runs from the Ala-tagh to the Ulugh-tagh, it is probably a very low one, and easily surmounted.

Baber justly describes his native country as encircled with hills on every side except towards Khojend, where, however, the opening between the hills and the Sirr is very

narrow.

Abulfeda mentions, that in the mountains of Ferghana they have black stones which burn like charcoal, and, when kindled, afford a very intense heat.* The fact, of the existence of coal in the Ala-tagh range, and to the east of it, is confirmed by recent travellers. It is found in great plenty, and forms the ordinary fuel of the natives.

2. TASHKEND.

The country of Tâshkend lies along the north bank of the Sirr, having that river on the south, and the Ala-tagh mountains, running parallel to it, on the greater part of its northern frontier; the hills near Ahsi bound it on the east, and the desert of the Kara Kilpâks on the west. The ancient Tûrkistân-Proper stretched considerably to the north and westward of this country. The range of Ala-tagh mountains which extend along its northern boundary, run from east to west, at no great distance from the Sirr, and decline in height toward the western desert. The inferior range of hills that run from the Ala-tagh, between Tâshkend and Ahsi, within eight miles of the latter place, we find several times crossed by armies that marched from Tâshkend to Kâsân, Ahsi, and the northern provinces of Ferghâna. In this route lies the Julgeh Ahengerân, or Ironsmith's dale, and Kundezlik and Amâni, so often mentioned in the Memoirs of Baber. It was probably by this road that the caravan of Tâshkend proceeded to Uzkend, on the route to Kâshghar; though it appears sometimes to have gone to Kâshghar' by keeping to the north of the Ala-tagh hills. The road generally pursued from Tâshkend to Ahsi did not follow the course of the Sirr, but went eastward directly towards Ahsi, cutting off, to the south, the large tract of country surrounded on three sides by the river which runs south-west from Ahsi to Khojend, and north-west from Khojend to Tâshkend. The city of Shâhrokhîa lay between Khojend and Tâshkend, on the Sirr, while Sciram lay north-west of Tâshkend, still lower down. Magnificent accounts of the wealth, cultivation and populousness of Tâshkend, and the country along the rich banks of the Sirr, in the time of the Arabs, and of the Khwarizmian dynasty, are given by Ebn Haukal, Abulfeda, and the historians of Chengîz Khan; and the many works of learning and science which issued from this country at that era, sufficiently attest that these praises were not altogether gratuitous. The dynasty of Khwarizmian kings, destroyed by Chengîz Khan, were eminent encouragers of letters. In Baber's time, Tâshkend and Shahrokhîa were its chief towns. A considerable traffic has of late years been carried on at Tâshkend, between the Russians and the inhabitants of Bokhâra, but the country is not in a flourishing state.

* Chorasm. Descript. p. 38.

+ D'Herbelot says, art. Aksiket, that the plain reaches to the hills, which are only two leagues (perhaps farsangs) off. Albufeda says they are at the distance of one farsang.

The range of the Great Horde of the Kirghis extends from Tâshkend all round the Ala-tagh Mountains, through the western part of the country of Kâshghar and Yârkend, and even into Upper Kâshghar and Pamir, close to Derwâz and Badakhshân. They are Tûrks, and speak a dialect of the Tûrki language, though probably mingled with Moghul words.

3. URATIPPA.

The country of Uratippa, which is also called Ustrûsh, Ustrûshta, Setrûshta, Isterûshân, and Ushrûshna, is the hilly tract which lies west of Khojend, whence it is separated by the river Aksû. It has that river and the Asfera mountains, including part of Karatigin, on the east; on the south-east, in the days of Baber, it seems to have stretched over to the Kâra-tagh mountains, which divided it from Hissâr, while Yâr-ailâk completed its, boundary in that quarter. On the south, the Ak-tagh and Uratippa mountains divided it from Samarkand and Bokhâra; on the north, the Sirr, and probably the districts of Ilâk, separate it from Tâshkend; and on the west it has the desert of Ghaz, (by Abulfeda, called Ghazna,) or the Kara Kilpâks, towards the sea of Arâl. It is full of broken hill and dale, and anciently was studded with small and nearly independent castles, each of which had its separate district. The slope of country is towards the desert of Arâl. It is now subject to Bokhâra. Uratippa and Râmîn, or Zâmîn, are its chief towns. It has been celebrated from early ages for the quantity of sal ammoniac which it produces in some natural caverns in the hills. It has no considerable river,* but several smaller streams, most of which probably disappear in the sandy desert. In all our maps, the Kezil (or Red River) is made to rise in the hill country of Uratippa, and to proceed downward to join the Amu, below the cultivated country of Khwârizm. Yet Ebn Haukal+ tells us, that in all Setrushta (or Uratippa), there is not one river considerable enough to admit of the plying of boats; and the river, after leaving Uratippa, would have to run for several days' journey through a desert sand. It rather seems, that no such separate river exists; but that the Kezil is only a branch that proceeds from, and returns to, the Amu. Hazârasp, which certainly stands on the Amu, is said to lie on the north side of the Kezil. This must be just where the Kezil runs off from the great river. Kât, or Kâth, the old capital of Khwârizm, which was six farsangs, or twenty-four miles, from Hazârasp down the Amu, and certainly stood on that river, is, however, said to lie on the north side of the Kezil. The different branches of the Amu, in passing through Khwârizm, or Urgenj, have different names, like the various branches of the Ganges in Bengal. This, with some other causes, has spread a good deal of confusion over the geography of the former country. In the instance in question, a great river being found, and its connexion with the Amu not being known, it was natural to search for its sources in the hills to the east.

