Khanate of Kokand

“ First, the country which it includes is fertile, well-wooded, and watered by numerous streams; it is inhabited in part by Kirghiz tribes which have already acknowledged our supremacy, and therefore offers conditions favourable to colonisation and the supply of our garrisons. Then, it gives us the agricultural and commercial population of Kokand as our neighbours.
“Thus we find ourselves confronted by a more solid and compact social organisation,—one less shifting and better arranged. ”

“ Colonel Tchernaiev, by storm, took the Khokand fortress of Auliet, while General Verevkine seized the Khokand town of Turkestan. In the following year, 1865, General Tchernaiev took by assault one of the most important towns of the Khokand khanate—Tashkend—after which the khan of Khokand ceased hostilities and declared his submission to the Russian czar. ”

“ Now, the tribute they exacted of the country was that of a full grown man, to be chosen by lot, every year; and on whoso the lot fell, he had to go, without redemption, whatever his condition in life. Thus it happened one year that the lot fell on the Khan himself. In all the kingdom there was no one of equal rank who could be received instead of him, unless it had been his only son. When his son would have gone in his stead, he answered him, “What is it to me if the Serpents devour me, so that thou, my son, reignest in peace?” ”

“ Kasaks form the majority in the Khanat. They lead a nomad life in the mountainous districts between the lake of Tchaganak and Tashkend, and pay to their prince the same amount of tribute as they do in Khiva to the Khan. Amongst the Kirghis of Khokand some are in affluent circumstances, possessing in Hazreti Turkestan, or in other places, houses, which, however, they do not themselves inhabit. In other respects, in spite of their superiority in number, the Kirghis have, owing to their want of bravery, little influence in the Khanat. ”

“ The Khonds never sacrifice a criminal, or a prisoner captured in war. It must always be purchased—the price paid is from 60 to 200 Rupees, and the price is paid either in brass vessels, cattle, or coin, or partly in each.
The Janee or priest (who may be of any caste) officiates at the sacrifice, but he performs the pooja offering of incense, flowers, &c. to the idol, through the medium of the Toomba, who must be a Khond child under seven years of age. This child is fed and clothed at the public expense, and eats with no other person, and is not subjected to any act deemed impure. ”

“ But will your Majesty, refuge of the world, pass orders on the Khan's case?"
"I see no order to pass, Hyat Khan," returned the Queen; "surely ye are satisfied?"
"We may be, but the people will not be," said the Kotwal, decidedly. "There is a blood feud now between the people of Elias Khan and Abbas Khan. Put thought of him aside, O noble lady, and prevent bloodshed, a renewal of the old scenes which brought the kingdom to the verge of ruin. There is a public durbar to-morrow, let the case be decided; I have force enough to prevent riot." ”

“ It is rather remarkable that although the Khonds avail themselves of the services of the Pannoos, and are very glad to purchase victims, they bear an intense hatred and contempt toward them, and, except in the way of business, will have no dealings with them. ”

“ In 1220 Khotan was destroyed by the Mongols under Jenghiz Khan. Marco Polo, who passed through the town in 1274, says that “Everything is to be had there [at Cotan, i.e. Khotan] in plenty, including abundance of cotton, with flax, hemp, wheat, wine, and the like. The people have vineyards and gardens and estates. They live by commerce and manufactures, and are no soldiers.” ”

“ I have often referred to the Khonds in the hills of Orissa, who, till the horrid practice was stopped by British interference, enticed children from the plains, fed them well, treated them kindly, and then on a fixed day murdered them, tore limb from limb, and scattered the bleeding fragments over the fields as an offering to the Land Goddess to secure an abundant harvest. I have asked, "Ought these people to walk in the ways of their fathers?" ”

“ Your son — may he never prosper — has become a very bad-tempered man. Taking his forty warriors, he attacked the mighty Oghuz people. When he saw a pretty girl, he kidnapped her. He insulted old men with white beards and squeezed the breasts of white-haired old women. The news of these evil deeds of your son will reach the ears of Bayindir Khan — through the clear waters of streams and over Ala Mountain lying back there — and people will be saying 'How could the son of Dirse Khan do such terrible things?'". ”

