Chemin de fer Transcaspien. (Revue du Génie
Militaire, March–June 1887.) Paris: 1887.
Voyage à Merv. Les Russes dans l'Asie Centrale et le
chemin de fer Transcaspien. Paris: 1888. -
Cotteaw, E. Voyage en Transcaspienne (July 24–Oct 11, 1887).
Paris : 1888.
Watslik, I. Y. The Transcaspian Railway ; its meaning and its
future. Translated by Lt.-Col. W. E. Gowan. 1888.
Heufelder, O. Transkaspien und seine Eisenbahn. Hanover :
1888.
Ney, Napoléon. En Asie Centrale à la vapeur. Notes de voyage.
Paris : 1888.
Cholet, Comte de. Excursion en Turkestan et sur la frontière
Russo-Afghane. Paris : 1889.
Wide also Ch. Marvin’s ‘The Russian Advance towards
India,’ chap. x. (London, 1882); ‘The Russians at Merv and
Herat,” Book iv. chap. iv. (Iondon, 1883); and Major C. E.
Yate's ‘Northern Afghanistan,’ chap. xxviii. (London, 1888).
III. AFGHANISTAN.
1. General Information.
Elphinstone, Hon. M. An Account of the Kingdom of Cabul and
its Dependencies in Persia, Tartary and India ; comprising a
view of the Afghan nation, and a history of the Doorannee
Monarchy. London : 1815, 1819, 1839.
Dorm, Dr. B. History of the Afghans, translated from the Persian
of Neamet Ullah. London: 1829, 1836.
Mohan, Lal. Journal of a Tour through the Panjāb, Afghanistan,
Turkestan, Khorasan, and Part of Persia, in Company with
Lieutenant Burnes and Dr. Gerard. Calcutta : 1834.
Life of the Amir Dost Mahommed Khan of Kabul, and
His Political Proceedings towards the English, Russian, and
Persian Governments, including the victory and disasters of
the British Army in Afghanistan. 2 vols. London : 1846.
Travels in the Panjāb, Afghanistan and Turkestan to Balk,
Bokhara, and Herat ; and a visit to Great Britain and
Germany. London : 1846.
Anonymous. Persia and Afghanistan. Analytical narrative and
correspondence. London : 1839.
456, RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Vigne, G. T. Personal narrative of a visit to Ghuzni, Kabul, and
Afghanistan, and a residence at the Court of Dost Mohammed.
London : 1840. . - - - .
Wilson, H. H. Ariana, Antiqua. Antiquities of Afghanistan.
London; 1841, 1861. . . - - -
Jackson, Sir K. A. Views in Affghanistan. London : 1841.
Moorcroft, W., and Trebeck, G. Travels in the Himalayan Provinces
of Hindustan and the Panjāb, in Ladakh and Kashmir, in
Peshawar, Kabul, Kunduz and Bokhara from 1819 to 1825.
(Prepared for press by H. H. Wilson.) 2 vols. London:
1841. . . -
Burnes, Sir A. Cabool : being a personal narrative of a journey
to and residence in that city in the years 1836, 1837, 1838.
London : 1842. - .
Harlan, J. A memoir of India and Affghanistaun. Philadelphia :
1842. - s
Hart, Capt. L. W. Character and Costumes of Afghanistan. London:
1843. - - * .
Raymond X. Afghanistan. Paris : 1848.
Perrier, J. P. Caravan Journeys and - Wanderings in Persia,
Afghanistan, Turkestan, and Beloochistan, with Historical
notices of the countries lying between Russia and India.
Translated by W. Jesse ; edited by H. D. Seymour. London :
1856, 1857. . .
History of the Afghans, translated from the original.
unpublished MS. by W. Jesse. London : 1858. - -
Jacob, General J. The Views and Opinions of, collected and edited
by Captain L. Pelly. Bombay : 1858. London : 1858.
Bellew, H. W. Journal of a Political Mission to Afghanistan in
1857 under Major (now Colonel) Lumsden. London : 1862.
From the Indus to the Tigris. A narrative of a journey
through the countries of Balochistan, Afghanistan, Khorassan,
and Iran in 1872, together with Synoptical Grammar and
Vocabulary of the Brahoe Language. London : 1873, 1874.
— Afghanistan and the Afghans; being a brief review of the
history of the country, and account of its people. London :
I879. -
The Races of Afghanistan; being a brief account of the
principal nations inhabiting that country. Calcutta : 1880.
Aitchison, C. U. Collection of Treaties, Engagements, and Sunnuds
relating to India and neighbouring countries. 8 vols. Cal-
cutta ; 1862–1866.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CENTRAL ASIA 457
Adye, Col. J. Sitana ; a mountain Campaign in Afghanistan (1863).
Iondon : 1867.
Grigorieſ, V. V. Geography of Central Asia. Kabulistan and
Kafiristan (Russian). St. Petersburg : 1867. -
The Bamian Route to Kabulistan from the Valley of the
Oxus (translated by R. Michell). 1878.
Atkinson, E. T. Statistical, descriptive, and historical account of
the North-west Provinces of India. 5 vols. (Articles on
Afghanistan, Beluchistan, &c., by Sir C. M. MacGregor.) Alla-
habad : 1874–9. - . . .
Mallesom, Col. G. B. History of Afghanistan, from the Earliest
Period to the Outbreak of the War of 1878. London : 1878.
Argyll, Duke of The Eastern Question, from the Treaty of Paris,
1856, to the Treaty of Berlin, 1878, and to the Second Afghan
War. 2 vols. London and Edinburgh : 1879.
– The Afghan Question, from 1841 to 1878. (Reprinted
from The Eastern Question.) London and Edinburgh : 1879.
Anonymous. Afghanistan and the Afghans. Tondon : 1879.
Mayer, S. R. and Paget, J. C. Afghanistan, its political and
military history, geography, and ethnology ; including a full
account of the wars of 1839–42; and an appendix on the
prospects of Russian invasion. London : 1879. -
Raverty, Major H. G. Notes on Afghanistan and Part of Balu-
chistan ; Geographical, Ethnographical and Historical. Don-
don : 1880. - -
Wheeler, J. T. A Short History of India and of Afghanistan.
London : 1880. -
Northbrook, Earl of A Brief Account of Recent Transactions in
Afghanistan. London : 1880.
Walker, P. F. Afghanistan. Tondon : 1 vol. 1881, 2 vols. 1885.
Savile, B. W. How India was Won : with a chapter on Afghanis-
tan. London : , 1881. -
Yavorski, Dr. J. L. Reise der russischen Gesandtschaft in
Afghanistan und Buchara in den Jahren 1878–1879. Aus
dem Russischen übersetzt und mit Anmerkungen versehen
von E. Petri. 2 vols. Jena : 1885.
The Russian Mission to Kabul. (Translated from the
Russian by R. Michell.)
Mariotti, A. Etudes sur l'Afghanistan. Paris: 1885.
Broadfoot, W. The Career of Major George Broadfoot in Afghanis.
tan and the Punjab. Compiled from his papers and those of
Lords Ellenborough and Hardinge. London : 1888.
