ASKABAD—ASSAM
722
the second, with the great sea routes from Smyrna to Trieste, Marseilles, and Liverpool. The right to construct all railways in Armenia and north-eastern Asia Minor has been conceded to Russia. Authorities.—Since 1870 Asia Minor has been visited by many travellers, who have brought back valuable information ; excavations have been carried out at a few places ; and special questions have been studied on the spot by qualified explorers. Valuable papers have been published by Anderson, Benndorf, Bent, Crowfoot, Foucart, Headlam, Hicks, Hogarth, Myres, Ramsay, Schuchhardt, Smith, Wilson, &c., in the Proceedings 11. Geog. Society, Jourl. Hellenic Society, in Maspero’s Becueil, vols. xiv. xv. &c., the American Journ. of Archaeology, Journal of Philology, Mitt, dcs Jcais. d. arch. Inst. Athen. Abth., Bull, de Corr. Hellenique, Wiener Vorlegebldtter, &c. Fuller works are: —Chantre, E. Recherches archiologigues, Mission en Cappadocie. Paris, 1898.— Clarke, J. T. “Investigations at Assos” in Jour, of Arched. Inst, of America. Boston, 1882.—Cuinet. La Turquie d’Asie. Paris, 1890.—Davis, E. J. Anatolica. Bond., 1874.—Life in Asiatic Turkey. Bond., 1879.—Hirschfeld. “Vorlaufiger Reisebericht ” in Berlin Monatsbericht. 1879.—Hogarth, D. G. Watering Scholar in the Levant. Bond., 1896.—Humann and Puchstein. Reisen in Kleinasien u. Nordsyrien. Berlin.— Humann, K. Altertumer v. Hierapolis. Berk, 1898.—Alter, v. Pergamon in pubs. Rl. Mus., Berk, 1895.—Banckoronski, C. Stadte Pamphyliens u. Pisidiens. Vienna, 1890. — Murray. Handbook for Travellers in Asia Minor, &c. Bond., 1895.— Naumann. Vom Goldenen Horn zu den Quellen des Euyhrat. Munich, 1893.—Perrot and Guillaume. Expln. Archl. de la Galatie. Par., 1862-72.—Perrot and Chipiez. Hist, of Art in Phrygia, &c. Bond., 1892.—Ramsay, W. M. Historical Geography of Asia Minor, in sup. papers, R. G. S., vol. iv.—Church in the Roman Empire. Bond., 1893.—Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia. Oxford, 1895.—Reclus, E. Nouvelle Geographic, vol. ix. Paris, 1884.—Sterrett. Epigraphical Journey in Asia Minor; Wolfe Expedition to Asia Minor. Boston, Mass., 1888.—Tomaschek. “Zur historischen Topographic v. Kleinasien in Mittelalter,” in Sitzungsber. d. Akad. d. Wissensch. in Wien, 1891.—Tozer. Turkish Armenia and Eastern Asia Minor. Bond., 1881.—Von Diest und Anton. “ Neue Forschungen in nordlichen Kleinasien,” in Vergdnzungsheft, 116. Pet. Mit. Gotha, 1896.—Jensen. Hittiter und Armenier. Strasbourg, 1898.—VonBuschan. Reisen in sudwest. Kleinasien. 1888.—Maspero. Hist, ancienne. 3 vols. —Earl Percy. Notes from a Diary in Asiatic Turkey, 1898 ; Highlands of Asiatic Turkey. 1901. Maps. — Kiepert. Nouvelle carte g6n6rale des provinces asiatiques de VEmpire Ottoman. Berlin, 1894.—Specialkarte v. West-Kleinasien, 1890. w ^ Askabad, or Askhabad, a town of Russian Central Asia, capital of the Transcaspian province, 345 miles by rail S.E. of Krasnovodsk and 602 from Samarcand, situated in a small oasis of the same name at the foot of the Kopetdagh range. In 1881 it consisted of merely 500 tents, but it has increased rapidly since it became the chief town of the province. It has three Russian churches, one Armenian church, three mosques, a public library, a progymnasium for boys and another for girls, a technical railway school, and several charitable institutions. It has also a daily newspaper, and strikes the traveller by its relatively good hotels and shops. There are several cotton-cleaning works, as also tanneries, brickworks, and “ mineral waters ” factory. The trade with Persia, Merv, and Khiva is valued at £250,000 a year. The population, 4000 in 1889, was 19,428 in 1897. Asmara.
See Eritrea.
Asnieres, a town of France, department of Seine, arrondissement of St Denis, 4 miles S.W. of that town, on the railway to Havre and the river Seine. The town, which has grown rapidly in recent years, is a favourite boating-centre for the Parisians. The industries include the manufacture of bicycles, pianos, trellis-work, perfumery, and boat-building. Population (1881), 10,666 • (1896), 23,931, (comm.) 23,931 ; (1901), 30,881.
Pitkin county, situated in the western, mountainous portion of the state, in 39° 12' N. lat. and 106° 49' W. long., in the valley of Roaring Fork, a branch of the Grand river. The site of the city is level and its plan is regular. It has two railways, the Denver and Rio Grande and the Colorado Midland. The altitude is 7853 feet. The surrounding country contains many mines, principally of silver, but owing to the depression in the price of this metal, the prosperity of the district has been seriously affected. Population (1890), 5108; (1900), 3303. Aspinwall. Assab.
See Colon.
See Eritrea.
Assam, a province of British India, under the administration of a chief commissioner, situated on the extreme north-east frontier, being almost surrounded on two sides by semi-independent tribes. The administrative headquarters are at the station of Shillong, in the Khasi Hills. Assam is naturally divided into three distinct tracts : first, the valley of the Brahmaputra, from where that river forces its way through the Himalayan range to where it debouches on the plain of Northern Bengal. To this tract alone is the name of Assam strictly applicable, being derived from the Ahom dynasty which
formerly ruled here, and here alone is the Assamese language spoken. The second tract is the valley of the Surma or Barak, which is really an extension of the Bengal delta, enclosed by hills on three sides. Between these two valleys lies the third tract, consisting of a series of hill ranges, inhabited by a number of different tribes, entirely unconnected with either the Assamese or the Bengalis. There is still a border line along the north and the east, beyond which only vague political influence is exercised. The Southern Lushai Hills were added to the province in 1898. The numerous democratic chiefs of the Khasi Hills enjoy a certain measure of independence. The native state of Manipur, on the eastern border, is subordinate to Assam. Frontier troubles occasionally arise with the Akas, Daflas, Abors, and Mishmis along the northern border, arising out of raids into British territory. A' military expedition had to be sent against the Mishmis in the winter of 1899-1900.
Population.—The following table gives the area and population the several districts of Assam, according to the census of AspGIIj a city of Colorado, U.S.A., and capital of of 1891
