39«
C ities. ;
Other Cities.
Badaklhan,
Manufac-
. IN D E P E N. t> \E iW £ ’ T A T A R Y / ;
Harr at. L
iiJoftarir: ;■/ y ;■ ■ '■ -'..i/.«,yyf/p- ju.\;. r-B:|C| ^ - t - . ' . : ; -y
■ Zouf, -which is alfo called, Gaur, from the province of which ItlSiShe
capitaj, is faid to be now fubjea? kingdo® of Gandahar ; and
Baniian, in the fame province, •.mud have fhared the fame' fete, / -The
latter city was remarkafelexfbr numetousdin^ps^ and) other monuments,
carved m fhe.adjaGent mountains. | /Asderab is, the r^hief-city of 3foka-
reftan;'* .near a -pads through the mountains of. Hindoo Koh, ftriaiy
guarded by the'khan of Balk." In the neighbourhood pflbhis^cityj .were
rich quarries of lapis lazuli, a fubftance vyith which -Great- BuCharia.
feems chiefly to have’ fupplied tho aneiept and modern ;WO^d-- ,* ,
: Not fir to the north Hands Badakffian,„pj| the riper. Amu. o^Hajrat.
In the laft century this city belongedto the-khaa, of.^reatj Buphari^or
rather of Samarcand; and being feehided in a h?aadh1a£<&he, Relur « s>
was ufed as a date prifon for rivals or infu’rgents. Badaklhan !jy^%finall,
hut well built and populous j ^nd its inhabitants were;enrithed Jy^ the
gold, fflver, aud:rubies,found ‘in the neighbourhood ; th£-:gi;aips. of gajld
and filver abounding hi -the torrents which defcend from the% mountains,
when the fnow melts in the beginning -iupatper,' §ovej;al«ca-
ravans for Little Bucharia and China pad byfhisr city '&&& ^SiKm$>re-
fer the .route by Little Tibet; on the eade^n fide of:t§e mountains.;];
Ebn Haukal mentions that there were not only mined of rubies and
lazulite near Badaklhan, but that there was abundance of mulk.
Kotlan or Khotlan is the capital of a province fo called, but otherwife
feems little memorable; Termed, fituated on the Amu, is fcarcely known
in modern accounts : and in general the northern cities, feem greatly to
have, declined under the domination of the Uzbeks. ,
The chief manufactures have, been ,already mentioned in the a||ounl
of the cities. Befides the caravans to Perfia, Hindodan, and China,
fome trade is carried on with the Ruffians, the Buchanan merchants, pot
* In Ebn 33aukal’s time it was Taikan, the Taican cif Polo, p , '224.
• ‘‘ Bentink on Abulgazi, p; 55.
f See the journey of Goez, Aftley, iv. 644.. The pafs to Little Bucharia is thirty-three days’
■journey to the north, perhaps about the latitude-of Andegand or Kojend but„ the province ,of
Sarchil Is a defideratum in geography.
R ^ n ly
CH A<P. fLi Q E'N E-;R A;L DESCRIPTION. 397
only furhilhy:|:;their.©.wn 'produ£ts, but others from the eaftern eoun- Masufacthcy^
tja^2. I * ' '»full I, . TVt.ee.
The: climate-- in general appears t^he\eycelletn.t-v the-hqat eyenjof.the 'Climate.
foUthern provinces being tempered- by -the high mountains^ capped with
perpetualtfnoiw;-$ and though ?fe:ba$§dtin ',%e paralleLpfjSp^iUjf Greece*,;
and-^AfiattqTurkey,!the proximity- ©J^the-Sihpi^mf deijertsyiand the lofty
alps, render "the- fumroer Jmore; =tempedate. i tTdfehfaCe 'of the country
preferfts avgxeat,variety p butt though 'tHereyaretmu'EBiarqus 'fiyetrsphiUs,
and.«mountains.; rtbere feems- ter He a. defi^imfiy.tef'wo'dd.* ji.'Nfiar hhe
rivers the-»Toil is veryip-ro.du&i.v'e,'} ft)fthaC thevgrarfs, fortetirnfcs ekceeds
jth^l^^ht'of'ftjman.} and.inrlpm^-parts-ppnfLderAMp' indudry-is fhewn
,in the c'ultiyatipn of tic'e¥and‘ other grain./, »Lf any other hands- hut thofe>
of the Tatars,..this'poyntry mighti;rival any- European f egfah,' ><
•' ’The chfef rivers of Independdnt- Tatary are 'fhei Amu ahd5.the:Sirr.' River»
Theiformer is“ ithes ancient Oxus, 'and near- its*ifSliree is‘called the' lHar-
-rat-oriental geographerssalfo term it the Gaboon^ ’as/they rail the'Sfor
-the iSiboon ; I but* as the proximity of the appellations mud frequently.
ocScadirn eonfufion and midhfees, they had'bfetter be difthi'fFed -from geo-
-graphyjtheihg probably extraneous and" Arabic,-while the .native words
-arc the -Harrat or Amu, and the SirrpSirt, of river ofBh^flr.: / ;
The Amu fifes-in--the mountsai^ihf^elmv'morerthan S^haBi’imiJes A#w.,
N. ,E. frdm 'Badaklhan^;, according, to the maprpf lflfcnief; and-before^t 0xus‘'
.reach that city has already received the ‘Or-tongfro-m _the E. , From ;Ba-
dakfhan it paffes W. .to Termed, .aftecj-receilvi-ng numerous dream's-;|k>]pi
•the Ak Tau op the N. (among>whrch;-the modfconfiderahle is' ^he Vafh;,)-
-and fr.©m .the Hindo'o'Koh onthe S. Afterr being joined'from-the'fame
•quarter by the-Dehafh, or riyer of Balk, with tblleffeddreams from the
njomitains of Gaur, the Amp»,follows, a N.,jW. difeiStipn, and fall§ into
the fea of Aral, which - appears, .as ,before mentioned, to have been in 1
all .ages it£ chief receptacle, though a branch Jprmerly pafled, by-,Ur-
ghenz towards the Gafpian, and another, feems to have been detached
near FJaz^rafp 5 nay,- in ja country ,fuli of, de(fer|s, a,nd only partially
* It is probable therelmay be ^laijge forefts on the weftern fide of the Belur, as Bentink, ;
.: ji. 238, fs.ys that timber, abounds. ■
vifited,