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RUSSIAN MISSIONS

INTO

THE INTERIOR OF ASIA.

No. I.

EXPEDITION TO THE COUNTRY OF

KOKAND IN THE YEARS 1813 AND 1814. BY PHILIP NAZAROFF, INTERPRETER TO THE SIBERIAN CORPS EMPLOYED IN THE EXPEDITION.

THIS account, which as we are informed has never been translated from the original Russian, does not, it must be owned, give so much information as might have been expected, concerning this interesting part of Asia, the seat and centre of. the barbarian grandeur of Timour, and of Gengis Khan, his predecessor; yet it affords some little insight into the strength and character of the Tartar hordes, who now roam over a small, but favourite portion of that once magnificent and boundless empire, and an analysis of it seems to be a very proper introduction to the accounts of the subsequent missions into the adjacent countries.

The Sultan of Kokand, at the time of this expedition, was a young man of twenty-four years of age, named Valliami, (more properly Uaelnahmi) of a warlike and enterprising character, who had subjected to his dominion, various Tartar tribes dispersed on those immense plains, called, by the Arabs, Mawn-el-nahar, which contain the once celebrated cities of Bokhara, Balk, and Samarcand, a tract of country remarkable for its fertility and beauty. This central part of Asia is bounded on the north by the Algydim Zano mountains, on the west by the Belur Tag, on the south by the Hindoo Koo and Pamar mountains, and on the west by the river Jihon, and the Lake (or Sea) of Aral.

The occasion of the present mission was as follows: a deputation had been sent, in 1812, from the Sultan, or Khan, of Kokand to the court of Petersburgh; which, on its return, halted at the fortress of Petropaulousk, (marked St. Peter in

the charts), on the river Ishim: the principal person caught a fever and died; the next in rank was a most depraved character, and frequented the company of profligate women, in whose society he formed an acquaintance with an exiled Russian soldier. This man, with a view of getting possession of the Tartar's money, enticed him one day to the Ishim to bathe, and, availing himself of the opportunity, murdered him, and threw his body into the river, These untoward circumstances induced the Russian Commandant of the fortress to accompany the remaining part of the deputation with an escort, in order to obviate any unfavourable interpretation that might be put by the Khan on the unfortunate end of his two envoys.

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Mr. Nazaroff, being well acquainted with the language of the Kokans, offered his services, and was dispatched by the commandant, in May, 1813, with credentials and presents in the name of the Emperor, under the protection of a party of Cossacks; and, at the same time, an opportunity was taken of sending a caravan, or a company of traders, to endeavour to open a commercial intercourse with the people. Having crossed the Steppe of Ishim they entered upon the possessions of the northern Kirghis; whom Mr. Nazaroff describes as consisting of three hordes, over each of which is a Khan; each horde is divided into other portions, over each of which is a Sultaun; and these are again subdivided into separate companies, placed each under the controul of a Bia, or Elder. Both the general government and that of the hordes are very cruel their religion is that of Mahomet, and their laws are founded on the precepts of the Koran.

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The Kirghis are excellent horsemen ; even children of four or five years old are able to manage a horse with great dexterity, and the women are not less expert than the men. Their horses are of the Arabian breed, fifteen or sixteen hands high, and in their predatory excursions will hold out for several days at the rate of an hundred miles a day. The hordes are honest and faithful to their word among themselves, but make no scruple of plundering their neighbours. Nocturnal excursions to drive off cattle are very common; and the women, on such occasions, armed with clubs and lances, take as active a share in any combat that may ensue as the men.

Marriages are contracted by the parents while the parties are infants; and such contracts are held sacred. At the marriageable age, which is very early, the young people have free access to each other. They have a tent set apart from the rest of the horde, to which the bride is brought every night for a fortnight before the marriage, and left alone with the bridegroom; but such, says Mr. Nazaroff, " is the native

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modesty implanted in the breasts of these people, that no indecent or improper liberty is ever taken by the young man." On the day appointed for the nuptials the relations meet, the mollah receives the declaration of the parties, unites their hands, and invokes a blessing and a numerous offspring; barrenness being, according to their estimation, little short of disgrace.

Mr. Nazaroff and his party stopped at a place called TurAigrah, in Turkistan, near which was a lake about thirty miles in circumference, called Kitchubai-Tchurkar. On a sloping bank of this lake they observed an extensive burying ground, containing a multitude of square wooden tombs, some marked with spears, as a memorial of the good horsemanship of the deceased, and others with the figures of hawks, as a sign of their skill in fowling. To this burying-ground the rich Tartars bring their deceased relations from every part of the territory of the Kirgis. In the winter months, when the country is covered with snow, and no food is to be had for their cattle, they suspend the bodies, swaddled in thick felt, from the branches of trees, and in spring collect and carry them to the sanctified cemetery. "Crossing the deserts of Tartary," says Mr. Nazaroff, "in the winter months, one frequently meets with these dismal objects covered with hoar frost, and dangling, in all directions, to the chilling blast.

The borders of this lake are the resort of various wandering tribes, who barter their horses, camels, and sheep, with the caravans for clothing and other articles of necessity and luxury. While Mr. Nazaroff remained in this place, one of the horde was condemned to suffer death. A halter was immediately thrown round the neck of the offender, the end of which was fastened to the tail of a horse, which, being mounted by a Tartar, set off at full trot, and continued galloping round the encampment till the life of the unfortunate criminal was terminated. "Having inquired into the cause of so excruciating and dreadful a punishment, I was surprised (he says) to learn that the sufferer's offence was that of stealing two sheeep, whilst those who condemned him were at the very moment, under pretence of private quarrels with the neighbouring tribes, carrying off whole herds of cattle, and requiring ransom for their restitution.

The farther they advanced through Turkistan, now a part of Kokand, the more fixed the population appeared; the tents of the Tartars were exchanged for houses of stone, and fields cultivated with grain, among which towns and villages were interspersed, were seen on every side. Every thing now wore the appearance of improved civilization. They had now

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