C H A P T E R X X X I I I .
TH E P R O V IN C E O F F E R G H A N A .
“ Ferghana,” an old name of province revived.— Its form, size, aspect
and boundaries.— The Alai plateau and Pamir. —Explorations of
Fedchenko, Kostenko, and Severtsoff.— Pamir climate, flora and
fauna.— Rivers of Ferghana.— Lakes Kutban-Kul and Kara-Kul.
Ferghana climate and dust-fog.— Its geology and minerals, turquoise
and petroleum.— Ferghana vegetation and tobacco.— Its
towns and sacred places.
FE R G H A N A is an old name, reimposed by the
Russians on what was formerly known as part
of the Khokand Khanate. j| The name is found in its
present form in Arab manuscripts of the eighth and
ninth centuries, but the Chinese knew it under the
spelling’ of Feihan as far back as the fourth century.
The province resembles a vast ellipse, of which the
periphery is formed of lofty chains of terraced mountains.
A s Mr. Robert Mdchell says, u Fancy the
interior of the Coliseum of Rome, or even the Albert
Hall in London, and you have an approximate idea
of the Ferghana valley, which, except on the west,
is surrounded by portions of the Thian Shan.” *
* On the north a broad mountain mass separates this valley from that
of the Talas, whilst on the south another mass divides it from the basin
of the Oxus. On the east is Kashgar. The frontier between runs
along the watershed for about 70 miles; then strikes south, embracin
g some territory in the basin of the Oxus. Next it returns to the
The area of the province is estimated at from 28,000
to 30,000 square miles, of which about four-fifths
consist of mountains, and the remainder occupies the
broad valley of the Upper Jaxartes, the level portion
lying south o f the river, which runs through the province
from north-east to south-west.* The range o f
mountains on the south bore for a long time the
unmeaning name of Kashgar-Davan— i.e., pass into
Kashgar; but Fedchenko designated them the “ South
Khokand” range. It has a lateral direction, forming
to the east a watershed between the basins o f
the Jaxartes and Lob Nor, and westwards between
the systems of the J axartes and O x u s ; the range
dividing on about the 70th meridian into three
watersheds between the Oxus and the Jaxartes, and continues along
the northern watershed of the Zarafshan. In about longitude 70° the
western frontier takes a meridional direction, bordering the Syr-daria
oblast.
* The greatest breadth of the plain is 65 miles, its greatest
length about 160 miles, and its area 5,775 square miles. M. Ujfalvy
divides the surface concentrically into three fertile, alternated with three
sterile, zones. Among the former, he refers to a belt of good earth,
presenting a succession of orchards, gardens, and fields surrounded
with trees, and to another spot with the aspect of an English park,
between the Naryn and the Kara-daria rivers. A second band of soil,
not less fertile, and enjoying a more temperate climate, lies round the
province with certain interruptions on the slopes of the lowest hills, whilst
a third belt, quite mountainous and covered with thick pasturage, encircles
Ferghana on the north, east, and south. These belts are separated
by sterile zones, of which the first, on the banks of the Jaxartes, is
a steppe, sometimes grassy, sometimes stony. The second, between the
upper two fertile zones, is generally stony; and the third, which separates
the mountain pastures from the valley of the Alai, is of great height and
extreme sterility. This varied aspect of the surface will prepare the
reader for the remark of Mr. R. Michell, that within the small compass
of the valley there are heaped, as it were, both profusion and poverty,
so that between Khokand and Varukh the traveller may hunger and
thirst; between Ush and Uzgend he may starve his horse; between
Andijan and Namangan both may suffer; and between Khokand and
Khojend they may perish in the desert, whilst in each of these districts,
at certain spots, may be tasted the most delicious fruits of the earth.