The Life of Yakoob Beg

overnment to a large portion of Central Asia, and that, however faulty his external policy may have be

had constituted himself the champion of the Mahomedan religion in Central Asia. The Ameers of Bokhara and Afghanistan might trifle with the seductive promises of the Russians, and might consent to sacrifice the interests of their religion for a transitory advancement of their worldly possessions; but to such degradations the Athalik Ghazi-true "champion father" as he was-never stooped. With whatever imaginary power the sympathy and good-will of the Mahomedan peoples of Turkestan may have clothed this ruler, there is no question that his attitude towards the Muscovite would have warranted the assertion of greater power than was ever attributed to him; and the secret of this delusion, an attitude of defiant strength without any solid foundation for so bold a course, can onl

his subject there is less direct evidence than could be wished. Even Sir Douglas Forsyth, in his official report, is not able to throw as much light as is desired on the i

or by the uprising of an, at heart, dissatisfied people. No one will ever understand the secret of Yakoob Beg's rule unless he constantly bears in mind that his strict orthodoxy as a Mussulman, and his still stricter enforcement of the laws of his religion within his borders, were elements of strength only in his external relations; in his internal affairs they placed him in the light of a tyrant, and prevented his people ever experiencing any enthusiasm for his person and rule. It is doubtful whether outside the priesthood and the more fanatical Andijanis there was any great religious zeal at all, and it is quite a delusion to speak of the Kashgari, as a whole, as being fanatical Mahomedans, in the same degree that it is true to say so of the Bokhariots or Afghans. In addition to there being no noble or wealthy official class in the city of Kashgar, there was also the strange inconsistency of an intensely strict etiquette being enforced side by side with extreme plainness in costume and ceremonial. It is rare indeed to hear any traveller to Kashgar speaking of the richness or finery of court functionaries. Even Hadji Torah, or the Seyyid Yakoob Khan, as he is now called, and Mahomed Yunus, the governor of Yarkand, two of the most trusted and prominent followers of the Athalik Ghazi, were not to be distinguished from a host of minor luminaries in the court circle by any external insignia of their elevated position. Some of the military, officers of the household troops, wore a device of a dragon's head worked in silk over their plain uniform of leather; and this seems to have been a custom surviving the disappearance of the Chinese. Hadji Torah-who recently visited this country, and who had on previous occasions travelled in Russia, Turkey, and India-however, alone among Kashgarian notables, had introduced into his household some of the comforts and luxuries of European life. His example was not imitated by many others, and, after a brief period of fashion, the improvements he had striven to make popular died out and were lost sight of. The ordinary dress of a person above the rank of gentleman is a large blanket-like cloak worn over a close-fitting tunic and breeches; and the dress of the peasant is similar, only his

red Kashgar, was divided into two bodies, the jigit or djinghite, the horse soldier, and the sarbaz, or foot soldier. The former of these was the more formidable warrior, being selected for personal strength or skill. The jigits were trained to fight on foot as well as on horse, and were armed with a long single-barrelled gun and a sabre. Their uniform was a serviceable coat of leathern armour mostly buff in colour, and to all intents and purposes they correspond with our dragoons, or, perhaps, still more closely with the proposed corps of mounted riflemen. The sarbaz, among whom are included the artillerymen, presented greater varieties of efficiency than his mounted comrade; still he had gone through some regular drill and training, and resided in barracks. He was a regular soldier, and might be trusted in defence of his country up to a certain point. In numbers it is impossible to state accurately how many jigits and sarbazes there were in the service of the state; some months ago they would have been placed as high as 50,000 or 60,000 strong, possibly at a higher number still; now we are wiser on the subject, and we have gone to the other end of the scale. It is probable, however, that Yakoob Beg never had 20,000 perfectly trustworthy soldiers in his army, and that after the conclusion of the Tungan wars, half that number would more accurately represent his force of jigits and sarbazes. But in addition to the more or less effective main body, there was a nondescript following of Khitay, Tungani, half-savage Kirghiz, and rude degraded savages like the Dolans, that in numbers would have presented a very formidable appearance. The Khitay must at once be struck out of the estimate, for they were never permitted to go beyond the immediate vicinity of Yarkand and Kashgar, where they kept themselves apart, a

rol in all the affairs of his province. Yet he was no irresponsible minister who could tyrannize as he pleased. Tyrannize in small ways, undoubtedly, many of them did

