STAN 330
A STORY FROM KASHGAR 334

YAKOOB BEG.

CHAPTER I.

GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF KASHGAR.

The state of Kashgar, which comprises the western portion of Eastern or
Chinese Turkestan, has been defined as being bounded on the north by
Siberia, on the south by the mountains of Cashmere, on the east by the
Great Desert of Gobi, and on the west by the steppe of "High Pamere."
This description, while sufficiently correct for general speaking,
admits of more detail in a work dealing at some length with that
country. Strictly, the name Kashgar or Cashgar applies only to the city,
and it was not until after the time of Marco Polo, when it was the most
populous and opulent town in the whole region, that it became used for
the neighbouring country. The correct name is either Little Bokhara or
Eastern Turkestan, and the Chinese call it Sule. Recent writers have
styled the territory of the Athalik Ghazi Kashgaria. It certainly
extended through a larger portion of Chinese Turkestan than did any past
native rule in Kashgar, the Chinese of course excepted. The definition
given above of the limits of Kashgar states that on the north it is
bounded by Siberia, but this is erroneous, for the extensive territory
of Jungaria or Mugholistan intervenes. Jungaria under the Chinese was
known as Ili from its capital, and now under the Russians is spoken of
as Kuldja, another name for the same city. This very extensive and
important district was included in the same government with Kashgar when
the Chinese dominated in all this region from their head-quarters at
Ili; but in the final settlement after the disruption of the Chinese
power in 1863, while Kashgar fell to the Khoja Buzurg Khan, and the
eastern portion of Jungaria, together with the cities of Kucha,
Karashar, and Turfan south of the Tian Shan range, to the Tungani;
Kuldja or Ili was occupied by the Russians. The frontier line between
Kuldja and Kashgar is very clearly marked by the Tian Shan, and the same
effectual barrier divides the continent into two well-defined divisions
from Aksu to Turfan and beyond. Eastern Turkestan is, therefore, bounded
on the north by the Tian Shan, and on the south the Karakoram Mountains
form a no less satisfactory bulwark between it and Kohistan and
Cashmerian Tibet. As has been said, on the west the steppe of Pamir and
on the east the desert of Gobi present distinct and secure defences
against aggression