methods of working induction, of physics,- chemistry,
history, geography, the Muhammadan student hears
not the name, nor of modern languages, unless it be
Uzbeg and Tajik.*
All roads leading out of the circle of knowledge
bounded by religion are cut off from the Muhammadan J O
student. He must know, Kostenko says, only that which
the authors of the works he studies knew from 500
to 1,000 years ago. He is taught to disbelieve in
ascertained science, the rotation of the planets, the
laws which govern physical phenomena, in the forces
o f nature, in historical facts, in a criticism which would
and then receive comments thereon. A man who can say the Koran
from end to end, or, beginning at any part, can go on repeating it, is
deemed a scholar, though he may be utterly unable to translate a
chapter, and know nothing of Arabic. Many, indeed, study nothing
but the Koran for 8 or 9 years.
* I could not hear of such a thing in Bokhara or Khiva as an Uzbeg
grammar or dictionary, though they have various books—religious,
poetical, historical—printed in this language, and in Tajik, Arabic,
and Jagatai Tatar. Professor Vambery published an interesting
article “ On the Uzbeg Epos ” in the Journal o f the Royal Asiatic
Society for July, 1880. I was told in Bokhara that a Kazan Tatar
grammar would d,o for Uzbeg, and I have seen or heard of “ A Sketch of
the Turki Language,” by Robert B. Shaw, .Lahore, 1877, and Calcutta,
1880. There is .also the “ Chagataische Sprachstudien ” of Professor
Vambery, and the standard work of Callim Beg, who was an Indian
official, taught at Kazan, .but who wrote his grammar in English.
Captain Mirbadaleff spoke to me of Uzbeg as a branch of Tatar,
differing' from Jagatai in local expressions and pronunciation, and
said there was not so much diversity between Jagatai and Uzbeg
as between Sclavonic and Russ. The chief difference, he said, between
Kirghese and Tatar is in pronunciation. According to Mr. Howorth, the
Turkish dialects are divided into the. two great divisions of Eastern
and Western. The Uighur and Jagatai are types of the Eastern, and
Uzbeg, Kazak, Turkoman, and the so-called Tatar dialects, of the
Western. Uzbeg and the dialect of Kazan are deemed very pure forms,
of Western Turkish. The main shibboleth, distinguishing the Eastern
and Western Turkish, is the change of J into r. In Tashkent! a gazette
is printed in Russ and translated into Uzbeg, not purely, but somewhat
mixed with Tatar.
wipe out all elements of fancy. On the other hand, he
must recognize that there are seven heavenly spheres,
that ail the earth is divided into seven climes, and that
Mussulmans are destined to rule over all men !
An understanding, bound by the chains of such a
slavery as this, says Kostenko, of itself pannot emerge
from the mist, nor can it make the existence of man
smoother and more reasonable. And then he adds,
“ To Russian influence in the East is presented a
problem important and exalted. It must break the
intellectual fetters of Muhammadanism, and turn the
people to the wider development of humanity.”
This is good, and it is gratifying to see so intelligent
a writer as Colonel Kostenko recognizing the responsibility
of Russia towards her conquered Moslem
subjects, so far as their intellectual needs are concerned.
But I hope they will not stop there ; for as we pass
from the medresse to the mosque, we shall see, I think,
that an intellectual reformation alone, even if it could
be accomplished, would be utterly insufficient properly
to elevate the Muhammadan mind.
The one mosque in Khiva that is worthy of notice
is the Hazreti Pehlivan-Ata. It has one large dome
about 60 feet high, surmounted by a gilt ball, and
covered with green tiles, like some of those in the O 7
great tower. There are also two small domes. The
building is of kiln-burnt brick, and contains the tomb
of the Pehlivan Ahmed Zemchi, patron saint of the
Khivans. We approached the interior through a
darkened passage, where was shown the tomb of
Allah Kuli Khan, and though only about 35 years old,
it is already decaying. From beneath the cupola we
had rather a pretty view of the tiles with which it is
lined, adorned with blue tracery, and interwoven with