“ In Kālāhandi a lamb is sacrificed every year, and strips of its flesh distributed to all the villagers, who bury it in their fields as a divine agent of fertilisation, in the same way as the flesh of the human victim was formerly buried. The Khond worships his bow and arrows before he goes out hunting, and believes that every hill and valley has its [474] separate deity, who must be propitiated with the promise of a sacrifice before his territory is entered, or he will hide the animals within it from the hunter, and enable them to escape when wounded. ”

“ The armed men broke into the prison, and liberated all the prisoners. Among these were Khan Cochût and the slave Bikoo, who did their utmost to increase the tumult. The khan declared that the old rajah had made him his successor; and he began to address the people, promising them freedom from all taxes, and universal liberty. A considerable number sided with him, and he was marching in triumph to take possession of the palace, when a strong party of chiefs and others who knew he spoke falsely attacked him, whereupon his followers were put to flight, and he himself cut to pieces. ”

“ A man of the Panua tribe was once seen to load a Khond with curses, and finally to spit in his face, because the Khond had sold for a victim his own child, whom the Panua had wished to marry. A party of Khonds, who saw this, immediately pressed forward to comfort the seller of his child, saying, "Your child has died that all the world may live, and the Earth Goddess herself will wipe that spittle from your face." ”

“ In Kālāhandi social delinquencies are punished by a fine of so many field-mice, which the Khond considers a great delicacy. The catching of twenty to forty field-mice to liquidate the fine imposes on the culprit a large amount of trouble and labour, and when his task is completed his friends and neighbours fry the mice and have a feast with plenty of liquor, but he himself is not allowed to participate. Khond women are profusely tattooed with figures of trees, flowers, fishes, crocodiles, lizards and scorpions on the calf of the leg and the arms, hands and chest, but seldom on the face. ”

“ A Khond has been known to ruin himself for the sake of his friend. He willingly sacrifices all that he has, and even his life, to protect the interests of his friend. The friends have nothing but affection for each other." * [29]
It is noted, in the Gazetteer of the Vizagapatam district, that "the Khonds steal cattle, especially those belonging to Brinjāri gangs, in an open manner, for the sake of their flesh. ”

“ Always we must be wary! A very pleasing example of inconsistency in reports about the same race may be found in a comparison of the account of the Khonds in the thirteenth volume of the Royal Asiatic Society with the account given by General Campbell in his Personal Narrative, The inquirer in the former case did not know the Khond language, and trusted to interpreters, who were later expelled from the public service. ”

“ Let the Kotwal Sahib tell what they have said to him."
"I humbly represent to the throne," said the Kotwal, "that one and all have confessed to having been seduced by messengers from Elias Khan, and humbly beg their lives. They have shed no blood."
"Abbas Khan," said the Queen, in reply, "if it please thee, I give their lives into thy hands; do with them as it is good unto thee; unless, indeed, the Kazee demands them for trial." ”

“ Khoten is situated 150 miles south-east of Yarkand, [Pg 7] and about ninety miles due east of Sanju. It lies on the northern base of the Kuen Lun Mountains, and is the most southern city of any importance in Kashgaria. Under the Chinese, it was one of the most flourishing centres of industry, and as the entrepôt of all trade with Tibet it held a bustling active community. The Chinese called it Houtan, and even now it is locally called Ilchi. ”

“ More or less under Hindu influence, the Khonds have a fourfold division, as follows: the first soul is that capable of beatification or restoration to Boora the Good Deity; the second is attached to a Khond tribe on earth and is re-born generation after generation, so that at the 435birth of each child the priest asks who has returned; the third goes out to hold spiritual intercourse, leaving the body in a languid state, and it is this soul which can pass for a time into a tiger, and transmigrates for punishment after death; the fourth dies on the dissolution of the body. ”