458 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
2. Anglo-Afgham Wars.
FIRST AFGHAN WAR (1838–1842.)
FI avelock, Sir H. Narrative of the War in Afghanistan in 1838
and 1839. 2 vols. London : 1840. -
Hough, Major W. A narrative of the march and operations of the
Army of the Indus in the Expedition to Afghanistan 1838–9.
Calcutta : 1840 : London : 1841.
Atkinson, J. The Expedition into Afghanistan; Notes and Sketches
descriptive of the country contained in a personal narrative
during the campaign of 1839 and 1840. London : 1842.
*** *** *s Sketches in Afghanistan. 2 vols. London : 1842.
Dennie, Col. W. H. Personal narrative of the Campaigns in
Afghanistan. T)ublin : 1843.
Sale, Lady. A Journal of the disasters in Affghanistan, 1841–2.
London : 1843. - *
Taylor, Major W. Scenes and Adventures in Affghanistan. Tondon :
1843.
Allen, Rev. J. M. Diary of a march through Sinde and Afghanistan
with the troops under General Nott. London : 1843.
Anonymous. History of the war in Afghanistan, taken from the
Journal and Letters of an officer high in rank and edited by
C. Nash. London : 1843.
Lushington, H. A. Great Country's Little Wars, or England,
Afghanistan, and Sinde. London, 1844.
Greenwood, Lieut. J. Narrative of the Campaign in Afghanistan.
London : 1844.
Gleig, G. R. Sale's Brigade in Afghanistan. London : 1846, 1861.
Stocqueler, J. H. Memorials of Afghanistan ; State Papers illus-
trative of British Expedition to Afghanistan and Scinde between
the years 1838 and 1842. Calcutta : 1843.
Stacy, Col. L. R. Services in Belochistan and Affghanistan, 1840–2.
London : 1848. -
Raye, Sir J. W. History of the War in Afghanistan, from the
unpublished letters and journals of political and military
officers employed in Afghanistan. (1851 edition, 2 vols. The
remaining editions 3 vols.) London : 1851, 1857, 1858, 1874,
1878.
Lives of Indian officers. London : 2 vols. 1867, 1869.
3 vols. 1880.
Eyre, Liewt. V. The military operations at Cabul, which ended
BIBLIOGRAPII Y OF C E VTRAL ASIA 459
in the retreat and destruction of the British army in January
1842, with a journal of imprisonment in Affghanistan.
London : 1843. -
Eyre, Lieut. V. The Kabul Insurrection of 1841–1842. (Revised and
corrected from Lieut. Eyre's original MS. by Major-General Sir
Vincent Eyre, edited by Col. G. B. Malleson.) London: 1879.
Eyre, Maj.-Gen. Sir W. A retrospect of the Afghan war with
reference to passing events in Central Asia. London : 1869.
Edwardes, Sir H., and Merivale, H. Life of Sir Henry Lawrence.
London : 1873.
Morris, Mowbray. The First Afghan War. London : 1878.
Dwrand, Gen. Sir H. M. The First Afghan War and its Causes.
London : 1879.
Abbott, Gen. Aug. The Afghan War, 1838–1842, from the journal
and correspondence of ; by Charles Rathbone Low. London :
1879.
Pollock, Field Marshal Sir G. Life and Correspondence of, by C.
R. Low. London : 1873. :
Smith R., Bosworth. Life of Lord Lawrence. 2 vols. London :
1883. -
SECOND AFGHAN WAR (1878–1880).
Robinson, P. Cabul or Afghanistan, the seat of the Anglo-Russian
Question. Tondon : 1878. .
Causes of the Afghan war. A selection of the papers laid
before Parliament, with a connecting narrative and comment.
London : 1879. -
Le Messurier, Major A. Kandahar in 1879. London : 1880.
Ashe, Major W. Personal Records of the Kandahar Campaign, by
officers engaged therein. Edited and annotated, with an intro-
duction by Major A. London : 1881.
Colquhown, Major J. A. S. With the Kurrum Field Force in the
Caubul Campaign of 1878–79. London : 1881.
Hensman, H. The Afghan War of 1879–1880. London : 1881.
Mitford, R. C. W. To Cabul with the Cavalry Brigade. London :
1881.
Kāliprasanna, De. The Life of Sir Louis Cavagnari, with a brief
outline of the Second Afghan War. Calcutta : 1881. ---
Le Marchand, G. Campagne des Anglais dans l'Afghanistan, 1878–
1879. (Réunion des Officiers.) Paris : 1879.
— Deuxième campagne Anglais dans l'Afghanistan (1879–
1880), (Réunion des Officiers.) Paris : 1881.
460 RUSSIA / W C E VTRAL AS/A
Robertson, C. G. Kurum, Kabul, and Kandahar. Three campaigns
under General Roberts. Edinburgh : 1881.
Elliott, W. J. The Victoria Cross in Afghanistan, 1877–80. London:
1882.
Soboleff, Gen. L. M. Stranitsa eez istoriee vostotchnago voprosa ;
Anglo-Afghanskaya rasprya. Otcherk voinee 1879–1880. (A
page from the History of the Eastern Question ; the Anglo-
Afghan conflict. A sketch of the War of 1879–1880.) 3 vols.
St. Petersburg ; 1882.
Shadbolt, S. H. The Afghan Campaigns, of 1878–1880. Compiled
from official and private sources. 2 vols. Dondon : 1882.
Duke, J. Recollections of the Kabul Campaign, 1879–1880. London:
1883.
Low, C. R. Sir Frederick Roberts. A Memoir. London : 1883.
Thomsett, R. G. Kohät, Kurum, and Khost ; or, Experiences and
Adventures in the late Afghan War. London : 1884.
Wide also MacGregor's ‘Life and Opinions.” London : 1881.
3. The Afghan Frontier Question.
Showers, C. L. The Central Asian Question. London : 1873.
— The Central Asian Question and the Massacre of the Cabul
Embassy. London : 1879
The Cossack at the Gate of India. Tondon : 1885.
Thorburn, S. S. Bunnu ; or, Our Afghan Frontier. London :
1876.
Lohren, A. Afghanistan Oder die englische Handelspolitik in Indien,
beleuchtet vom Standpunkte deutscher Handels-Interessen.
Potsdam : 1878.
Crealocke, H. H. The Eastern Question and the Foreign Policy of
Great Britain. A series of papers from 1870–1878. London :
1878.
Fisher, F. H. Afghanistan and the Central Asian Question.
London : 1878.
O. K. (Olga Novikoff, née Kiryeeff). Is Russia. Wrong " Series of
Jetters by a Russian lady. Preface by J. A. Froude. London:
1878.
—— Russia and England from 1875–1880. A Protest and an
Appeal. Preface by J. A. Froude. London : 1880.
Andrew, Sir W. P. India and her Neighbours. London: 1878.
Our Scientific Frontier. Dondon : 1879, 1880.
Campbell, Sir G. The Afghan Frontier. London : 1879.
