Afghanistan

Between Tashkent and Kauffmanskaya which, although insignificant, is equipped with hospital accommodation for six patients, the railway crosses by an iron bridge of 8 sagenes the Salar river, itself a tributary of the more important Chirchik. The line then passes Zangi-ata and the post station of Nialbash, crossing the Kur Kulduk arik by an iron bridge 3 sagenes in length and running near Vrevskaya through the Chirchik Valley, a region of special interest to archæologists. Stari Tashkent or Old Tashkent, rich in historical associations, is in this neighbourhood. It was inhabited at one time by the Sakis who, in bygone centuries, offered a stubborn resistance to Alexander of Macedon. Now it is only an insignificant hamlet, mere flotsam which has been thrown up and left by the advancing tide of Russian conquest. Lying to the east of Stari Tashkent and opposite Kirshul upon the left bank of the Chirchik river are the ruins of Shuturket or Ushturket—the Town of Camels; in the country between it and Binket, by which name Tashkent is known among the natives, there are other ruins.

After skirting Bodorodski and Kaunchi the station of Syr Darinskaya, lying about 1 verst from the hill and lake of Utch Tubeh, follows, the line crossing the Bos-su arik by a second bridge of 5 sagenes. Until this point the general direction has been south-west. Ten versts from Syr Darinskaya station, at a point where it crosses the Syr Daria by a four-span iron bridge 160 sagenes in length, the railway runs by the ancient fortress and lake of Urumbai and turns to the east to thread the hills which surround Utch Tubeh lake.

The point now arrives where the train enters the region distinguished by the Emperor Nicholas I. Canal, an extensive system of irrigation from the waters of the Syr Daria. These works, which the Ministry of Agriculture introduced, have brought more than 100,000 acres of the Golodnaya steppe under colonisation. It is due to the initiative and generosity of the Grand Duke Nicholas Konstantinovitch that the scheme was executed and its success is illustrated by the fact that seven villages—Nikolaievski, Nadejdinski, Verkhni, Nijni Volinski, Konnogvardeiski, Obyetovanni and Romanovski—have been established upon the reclaimed areas. In the main they are devoted to the cultivation of the smaller crops, although one or two are given up to the growing of cotton. The prosperity of the undertaking entails elaborate precautions; in order that the works should be unobstructed the head waters of the system are watched continuously by relays of guards.

The Golodnaya zone of cultivation extends only a verst or so beyond Golodnaya station; between this little oasis and Chernaievo, the next station, there is a barren wilderness. After leaving Golodnaya and crossing the Emperor Nicholas I. Canal by an iron bridge, 8 sagenes in length, the line proceeds north-east beyond the Syr Daria, where it turns sharply to the east in order to make the junction with the main line from Krasnovodsk to Andijan. Owing to the lack of cultivation and the scarcity of population no commercial importance can be ascribed to Chernaievo. Attached to the little station is a small hospital with a capacity of ten beds, while the railway workshops employ a permanent staff of 100 workmen. The depôt at this point, on account of the junction between the line from Tashkent and the extension to Andijan, is out of proportion with the requirements of the neighbourhood. Of course here, as at every station on the line, there is a large store of naphtha, 50,000 poods being held against emergency in the naphtha reservoir.

The station of Samarkand, second in importance to Krasnovodsk, is 1415 versts from Krasnovodsk and 332 versts from Tashkent. In the station square there are a church, an hospital of twenty-five beds, two second-class schools, workshops and railway yards affording daily employment for 160 men. Like most stations of the first class it acts as a medium of distribution to a wide area, stimulating not only the industrial interests throughout the province but imparting also an impetus to the agricultural activities of the neighbourhood.

