39*
H isto ry .
Religion.
Ï N T) EPE NT) ENT T XT A R Y.
| thè'feuéhth century, thefhidory of * this 1 countr-y becomes^.iufficfeMÎy
Cleâr; and the hiftoriaris'of Zkigfe- and Timur, throw a fteady lighrç
which is continued by AbulgatfU In 1494 Sultan Baber, a defendant of
Timur, was with his Mongolsexpelled from Great Bucharia ; * a;ù;d proceeding
-into IIindofi.au, there.;founded the Mogul power, The Tata*
riàn vigors, called Uzbeks,. eftablilhed a powerful monarchy in Bucharia
; and fuceeffive khans field the fèeptre ftôiri. 1,494 to SsS&Sfe
after which period this agréât and fertile country .appears to ;hav_e
Been divided into féveral dominations, under numttfpUsjbhâps. -In
174.1 the cityof Bdkhara^with a final! territory around it, cosftituted
ah the monarchy ,.of «he -of' thefinkhans/V !Nadii-,.firft di;ftmgmfll§4
himfelf in Corafan, in combats with thp. ^zbelçSfc - The proVince;-«f
, Gairr, as already mentionedi is: fûfejéft toithe kings o f Gaùdahar jf|but
Balk and Samarcand appear to remain fu h jé a .tob h e ir Own Ugbek
khans. In the deficiency of recent accounts, it ■ean.Aa'ty -jbe _«$ri}ec-
tured that the chief powers of this èopatry are the khan o f Bafk to the
S., and ofSamarcand in the' N.
The religion of the Uzbeks and Bucharians is the Mahometan ofthe
' Sunni fefl:, and the government of the khans defpôtjic. 1 Thgrç ispnb
precife evidence o f the ftatte of the population, which
Tatars and of the Bucharians. It. is probable tlïat upon an .emergency
an artny might be muttered of çoojrioh^'' 'but though Nadir j^upejd
Bokhara and Khiva, he feeiris to have refpe&ed Balk and jSâmarjdmd *
eonfidering them as allied dates, which furnifhed him with the bed
troops in hiss army : and he even regarded himfelf as a Tatar, not ;as a
Perfian. There is no'ftatementr of the revenue oftheie fertile provinces,
Froto an account-pnblifhed by Han way of the revenues of Nadir, it appears
that Corafan yielded, half a million fterling annually', rbèirig'-cqjial
to tliat of Erivan, ' and * fuperior to' any other Perfian province. It is
probable that the revenue of Great Bocharia is at 'lead equal: to that of
Corafan. Were, the kings of Candahar -to form, any enterprize againd
our podeffions in Hindodan, an alliance-with the khans of Bucharia
might prove more ufeful.than with wedern Per'fia..
The
8 The manners and cudoins of the Uzbeks, are firnikr' to thqfe .’of the M
other Tatars : but they -are fuppofed to be the mod fpirited and induf- G
trious óf thefe barbarians. Though many refide in tents in the Turn- I
iner, yet in winter they 'inhabit the towns and villages;/ They are,
however,, ad.didted to make fudden inroads into the. Perfian provinces.
Thofe of Balk are the mod civilized, and carry on a confiderahle trade
with Perfia and Plindodan.. The native Bucharians, or Tadjiks, are '
comparatively, fair ; and coi-refpond, in'elegance of form and features,
with thofe of Little Bucharia, whom they alfo referable in the mode of
drefs * The Biicharians^s^felore mentioned,-never bear arms. The '
.Uzbeks, on the contrary, are no ftrang-ers to the ufe of the mulket; .and
it is Paid that even their women, who furpafs thofe of the othèr; Tatars
in beauty, are not aver'fe to] warfare-, hut; will fometim ës attend their
hafbands to the field. The language is Zagatliai'an, that is Turkiflfdr
• Tttokomamc ; bfit: that of the Buchanans, ^&i|riipu^^opic, hag never
been inved'igated, though it be probably Perfian, like their phyfibgnorny,
but intermingled with Turkifh, Mongolian,' and éven Hindoo- terms, -
The literature of Great Bn-charia-would; fixrniih an ample thehte, Santhf-
’ cand having -bèetl a‘ celebrated - fidhóólvtef ’ kuiejffita'I ^cultivated!
evènrby monarchs; asfUhïg Begaand ó?hèrs-: inwas flrill^ iiythei beginning
of4ad century,: the
■ -! Bucharia tliè provinces^ pr
dffeefeive theif appéllatiöns frorndthem. Iq the north thé province éf '
r ir^ani the map óf"ïflëhSéfF,
of tne.GreaterHord ; and df Andfegdn’ its capital, there Is fiö recent*
' aceeutiti * othekehief .pjföviöceiSs <arp The,Wedermpart'oP&ha(hf and
a didridf called by D’AnVille, Ofrufhna, fifóth afdwn-'óf thfe’fame‘name. H*
The molt fertile'and celebrated .iproyinpe<is that of Bógd, fo .called from
the river which pervades it. - Next’ are VMh, Kotlan^aUd Kilan. Be-
lur is the general name for the. Alpine region, whichdivides tfis coun- *
try from Little Bucharia; and it feems very duhious *if>tèi-e'iie he'<any
town of' that' nathefThough Strahlenberg’' have introduced it into, his
. See the, prints-'in Aftte-y,- jv. 483*7aild-1 tlie; Pérfia" of Elzèvir.
" Bentirick' on Abitlgazi, p. Z79.' ■
* f The Setrufhteh'of Eljn Haukal, p. 2,6-1, if the name i^e right..' ' “■ “ h ■ ■ ^ . . I