ed up, and brought before the Kazi, who would either administer a caution, or a whipping, if the accused had previously offended. Another check on the abuse of power by the officials was to be found in the following regulation. A charge to be visited with a severer punishment than twenty heavy strokes from the dira-a leather strap, fixed in a wooden handle-had to be investigated by a member of each official rank; so the Kazi passed a culprit on, with his comments, to the Mufti, the Mufti to the Alim, and the Alim to the Dadkwah. If any of these officials dissented from the remarks of his subordinate, and the matter was found impossible to arrange by mutual concessions, it was either referred to the sovereign for solution, or was permitted to fall through. The Dadkwah had also to be present at every punishment within his jurisdiction, and was directly responsible to the Ameer for any miscarriage of justice. The Kazi Rais, or head judge, had the right to decide all minor matters for himself-for instance, in his patrols through the streets, if he met a woman unveiled he could order her to be struck so many times with the dira; or if he found a man selling adulterated food, or using light weights, he could confiscate his goods, or in some other manner mulct him in addition to administering a certain number of strokes. He and his attendants were particularly energetic and zealous in compelling idlers about the bazaars to repair to the mosques at prayer time, and in a very paternal and authoritative manner did the Rais exercise his petty power for the good of his people. Even on his despotism there was some check, as he had no authority to inflict more than forty blows with the dira for one offence. Intimately connected with the administration of justice was the police sy

too zealous imaginations of the subjects, and, although there is not much evidence on the subject, it appears to have been twofold. In the first place a libeller incurred the risk of receiving very severe punishment, particularly if the person libelled were of saintly lineage, or if he filled any official post. This operated as a check on too hasty accusations, especially when it became known that the reward for such service was seldom speedily forthcoming, and scarcely ever answered the expectations of the informer. But this check, which alone seems to have been adopted in the earlier years of Yakoob Beg's authority, was found to be insufficient as his power became consolidated. The secret police then became organized to a certain degree; that is to say, they so far formed a distinct corps that a member had to

oint out in conclusion that this detective force was only useful in discovering what was about to occur in the state among Andijani or Tungani, and that it was powerless to attempt the repression by force of any outbreak of popular feeling. Its members were simply spies, and as a body it

detailed for personal attendance on the Dadkwah and Kazi. With sunset their true importance is more visible, for not only were they stationed in all main thoroughfares, squares, and other open places of the city; but until sunrise patrols at frequent intervals throughout the night visited all the chief quarters of the town. The power vested in their hands during these hours was very great, and it was dangerous for any stranger to venture out after prohibited hours. All persons found in the streets after sunset were arrested and incarcerated until the morning, when, if they could give a satisfactory account of themselves, they were released, with a caution not to keep such unseemly hours for the future. If, however, they were unable to explain their business, a further term of imprisonment was imposed; and it was a matter of some difficulty for a stranger to obtain his complete liberty for some time afterwards. The suburban police fulfilled much the same duties, and on all the country roads patrols p

s of the public peace were paid, and by what means. But on this point there is little trustworthy information. We, however, know of one tax which was devoted to the support of the urban police, but of the funds from which the suburban were remunerated, we have no authority for any assertion. A weekly tax was levied from all the shop and booth owners, to go towards the payment of their protectors; but it is not supposed that this amounted to a sufficient sum to maintain the large force in the more important cities. The difference was probably paid out of the state coffers under the head of justice. Judging from this we cannot be far wrong in assuming that a similar tax was levied on the farmers and country residents for the support of the suburban police; and as the secret police required less outlay in the country than in the cities, it is possible that that tax more nearly defrayed the total cost, than it did in Yarkand or Kashgar. The police supervision and the military terrorism, freely resorted to on all occasions offering an excuse for such an extreme measure, have not been without their effect in leaving traces of their existence and influence in the daily life of the Kashgari, and on the countenances and sentiments of the subject peoples. Where formerly lived a light-hearted and happy race there now seemed as if a never-to-be-removed gloom had settled down on the face of the land, and neither the assurance of security nor the irregular encouragement of the ruler to commerce could remove the blight that had fallen upon the energies and happiness of the people. As one of the

d Liverpool makers was discovered beneath some gaudy and brilliant-looking cover hailing from Moscow or Nishni Novgorod. Besides, recent investigations have proved that some of the goods exported from Shikarpore, in Scinde, through the Bholan Pass find their way through the mountainous districts that intervene into the territory of his late Highness the Ameer of Kashgar. Nor had Yakoob Beg totally neglected all means for inducing merchants to enter his state; indeed, his chief objection seemed to have been, not that they should have entered his state, but that they should leave it. Serais were built in all the chief towns for the accommodation of such merchants as might take up a

