Part 6 (2/2)

Before the end of 1870 the Tungani had ceased to be an independent people The great majority of them had fallen either in the field or by the hand of the executioner; and with their disappearance the first portion of the task of the Chinese army was completed The blood of the Khitay massacred in 1862 and 1863 was atoned for, and Chinese prestige restored to as great a height as at any time it had been in the present century More reer as in its result more important, which we have now to consider, before their full task should be consuenerals had done, even up to this point, a feat of which any country e to us who are far reuid kind of supercilious interest inspirit But what ar, although that palace was 1,000 miles removed from the spot where his victorious enee the feeling of apprehension hich these first triuhout Eastern Turkestan; and if the bold heart of the Athalik Ghazi did not ravity of the danger

Intelligence of the fall of Manas reached Yakoob Beg, probably, before the end of November, and in consequence of the lateness of the season he had the whole of the winter before him to make his preparations for defence The surrender of these cities was not generally known in this country until April, 1877, e also heard of Yakoob Beg's march eastward to protect his menaced frontier There is very little to be learnt of the internal affairs of Kashgar between March, 1876, and March, 1877; that is to say, between the close of the revolt in Khokand, with the surrender of Abderrah's army round the city of Turfan, or Tarfur There can be no doubt that in that period soes had taken place in the senties may not have been very perceptible to a casual observer, yet in their consequences they were as iest what some of these modifications may have been; of what they resulted in there can be no doubt--the weakening of the power of the Athalik Ghazi

Yakoob Beg's over-caution in Noveed his prestige more than a lost battle It da his followers, and e remember that these were his ablest and most devoted partisans, this alone was a serious blow But there are many tokens that the disaffection was not confined to any special party aan wars had never been popular, and had been costly and sanguinary operations The old trade with Russian territory, that once had been so lucrative, languished for want of a fostering hand, and the difficulties of that northern range of mountains, which the patience and care of the Chinese had for a tih, were made the most of to prevent intercourse with Kuldja and Vernoe More than all, too, all Yakoob Beg's skill as a ”manipulator of phrases” could not conceal the fact that his treaty with England was a failure It did not give him that British protection which alone he cared for, and it did not provide, through the greater obstacles of nature, his people with that new trade outlet which was the sole object worth securing in their eyes The Forsyth treaty seear to a sudden terh to perceive that the Athalik Ghazi would not be buttressed by English bayonets against Russian aggression, if that instrument was to be held, as in their eyes it could not be otherwise than held, the only connecting link between the countries The consequence of this belief was a resignation to a Russian subjection at no distant date

Yakoob Beg's tenure of poould be morally weakened by the existence of these causes for discontent a his people, and it was at such a htly become clear to his eyes, that the return of the Chinese was heralded In the face of a great and coer a well-affected people would have rallied round their head, and in the crisis have found a joint necessity to produce a better understanding than existed before a their component parts The country east of Kucha, where it was inhabited at all, was inhabited by the few survivors of the st these there could be no great aarrison of the city of Kashgar consisted in the y Mussulmans, as they were called--and froainst their Buddhist countryhbourhood were the most nuht have been supposed that the Athalik Ghazi would obtain faithful service Even a to dread at the hands of the Chinese It was they who had massacred the helpless Khitay, a deed fro at least was free; and it was they against whom the wrath of China would in the first place be directed But they had also their grudges against the ruler He had beaten them in the field of battle, and had compelled more than he had induced them to join his arree less than the Buddhist Chinaame had been foiled by the military talents of their present ruler They had run, in the years 1862-65, all the risk attaching to a revolt against China, and when they had accomplished their task they found themselves defrauded of their reward Therefore, in the face of a Chinese invasion there was disunion in the ranks of the very Mahoinated all these troubles The nucleus of Yakoob Beg's army, when these have been struck out as non-efficient, was small indeed; but it was only on that nucleus he could depend in fighting for his crown and his religion