“ In 1867 he became governor of Turkestan, and held the post until his death, making himself a name in the expansion of the empire in central Asia. He accomplished a successful campaign in 1868 against Bokhara, capturing Samarkand and gradually subjugating the whole country. In 1873 he attacked Khiva, took the capital, and forced the khan to become a vassal of Russia. Then followed in 1875 the campaign against Khokand, in which Kaufmann defeated the khan, Nasr-ed-din. Khokand north of the Syrdaria was annexed to Russia, and the independence of the rest of the country became merely nominal. ”

“ Two features of the Khond sacrifice of a human victim as a corn-spirit appear to indicate its derivation from the sacrifice of the domestic animal and the eating of the totem-animal, the ties uniting the clan and tribe: first, that the flesh was cut from the living victim, and, second, that the sacrifice was communal. When the Meriah-victim was bound the Khonds hacked at him with their knives while life remained, leaving only the head and bowels untouched, so [174] that each man might secure a strip of flesh. ”

“ They cannot but admit that the man was killed, but attribute his death to accident, such as being carried off by a tiger, or bitten by a snake.
Pride forms a great element in the Khond character. The people are fond of their land, and nothing can induce a Khond to sell one yard of ground to a foreigner, nor even to part with a single tree that grows on that soil. Generally, they are too proud to barter, but leave that business to the Pannoo tribes, by whom, as may be remembered, the Meriah victims are generally furnished. ”

“ After the failure of the expedition of Wali Khan, in which these officials seem to have disappeared, either having become merged in the body of his partisans or sacrificed during the massacres of that time, a fresh batch of Khokandians was installed, and occupied, in a legal sense, the same position as their predecessors. ”

“ It is a very old city and the see of a bishop, and has an archaeological museum for church antiquities.
KHONDS, or Kandhs, an aboriginal tribe of India, inhabiting the tributary states of Orissa and the Ganjam district of Madras. At the census of 1901 they numbered 701,198. Their main divisions are into Kutia or hill Khonds and plain-dwelling Khonds; the landowners are known as Raj Khonds. Their religion is animistic, and their pantheon includes eighty-four gods. They have given their name to the Khondmals, a subdivision of Angul district in Orissa: area, 800 sq. ”

“ I have already told you that the valiant Khan, the noble Khoros Kaloret, has seen you—that he loves you. He is rich and brave; hundreds of retainers obey his commands and follow him to battle. He has numerous slaves who till his fields; rich pastures on which large herds of cattle graze; innumerable flocks wander over his mountains, while none can boast of finer horses or richer armour. ”

“ Khokand, or Fergana as the ancients style it, is bounded on the east by Chinese Tartary, on the west by Bokhara and the Jaxartes, on the north by the great horde of Nomads, and on the south by Karateghin and Bedakhshan. Its superficial extent we cannot positively affirm; but it is certainly larger than the territory of either Bokhara or Khiva. It is also better peopled than the latter Khanat. ”

“ For centuries Khotan was famous for jade or nephrite, a semi-precious stone greatly esteemed by the Chinese for making small fancy boxes, bottles and cups, mouthpieces for pipes, bracelets, &c. The stone is still exported to China. Other local products are carpets (silk and felt) , silk goods, hides, grapes, rice and other cereals, fruits, tobacco, opium and cotton. There is an active trade in these goods and in wool with India, West Turkestan and China. The oasis contains two small towns, Kara-kash and Yurun-kash, and over 300 villages, its total population being about 150,000. ”

“ THE KHANAT OF BOKHARA.
Inhabitants.
The actual frontiers of the Khanat are: on the east, the Khanat of Khokand, and the mountains of Bedakhshan; on the south, the Oxus, with the districts on the further side, Kerki and Chardjuy; on the west and north, the Great Desert. The positive line of demarcation cannot be defined, and it is equally impossible to fix the number of inhabitants. ”

“ The Khonds became notorious, on the British occupation of their district about 1835, from the prevalence and cruelty of the human sacrifices they practised. These “Meriah” sacrifices, as they were called, were intended to further the fertilization of the earth. It was incumbent on the Khonds to purchase their victims. Unless bought with a price they were not deemed acceptable. They seldom sacrificed Khonds, though in hard times Khonds were obliged to sell their children and they could then be purchased as Meriahs. Persons of any race, age or sex, were acceptable if purchased. ”