J3 IBM, IOGRAPHY OF C E MTRAI, ASIA 461
Malleson, Col. G. B. Herat : The Granary and Garden of Central
Asia. Tondon : 1880.
The Russo-Afghan Question and the Invasion of India.
TOndon : 1885.
Bertacchi, C. L'Afghanistan nel conflitto eventuale fra l'Inghil-
terra e la Russia. Torino ; 1880.
Vyse, G. W. Southern Afghanistan and the N.W. Frontier of India.
London : 1881.
Frere, Sir H. Bartle. Afghanistan and South Africa. Letter to
Rt. Hon. W. E. Gladstone regarding portions of Midlothian
Speeches. Tetter also to late Sir J. Kaye. London : 1881.
Marvin, Ch. The Russians at Merv and Herat, and their Power of
Invading India. London : 1883.
Russia's Power of Seizing Herat. Iondon : 1884.
The Russians at the Gate of Herat, &c. London : 1885.
Russia's Power of Attacking India. London : 1886.
Shall Russia have Penjdeh Tondon : 1885.
Beylié, L. de. I’Inde sera-t-elle russe ou anglaise ? Paris : 1884.
Simond, C. L'Afghanistan. Les Russes aux portes de l’Inde.
Paris : 1885.
Hue, F. Les Russes et les Anglais dans l'Afghanistan. Paris :
1885.
Rodenbough, T. F. Afghanistan and the Anglo-Russian Dispute.
New York and London : 1885.
Jerningham, H. E. Russia's Warnings, collected from official
papers. London : 1885.
Paget, Col. W. H., and Mason, Lieut. A. H. Record of Expeditions
against the North-West Frontier Tribes since the annexation of
the Punjab. (Published by authority.) Calcutta : 1885.
Anonymous. Russia's Next Move towards India. By an old cam-
paigner who knows the country. Dondon : 1885.
Russell, R. India's Danger and England's Duty. The history of
the Russian advance upon Afghanistan. London : 1885.
Roskoschny, H. von. Afghanistan und Seine Nachbarländer. Der
Schauplatz des jüngsten russisch-englischen Konflikts in
Centralasien, 2 vols. Leipzig : 1885-6.
Bartlett, E. A., M.P. Shall England keep India 7 London : 1886.
Grant-Dalj, Sir M. E. The Afghan Policy of the Beaconsfield
Government and its results. London : 1886.
J3 arthélemy St.-Hilaire, J. L'Inde anglaise, son état actuel, son
avenir. Précédé d'une introduction sur l’Angleterre et la
Russie, Paris : 1887.
462 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL AS/A
Yate, Lieut. A. C. England and Russia Face to Face in Asia;
Travels with the Afghan Boundary Commission. Edinburgh :
1887.
Yate, Major C. E. Northern Afghanistan, or Letters from the
Afghan Boundary Commission. Edinburgh : 1888.
Walbert, M. G. Les Afghans et la question indo-russe d'après
deux voyages français. Paris : 1888.
Kuhlberg, Col. Raboty Afghanskoi razgranich-itelnoi Komissii i
nasha Novaya granitsa s Afghanistanom. (“Work of the
Afghan Boundary Commission and our new frontiers with
Afghanistan.’) Tiflis : 1888. -
Darmesteter, J. Lettres sur l’Inde à la frontière afghane. Paris :
1888. -
MacGregor, Sir C. M. Life and Opinions. Edited by Lady Mac-
Gregor. 2 vols. London : 1888.
Wide also works on the Central Asian Question under sub-
heading 2 of Central Asia in General, Boulger's ‘Central Asian
Question,’ Lansdell’s ‘Through Central Asia,’ and Parlia-
mentary Papers passim.
4. Beluchistan.
Pottinger, Sir H. Travels in Baloochistan and Sinde, accompanied
by a geographical and historical account of those countries,
with a map. London : 1816.
Masson, C. Narrative of various journeys in Baloochistan, Afghan-
istan, and the Punjab, including a residence in those countries
from 1826 to 1838. 3 vols. London : 1842. 4 vols. 1844.
Narrative of a Journey to Kalat, and a memoir on E.
Daloochistan. London : 1843.
Stacy, Col. L. R. Narrative of Services in Beloochistan and
Affghanistan in 1840–42. London : 1848. -
Dubewa L. et Valmont V. Tartarie, Béloutchistan, Boutan et Nepal.
Paris : 1848.
Floyer, E. A. Unexplored Beluchistan. A survey of a route
through Mekran, Bashkurd, Persia, Kurdistan, and Turkey.
London : 1862.
The same, with a Preface by Sir F. J. Goldsmid. London :
1882.
Hughes, A. W. The Country of Balochistan, its Geography, Topo-
graphy, Ethnology, an History. London : 1877.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CAE WTRAI, ASIA 463
MacGregor, Sir C. M. Wanderings in Baloochistan. Tondon: 1882.
(Wide also Ferrier's ‘Caravan Journeys,” Goldsmid's ‘Eastern
Persia,” A. C. Yate’s ‘Travels with the Afghan Boundary Com-
mission,’ and Parliamentary Papers.) -
5. Euphrates Valley Railway.
Chesney, Col. F. R. The Expedition for the Survey of the Rivers
Euphrates and Tigris in 1835, 1836, 1837. Preceded by geo-
graphical and historical notices of the regions between the
Rivers Nile and Indus. 2 vols. London : 1850.
Narrative of the Euphrates Expedition carried on by order
of the British Government during 1835, 1836, 1837. London :
1868.
Life of, by his wife and daughter. Edited by S. Lane-
Poole. London : 1885.
Andrew, Sir W. P. The Scinde Railway and its relation to the
Euphrates Valley and other routes to India. London : 1856.
Euphrates Valley Route to India, in connection with the
Central Asian and Egyptian Questions. London : 1857, 1873,
I 882.
Cameron, Com. V. L. Our Future Highway (i.e. the Euphrates
Valley). 2 vols. London : 1880.
Ainsworth, W. F. A. Personal Narrative of the Euphrates Expedi.
tion. 2 vols. London : 1888.
IV. PERSIA.
Wahl, F. S. Günther. Altes und neues Vorder- und Mittel-Asien,
oder pragmatisch-geographische, fysische und statistische Schil-
derung und Geschichte des Perseisen Reichs, von den ältesten
Zeiten bis auf diesen Tag. Vol. 1. Leipzig : 1795.
Olivier, G. A. Voyage dans l'Empire Othoman, l'Egypte, et la Perse.
6 vols. Paris : 1801.
Waring, Major E. S. A tour to Sheeraz, &c., with various remarks
on the manners, &c., of the Persians. London : 1807.
Morier, J. P. A Journey through Persia, Armenia, and Asia
|Minor to Constantinople in the years 1808–1809. Iondon :
1812.
A Second Journey through Persia, Armenia, and Asia
Minor to Constantinople, between the years 1810–1816.
Iondon : 1818.
464 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Morier, J. P. The Adventures of Haji Baba of Ispahan. Tondon:
1824, 1828, 1856, 1863. -
Rinneir, J. M. Geographical memoir of the Persian Empire.