Astley or Green's Voyages, vol. IV. p. 482.

* See Ebn Haukal and Abulfeda.
+ P. 263.

§ Ibid.

f

4. THE DESert of the Kara KilpakS.

'The desert country which is bounded by the sea of Arâl on the west, the river Sirr on the north, Uratippa on the east, and Bokhâra and Kwârizm on the south, is now traversed by the wandering Tûrki tribe of Kâra Kilpaks (or Black Bonnets), who, according to the general opinion, are Tûrkomans, though some accounts describe them as Uzbeks. This district, which was, by the Arabian geographers, called Ghaz, and sometimes, if we may trust the readings of the manuscripts, Ghaznah, probably extends a little to the north, beyond the place where the Sirr loses itself in the sand. These wanderers have a considerable range, but are few in number. The desert is six or seven days' journey from east to west, and upwards of ten from north to south.

5. ILAK.

Ilâk, probably, is not a separate district, but comprehends the rich pastoral country on both sides of the Sirr, on the southern side, reaching up the skirts, and among the valleys of the hills of Uratippa that branch towards the Sirr, and belong to Uratippa; and on the north having some similar tracts subject to Tâshkend and Shâhrokhîa. It is, by some ancient geographers, made to comprehend the whole country between the northern hills of Tâshkend and the river, including Tâshkend and Benâket, or Shahrokhîa. It is little known, and is probably dependent on Tâshkend to the north of the Sirr, and on Uratippa to the south.

6. TURKISTAN.

The country peculiarly called Tûrkistân by Baber, lies below Seirâm, between it and the sea of Arâl. It lies on the right bank of the Sirr, and stretches considerably to the north, along the banks of some small rivers that come from the east and north. Some part of it was rich, and had been populous. A city of the same name stands on one of these inferior streams. In the time of the Arabs, it is said to have been a rich and flourishing country, full of considerable towns, such as Jund, Yangikent, &c. In the time of Baber, it seems to have had few towns, but was the chief seat of the Uzbeks, who had recently settled there, and whose territories extended a considerable way to the north; though Sheibâni Khan never recovered the great kingdom of Tûra, whence his grandfather Abulkhair had been expelled, the succession of which was continued in another branch of the family. It was to this Tûrkistân that Sheibâni Khan retired, when unsuccessful in his first attempt on Samarkand; and it was from the deserts around this tract, and from Tâshkend, which they had conquered, that his successors called the Tartars, who assisted them in expelling Baber from Mâweralnaher, after Sheibâni's death.

Such is a general outline of the divisions of the country of Uzbek Tûrkistân, which may deserve that name, from having had its principal districts chiefly occupied for up

wards of three centuries past, by Uzbek tribes. The face of the country, it is obvious, is extremely broken, and divided by lofty hills; and even the plains are diversified by great varieties of soil, some extensive districts along the Kohik river, nearly the whole of Ferghâna, the greater part of Khwârizm along the branches of the Amu, with large portions of Balkh, Badakhshân, Kesh, and Hissâr, being of uncommon fertility; while the greater part of the rest is a barren waste, and in some places a sandy desert. Indeed, the whole country north of the Amu, has a decided tendency to degenerate into desert; and many of its most fruitful districts are nearly surrounded by barren sands; so that the population of all these districts still, as in the time of Baber, consists of the fixed inhabitants of the cities and fertile lands, and of the unsettled and roving wanderers of the desert, the Ils and the Ulûses of Baber, who dwell in tents of felt, and live on the produce of their flocks. The cultivated spots are rich in wheat, barley, millet, and cotton; and the fruits, particularly the peaches, apricots, plums, grapes, apples, quinces, pomegranates, figs, melons, cucumbers, &c. are among the finest in the world. The mulberry abounds, and a considerable quantity of silk is manufactured. The cultivation is managed, as far as is practicable, by means of irrigation. The breed of horses is excellent. The less fertile parts of the country are pastured by large flocks of sheep. They have also bullocks, asses, and mules, in sufficient numbers, and some camels. The climate, though in the low lands extremely cold in winter,* and hot in summer, brings to perfection most of the fruits and grains of temperate climates; and perhaps there are few countries in the world to which Nature has been more bountiful.

