Name.
INDEPENDENT T AT ARY.
' CH A PT ER T.
G e n e r a l O b s e r v a t i o n s ;
^Tame.^CbfrfBivtfiom.— Treffreffvoe
CBJRIA, and Review qt*be ancient mrnodemXieography of m i Country. f
THE defcriptions already given in this volume of Afiatic Ruffia and
the Chinefe empire» cömprife the far greater part óf what geographers
denominated Tartary, 1>y a vague term applied, to a country exceeding
all Europe in extent, and poffeSed by various and diftinft na-
«ttons and races of men. y j
JBy repeated vi^ories over the Eluts and Kalmuks ^f„Mp.ï^ohaj $r»
to ufe the German tehn, Mongoiey, the Ghinfefe dominion- has been expended
fothe mountains ofBeIur,thus iracludingXittle Bucharia : .while
4n thé E. Mandfhuria remained fubj«<ft to" its fovereigns, who h^d be'*
«ome 'emperors of China. But fo abfurd is the common appellation of
Chinefe Tatary, that not one tribe of Tatars can. be ftridHy %id to. be
fobjea to the Chinefe fceptre; for the ruling people ef.^ode ®U«haria
were the Kalmuks, a Mongolian race;
y et the title "here given of Independent Tatary becomes unexceptionable,
when confined to the bounds of the prefent defeription, for the
TJzbeks and Kirgufes are of undoubted Tatar origin $ and their country
muft ftill be regarded as independent of the great, neighbouring powers,
China, Ruffia, and Perfia.
The extenfivë region now under view is highly celebrated, and extremely
interefting on many accounts. The probable feat of the moft
iA' ' ,ir ifip e s f
(‘ap§*e,nt the pqfleffion.of the Greek monarchs of Sac- Na^b,
,triana*, after, many .pevoh|tjsan,s*it Ay1gs;difti.njgu.ijhecl by the.wide empire
;■ of Hingis', and> Timur, Samarcand\beiDg tfie|ti^oujtjii^.refidenee and
capital of the. lattes congu^rof.-1„ This, diftingui%fd^poytion jaf Afia has
, allb giyer^birth,^ many - ^minpnt , mep p f le|£ers» diffufed
as w id e o rie n ta l'^ literatures. The mOjft; Perfian pfuLofopher,
fZproafter, is laid to have.'b^e^a native, of Ba£triana; and, imttomen-
tion(numerous intervening names, thg work ?®f' Abulgazi, .^fie Sovereign
of Kharizm, or thehiftoryof the Tatars,, cfifglays-no mean induftry and
information.
, ,, The a extent of independent Tatary: m fe :*bo; m,eafured from the Caf- Extents
,pian |p§yto the mountains, of; Belur, a .fpace/pfy not kfs. th,aii.„;8yo ,B.
miles., ;F,rom the mpuntains of Qaur in; the ~ipUth,Tn the 'Ruffian, boundaries
on the north of the -defer! ®£ Iffim, may ,be, near-13,0® B» miles";
but. of tips length a great part, is defcrt. j
The chief diviftons are the. wide jftepps oruhatremplains^in the Nv, Dimfions.
held by three hordes of Kirgufes» the Groat,,Middle, aind Leffer;. with
;fome fmall Tataric. tribes near the fca;of Aral.- This, portion Was anciently
called1 Wefterm Turkiftan;: the capital being Taraz- on- a* ftream TurkiitaJ
.which flows, into the Sirr or Sihon not far abpvu Qtrar, and which was
.alfo fometimes denbipmated Tprkiftan from,the. namp of-the, country.
Before proceeding;further it muft beobferved; in general, that the-names
in.the beft and moft recent maps are often derived from Perftan and native
geographers, Jb that a modern traveller, might-perhaps find it diffir
cuk.to trace them..
To the S. of the mountains of Argun the land, begins to fertilize» f
along thei^©hrfe,of the . Sirr, Sirt» or Sihcap, the Iaxartes of the ancients,'
alfo called-, th(S Fiver of Shafti, from the chief territory ^ and.on'the bank3
of its tributary ftreams» which devolve,from the Argun on thel^kand
the Ak Tau or white mountain on. the S.,,while the .river itfejf fprings
from the mountains of Belur. i.Ilak-,and Shaft, the moft northern pro- ' ikk, &<j,-
vinces oh the Sihon, are followed by Eergana, and a diftri<ft • called Oz,-
rnffinaj round a town of the ,fame name. Divided from thefe .provinces
by deferts and mountains, the kingdom of Kharizm, formerly fo.
powerful as to oppole the great Zingis, .has gradually yielded t® the enr.
j b 2 ' croaehfng.