The table of traffic for this important point, illustrating the volume of trade which passes through Samarkand, is as follows:

Djuma, the first station beyond Samarkand, is situated in a level, densely populated country. Barely 30 miles distant and with it equally a station of the fourth class, is Nagornaya, which in turn gives place to Katta Kurgan. This town, an important district centre in the Samarkand province, lies close to the railway in the midst of much luxuriant vegetation. Its altitude above sea-level is rather more than 222 sagenes. The population numbers 10,219:

Its streets are very wide and charmingly planted with high trees—poplars, acacias, willows and white ash—watered by ariks supplied from the Narpai stream, itself a tributary of the Zerafshan river. Quite the most prominent feature is a large public garden surrounding the house of the Governor, while in connection with the public buildings there is a military church, a military hospital, a general hospital of twenty-five beds and a Russian native school. There are, of course, the usual district offices. Military headquarters occupies a building to itself, a second affording domicile to the base staff of the Eighth Turkestan Rifle Battalion.

The native bazaar, an imposing centre, contains:

In the main bazaar there are some 300 shops, the business transacted at them being concerned with the cotton industry and the production of vegetable oils. There is no hotel in either part of the town but there is an officers’ club in the Russian quarter. The general revenue from all sources is about 38,000 roubles and the largest industrial concern associated with the trade of the district is the Turkestan Cotton Company, of which the annual trading balance is considerably in excess of half a million roubles. The development of cotton in the neighbourhood, to which the Turcoman villages Mitana Pefshanba and Chardar devote their energies, promises to become a highly valuable venture.

The goods traffic, indicated by the subjoined table, maintains a steady volume.

Beyond Ziadin, which is administered by an important Beg, the line runs to Kermine, a station of the third class constructed to meet the convenience of the present Amir of Bokhara who, previous to ascending the throne, had been the Beg of Kermine. The town, which has a population of 12,000, is dependent almost entirely upon the proceeds of the cotton industry. The native fort, standing in the town, has been converted into a Russian garrison, a battalion of the Turkestan Rifles occupying the post.

The trade figures are:

Melik, a small station occupying a position at the point where the line from Tashkent meets the Zerafshan river has, unfortunately, nothing with which to commend itself. The surrounding steppe is destitute of vegetation and only sparsely inhabited. At Kizil Steppe, which follows, there is a depôt and workshops for a permanent staff of eighteen men. It stands within easy proximity of the four centres Cidj Duvan, Adiz Abad, Vaganzi and Bustan, where there is a combined population of 20,000.

The trade passing through Kizil steppe for local centres is:

The cultivation of cotton is the prominent characteristic of this region and Kuyu Mazar, the next station, entirely derives its prosperity from the industry. In its immediate neighbourhood, moreover, there are several kishlaks devoted to it. A little further on the line enters a region of sandy clay which, continuing for some distance, finally gives place to the areas of the fertile oasis that surrounds Bokhara.

The population of the Russian settlement, returned at 6000 inhabitants and drawn from various nationalities, includes the following European and Asiatic elements:

The remainder is made up of subjects of the Amir. The Russian quarter also contains 130 brick bungalows, an hospital with twenty beds, barracks for the 3rd and 4th Companies of the Second Railway Battalion, numerous shops and military go-downs.

The trade passing through Bokhara is very comprehensive. It embraces cotton, skins, wool, cotton prints, sugar and a large importation of Russian manufactures. The bazaars of the native city show a very varied assortment of silken fabrics, copper-ware, silver-work, carpets, leather and weapons, attracting traders from India and Persia, besides the Turcoman and Khivan districts.

The figures for the year under review are:

Kara Kul follows as the line runs towards the south and 10 versts distant from it there is the native town of the same name. At one time the centre of a large and flourishing oasis, the drifting sands from the Kara Kum have encroached until it has been ruined and the total population of the region reduced to 5000 people. The place is watered by the Zerafshan, upon whose volume so much of the prosperity of Bokhara depends. This river, which was called by the ancients the Polytimaetus, takes its rise in the glaciers of the Kara mountains, 270 miles east of Samarkand. Its upper reaches resemble a succession of cataracts and it is altogether too shallow for navigation. The average width is 210 feet; more than 100 canals, some of which are 140 feet broad, are supplied from this source of Bokhara’s greatness. The capital of the Khanate is fed by one of them, called the Shari Rud, and over 35 feet in width. The river reaches its full volume during the winter and the spring. Three versts before Kara Kul, at a point where the stream breaks up into a series of small feeders, a wide bridge, 15 sagenes in length, affords passage to the railway.

