C H A P T E R X X X .
T A SH K EN D .
Asiatic T a sh k en d ; its four divisions, and their cha ra c te r is tic s.S lts
building's and population.— Russian Tashkend; its streets and
houses.— Population according to creeds, occupations, and ages.—
Visit to the Governor-General.— Arrangements for distribution of
Scriptures, and my onward journey.— Visits to synagogues and
the military hospital.— Statistics concerning patients.— Diseases
prevalent in Tashkend.— Dispensary for the natives.— Asylum for
the aged.— The officers’ club.
TA S H K E N D , deriving its name from task, stone,
and kand, town, is a dual city, of which the
two parts are so distinct and so unlike that a visitor
may sometimes walk a considerable distance without
meeting a Russian in one or a native in the other.
European Tashkend is but of yesterday— Asiatic Tashkend
of more than a thousand summers, the Arabs
having conquered it so early as a .d . 738. Asiatic
Tashkend is, for administrative purposes, divided into
four yurtas. Formerly these were under the government
of certain officials called min-bashis, the yurtas
being known as Shah-i-Khan-Tur, Sibzor, Kukchi,
and Bi§h-agach.*
* The first comprises the north-east part of the town, where, situated
on a level spot, the yurta is divided almost in two by a deep ravine, at
the bottom of which flows the wide and swift canal of the Ankhor.
This Shah-i-Khan-Tur yurta consists of 48 mahalas, or wards, some
The population of Asiatic Tashkend, for the more
part, is grouped according to trades, and the number
of them having been suburban settlements, afterwards incorporated on
the enlargement of the town. Some of these settlements were very
large, and as all the inhabitants of a mahala have to be invited when any
family rejoicing is going on, the calculating Sarts have, in certain
cases, subdivided them. The population of the Shah-i-Khan yurta,
according to Kostenko, numbers 10,194 souls, who occupy 3,030
tenements, and have in their midst 3 medresses or colleges, and 60
mosques, with 10 schools attached for 230 pupils. The principal
industries of this yurta are cast-iron foundries, saddleries, oil-presses
and looms, the number of trades in 1870 being reckoned at 5Ó7. The
local looms for mata, or cotton cloth, used for shirts and drawers, were
established by Divan Burkh, who was the first to engage in this
industry, and from hence they were distributed far and wide. Apart
from the land occupied by buildings, this yurta has the least surface
devoted to gardens, namely, 300 acres, but there are 860 acres under
pasturage, and 900 acres devoted to rice cultivation.
The Sibzor yurta occupies the north-west corner of the town, and is
divided into 38 wards. It has also four settlements, one of which,
Ibrahim-Ata, is noted for agriculture, and the raising of jenushki,
or lucem ^Medicagli satwa). The 2,230 houses in this yurta contain
a population of 18,650 souls, and on the banks of the principal canal,
the Kei-kaus (so named after a former ruler of Tashkend), are centred
all the grinding mills of Sibzor. The chief industry of this quarter is
confined to the boot trade, Sibzor boots being exported to other
Turkistan towns. Weaving and dyeing of cotton goods come next
in importance. These two industries have long been practised by the
inhabitants, amongst whom the richest class are the wholesale merchants.
Three medresses, one of which is the famous Beklar-Bek,
containing 260 students, comprise almost the whole of the educated
portion of this yurta. There are, however, several makhtabs, or
schools, attached to some of the private houses, and also 10 principal
mosques. -
The Kukchi, or western yurta, with its 31 wards, 2,511 houses; and
22,088 souls, is situated on undulating ground cut by deep ravines.
Its principal industries are connected with leather, there being m 1871,
out of 695 craftsmen, 341 workers in hides, and 218 bootmakers.
There are besides 6 b rick-kilns, 7 potteries, 22 mills, and 22 oil-presses;
also 2 medresses, 34 schools, 51 mosques, and 18 tombs, of which last
one is noteworthy, namely, that of Sheikh Zenejin Baba, an exile from
Bagdad, who was buried about 400 years ago.
The fourth, or Bish-agach yurta, occupying the southern comer of
the town, has 32 wards, 1,400 houses, and 12,450 inhabitants, many of
whom are proprietors of good gardens and fields. This is one of the