During the winter of 1876, when he was busy in collecting arar, he must have discovered many of these discordant elements; yet he pushed his preparations resolutely on He conceived that under the circumstances the boldest policy would be the most prudent, and that if he could but beat the Chinese in the field by superior tactics he ers With these views upperan included, along the southern slopes of the Tian Shan, with his headquarters at Turfan The Russian officer, Captain Kuropatkine, who had been sent to Kashgar on a h the whole extent of Kashgaria to 's ar infor the frontier

The fort of Devanchi, guarding the principal defile through the its_, aruns--one a breech-loader At Turfan there ith the Auns, mostly of ancient make

Toksoun, a fortified place, some miles nearer Korla, on the its_ and 2,000 _sarbazes_ with five guns

Hacc Kuli Beg had command here At Korla there were also about 1,500 ht up to the front shortly after Captain Kuropatkine's departure With these 17,000had to defend hiainst an eneeneralshi+p as well

The Russian officer gave, on his return, a very gloo the speedy disintegration of his state He also asserted that the Tungani were deserting in great numbers, and that everywhere east of Kucha there was discontent and distrust of the Kashgarian rulers This disparaging account was confirmed by Colonel Prjevalsky, some months afterwards, upon his return from his adventurous journey to Lob Nor In a letter, dated from Little Yuldus, May 28, 1877, he said he had been very kindly received, but also suspiciously watched by Yakoob Beg ”All the way frouard of honour, who officiously endeavoured to satisfy his smallest wishes, but would not allow him, or any of his people, to co somewhat peremptorily asked Colonel Prjevalsky to explain why the Russians had provisioned the Chinese forces arrayed against hiain assured the Russian traveller that he was a friend and isher to Russia Notwithstanding these precautions, Colonel Prjevalsky and the otherthe natives tell theusted with the , and that they hoped the Russians would soon be co”

The information contained in this letter refers to the end of April, 1877, or to a ti by the Chinese, and his withdrawal to Korla; but it is _a propos_ in this place as confir Captain Kuropatkine's remarks

In addition to the 17,000,had mustered at the frontier, Captain Kuropatkine ani inhabitants of this eastern region Not only were these notoriously untrustworthy, but they were also badly armed, and were, on the whole, a source of weakness rather than of strength Before the close of the month of February the Athalik Ghazi was at Turfan, constructing forts at Toksoun and towards the Tian Shan, and endeavouring to inspire his folloith his own indomitable spirit

In the meanwhile the Chinese had not been idle They had, after their triuani, established their headquarters at Guchen, near Urumtsi, and had so far secured their coular service of couriers was organized, and a continual supply of arms,are of arms was erected at Lanchefoo, and on one occasion as many as 10,000 rifles of the Berdan pattern were sent in a single convoy While Tso Tsung Tang, the Viceroy of Kansuh and Co these preparations north of the Tian Shan, for forcing the range with theYao, was stationed at Ha the e

In esti the total number of the Chinese army at 60,000 men--that is, 50,000 round Guchen and 10,000 at Hamil--ould express only what is probable The total nu it at 60,000 men we believe we are as close to exactitude as is possible under the circuenerals hadSo far as our geographical inforoes there is no direct road from Guchen to Turfan, and consequently the chief Chinese attack washad constructed a fort

But, although the larger ar north of the Tian Shan, the decisive bloas in reality struck by the se froarian arade had not obtained that attention fro Yao captured the shta any serious opposition And from the latter of these places, some fifty miles east of Turfan, co Tang, which was to overcolance at the ht fairly between two fires by ar from Urureatly exposed to an enterprising ene aware of the success of their prelieneral advance was ordered in all directions It is evident that the Chinese were met at first with a strenuous resistance at Devanchi, and that the forcing of the Tian Shan defiles had not been accoarrison that their ruler had been expelled from Turfan by a fresh Chinese arh all ranks of the followers of Yakoob Beg; in that hour of doubt and unreasoning panic the majority of his soldiers either went over to the eneht to Karashar In this moment of desperation the Athalik Ghazi still bore hiave battle to the invader, and though driven fro odds he yet once more made a stand at Toksoun, forty miles west of Turfan, and when a second time defeated withdrew to Karashar toprobably lost in these engageani, by desertion and at the hands of the enemy He consequently conceived that it would be prudent to withdraw still farther into his territory, and accordingly left Karashar, after a few days' residence, for Korla

