e in restricting the appointment of Russian
commercial agents in the cities to the inferior _caravan-bashi_, a far
different personage to the Aksakal, that treaty would have placed
Kashgar virtually in the possession of General Kaufmann. Even as it was,
Russia, regarded as a foe, had out-distanced England, who was held to be
a friend; and for a considerable time afterwards, English commerce,
which had no status there, hesitated to seek admission into the
dominions of the Athalik Ghazi.

But the treaty of Baron Kaulbars was in its essence a sham, for no good
feeling sprang up between the countries; and where there was distrust on
either side, trade languished, as was to be expected. Two months after
this treaty, Yakoob Beg sent his nephew, the Seyyid Yakoob Khan, on a
special embassy to Russia, whence he went on to Constantinople, and
returned _via_ India. He then had several long discussions with our
authorities relative to the measures that should be adopted to place
everything on a friendly footing between Kashgar and ourselves. The
Sultan had conferred upon the ruler of Kashgar the high title of Emir ul
Moomineen, and shortly afterwards Yakoob Beg proclaimed himself in
consequence of that decree Emir or Ameer of Kashgar, under the title of
Yakoob Khan. It is appropriate here to say something of these two
titles, Khan and Beg. In this work the ruler of Kashgar has been
consistently called Beg or prince, and not Khan or lord; and for the
following reasons. The title of Khan is much higher than that of Beg; it
is, moreover, hereditary. Gibbon, whose authority in these Central Asian
matters stands higher than many modern scholars will admit, defines it
as the distinguishing mark of the descendants of Genghis Khan. His heirs
and their children became the Khans of Western Asia. The Mongol who
grafted himself on the Turk and the Usbeg, brought with him the unique
authority that was vested by public voice in the house of Genghis, the
Khan of Khans. Now, although in his later days Yakoob Beg, or his
admirers, invented a lineage for himself back to Timour, consequently
making him of Mongol descent, it is highly improbable that this mythical
descent was based on any reliable _data_, nor can we admit any other
claim to according Yakoob Beg that higher title than one that will stand
the criticism of history. Yakoob Beg was not free from some of that
craving that haunts the minds of rulers "born out of the purple" to
claim cousins