This felicity of climate and fruitfulness of soil have, in most ages of the world, rendered the country along the Kohik the seat of very considerable kingdoms. The earliest inhabitants, at least, of the desert tracts, were probably the Scythians, who, in this quarter, appear to have been of the Tûrki race. When Alexander advanced to the Sirr, he marched by Marakanda, a name, the termination of which, as has already been remarked, seems to speak a Tûrki origin. The Turânian monarchs, so long the rivals and terror of those of Irân, seem also to have been Tûrks.+ After the Arab conquest, in the first century of the Hejira, many Persians were probably induced, by the security of the government, and fertility of the soil, to settle to the north of the Amu; though it is likely, that long before, when Balkh was the chief seat of the Persian government, the rich lands of Mâweralnaher were cultivated, and the larger towns inhabited chiefly by men of Persian extraction, and speaking the Persian tongue. Down to the age of Chengîz Khan, when the grand desolation of the country began, the Persian was the common language all over the towns and cultivated lands from the Amu to the Sirr, as well as in the great and flourishing cities that then existed along the northern banks of that river, such as Tâshkend, Fenâket, Jûnd, and Yengikent; the Tûrki being, however, understood and familiarly used in the ba

The

Snow lies on the ground for several days at a time everywhere to the north of the Kesh hills. The Sirr, or Jaxartes, is frozen over every winter, and passed in that state by the Russian caravans. Amu is also frozen for a considerable extent above Khwârizm.

+ Ferdausi, passim.

zars and markets of all these northern districts. The Persian language also crossed the Ala-tagh hills, and was the language of the towns of Eastern Turkistân, such as Kâshgar and Yârkend, as it continues to be at this day as far east as Terfân. A proof of the remote period from which the language of Persia was spoken in Mâweralnaher, is to be found in the present state of the hill country of Karatigîn. The language of that mountainous and sequestered tract is Persian; and as it has not been exposed to any conquest of Persians for many hundred years, it would seem that the Persian has been the language in familiar use ever since the age of the Khwârizmian kings, if not from a much more remote era. It is probable, therefore, that, in the days of Baber, the Persian was the general language of the cultivated country of the districts of Balkh, Badakhshân, the greater part of Khutlân, Karatigîn, Hissâr, Kesh, Bokhâra, Uratippa, Ferghâna, and Tâshkend, while the surrounding deserts were the haunts of various roving tribes of Tûrki race, as in all ages, from the earliest dawn of history, they appear to have been.

While the Turks and Persians, the pastoral and agricultural races, thus from the earliest times divided the country north of the Amu, and considerable tracts to the south, the hills of Belût-tagh, towards the source of that river, extending for a considerable extent to the north and north-west, as well as those of Hindûkûsh, which stretch along its southern course, were occupied by men of a different language and extraction. The progress of the Arabian conquest through the mountains was extremely slow. Though all the low countries were in the possession of the Arabian Khalifs in the first century of the Hejira, yet in the fourth or fifth, when their power was beginning to wane, the Kâfirs, or Infidels, still held the mountains of Ghour, and the lofty range of Hindûkûsh. Down to the time of Marco Polo, in the thirteenth century, the language of Badakhshân was different* from that of the lower country, though we cannot ascertain whether it was the same as that of the Kaffers or Siahposhes, whose country he calls Bascia, † or that of Wakhân, which he denominates Vochau.‡ It is not improbable that one radical tongue may have extended along the Hindûkûsh and Belût-tagh mountains, though the continuity of territory was afterwards broken off by the interposition of the province of Badakhshân, which, being rich and fertile, was overrun earlier than the others. Indeed, Kafferistân, or the country of the Siahposhes, is still a country untouched, except during one expedition of Taimur Beg, who crossed the snowy tracts of their mountains with incredible labour, but was unable § to reduce them under subjection to his yoke. Some correct specimens of the language of the Dards near Kashmir, of Kafferistân, of Wakhân, of Wakhîka, of the Pâshâi, or any other of the barbarous dialects of these hills, would be of singular curiosity, and of very great value in the history of the originization of nations. The present Afghân language, if I may judge of it from the specimen which I have seen, is certainly in a great degree composed of Hindui and Persian, with the usual sprinkling of Arabic terms. It would be desirable to ascertain what proportion of the un

Viaggi di M. Marco Polo, lib. i. cap. 25, in Ramusio's Collection, vol. II. + Cap. 26.

+ Cap. 28.

§ See Hist. de Timur Bec, vol. III. p. 13.