London : 1813. • -
Journey through Asia Minor, Armenia, Koordistan in
1813–14. London : 1818.
Geographical memoir of Persia. London : 1813.
Jourdain, A. La Perse ; ou tableau de l'histoire du gouvernement,
&c., de cet empire. 5 vols. Paris: 1814. "
Malcolm, Sir J. The History of Persia from the most early period
to the present time. 2 vols. London : 1815, 1829.
Sketches of Persia from the Journals of a Traveller in the
East. 2 vols. London : 1827, 1861. - -
General Sketches of Persia. (Cassell’s National Library.)
London : 1886, 1888. - - - -
Kaye, Sir J. W. The Life and Correspondence of Sir John Malcolm.
2 vols. London : 1856. - -
Ouseley, Sir W. Travels in various Countries of the East ; more
particularly Persia. 3 vols. London : 1819, 1823.
Rotzebie, M. von. Narrative of a Journey into Persia. Translated
from the German. London : 1819, 1820.
Porter, Sir R. K. Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia, Ancient
Babylonia, &c., from 1817–1820, 2 vols. London: 1821–
I 822.
Lumsden, T. A Journey from Merut in India to London, through
Arabia, Persia, Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Austria, &c., in 1819
and 1820. London : 1822.
Sherley, Sir A., Sir T., and Sir R. Travels and Adventures in
Persia, Russia, Turkey, &c. London : 1825.
Frazer, J. B. Narrative of a Journey into Khorasan in 1821 and
1822, including some account of the countries to the North-East
of Persia. London : 1825.
Travels and Adventures in the Persian Provinces on the
Southern Banks of the Caspian Sea. With appendix contain-
ing short notices on the Geology and Commerce of Persia.
London : 1826.
– The Persian Adventurer. 3 vols. London : 1830.
An Historical and Descriptive Account of Persia from the
earliest ages to the present time ; including an account of
Afghanistan and Beloochistan, 1834. Edinburgh : 1834. New
York : 184., -
—— Winter Journey from Constantinople to Tehran, with
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF C E WTRAL ASIA 465
Travels through various parts of Persia. 2 vols. London :
1838. -
Frazer, J. B. Narrative of the Persian Princes in London. 2 vols.
London: 1838.
Travels in Koordistan, Mesopotamia, &c., including an
account of parts of those countries hitherto unvisited by Euro-
peans, 2 vols. Dondon : 1840. - - -
Alexander, Lieut. J. E. Travels from India to England, comprising
a Journey through Persia, etc., in 1825–6. London : 1827.
Keppel, Hon. G. Personal Narrative of a Journey from India to
England, by Bussorah, Bagdad, Curdistan, the Court of Persia,
etc. London : 1827.
Buckingham, J. S. Travels in Assyria, Media, and Persia. 2 vols.
Tondon : 1830.
Stocqueler, J. H. Fifteen Months' Pilgrimage through untrodden
Tracts in Khuzistan and Persia in 1831–32, in a Journey from
India to England, through parts of Turkish Arabia, Armenia,
Russia, and Germany, 2 vols. London : 1832.
Brydges, Sir H. J. The Dynasty of the Kajars. Translated from
an Oriental Persian MS. ; to which is prefixed a succinct account
of the History of Persia. London : 1833.
Account of the Transactions of H.M. Mission to the Court
of Persia in 1807–11. 2 vols. London : 1834.
A Letter on the Present State of British Interests in Persia.
London : 1838.
Rich, C. J. Narrative of a Residence in Koordistan, etc., with an
account of a visit to Shirauz and Persepolis. 2 vols. London :
1836.
Narrative of Journey to Babylon and Persepolis. London :
1839.
Southgate, Bp. H. Tour through Armenia, Kurdistan, etc. 2 vols.
London : 1840.
Fowler, G. Three Years in Persia. 2 vols. London : 1841.
Perkins, Rev. J. Eight Years' Residence in Persia among the
Nestorian Christians. Andover, U.S. : 1843.
De Bode, Baron. Travels in Luristan and Arabistan. 2 vols.
London : 1845. •
Ritto, J. The People of Persia. London : 1849, 1851.
Flamdim, E. Voyage en Perse. 2 vols. Paris : 1851.
Stuart, Col. W. K. Journal of a Residence in N. Persia and the
adjacent Provinces of Turkey. London : 1854.
Soltykoff, Prince A. Voyage en Perse. Paris : 1854.
H II
466 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
Sheil, Lady. Glimpses of Life and Manners in Persia. With notes
On Russia, Koords, Toorkomans, Nestorians, Khiva, and Persia.
London : 1856. g - - -
Wagner, M. Travels in Persia, Georgia, and Koordistan. (From
the German.) 3 vols. London : 1856. -- -
Binning, R. B. Journal of Two Years' Travel in Persia, Ceylon.
&c. 2 vols. Tondon : 1857.
Champollion-Figeac, J. J. Histoire des peuples anciens et modernes,
La Perse. Paris : 1857. -
Shepherd, W. A. From Bombay to Bushire and Bussora. Including
an account of the Present State of Persia, and Notes on the
IPersian war. Tondon : 1857.
Hunt, Capt. G. H. Outram and Havelock's Persian Campaign. To
which is prefixed a Summary of Persian History, an account of
various differences between England and Persia, and an inquiry
into the origin of the late War, by G. Townsend. London :
1858,
Outram, Sir J. Persian Campaigns in 1857. Dondon : 1860.
Gobineau, Comte J. A. de. Trois ans en Asie (1855–8). Paris :
1859. . .
PIistoire des Perses. 2 vols. Paris : 1869.
Eastwick, E. B. Journal of a Diplomate's Three Years' Residence
in Persia. 2 vols. London : 1864.
Polak, J. E. Persien, das Tand und seine Bewohner. 2 vols.
Leipzig : 1865.
Ussher, J. A Journey from London to Persepolis, including Wander-
ings in Daghestan, Georgia, Armenia, Kurdistan, Mesopotamia,
and Persia. London : 1865.
Watson, R. Grant. A History of Persia from the beginning of the
19th Century to the year 1858. With a review of the prin-
cipal events that led to the establishment of the Kajah dynasty.
Tondon : 1866. -
Wambéry, Arm. Meine Wanderungen und Erlebnisse in Persien.
Pest : 1867.
Marsh, D. W. The Tennessean in Persia and Koordistan. Phila.
delphia ; 1869.
Mownsey, A. H. A Journey through the Caucasus and the Interior
of Persia. London : 1872.
Cwnynghame, Gen. Sir A. T. Travels in the Eastern Caucasus, on
the Caspian and Black Seas, especially in Daghestan, and on
the frontiers of Persia and Turkey, during 1871. London :
1872.
J37/3//OGAEA PHY OF CAE AWTIPA ), ASIA| 467
Khanikoff, W. de Meshid ; la città Santa e il suo territorio.
Viaggi in Persia. 1873. -
Brittlebank, W. Persia during the Famine. London : 1873.
