Through deserts and oases of central Asia

by Ella Sykes; Sir Percy Sykes

By way of introduction to this chapter some reference to the Khanates of Central Asia is called for. Half a century ago little or no accurate information on the subject was obtainable in England; for, although a brilliant band of British officers had penetrated to remote Bokhara and Khiva before the middle of the nineteenth century, the Khanates of the Sir Daria were beyond their ken.

With Russia it was otherwise. She was drawn forward mainly, perhaps, by the ambitions of her frontier officers but also by the desirability of controlling the raiders of the steppe. The Russian columns met with little serious opposition, being materially aided in their advance southwards by the Sir Daria, which not only provided drinking water, but to a certain extent helped to solve the difficult problems of supply and transport.

Russia reached the Sea of Aral and the mouth of the Sir Daria in 1847 and erected two forts, one in a harbour of that sea and the other at the mouth of the river. This forward step brought her into hostile contact with the state of Khokand, whose rulers bitterly resented the appearance of the Northern Power in an area where they had hitherto been unchallenged. But Russia was not to be denied. In 1849 the advance up the great river was begun, the first outpost of Khokand being captured in that year; and four years later Ak Masjid, situated 220 miles up the Sir Daria, was taken. The Crimean War paralysed Russian activity for some years, but in 1865 Tashkent was captured and the territory lying between the Sea of Aral and the Issik Kul was formed into the frontier province of Turkestan.

Having very briefly traced the advance of Russia to this point, we turn to Khokand, where a movement originated which profoundly influenced Chinese Turkestan and the adjacent countries. At this point some account must be given of Yakub Beg, an adventurer destined to play a leading part on the stage of Chinese Turkestan. The future Amir was born near Tashkent in 1820, his father, who claimed to be descended from Tamerlane, being a kazi or judge. At the age of twenty-five we find Yakub Beg a chamberlain in the service of the youthful Khudayar Khan, who was placed on the throne of Khokand by the Kapchak chief, Mussalman Kuli. Yakub’s sister married the Kapchak governor of Tashkent, and Yakub, mainly through his influence, was appointed Governor of Ak Masjid, which fort he stubbornly but unsuccessfully defended against the Russians. In 1858 Mussalman Kuli was barbarously executed by his ungrateful master, and the Kapchak and Kirghiz united to expel Khudayar in favour of his eldest brother, whom they set on the throne. Yakub tendered his services to the new Khan, who was assassinated two years later, whereupon Khudayar returned to the throne and took Yakub into favour once again. But that treacherous official soon deserted Khudayar in favour of Shah Murad Khan, another claimant to the throne. He was ordered by his new master to hold Khojand, but being threatened by a Bokharan force he surrendered his charge and joined the invaders. Later, Yakub Beg fought the Russians before Tashkent in 1864, when General Chernaieff, after the fall of Chimkent, failed in his attempt to capture the city by a coup de main.

At this juncture the envoys of Sadik Beg, a Kirghiz chief, brought news of an anti-Chinese revolt in Kashgar and asked for a scion of the Khoja family to lead it. Buzurg Khan, last surviving son of Jahangir, who lived in Khokand, was accordingly approached. He readily embraced the opportunity and appointed Yakub Beg to command the tiny body of sixty followers which constituted his entire military force, the Khan of Khokand being naturally averse from parting with his soldiers in face of the imminent Russian menace.

The little party of adventurers crossed the Tian Shan in mid-winter without encountering any opposition, and in January 1865 reached the neighbourhood of Kashgar. Meanwhile Sadik Beg had repented of the invitation given to the Khoja prince, and pointed out that the Chinese were sure to reconquer Kashgar, where they would exact stern retribution. But Yakub Beg, moulded in the school of adversity, disregarded the warning and insisted on entering Kashgar, where Buzurg Khan was received with enthusiasm and proclaimed Khan. The new ruler, who was cowardly, idle and dissolute, immediately became immersed in sensual pleasures, and Yakub Beg was left to deal with the difficulties of the situation, which were almost overwhelming.

In the first place Sadik Beg soon changed his attitude and, from being an ally, became an open enemy. Hostilities therefore commenced, which, mainly through the personal exertions of Yakub Beg, ended in the defeat of the Kirghiz chief, who fled to Tashkent.

Kashgar having been made fairly safe by this action, albeit the Chinese held the cantonment with a force 7000 strong, Yakub Beg decided to attack Yangi Hissar and Yarkand. He reached the latter city with a small force, leaving troops to invest Yangi Hissar; but the dominant Khojas were hostile to his pretensions and were strong enough to drive him back to Yangi Hissar. Nothing daunted, the indomitable adventurer, with the aid of reinforcements from Kashgar, pressed the siege of the Chinese cantonment at Yangi Hissar and finally captured and put to death its garrison of 2000 men. He followed up this success by enlisting the services of Sadik Beg, who had again appeared on the scene, and also of a force from Badakshan.

But his new allies were only half-hearted, and when he was attacked by a large force of Tunganis from Maralbashi he could only rely on his own followers. The action, which was fought outside Yangi Hissar, was nearly lost owing to the defection of the Kirghiz and Badakshanis, but Yakub Beg stood his ground firmly and won a well-earned victory, the immediate fruits of which included the submission of Yarkand.

The scene now shifts back to Kashgar, where the Chinese garrison surrendered and was enrolled in the army of Yakub Beg as “New Mussulman”; but the Amban, imitating the fine example of his colleague at Yarkand, blew up himself and his followers in the fort. Yakub Beg married the beautiful daughter of the Chinese general, and was much influenced by this wife, who bore him many children.