Chapter IX: Yakoob Beg's Government of Kashgar (2)

It is impossible to speak on this point with any degree of certainty, but it is only natural to expect that such was the case. No tiller of the ground can feel grateful to a sovereign who required him to hand over almost one-third of his receipts before he made use of one penny of them, even for the payment of his rent. It is scarcely probable that Yakoob Beg approved of such enormous profits going to his officials; but, that having tolerated petty exactions in his earlier days, he found himself unable to attempt the task of coping with the evil when it had assumed such alarming proportions. It is impossible to believe that he remained in ignorance of what was occurring under his very eyes, and there is some evident foundation for the accusation that he participated in the division of the profits of his tax-gatherers. We should be loth to admit the accuracy of such a charge, and yet the arguments in its favour are too plausible to admit of a very confident contradiction. It would not speak well for the efficiency of his secret police if he had remained in ignorance of a fact which was losing him the sympathy of his subjects.

The gold mines at Khoten were worked after the fall of that city in 1868, and continued productive down to the present time. There is no information on the quantities of the precious metal that are there turned out in the year, but it is probable that they are not very great. The coal mines near Aksu and Kucha are no longer made use of, except by a few individuals, and the copper mines in that district have, since the departure of the Chinese, only been very partially explored. The jade that used to come in great quantities from Aksu and Khoten, is still to be found throughout Kashgar; but although it is probable that it still nearly all comes from those cities, the Kashgari themselves tell a hesitating tale as to its place of production. A visitor to Kashgar, on going the round of the bazaars, soon found that the people's tongues were tied by the presence, in his train, of a number of the secret police, who had been specially told off to prevent the Feringhee obtaining any troublesome information on the state of the people, or the resources of the state. A striking instance was given him of the close attention paid by these guardians of order to the veriest trifles. The traveller inquired in one stall where the jade, which was the chief commodity of the merchant in question, came from, and received the reply, Aksu. Proceeding to another shop in the street, he repeated the question, when he was informed that it was imported from Khokand. But the traveller said, your neighbour told me it came from Aksu. The shopkeeper, taken aback by this abrupt remark, became confused, and admitted that it came from Aksu. Warned by a look from the official, he then repeated his original assertion that it came from Khokand. The use of all this absurd shuffling, and attempt to throw dust in strangers' eyes, is impossible to discover; for it was a matter of little moment whether jade came from Aksu, or Khokand, so long as we knew that it formed an important commodity, both in the rough and in the chiselled state, in the cities of Kashgaria.

The customs tax, or _Zakat_, is sanctioned by the Shariat, and was levied at all the border posts on the various roads leading into the state. Up to the ratification of the treaties with Great Britain and Russia, its regulations were vague and elastic in the extreme. In fact, any merchant who might have been so foolhardy as to venture into Kashgar would have had reason, before these events, to think himself fortunate if he escaped the penalty of his rashness; for assuredly his luggage would not, but would have been confiscated for the special benefit of his Highness the Ameer. So late as 1869, Russian merchants were robbed of their baggage, and personally ill-treated, and only after long years of negotiation did the Russian Government obtain any satisfaction for the injuries and loss inflicted on one of their subjects. And then how did the Athalik Ghazi send the sum of money he agreed to pay for the loss the merchant had incurred?--why in a depreciated Chinese currency, part of a large number of coins that he had found in a disused temple in Kashgar! Before this, all the external trade had been carried on with Khokand and Bokhara, Afghanistan and Badakshan, and the receipts from _Zakat_ were quite insignificant, barring such treasure trove as the spoliation of a merchant from Tashkent, or from Leh. But with the persistent efforts on the part of the Russians on the north, and of the English native merchants on the south, to pierce the gloom hiding the country of Eastern Turkestan, it became impossible for Yakoob Beg to maintain much longer the incognito he was so jealous in maintaining. Perhaps also the prospect of deriving an income from _Zakat_, that should smooth down many of his difficulties, was not without some influence on his mind when he came into direct contact with civilized empires. His expectations were far too sanguine, and he seems to have once more, during the last twelve months of his life, become indifferent to the advantages or disadvantages of trade with his neighbours. In fact, when he placed his customs on a fair footing, he found that it would require many years to recoup him for the excessive exactions he surrendered. The merchants who first attempted to commence intercourse with Kashgar became speedily discouraged by the dangers of the route, and the small opening for a large remunerative trade in a country whose wealth and population had been magnified tenfold. In a country where the richest merchant in the chief town possessed only a capital of L8,000, not much could be expected in the way of fortune; and although the legal dues on all merchandise were fixed at an _ad valorem_ rate of 2-1/2 per cent., it was soon discovered that if the ruler happened to be in want of cash he would not scruple to take what he could from the stranger. Both to the ruler, and to the foreign merchant, the new arrangement contained distasteful matter. The former perceived that he had surrendered some of his imperial rights, and that he was not to be recompensed by his receiving more money, and the latter knew that the treaty stipulation would not save him from having to pay excess fees.

