SECTION III.
THE LAND OF THE MOGHULS.
His eye might there command wherever stood
City of old or modern fame, the seat
Of mightiest Empire, from the destined walls
Of Cambalu, seat of Cathaian Can,
And Samarchand by Oxus, Temur’s throne,
To Paquin of Sinean Kings; and thence
To Agra and Lahor of great Mogul. …
—Paradise Lost, Bk. XI.
The area over which Mirza Haidar's history extends is a wide one. Expressed in the geographical terms of our times, it may be said to deal with Western Turkistan, Bokhara, Farghana, the Russian province of Semirechensk (or the seven rivers), the Chinese province of Ili (or Zungaria), Eastern Turkistan, Tibet, Ladak, Baltistan, Gilgit and the neighbouring states, Chitral, Wákhán, Badakhshán, Afghanistan, Kashmir, and Northern India; while references are frequently made to countries lying even beyond these regions. But it is a history, especially, of the eastern branch of the Chaghatais—i.e., the Moghuls proper—and, therefore, the chief scene of action lies in and immediately around their home-land. The situation and extent of this region are not difficult to describe, but it is far from easy to give a name to it as a whole.
Its limits were not very clearly defined at any period, and were seldom the same for twenty years at a time, while even the names of "Jatah" and "Moghulistan," by which a portion of it was known, are now not only obsolete, but have hitherto been subject to some doubt regarding the exact locality to which they were applied. Moreover, there was at no time any one name in use, which served to designate the entire Khanate. Mirza Haidar usually speaks of 'Moghulistan' and 'Kashghar,' but it is not always clear whether, by 'Kashghar,' he means only the city and district of that name, or the entire province of Alti-Shahr—the Six Cities[1] of Eastern Turkistan—a
- ↑ The six cities were Kashghar, Yangi Hisar, Yarkand, Khotan, Ush-urfán, and Aksu. Dr. Bellew informs us that Marálbashi was sometimes added to the list, when Alti Shahr became Yati Shahr, or seven cities. (Yarkand Report, p. 185.) The name is probably of Khokandi origin, and belongs to the present century.
