PART II

RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA

I. THE MAKING OF RUSSIA 225

II. CROSSING THE THRESHOLD OF ASIA 238

III. THE STRUGGLE WITH THE KHĀNATES 250

IV. TURKOMANIA AND THE TURKOMANS 262

V. THE LAST STEP IN ADVANCE 284

VI. THE CENTRAL ASIAN RAILWAYS 306

VII. TRANSCASPIA IN 1898 320

VIII. ASKABAD AND MERV 340

IX. BOKHĀRĀ, A PROTECTED NATIVE STATE 357

X. SAMARKAND 386

XI. FRIENDS OR FOES? 408

APPENDIX I 417

APPENDIX II 424

INDEX 429

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

GŪR AMĪR, THE MAUSOLEUM OF TAMERLANE (_VERESTCHAGIN_) _Frontispiece_

SO-CALLED SARCOPHAGUS OF ALEXANDER IN CONSTANTINOPLE (_photograph_) 9

THE RAHLA, OR READING DESK, OUTSIDE THE MOSQUE OF BĪBĪ KHĀNŪM, SAMARKAND (_photograph_) 38

CENTRAL ASIAN TYPES (_VERESTCHAGIN_) 47

GENERAL VIEW OF BOKHĀRĀ (_photograph_) 66

RELIGIOUS MENDICANT, BOKHĀRĀ (_VERESTCHAGIN_) 92

A JEWISH CHILD OF BOKHĀRĀ (_photograph_) 106

CENTRAL ASIAN TYPES (_VERESTCHAGIN_) 124

CENTRAL ASIAN TYPES ” 126

MAUSOLEUM OF SULTAN SANJAR, OLD MERV (_photograph_) 138

NOMADS CHANGING CAMP (_VERESTCHAGIN_) 151

DERVISHES OF THE NAKSHABANDI ORDER ” 170

INTERIOR OF TAMERLANE’S MAUSOLEUM (_photograph_) 172

THE TOMB OF TAMERLANE ” 172

INTERIOR OF A KIRGHIZ TENT (_VERESTCHAGIN_) 183

DECORATIONS IN THE SHĀH ZINDA, SAMARKAND (_photograph_) 192

COURTYARD OF A HOUSE IN SAMARKAND ” 212

ENTRANCE TO THE SHĀH ZINDA, SAMARKAND ” 235

THE SEA OF SAND IN THE KARA-KUM DESERT (1) ” 263

THE SEA OF SAND IN THE KARA-KUM DESERT (2) ” 263

TURKOMAN MUSICIANS ” 283

VIEW FROM THE INTERIOR OF THE FORT OF GEOK TEPPE (_photograph_) 292

DIVANIS, OR DERVISHES (_VERESTCHAGIN_) 307

GENERAL KURAPATKINE (_photograph_) 323

A GROUP OF TURKOMANS AT ASKABAD STATION ” 345

RUINS OF OLD MERV ” 353

HINDUS OF BOKHĀRĀ ” 367

THE MINĀR KALĀN AT BOKHĀRĀ ” 374

PRISONERS OF THE AMĪR OF BOKHĀRĀ ” 376

A BOKHĀRĀ BEAUTY AND HER TWO CHILDREN ” 382

SHĪR DĀR MADRASA, SAMARKAND ” 390

THE BĪBĪ KHĀNŪM ” 392

THE MARKET NEAR BĪBĪ KHĀNŪM, SAMARKAND ” 398

BAZAAR POLITICS (_VERESTCHAGIN_) 414

MAPS

THE ADVANCE OF RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA 257

CENTRAL ASIA 428

INTRODUCTION

A time when Russia’s movements in the East are being watched by all with such keen interest seems a fitting one for the appearance of a work dealing with her Central Asian possessions. “That eternal struggle between East and West,” to quote Sir William Hunter’s apt phrase, has made Russia supreme in Central Asia, as it has made England mistress of India: and thus it has come to pass that two of the greatest European Powers find themselves face to face on the Asiatic Continent. On the results of that contact depends the future of Asia.

Ten years have elapsed since Lord Curzon of Kedleston published his work entitled _Russia in Central Asia_, and in the interval no book on this subject has appeared in English. The intervening period has been one of change--almost of transformation--in the countries so brilliantly described by the present Viceroy of India.

The authors of the present work have visited independently the land of which they write, and each may claim to have had exceptional facilities for studying those questions in which they were most interested.

Professor Ross is responsible for the greater part of the research in the historical chapters. He has laid under contribution many Persian, Arabic, and Russian authorities hitherto inaccessible to persons unacquainted with those languages; and has aimed at offering, for the first time in any language, a consecutive history of Central Asian events from the earliest days. His task has been lightened by the generous help of Sir Henry Howorth, M.P.; Mr. Percy Gardner, of Oxford; M. Drouin, of Paris; and especially of Mr. E. G. Browne, of Cambridge. The historical portion does not claim to be exhaustive, but rather introductory, and, such being the case, certain omissions were perhaps inevitable. Thus, for example, the engrossing subjects of Mediæval travel and Christianity in Central Asia--which have already been exhaustively dealt with by Colonel Yule and others--have been but lightly touched on. If, again, such famous men as Chingiz Khān and Tamerlane have been somewhat briefly dismissed, less known figures, such as Kutayba ibn Muslim, have been brought from comparative oblivion into a prominence more worthy the important parts they played in Central Asian history.

It has been Mr. Skrine’s province to describe the mechanism of government, the development of railways and commerce, and the social life in the great cities. He owes much to the help of Monsieur P. Lessar, Chancellor of the Russian Embassy; Colonel C. G. Stewart, C.S.I., our Consul-General of Odessa; Monsieur de Klemm, of the Turkestān Staff; Colonel Brunelli, Commandant of Transcaspian Railway Rifles; and Colonel Arandarenko, District Officer of Merv. He is also indebted to the proprietors of the _Standard_ and _Pioneer_ for the permission to use literary matter which has already appeared in their journals. In the important matter of illustrations the authors desire to acknowledge the generous kindness which prompted M. Verestchagin to consent to the reproduction of his admirable drawings. They have to thank, too, Sir Archibald Buchan Hepburn, Bart. of Smeaton Hepburn, and Mr. A. Adam of Steeton Hall, for lending them a series of most interesting photographs of Central Asian scenes.