In spite of diminishing importance Kara Kul still attracts and disperses a certain volume of trade, the movement showing:

the bulk of which is associated with the cotton factory of M. Levine and a distillery controlled by a French syndicate, the two properties being situated close to the station.

Beyond Kara Kul, as far as Khoja Davlet, there is a considerable area of cultivation. With this station the agricultural possibilities of the quarter, due in the main to irrigation by the waters of the Oxus, come to an end and the line begins to pass through the shifting sands of Sundukli. From this point, too, the growth of the saxaoul is promoted as a protection to the railway from the sand drifts. At Farab station, where the growth and cultivation of sand shrubs has been studied and where there is a special nursery covering 5 dessiatines, some little success in this direction has been attained. Unfortunately the moving sands are the great and ever present menace to the prosperity of this neighbourhood. In contrast with these outlying edges of the district where there is nothing but a waste of salt marshes and sand dunes, there is a wonderful wealth of vegetation along the banks of the river. The station workshops, where some eighty workmen are daily employed, the small hospital, the railway buildings and the technical school are embowered by trees of the most luxuriant growth. None the less Farab, although associated with the headquarters of the Oxus steamers, is too close to Charjui to be of much importance.

The trade movement is:

Charjui, opposite to Farab at the crossing of the Oxus, lies 1070 versts from Krasnovodsk and 677 versts from Tashkent. The town is situated in the midst of a fertile oasis lying along the banks of the Amu Daria. The Russian settlement is close to the station, but 16 versts away there is the native centre from which it derives its name. This border stronghold surmounts a hill to the south of the railway line, bearing in its rugged outline a faint resemblance to Edinburgh Castle. The settlement, nestling at its foot, contains the headquarters of the 17th Turkestan Rifle Battalion. The local force amounts to one battalion of Turkestan Rifles and one squadron of Cossacks. The Russian quarter, built upon ground presented by the Amir to the Russian Government, covers a wide area upon the left bank of the stream and extends along both sides of the railway. The point is of extreme interest, since it is here that the original bridge over the Amu Daria was constructed. The new work, a magnificent steel girder affair only lately opened, takes the place of the earlier wooden structure which, some 4600 yards in length, withstood the effects of climate and the stream for many years.

The trade and traffic of Charjui, one of the most active stations on the Central Asian system, is as follows:

The combined population of the town comprises 7569:

The Russian quarter contains:

In addition to this there is an extensive botanical nursery, similar to that which exists at Farab and devoted to the same purpose. Equally with Farab it serves as headquarters for the Amu Daria flotilla, which plies between Patta Hissar on the south and Petro Alexandrovsk and Khiva on the north. Traffic upon the river has increased in proportion to the development of trade along the Central Asian railway, the steamer and general communication on the Amu Daria, taken in conjunction with the caravan routes between Charjui and the outlying parts of the Khanates of Bokhara and Khiva, combining to render it a point of supreme importance.

From Repetek the line enters the Merv district. Passing Pesski, Uch Adja and Ravnina, the first and last of which belong to the fourth degree and the remaining one to the third degree of stations, the line runs into Annenkovo, named after the famous constructor of the Trans-Caspian railway, General Annenkoff. The station itself lies in a hollow and 4 versts before the train reaches it there begins that wonderful growth which Nature herself has supplied to resist the encroachment of the Black Sands. It is here that the desert shrub saxaoul, with its long penetrating roots—the great stand-by of the Russians in their fight against the sand—is encountered in its native state. Although special nurseries have been established at many stations for the cultivation of this shrub, the railway authorities employ its roots for firewood, encouraging the Tekkes in the surrounding districts to bring it into the yards. As instances of the destruction with which this plant is assailed nearly 46,000 poods of saxaoul root are supplied annually to the railway authorities by the Tekkes at Ravnina, while 170,000 poods are brought to the authorities at Annenkovo by the Tekke gatherers in that part, the activities of these people creating a very serious prospect since the artificial cultivation of the shrub in the nurseries does not keep pace with its disappearance in the veldt.