d their empire, although there has always been a tendency with the Chinese to be aggressive against small neighbours, as to acquire a territory that could be made a paying thing: much as the pioneers of Anglo-Saxon conquest have made their impression in every quarter of the globe in search of wealth and adventure, did the Chinese by a seemingly irresistible impulse spread over the continent of Asia. In doing so they were actuated as much by calculation of possible profit as by any desire for military renown. The Emperor Keen-Lung himself was flattered by the triumphs achieved beyond Gobi; but his lieutenants and viceroys aimed at more mercenary objects, and but for the golden promise held forth by a permanent conquest of Turkestan would have induced their master to direct his efforts to some more profitable undertaking. The Chinese, having acquired Kashgar, were far too sagacious to use up its resources by an organized system of pillage, and they accordingly, let it be granted chiefly with a view to their own personal aggrandizement, devoted their attention to the development of its natural wealth by means already detailed in a previous chapter. For three generations the officials grew rich on the prosperity of their dependency, and for the same period the people themselves were scarcely less flourishing. The Chinese had accepted no slight responsibility in undertaking the government of Kashgar on principles identical with those by which they held authority in Tibet; but, owing to wonderful perseverance and good management, they triumphed over every difficulty. The revenue raised for state and local purposes was very great, and it sufficed to preserve good order for many years, and to add permanent improvement to the state in every direction. The task voluntarily undertaken by the Chinese was far more onerous than that Yakoob Beg found he had to execute; but they came to it with many advantages that he wanted. They had a large and faithful army; he had only an uncertain gathering, which might flee or desert on the first symptom of disaster: they had the resources of a great and powerful empire at their back; he had nothing but his own energy and determination: and above all, they had a reputation that added to their strength and facilitated their undertakings, while he was regarded as a mere military adventurer, receiving the contempt of Tungan and Khoja alike. The very nature of things made the Chinese turn most of their attention to commerce, while for years Yakoob Beg's sole thought was to consolidate his military strength and form a large standing army. For many years, then, Yakoob Beg only spent money on the drilling of soldiers and the purchase of weapons. Now and then, when some danger seemed to threaten him, either from Russia, Afghanistan, or the Tungani, he would devote considerable sums to the construction of forts in the line of the menaced position. But his chief expenditure was confined to his army, and the maintenance of his dynasty by his police system. The administration of justice required a certain sum of money, and the Church for its support came in for a fair share of the good things that were going. It is clear that his expenditure, if not very great in our eyes, would severely tax a population of 1,000,000 people in no very high state of prosperity. The chief source of wealth in the past

k and file should be well drilled. The very necessities of his position compelled Yakoob Beg to make all these military preparations; but the cost was great, and the sacrifices thus imposed on ruler and on people were a terrible strain. Recent events make us inclined to believe that a less active military and foreign policy, and a more peaceable and domestic one, would have tended to have added more strength to the Athalik Ghazi's rule than the somewhat ostentatious military parade to which he had recourse. Be that as it may, Yakoob Beg instituted in 1867 two taxes, which may be supposed to represent the two chief classes of receipts during his tenure of authority. The first of these was a tithe on all the cereal produce of the country; this tax was called the Ushr. The second, called the Zakat, was a customs due levied on all merchandise entering Kashgar. The Ushr was payable on all land except that occupied by the Church, or by those who owed military service to the crown instead of other payment; and even those who rented land from the noble classes were obliged to surrender a tithe to the ruler. It would appear, therefore, from this that it was not so much the land as its legal possessor who was exempt from liability to the usual obligations of citizenship. The danger contained in the acquisition of all the crown lands by Andijani merchants, and the gradual displacement of his more immediate followers through the energy of these people, was not imperceptible to Yakoob Beg, and he accordingly adopted measures for preventing his nobles selling their land without his sanction. The receipts from this Ushr were very considerable, and it was the main source of his revenue for years. We have some idea of the approximate value of land in Kashgar. The method of measuring land for sale, and consequently also for taxation, is peculiar. It is not by any given size that it is computed, or, indeed, strictly speaking by the amount of crop it produces; but at a rate in accordance with the amount of wheat wit

good years, it was five shillings, or even more. Here again, however, the middleman interfered, and exacted as much as he saw there was any possibility of his obtaining. This tax undoubtedly ought to have produced a large sum, as a larger portion of the soil is laid out as fruit and vegetable gardens than for crops; but whether it was more difficult to raise, or there was more peculation in transitu from the tax-payer to the imperial exchequer, it is certain that we hear much less of this tax than we should be disposed to imagine. The two great taxes on home productions wer

normous profits going to his officials; but, that having tolerated petty exactions in his earlier days, he found himself unable to attempt the task of coping with the evil when it had assumed such alarming proportions. It is impossible to believe that he remained in ignorance of what was occurring under his very eyes, and there is some evident foundation for the accusation that

hemselves tell a hesitating tale as to its place of production. A visitor to Kashgar, on going the round of the bazaars, soon found that the people's tongues were tied by the presence, in his train, of a number of the secret police, who had been specially told off to prevent the Feringhee obtaining any troublesome information on the state of the people, or the resources of the state. A striking instance was given him of the close attention paid by these guardians of order to the veriest trifles. The traveller inquired in one stall where the jade, which was the chief commodity of the merchant in question, came from, and received the reply, Aksu. Proceeding to another shop in th

