the objections that were urged against my former
testimony will hold good as to this, namely, that I
travelled quickly, and was therefore liable to receive
false impressions, and form erroneous conclusions. 1
trust, therefore, as I said before, that no one may be
misled by taking my testimony for more than it is worth.
I have tried to be accurate, and that is all I can say.#
The prisons of Khiva and Bokhara I shall notice hereafter
in the course of my journey, the next stage o f
which will take me over the Bokhariot frontier to
Kitab.
entered; and let it spread to the Russian peasants, where they have
such places at a ll (for I have met with instances of this in Russia, a s
I am told was the case within a score or two of years in the west of
Ireland, in Connemara, and even in the extreme north of England), but
let not the strictures of the Nineteenth Century be confined to Russian
prisons. The fact is that such places therein are much the same as at
the houses of the g reat mass of Russian prisoners, sometimes perchance
a little worse, but sometimes also certainly better.
* I may perhaps as well add that the foregoing chapters on
prisons have been kindly looked over, as on a previous occasion, by a
Russian official high in the prison administration, who says that, after
reading them with the greatest attention, he finds no mistakes. With
reference to the alleged preparation of the Siberian prisons for my visit,
he assures me that the Ministry of the Interior made no such preparation,—
in fact, could not well have so done,— adding also, that he
personally would be obliged for any proof that can be brought confirmatory
of such precautionary measures having been taken.
CH R O N O L O G Y
OF
R U S S I A N C E N T R A L A S I A .
( Vol. I. is to be understood, unless otherwise mentioned. )
DATE B.C. PAGE
329. Conquest of Maracanda by Alexander the Great . . 560
125. Graeco-Bactrians succeeded in Sogdiana by the Yuechji . 561
59. Country about the Thian Shan subjected to China . . 202
A.D.
420. Archbishopric of Merv made Metropolitan . . . ii. 456
627. The “ western country” placed under a Chinese viceroy . 202
675. Conquest of Samarkand by Arabs . . . . . 561
680. The Khivan Khanate (Kharezm) possessed by the Arabs . ii. 273
874. Commencement of Samanid rule in Bokhara . . . ii. 67
888. Succession of Samanid rule in Samarkand . . . 561
903. Bokhara becomes the ascendant state in Central A s ia . ii. 456
995. Mamun-ibn-Muhammad, K in g of Kharezm . . . ii. 273
1004. Seljuk dynasty commenced in Bokhara . . . . 561
1016. Kharezm made a province of Khorassan . . . . ii. 273
1092. Kuthb-ud-din assumes the title of K in g of Kharezm . . ii. 273
1122. Migration of Jews to China . . . . . . 594
1155. Birth of Temuchin or Jinghiz Khan . . . . . ii. 68
1196. Seljuk dominions added to the Kharezmian empire . . ii. 273
1200—-1850. Travellers in Central A s ia . . . . . ii. 457
1219. Kuthb-ud-din, the greatest prince in Central A sia . . ii. 273
1220. Urgenj and Merv sacked by the Mongols . . . ii. 69, 340
1221. Jinghis Khan captures Samarkand . . . . . 561
1222. T ch’ang-Tch’un’ s account of the Steppe . . . . 478
1224. Triple division O f Jinghiz Khan’ s empire . . . . ii. 69
1245. Lake Ala-Ku l mentioned by Jean de Plano Carpini . . 177
1300— 1500. European missions vid Central A sia to Mongolia . ii. 404
1303. Death of the dervish Baha-uddin Nakishbend . . . ii. 137
1335. Birth of Tamerlane, or Timur . . . . . . ii. 69
1379. Conquest of Kharezm, and destruction by Timur . ii. 273, 340
1393. Antonio Pietro de Malliana appointed Bishop of Urgenj . ii. 341
1404. Reception of Clavijo by Tamerlane at Samarkand . . 562
1405. Death of Timur, Lord of Samarkand . . . . 569
1417. Sea of Kharezm stated to be non-existent . . . . ii. 404