So events Yakoob Beg had sent an envoy to Tashkent to solicit the aid of the Russians against the advancing Chinese But the Russians only gave his er fair words, and did not interfere with Mr Kamensky's commercial transactions with the Chinese army At the moment, too, Russia was so busily occupied in Europe that she had no leisure to devote to the Kashgarian question

The Chinese had forhad all his life been a scarcely concealed enemy Between two such coovernone with the for's attitude towards Russia of late been as discreet as it ht have been His nephew, the Seyyid Yakoob Khan, was notoriously an agent for some indefinite purpose at Constantinople His protection of the Bokharan prince, Abdul Melik, or Katti Torah, the most bitter enemy of Russia in Central Asia, was also ill calculated to attract Russian sy to arouse Russian susceptibilities in Chinese victories so far distant as Urumtsi or Turfan In many respects, too, this Chinese invasion was a relief for Russia It freed her hands in Central Asia in a manner that perhaps will never be sufficiently appreciated Buddhist victories in Eastern Turkestan struck a severe blow at Mahoe of the Badaulet, or the ”fortunate one,” acted as a warning of strange significance to all the neighbouring princes

It is not difficult, therefore, to discover valid reasons why the Russians declined to negotiate between the co endeavoured to co that his personal safety should be guaranteed, all his diploorical refusals

The Chinese after entering Toksoun came to a sudden halt, for which the causes are not evident But the terror of their naone before them, and the country east of Karashar was hurriedly abandoned by its inhabitants The Chinese delayprovisions to enable them to advance further, or perhaps it may have arisen from the outbreak of some epidemic, as asserted by one of the Indian journals On this point the _Pekin Gazette_ is profoundly silent The number for the 23rd of June contained a narrative of the operations round Turfan, and also a list of the honours and rewards given to the successful generals; but it and its subsequent issues are silent as to the causes for the Chinese inactivity that then forsentence in this report is that which says that ”the Mahomedans who submitted themselves were permitted to revert to their peaceful avocations;” and if this be true, this is one instance, at all events, of the Chinese exercising e as it our of the Chinese invasion appeared to die away, and for fivemore was heard of the whereabouts of the Chinese army In that interval the aria, but with these, the Chinese, although the originators of the scene of all of the eventful life we have been in these pages considering the invading Khitay had no part They were probably not aware of as taking place some 300 miles from their camp until many weeks after it had happened; and then conceived that their best policy would be to give ti causes at ithin the state to have their full effect before they advanced ard When Colonel Prjevalsky saw Yakoob Beg it must have been within a very short period of his death The shadow of approaching events may have been upon the defeated conqueror, who froe worse yet to co's death there are various accounts

The most probable is that he was murdered by a party of conspirators, ere led by Hakiiven is the 1st of May That Yakoob Beg shouldthat he was surrounded by such doubtful followers as the Tungan chiefs, is not to be marvelled at, and that the first reverse in his career should be the signal for fresh disturbances is only e should expect froht of past history So far, then, as the assertion goes, that Yakoob Beg wasimprobable about it But there arenarrative The first intelligence of the death of the Aram published in the _Times_ of July 16 last year It stated that his death occurred at Korla, after a short illness, and that he had nominated as his successor Hakiard of his own sons

The telegraift, and that the A, had succeeded to the throne A few days after this telegram Hakiar, which Yakoob Beg had first seated on the throne, and then displaced in the person of Buzurg Khan All this intelligence came from Tashkent On the 23rd of July we learnt in this country, fro had notified his father's death and his own accession to the throne to General Kauf was really dead

For so does not appear to have been a favourite with the Russians; but this aversion to hi was certainly unfriendly to England, and was scarcely civil to our envoy, Sir Douglas Forsyth Moreover, he at once placed hi for advice as to the course he should pursue with regard to the Chinese invasion, and renewing his father's request that Russia should stop the supplies sent to Urumtsi and Turfan from Kuldja It was reported, but not confir more was heard of the history of these events until the end of August, when news reached India through Ladakh and Cash ”had been assassinated by Haki Khan”