Braithwaite, R. The Kingdom of the Shah ; a descriptive and
historical sketch of Persia. Dondon : 1873.
Piggot, J. Persia, ancient and modern. London : 1874.
Markham, C. R. A general Sketch of the History of Persia.
London : 1874.
Goldsmid, Sir F. J. Telegraph and Naval : a Narrative of the
Formation and Development of Telegraphic Communication
between England and India, under the orders of Her Majesty's
Government, with incidental notices of the countries traversed
by the Tines. London : 1874.
—— Eastern Persia : An Account of the Journeys of the Persian
Boundary Commission, 1870, 1871, 1872. Vol. i. The Geo
graphy, with Narratives by Majors St. John and Lovett, and Euan
Smith, and edited, with an Introduction, by Sir F. J. Goldsmid.
Vol. ii. The Zoology and Geology by W. T. Blanford. London:
1876. -
James Outram : A Biography. 2 vols. London : 1880.
Thielmann, Baron Maa, vom. A Journey in the Caucasus, Persia,
&c. Translated from the German. 2 vols. Dondon : 1875.
Baker, Col. Val. Clouds in the East. Travels and Adventures on
the Perso-Turkoman Frontier. London : 1876, 1878.
Arnold, Arthur. Through Persia by Caravan. 2 vols. London :
1877. - -
Marsh, Capt. H. C. A. Ride through Islam ; being a Journey
through Persia and Afghanistan to India, vić Meshed, Herat,
and Kandahar. Tondon : 1877. - -
MacGregor, Sir C. M. Narrative of a Journey through the Pro-
vince of Khorassan, and on the N.W. Frontier of Afghanistan,
in 1875. 2 vols. London : 1879.
Ballantine, H. Midnight Marches through Persia. Boston : 1879.
Anderson, T. S. My Wanderings in Persia. London : 1880.
Osmaston, J. Old Ali; or Travels Long Ago. Tondon : 1881.
Fogg, W. P. Travels and Adventures in Arabistan. London :
1881.
Anonymous. Aus Persien. Aufzeichnungen eines Oesterreichers
Wien : 1882.
Stack, E. Six Months in Persia. 2 vols. London : 1882.
Serena, C. Hommes et choses en Perse. Paris : 1883.
Wills, C. J. In the Land of the Lion and Sun ; or Modern Persia:
H. H. 3
468 RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA
being Experiences of Life in Persia from 1866–1881. London :
1883. -
Wills, C. J. Persia as it is. Being Sketches of Modern Life and
Character. London : 1886. - -
Orsolle, E. Le Caucase et la Perse. Ouvrage accompagné d'une
carte et d’un plan. Paris: 1885.
Stolze, F., and Andreas, F. C. Die Handelsverhältnisse Persiens.
(Petermann's Mitteilungen, 1884–5.) Gotha: 1885.
Radde, Dr. G. Reisen an der Persisch-russischen Grenze. Talysch
und Seine Bewohner. Leipzig : 1886. -
JBassett, J. Persia. The Land of the Imams. A Narrative of Travel
and Residence, 1871–1885. New York : 1886. London :
I887. - -
Benjamin, S. G. W. Persia. Story of the Nations. London: 1886,
1887. -
Persia and the Persians. Tondon : 1887.
Arbuthnot, F. F. Persian Portraits. A Sketch of Persian History
Literature, and Politics. London : 1887.
Binder, H. Au Kurdistan, en Mésopotamie et en Perse. Ouvrage
illustré de 200 dessins d'après les photographies et croquis de
l'auteur. Paris : 1887. -
Layard, Sir A. H. Early Adventures in Persia, Susiana, and Baby-
lonia, including a Residence among the Bakhtiari and other
wild tribes. 2 vols. London : 1887.
Möldeke, Th. Aufsätze zur Persischen Geschichte. 1887.
Gwtschmid, A. V. Geschichte Trans. 1888.
Dieulafoy, Mme. J. La Perse, la Chaldée, et la Susiane. Relation
de voyage. Paris: 1887.
A Suse. Journal de fouilles, 1884–6. Paris: 1888.
Stevens, Thos. Around the World on a Bicycle. 2 vols. London:
1888. - • .
(Wide also Selection from Early Travels; Conolly's ‘Over-
land Journey to India ; Mitford’s ‘Land March to Ceylon ; ’
Rawlinson's ‘England and Russia in the East; O'Donovan's
‘Merv Oasis ; Marvin’s ‘Merv ;' Moser's ‘A travers l'Asie
Centrale;’ Bonvalot’s ‘Through the Heart of Asia ; and Par-
liamentary Papers passim.) -
I N ID E X
ABB
ABBOTT, Major J., 4, 111, 138
Abdul Ahad, vide Bokhara, Amir
of
Abdul Melik, 158
Abdullah Khan, 163, 164, 237
Abdurrahman Khan, 123–5, 232,
330, 350–1, 355–6, 358–9, 361–2,
365, 366, 367, 369
Abramoff, General, 292, 329
Afghanistan, 99, 123, 252, 265,
267, 284, 295, 297, 326, 328,
330–1, 362
— trade with, 280–5
– British officers in, 368–70
— partition of 360–1 -
Afghans, the, 114, 172, 249, 263
Afghan wars, 311, 327, 357–8, 368
— frontier, 322, 344,348–9, 350–5,
365
— history, 356–8
— army, 361–2, 363
— independence, 364–6
— Turkestan, 124–5, 149, 232,
252, 264, 275, 283, 297, 303,
306, 307, 329, 343
Afrasiab, 162, 235
Afridis, the, 363, 372
Aidin, 54
Akbar the Great, 219, 223
Akcha, 282
Akhal Tekke oasis, 71, 73, 96,
252
Alexander the Great, 110, 136,
144, 161, 293
Alexander I., 325
ATE
Alexander III., 23, 117, 133, 280,
316
Alikhanoff, Colonel, 42, 106, 112,
114, 118, 122, 125–7, 129, 316,
353, 365, 392
Alp Arslan, 110, 136, 182
Amu Daria, the, vide Oxus
— — station, 61, 298
— — province, 252–3, 254, 255,
257, 404, 411
Andkui, 149, 165, 275, 282, 344,
360
Annenkoff, General, 1, 5, 13, 18,
27, 38, 39, 41, 42, 44, 52, 54,60,
103, 106, 108, 143, 146, 158,
215, 233, 264, 267, 271, 274,
277–8, 291, 293, 310, 312, 337,
399, 405–6, 408, 411
Aral Sea, the, 69, 238, 255
Araxes, the, 374
Arba, 167
Architecture, Arabian, 223–4
Arman Sagait, 94
Armenians, the, 96, 97, 108, 114,
286,
Arnold, M., quoted, 144
Artik, 100
Asia, Central, vide Central Asia
Askabad, 44, 58, 61, 66, 83, 93–4,
96–9, 101, 265, 271, 273, 275,
281, 283, 292, 293, 298, 302,
318, 326, 342, 375, 400, 429
Astrabad, 287, 304, 324
Astrakhan, 64, 299, 324
Atek oasis, 71, 100, 102, 252, 302
470 R USSIA IV CENTRAL ASIA
ATIR.
