"ملخص لمراسلات، إلخ، تتعلق بشؤون آسيا الوسطى، بلوشستان، بلاد فارس، إلخ، ١٨٧٥-١٨٧٧. مع ملاحق." [و‎‎٢‎٧‎٥] (٥٦٢/٥٥٤)

appendix XXL
THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN IN KOKAND,* BY A. YAMBERY
Russians
After more than ten years of continuous progress, conquest, and annexation the
,ans have at length met w.th an enemy worthy to he called so as regards his staunchness
and perseverance, but not it we only consider the means of defence
which the talented Baber founded an empire in Hindustan, consisted, to a large extent'if not
exelnsively, of Kipchaks, who followed their adventurous leader from the^lovely valley of
Andijan to the wealthy country of the five rivers (Punjab). But who are the Kipchaks? This
people, respecting the origin of which the oldest historical monuments of the Turks brum us
but scanty information,f forms part of a family which is scattered all over Central Asia. °The
portion which is most pure in origin, and least influenced by foreign contact, has remained on
the southern slopes of the Alai, and on the upper course of the Naryn, from the time of their
immigration. If, nevertheless, we also meet Kipchaks amongst the Karaks and Uzbegs, they
must be looked upon as men belonging to that family, who have retained their old name even
after having mixed with other tribes of the Turkish nation. It may be that the natural
strength of the present home of the Kipchaks in a mountainous and not easily accessible
district, or that their long and bloody feuds with the Kalmuks and Mongols of Old Dzungaria,
or their comparatively modern struggles with the Chinese, have made them so stalwart and
pre-eminently warlike, but it is a fact that their fame as dauntless warriors can be traced back
for four or five hundred years. In the Shaibaninamah, an epic narrative of the exploits of
Muhammad Shaibaui Khan, j; we find a classification of the various Turkish tribes coming from
Parghana to be enrolled under the banner of the new conqueror, and here the Kipchaks are
designated as the bravest of the brave. After the overthrow of the Timurides, and the
consolidation of Uzbeg power in the three Khanates, little or nothing is heard about them in
the country between the Oxus and ‘the Jaxartes; but much greater is the share they took in the
events of Eastern Turkestan, where almost every political revolution is connected with Turks
coming from Kokand. These were undoubtedly Kipchaks or Kara-Kirghiz.
As to the recent appearance of the Kipchaks in history, it is generally known that,
although they took part in the struggles of the late twenty-five years against the Russians,
slowly moving down from two points, namely, from the district of Semiryechensk on the
north-eastern, and from the embouchures of the Jaxartes on the north-western frontiers of
Kokand, the part they played was not a prominent one, and the energy which they displayed
was not at all in proportion to the former reputation of their arms. It was only for a short
period, namely, when the much hated Khudayar Khan was expelled from his country, that they
appear defenders against the overwhelming power of the northern invader.
Alem-Kul, himself a Kipchak, fell at the head of his army under Taskkend, but as
soon as Khudayar Khan was reinstated in his power, and made sure of the Y')®? 4 ',"''“L .
former enemies, the Kipehaks and Kara-Kirghiz at once retired, foste, ; m » m ^ ’ Koi Their
two-fold hatred and animosity .against Khudayar ^a^the f oe, threatening
national hero, and of other Chiefs of their tribe, as well as against the ; J
their independence. For ten years they preserved an f ^tTTfte kTa dTrvaTnd
looking out for an opportunity for revenge, llieir conn ry ies 'g., , a ln0In ,,nt when
the Naryn, and here, in comparative security, t h g/“ l0usl y ™ U (“ i ^111^7
Khudayar, abandoned by his Russian protectors ^ '^"'To'ne to arouse it by Nasir-ud-din
as this hope may seem, we must not foiget that m Kokand who was their
Tor, the eldest son and the with his father, always Tent a ready ear to
Governor, and who, being on a veiy oaa toon fh rnnP even if it were on the
plots and revolutions which would accelerate bis accession s0 j 0U r n in Tashkend, made
min of his father’s power. Nasir-nd-dm, who, during a short him3e f with
surprising progress in the Rnsso-Buropean civilisation, ^^"7“ “nrcd the Kip-
champagne and cards, and in fraternising wit i .Jf^Tzar woTld be quite indifferent as to the
chaks that the grey-haired representative.of the White Czai 1
. For Fedchenko’s map of Kokand, see ^ ^ ^ P ' ^ I>re '' i0 “ S ^
(kapchak), hence the denomination of the whole tiibe.
X See mj History of Bokhara, p. 244.
49