Kl# A RI Z M.
Khiva.
Urghenz.
We may; conclude that the. Greeks; and-Romans were alrpoft. entirely ignorant
of the eaftern fhores of tire Cafpi^n, and of the lake of Aral ;
though from the weft they had fome faint accounts of the Volga1, and
other rivers which 'flow iutothenofth of that fea.‘ JJenGe the encroachments
of the-defart on the kingdom of Kharizm’caUnot-be computed
ffotn their accounts, but may be eftimated from the hiflpuan'?of Zingifji
and' Timur. -At prefent this ftatëTs almoft reftrided to- the diftridt,
of Khiva, the circuit of which mày-' be performed on horfeback in
three days ; but there are five walled cities) or rather towns, within-
half a day’s journey of each other.6 The khan is abfolu.te, and entirely
independent of any other power, except the Mulla Badri, or high prieft,
by whom he is controled. The Kaevinfki Tartars differ very fittlc from,
the Kirgeefe ; but furpafs them in cunning and treachery. Their ,manners
are the fame, only that the Kitg-eefe live in tents, whilft the Others
inhabit cities ând Villages. Their only trade is with .Bokhara
whither they carry cattle, furs, and hides, «ill which they-have from; the
Kirgeefe and Tnrkuman Tartars, who often prôvë very ;troublefoine
neighbours to them. The place prod»««' jKfde. more. than cotton,
lamb-furs of a very mean quality, and a fmalkquantity of raw fiik, ïomé
of which they manufacture/’* The fame author informs us that .the
town of Khiva ftands on a rifing ground, with three gates, and a ftrong
wall of earth, very thick, and much higher'than the houfes : there are
turrets afc finâll diftances, and a broad deep ditch full ofWater. l i t occupies
a confiderable fpace, and commands a pleafant profpe&ofthe
adjacent plains, which the induftry of the inhabitants (he probably
means the natives, not the Tatars) has rendered very fertile; but'the
houfes are low, moftly built with mud, the roofs flat, and covered with
earth.
The city of Urghenz was in ruins, only a mofk remaining. The
moft fouthern town in the dominions of Khiva is Azarift, or Hazarafp,
which adjoins to the great defart called Kaça kum, or the Black Sands,
for the deferts of central Afia are commonly of a black land* with which
6 Hànway, i. 241. The inhabitants are Turcomans and Uzbeks,, bell des the Saris, perhaps
another name for the Tadjiks. Bentink, p . 515.
IfplS
the
thé frvefw IAdus’i% i^b sAttök%ï4iiépregfl'atedy wMlbihrie of Afriea are K hiva.
rfefl j both dolohvs ptobably^foeeeding from a’mixtofë,ofthar uhiiverfal
Ipetal, ^rort, in ‘thé pafticles’óF'qhartZ, wRlèfc^ofoftituté fand.
* Khiva ÏS Taid to ffabcPüt the diftaiibe óf févèhtéèn days -from the Caf-
^ian fèa, and frorir Orenburg thirty-thtëe-; eómput-ing 'the day’s journey
'"ïfefxjF In* 1 7 ^ ihé''kha'n of * Khiva ’affeiftbled- ait army of
soprao, tó öp'póf&^Nadir r ‘but tlm’cityTu'rrendered at ’diferetion.
Pallas ihfbrtds"uiii'that the people2 of Khiva? bring* to' Ofenbufg eon-
f i q u a n t i of raw (fatten.1* But the ejoaft's -of the Galpian are
field" hy'Torne 1reifeaihS'of Turkoman's in the’ north, ’and by Uzbeks in
'thé,\foh0 rt'1 The, bay óf' Balkan is vifited by Ruffian veflèls : the ifles
yield r lc ^ ’aM , and of- fhCrw, NapHtbonia, a corifiderable
hutntity of naphtha1, fhe bed feeming1 thus tCr'pafs thefeafrotd' Baku in a
E" direïdiori ; but they afè ‘inhabited by Turcoman pirates. A more Trade,
'eenfuïëraëte trade^ns-maintained with Mangufhkk, Which our maps
Veprefent as Handing at the egrefs of'thé river Tèfljen ; birt/aétÓrding
lo the learned V/ahl, «that river, and. another whiph flews by. Meffiid, are
received By lake,Al^>Kaip^h.Tleihe^, Op thp;,S.,;of thp bay ©f
Balkan; a circum fiance whiph feems to be confirmed bythe.ehartof
the Cafpian puhlifhed by Hanway, in which the mouth pf the Tedjen
does not appear, f To the. N .. of thé large bay of Balkan are the, lake
of .Karabogas and; another inlet,*yyhich is fpl^o^d, by the ppr^ of Alexander
or Ifkander. ,
AsthemerchantsofKbiva broughtgpld anfi gems to Afirakan, prov- ^
hahl-y from tie .two Bucharias, an idea was fuggefted t© Peter-the Great
that thefp precious products were,found in Kharizm, and he;in„cpnfe-
quence .attempted a fettlement, Biit the Ruffians, ,to the number'of
3opo, advancing under the command' of a Circaffian prince called
* Equal, by Hallway's account, to i f B..miles.;:; hence the diftaqce of Khiva from the Caf- .
pian would be 459 B. miles,, while our maps' fcarcely allow 300. That oK Wahl feems more
agreeable to Hanway'a a<;coun.t.
? Dec. Ruff- iiii.,.123. |
t Wahl, probably after iTAnville, placeB Manguftlak far to. the aurth, pear the l)ead Gulf,
in the country of the Mankats, called Karakalpaks by the' Ruffiaus.: The map qf'Rufiïa: 17.S7,
' gives the 'gulf of Manguihlak on t&g hprth of cape Kalagan. Colonel Bruce can deferve.no
credit in oppofition to all the Ruffian accounts,.
Beckawitz,