Atrek, the, 38, 96
Attock, 345
Austria, feeling towards, in Russia,
26
Ayub Khan, 359
Azerbaijan, 287, 288
BABA DURMAZ, 100, 318
Baba Khan, 132
Baber Sultan, 211
Padakshan, 329, 342, 358, 360
Bagdad, 378
Bahmi, 76, 89
Baieff, M., 73
Dairam Ali, 116, 135, 137
Baisun, 159
Baker, Colonel Val., 4, 101, 383
IBaku, 30, 62, 131, 133, 277, 281,
288, 289, 294, 299, 300, 429
Iłala Isherm, 54
— Murghab, 344
Balkan Bay, 404
Balkans, the Great, 68
— the Little, 68
Balkh, 262, 306, 308, 320, 330,
341, 343, 348–9, 360, 368-9, 371
T3amian, 262, 306, 330, 343
T3arkhut Pass, 266
IBarogil Pass, 342
Eatchas, 200
Batoum, 16, 285, 289
Baz Girha, 98
IBazoff, General, 400
Beaconsfield, Earl of, 121, 357,
373
Deluchistan, 44, 50, 270, 320, 334,
363, 377, 379
Bender Abbas, 99, 287, 380
Berlin Treaty, 292, 315, 327
Bibi Khanym, 218, 224–5, 229
Bielinski, M., 146
T}lack Sea, steamboat service, 3
Bogdanovitch, M., 250
Bokhara, 9, 43, 56, 61, 99, 109,
110, 122, 149, 151, 153-204, 214,
252, 254, 256, 273, 274, 278–9,
306, 323, 342, 405, 430
-— Amir of, 152, 155, 158, 159–60,
215, 274
— Russian town, 154-5
— population of, 171–5
Bokharan women, 175
CLA.
Bokharan buildings, 175, 186
— prison, 184-5
— bazaar, 185, 189
— currency, 188–9
— trade, 189–92, 202,256, 281–2,
286
— court and army, 198–200
— irrigation, 206–9
Bokhariots, the, 49, 50, 96, 114,
115, 119, 154, 157, 249, 396
Bolan railway, the, 44, 50, 346
Bonvalot, Gabriel, 119, 159, 184,
340–1, 366,430
Bosaga, 264, 343
Boulangier, Edgar, 46, 47, 81–2
Bourdalik, 264
Brende, J., 141
British, the, feeling towards, in
Russia, 25
— Officers in Afghanistan, vide
Afghanistan
Buchanam, Sir A., 215
Bujmurd, 286, 287, 374
Burnaby, Capt. F., 4, 111, 337
Burnes, Sir A., 4, 110, 145, 165,
178, 182
Bushire, 99, 287, 378, 380
CASPIAN SEA, the, 3, 30, 56,68, 71,
275, 286, 294, 298, 299, 303, 309,
329, 374
— marine, 300
Catherine, Empress, 324
Caucasus, the, 28, 299, 344
Cavagnari, Sir L., 368
Central Asia, 9 et passim,
— — Asian railway, 35–7
— — climate, 75, 113, 213
— — scenery, 139, 140, 228–30
— — trade, 99, 189–91, 277–91
— — population, 252–3
Chaman, 269, 296, 346
Charvilayet, 282
Chihil Dukhtaran, 296
Chinese, the, 387, 410
Chita, 263
Chitral, 297, 329, 341, 342
Cholet, Comte de, 8, 117, 365,
400
Clarendon, Earl of 326
Clavijo, Don Ruy de, 142,212, 224,
231
JAWI) B, Y.
* 471
CLI
Climate, vide Central Asia
Clubs, Russian military, 109, 246
Colonisation, Russian, 408–11
Commerce, vide Afghanistan,
Bokhara, Central Asia, Persia,
and Turkestan
Conolly, Capt. A., 3, 110, 165, 179,
184
Constantinople, 288, 321–3
Cotard, M., 35 -
Cotton plantation, 115, 116, 118,
241, 254, 263, 278, 405–7
Crassus, 110
Critt, Théo, 312
Czar, the, vide Alexander III.
DARIUs, 109
Darwaza, 380
Dastarkhan, 169, 201
Décauville railway, 40, 58
Denghil Tepe, 37, 79, 82, 85, vide
also Geok Tepe
Dera Ghazi Khan, 346
Dereguez, 287, 374
Dervishes, 177
Dilke, Sir C., 111, 271, 308, 350
Divan Begi of Bokhara, 179, 195,
203
Dolgorouki, Prince, 375
Dost Mohammed, 325, 356, 357,
358, 368
Dufferin, Marquis of, 341, 351,
387
Duhamel, General, 325
Duranis, the, 363
Dushak, 100, 102, 266, 303, 344
EDUCATION, Native, 242, 243, 394
Emralis, the, vide Turkomans
IEnzeli lagoon, 375
IErivan, 289, 407
Ersaris, the, vide Turkomans
Euphrates Valley Railway, 378
FARRAH, 268, 324, 383
|Perghana, 252-3, 254, 256, 257,
292, 329, 342, 406
Foreign Office Reports quoted,
189,278, 280, 286, 287,288,290,
407
HEL
Fort Alexandrovsk, 96
France, feeling towards, in Russia,
26
French in Central Asia, the, 5
Brere, Sir Bartle, 369
Frontier question, vide Afghani-
stan, and India.
GARBER, Colonel, 164
Gasteiger Khan, General, 98
Génie, M. de St., 324
Geok Tepe, 10, 37, 41, 72, 76–8,
111, 128, 131, 273, 293, 298, 302,
318, 323
— — siege and capture of 78–85,
97, 386, 396
Gerard, Dr. J., 165
Germans, the, 114, 171
Germany, dislike of, in Russia, 21,
22, 23
Ghilzais, the, 50, 359, 363, 373
Ghurian, 268
Ghuzni, 346, 348, 352
Gia.our Kala, 135
Gilgit, 297
Girishk, 380
Gladstone, Mr., 322–3, 358
Gloukhovskoe, General, 80, 404
Gomul Pass, 345, 346
Gortchakoff, Prince, 215, 319, 326
Gowan, Colonel W. E., 7
Granville, Earl; 36, 326
Greeks, the, 114
Grigorieff, Professor, 164–5
Grodekoff, General, 11, 42, 77, 83,
84–5, 119, 129, 302, 328, 335,
404
Grotengelm, General, 329
Gulistan, 380
Gur Amir, vide Tamerlane, tomb
of
Gur Djemal, 132
Gwadur, 380
Gyaurs, 100 .
Gypsies, the, 249
HAIDAROFF, Colonel, 81
Hazaras, the, 363
Helmund, the, 294, 303, 304, 321,
371
472 RUSSIA / W. CENTRAI, ASIA
HEIR
Herat, 120, 262, 265, 267–8, 284,
293, 294, 296, 298, 304, 307,
318, 321, 324, 325, 342, 344,
347–9, 352, 357, 360, 365, 377,
383 .