temple in Kashgar! Before this, all the external trade had been carried on with Khokand and Bokhara, Afghanistan and Badakshan, and the receipts from Zakat were quite insignificant, barring such treasure trove as the spoliation of a merchant from Tashkent, or from Leh. But with the persistent efforts on the part of the Russians on the north, and of the English native merchants on the south, to pierce the gloom hiding the country of Eastern Turkestan, it became impossible for Yakoob Beg to maintain much longer the incognito he was so jealous in maintaining. Perhaps also the prospect of deriving an income from Zakat, that should smooth down many of his difficulties, was not without some influence on his mind when he came into direct contact with civilized empires. His expectations were far too sanguine, and he seems to have once more, during the last twelve months of his life, become indifferent to the advantages or disadvantages of trade with his neighbours. In fact, when he placed his customs on a fair footing, he found that it

ht be amply repaired by the appearance of Russian and English merchants to supply the same place that they filled. If his aspirations were disappointed, and the Zakat did not show any signs of possessing that elasticity which had been predicted, it is probable that in his impatience, heightened by the perception that foreign trade might lead to foreign complications, he did not give the scheme a sufficient time for a fair trial. His other sources of revenue, Ushr and Tanabi, and the gold mines of Khoten, brought in a sum enough to meet the current expenses of the government and to maintain in his service as many soldiers as his recruiting officers were able to secure. But there was little if any surplus; and local improvements, and all outlay that might have been reproductive and for the benefit of the people, were strictly forbidden. The only works we can find constructed by him, with a view to the advancement of the interests of his subjects, were the merchants' serais, built in each city, and these were self-supporting. Yakoob Beg has no claim to being considered as a beneficent ruler. He was a military dictator, who had shown a rare power for inaugurating a rough system of government, and whose campaigns had always been singularly successful. As a ruler, showing a full appreciation of the wants of his people, and adopting the best possible measures to obtain them, he had no claims to consideration. Indeed, he could not be compared with the Chinese, who, however personal may have been their motives, certainly raised the state to a high pitch of material prosperity, and left many enduring marks of their past occupation. These two dominations, foisted on the Kashgari by the strong arm, while each immeasurably superior to the Khoja claimants, represented two distinct modes of governing a subject race. The Chinese endeavoured to conciliate, and to make the necessity for their presence felt by the people; the Athalik Ghazi was supremely indifferent to the prosperity of his subjects, so long as they were willing to pay him the tribute money, and to serve in his army. An exactly opposite result might have been expected, for there was far more kinship between the Khokandian adventurer and the Kashgari, than there was between the Khitay and the Andijani. Admirers of Yakoob Beg may, of course, plead that his rul

d it is very possible that until the year 1867 he regarded his uncle with a considerable amount of indifference. Certain it is that Hadji Torah was far otherwise employed than in assisting his relative when the latter was engaged in some of the desperate encounters of his not uneventful career. In the civil administration of Khokand he filled, under Alim Kuli, high posts, such as Principal of the Madrassa of Tashkent, and then he was appointed Kazi, or Judge. It was after the fall of Ak Musjid that he commenced that career of activity as a traveller and a negotiator which brought him to the shores of the Bosphorus and to the banks of the Neva and the Thames. That was in the year 1854, and he was appointed as a sort of secretary to the embassy of Mirza Jan Effendi, the ambassador sent by Mollah Khan to Constantinople for aid. On a subsequent occasion he again visited Constantinople in a similar capacity, after the death of Mollah Khan, and during the brief tenure of powe

than the travelled Hadji Torah? The very qualities that the Seyyid Yakoob Khan possessed were those the Ameer Yakoob Beg stood most in need of. He might search among all his followers, those who had shared every vicissitude of his strange fortunes, and he could not find one other with an identical capacity. The overtures to his nephew are thus easily intelligible, and the nephew himself gladly greeted his entry into a wider career than was that of an honoured guest on the hospitality of the Porte. Hi

dern languages, it is difficult to guage the exact degree of that reputation. He was an old and trusted follower of the Athalik Ghazi, for when he was in the service of Khokand Mahomed Yunus officiated as his scribe. He, however, as a civilian, took no part in the expedition of Buzurg Khan, and it was not until after the death of Alim Kuli and the success of Khudayar Khan that he joined his firm friend and master in Kashgar. So high an opinion had Yakoob Beg of his talents, and so pressed was he for skilled rulers, that Mahomed Yunus was at once appointed Dadkwah of the recently conquered district of Yarkand, the richest, the most populous, and the most turbulent of all the governorships in Kashgaria. The skill with which he brought the troublesome Yarkandis into complete submi