Heri Rud, the, 102, 123, 266, 360,
374; vide also Tejend
Heyfelder, Dr. O., 46, 59, 82, 86,
155, 160, 190, 194–7
Hindu Kush, the, 145, 292, 294,
342, 360, 372
IHindus, the, 172, 249
Hiouen Tsang, 211
Hissar, 159
Hodjent, 242
Bogg, Reynold, 165
Home, Colonel, 301
Humayun, 223
Hurnai Pass, 346
IBN HAUKAL, 113, 152, 212
Igdi wells, 404 -
Ignatieff, General, 35
Imam Baba, 298
India, Russian designs upon, 11–
14, 319–34, 341–9
— — illusions about, 384–41
— — invasion of 297, 306–7
— British rule in, 338–40, 386–7,
397–9
Indian frontier, 13, 333, 345–7
— — trade, 280, 284, 285
— army, 308, 335
Irbit, 256
Irkutsk, 263
Is-hak Khan, 19, 122–5, 232, 283,
359, 362
Ispahan, 287, 378, 380
JAGATAI KHAN, 162
Jam, 292, 329
Jamshidis, the, 363
Jaxartes, the, vide Syr Daria
Jehangir, 223
Jellalabad, 342 .
Jenghiz Khan, 9, 110, 136, 162,
177
Jenkinson, Anthony, 162,188, 192,
197, 237
Jews in Central Asia, the, 96, 97,
114, 172–3, 249, 250
RHR
Jilanuti Pass, 237
Jizak, 197, 235, 237
Jumrood, 345, 372
RAAHKA, 298
Rabul, 262, 282, 284, 292, 294,
297, 306, 309, 324, 328, 330, 341,
343, 348, 352, 364, 368–9, 371-3
Radjar Khan, 112, 132
Rafiristan, 329, 342
Randahar, 111, 120, 262, 267–70,
295, 304, 309, 321, 324, 346, 348,
352, 358, 359, 364, 369, 371
Ransk, 263
Rara Kul, 153, 186, 205
— — lake, 342
— Kum, the, 69, 70, 73–5, 102,
385, 403 -
Raribent, 401
Rars, 289 -
Earshi, 183, 184, 217, 329
|Karun, the, 375, 381
Rashgar, 254
Rashgarians, the, 249
Rashmir, 292, 297, 329, 341–2,
345
Rasili Bend, 115 .-
Katta Kurgan, 205, 242, 305
Kaufmann, General, 85, 136, 156,
241,243,246,292, 294, 306, 327,
328–9, 335, 396, 432
Ravkas newspaper, the, 281, 339
Razalinsk, 279, 400
Razanjik, 54 -
Jºelat-i-Nadiri, 101–2, 287, 374
JKerki, 124, 147, 149, 150, 262, 264,
284, 297, 305, 306
ICermineh, 158, 197, 204
Rhabarooka, 263
Rhamiab, 264, 365
Ehanikoff, Nic. de, 168, 178, 185
Rhiva, 43, 69, 97, 110, 165, 252,
254, 256, 275, 281, 318, 403–5
Rhivans, the, 114, 115
Khoi, 288 -
Khojak Pass, 377
Rhojent, 254, 255, 408
Rhokand, 242, 256, 273, 318, 405
I(horasan, 69, 93, 97,98, 101, 122,
193, 275, 278,287, 302, 303, 304,
333, 374–6 -
Rhruleff, General, 325-6
IND EX 473
RHU
Rhulm, 343, 360, 365 -
Khwaja Amran Mountains, 846,
380
— Kala, 332
Rhyber Pass, 345
Ribitkas, Turkoman, 73, 97
Riepert, Herr, 404
Rilif, 262, 297, 306
Rirghiz, the, 96, 114, 172, 235,
249, 393, 396
Rirman, 380
Rizil Art Pass, 342
— Arvat, 38, 40, 41, 43–4, 49, 55,
61, 72,295, 298
— Takir, 85
JKoh-i-baba, 360
Rohik, the, vide Zerafshan
Rohistan, 252
|Coktash, the, 215, 216
Rolab, 342
Komaroff, General, 17, 44, 94,112,
116, 125, 129, 131, 198, 201, 316
Ropet Dagh, the, 68, 98
Rostenko, M., 252
JKoushid Khan Kala, 45, 106, 112,
134 - -
Rozelkoff, Colonel, 81
Rozlof, Lieutenant, 250 -
Krasnovodsk, 32, 38, 66, 89, 90,
96, 273, 293, 295, 301
Krestovski, M., 222
Euchan, 90, 98, 286, 374
Kuhsan, 266, 383
Kulja, 251, 252, 387
Kunduz, 360 .
Kungans, 187
Ruren Dagh, the, 68
Kurgan, 263
Kurgans, 74 -
Ruropatkin, General, 80, 258, 331
Rurrachi, 309, 346, 378
Kurum Valley, 345, 373
Rush Begi of Bokhara, 158, 179,
180, 203.
Rushk, battle of the, 44, 94, 97,
128, 295, 316, 362, 364
LANSDELL, Rev. Dr., 4, 18, 166,
172, 217, 222, 421, 442
Lash Juwain, 380
Lawrence, Lord, 368
Lessar, Paul, 41, 265
MIC
Lesseps, Ferdinand dé, 35, 36,
263
Lhasa, 251–2
Littledale, St. G., 18
Lomakin, General, 37,85, 295, 319
Lumsden, Sir P., 94, 131
Lundi Kotal, 372
Lutfabad, 91, 100
Massum, vide Shah Murad
MacGregor, Sir C., 4, 101, 111,
121, 295, 297, 306, 313, 342, 370,
375, 383 -
McNeill, Sir J., 268
Mahometanism in Central Asia,
99, 171, 193, 373, 393
Maili Khan, 132 -
Maimena, 149, 275, 282, 344, 360,
368 -
Makdum Kuli Khan, 79, 131
Manchuria, 410
Mandeville, Sir J., 211
Mangishlak, 96
Marghilan, 329, 343
Martin, Joseph, 252
Marvin, Charles, 7, 11, 42, 111,
329
Matsaeff, Colonel, 329
Mayo, Earl of 368
Mazar-i-Sherif, 165, 343, 368
Mazenderan, 287, 288
Medresses, 176, 216, 218, 220–5,
394 -
Mejoff, W. J., 248, 440
Meruchak, 298
Merv, 10, 13, 53, 55, 61, 87, 91,
96, 266, 273, 293, 295, 298, 306,
318, 342, 344, 401, 406, 409, 429
— annexation of, 45, 111–2, 127
— oasis, 71, 109, 113–8, 140, 252
— — administration of 114
— — trade of 115
— — irrigation of 117
— ancient, 109, 110, 135, 138
— modern, 106–9
— — Khans of, 131–2, 193, 389
Meshed, 98, 99, 101, 111, 223, 275,
286, 287, 326, 344, 375, 383
Mestcherin, M., 18, 59, 146, 261
Meyer, Naval Cadet, 80 -
Michaelovsk, 39, 46, 55, 61
474 RUSSIA IW C E VTRAL ASIA
MIL
Military strength of Russia, vide
Russians
Militia, Turkoman, vide Turko-
Iſla,IlS
Mokannah, 110
Molla, Kari, 54
Moorcroft, Wm., 165
Moore, T., quoted, 107, 175
Moscow, 28, 44, 299
Moser, Henri, 161, 222
Mozaffur-ed-din, 156, 157, 163,
432–5 - -
Murad Bey, 132 -
Murghab, the, 53, 106, 115, 117,
266, 298, 344, 403
NADIR SHAH, 183, 219, 293
Naphtha, 30, 58, 255
Napier, Major, 297
Napoleon I., 324, 325
Nasirabad, 380
Nasrullah, 163, 165, 183
Ney, Napoleon, 8
Niaz Khan, 132
Nicholas, Emperor, 325
Nijni Novgorod, 28, 190, 256, 279,
285, 300
Nur Verdi Khan, 131, 132
OASFS, Turkoman, 71–3, 96, 302,
402
— Merv, vide Merv
O’Donovan, Edmund, 4, 77, 87,
101, 105, 111, 132, 138, 195, 392
Oktai Khan, 162
Omsk, 262, 305
Orenburg, 165, 190, 214, 256,
262–3, 279, 294, 305, 319, 323,
324 -
Orlandi, Giovanni, 184
Orloff, General, 324
Orodes, 110
Orsk, 256
Osh, 342
Ostolopoff, Lieutenant, 80
Ovis poli, 18, 248, 431
Oxus, the, 9, 32, 35, 45, 55, 68,
143–5, 278, 290, 292, 297, 305,
352, 358, 361
– bridge, 45, 53, 146–8, 319
— old beds, 68, 70, 403–5
TTUI
Oxus flotilla, 148–50, 264
PALASHKOFSKI, M., 290
Pall Mall Gazette, 291
Pamir, the, 145, 252,297, 308, 329,
345, 431
Paropamisus Mountains, 266
Parthians, the, 110
Pashino, Dr., 136, 340
Passports, 30
Pathans, the, 363
Paul, Emperor, 324
Pavloff, General, 89
Peiwar Kotal, 328, 373
Penjakent, 229, 255
Penjdeh, 44, 94, 96, 113, 115, 121,
133, 252,266–7, 273–4, 293, 318
IPersia, 275, 285, 298, 325, 357,
374–81
— trade with, 287–91, 376, 407
— railways in, 375–7, 379–81
— British policy towards, 374-81
Persian mountains, the, 56, 68,
402.
– frontier, the, 68, 98, 100, 101,
304
— army, 376
— Gulf, 377
Persians, the, 96, 97,114, 119, 172,
198,249, 300, 303–4, 376
Peshawur, 342, 345, 347, 372
— Conference, the, 368
Peter the Great, 11, 28, 259, 404,
413
Petro Alexandrovsk, 149, 329
Petropavlosk, 256
Petrovsk, 2, 299
Petrusevitch, General, 38, 335,
404
Pevtsoff, Colonel, 252 -
Pishin, 321, 334, 346, 372, 377,
379
Poklefski, M., 117, 118
IPoles, the, 114, 171
Polo, Marco, 10, 163, 182
Porsa Kala, 107 -
Possolskaia, 263
Poti, 289 -
Pottinger, Eldred, 325, 369
Prjevalski, General, 250–2, 311
Pul-i-Khatun, 266, 293, 296, 298,
365
INDEX 475
QUE
QUETTA, 269, 296, 334, 346, 377,
379
Quintus Curtius, 141, 161
RAILWAYS, Central Asian, 34-6
— Décauville, 40, 58
— Sind-Pishin, 40, 50, 346
— Indo-Russian, 13, 100, 267–71
— Persian, 375–7, 379–81
— Euphrates Valley, 378
Transcaspian, vide Transcas-
pian Railwa
Rawlinson, Sir H., 157, 161, 384
Rawul Pindi, 345, 347
Resht, 375
Reshta, the, 195–7, 248
Ridgeway, Sir W., 130, 365
Tighistan of Bokhara, 182—3
— of Samarkand, 216, 218, 220
Roads in Central Asia, 400
Roberts, Sir F., 312, 328
Roborovski, Lieutenant, 250
Romanovski, General, 317, 340,
397
Rosenbach, General, 17, 19, 147,
150, 24.1–4, 261
Roshan, 358
ROZgonoff, Colonel, 328
Russian designs upon India, 11,
12, 315, 319–323
— invasion of India, 297, 323–33,
341–9
– illusions about India, 334–41
— character, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25,
92, 230, 276, 317, 388–9, 392-5
— prestige, 270, 276, 366–8
— commercial policy, 279 et seq.
— Government, 24, 316, 401
Russians in Central Asia, the, 119,
171, 174, 193, 227, 240, 252,
253, 259,267, 296, 366, 383–5,
et Chap. X. passim
Tuy de Clavijo, vide Clavijo
SAMANIDs, the, 162
Salmarkand, 1, 2, 45, 61, 62, 99,
109, 125, 148, 197, 207, 208,
210–32, 242, 248, 256, 261,273,
297, 305, 329, 396, 400, 429
— district, 210
– monuments, 211
SIN
Samarkand, modern, 212–4
— public buildings, 213
— citadel, 216
— Righistan, 216, 218, 220
— prison, 217
— ancient, 217
— medresses, 220–1
— population, 230
Sandeman, Sir R., 363
Sands, the, 55, 56, 103-4, 140-3
Sanjur Sultan, 110, 136
Sarakhs, 96, 100, 113, 121, 133,
252, 266, 273-4, 293, 294, 296,
298, 318, 383, 401
Saratov, 299
Sari Batir Khan, 132
Sarik Turkomans, vide Turko-
ICO allS
Sari Yazi, 298
Sarts, the, 239, 243, 244, 249
Sary Kamish lakes, 403–4
Saxaoul, the, 57, 75, 142
Schuyler, Eugene, 4, 158, 166, 184,
190, 217, 221, 242, 243
Sebzewar, 268
Seistan, 377, 379–80
Seljuks, the, 110, 136, 162
Séménoff, M., 66, 243, 248, 259
Semipalatinsk, 256
Semlrechinsk, 256, 410
Sericulture, 254, 407
Shadman Melik, 236
Shah of Persia, the, 98, 374, 376,
436–9
— Jehan, 223
— Murad, 137, 163, 194
— Zindeh, 218, 226–7
Shahrud, 287, 304
Shakespear, Richmond, 4, 111
Sheibani Mehemmed Khan, 163
Shibergan, 282, 360
Shignan, 358
Shinwarris, the, 363
Shir Ali, 252, 295, 328, 330, 356,
361, 364, 368
Shir Dar Medresse, 220
Shiraz, 223, 378, 380
Siah-Koh, 360
Siakh Push, 112
Siberia, 253, 254,408
Sibi, 346
Simonitch, Count, 268
Sind-Pishin IRailway, 44, 50, 346
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