The _Zakat_, far from showing the expected disposition to increase, seemed rather inclined to remain stationary, if not to decrease; and the foreign merchant had obtained some promise on the part of the ruler of personal protection, and of assistance in the disposal of his wares. His discontent at the stagnation in the customs soon showed itself by his exacting excess dues, sometimes on British, sometimes on Russian, but more often on Khokandian and Afghan merchants. Instead of increasing his receipts, these strong measures only threw them back, and left him in a worse plight than he was in before. He had not the patience necessary to enable him to wait with confidence the fuller development of trade, nor had he the perseverance or tact to place fresh inducements in the path of merchants to renew their intercourse with him and his state. Many visited Kashgar with merchandise a first time; but few, indeed, repeated the visit. The ruler was off-handed in his reception of them. They were scarcely accorded any liberty in their movements, and the profit of their journey was greatly reduced by the payment of a due of 5 per cent. instead of the stipulated condition of 2-1/2 per cent. It is a pure fiction, therefore, to say that trade with Kashgar had increased during the rule of the Athalik Ghazi through his friendly inclination. If the amount of merchandise imported into his state had increased, it was owing only to the necessities of its inhabitants, and was a fact that must have taken place either by intercourse direct, or through native states, with the two great providers of Central Asia. The exaggerated enthusiasm that it was endeavoured to raise up in this country about this same mythical ruler of Yarkand never spread far, and there was always some scepticism, if there could be no disproof, of the reports of the formidableness of this new kingdom. Looking calmly at the real state of Yakoob Beg's position, even at the height of his power, we find him to have always been a pecuniarily embarrassed ruler, glad of the smallest windfall in the shape of the spoil of a single merchant. The _Zakat_, his advisers pointed out to him, might be made a most productive source of revenue, if foreign merchants could be induced to bring their wares into the country. The loss the people had felt in the departure of the Chinese might be amply repaired by the appearance of Russian and English merchants to supply the same place that they filled. If his aspirations were disappointed, and the _Zakat_ did not show any signs of possessing that elasticity which had been predicted, it is probable that in his impatience, heightened by the perception that foreign trade might lead to foreign complications, he did not give the scheme a sufficient time for a fair trial. His other sources of revenue, _Ushr_ and _Tanabi_, and the gold mines of Khoten, brought in a sum enough to meet the current expenses of the government and to maintain in his service as many soldiers as his recruiting officers were able to secure. But there was little if any surplus; and local improvements, and all outlay that might have been reproductive and for the benefit of the people, were strictly forbidden. The only works we can find constructed by him, with a view to the advancement of the interests of his subjects, were the merchants' _serais_, built in each city, and these were self-supporting. Yakoob Beg has no claim to being considered as a beneficent ruler. He was a military dictator, who had shown a rare power for inaugurating a rough system of government, and whose campaigns had always been singularly successful. As a ruler, showing a full appreciation of the wants of his people, and adopting the best possible measures to obtain them, he had no claims to consideration. Indeed, he could not be compared with the Chinese, who, however personal may have been their motives, certainly raised the state to a high pitch of material prosperity, and left many enduring marks of their past occupation. These two dominations, foisted on the Kashgari by the strong arm, while each immeasurably superior to the Khoja claimants, represented two distinct modes of governing a subject race. The Chinese endeavoured to conciliate, and to make the necessity for their presence felt by the people; the Athalik Ghazi was supremely indifferent to the prosperity of his subjects, so long as they were willing to pay him the tribute money, and to serve in his army. An exactly opposite result might have been expected, for there was far more kinship between the Khokandian adventurer and the Kashgari, than there was between the Khitay and the Andijani. Admirers of Yakoob Beg may, of course, plead that his rule had not acquired sufficient consistency to justify him in tasking his strength by great undertakings, such as the construction of roads and canals. In one respect he had not the labour at his disposal, and he was, consequently, hampered by a difficulty that the Chinese were free from. Still when we remember that all these works ought to have been remunerative, and to have strengthened Yakoob Beg's individual power, instead of taxing his resources, the excuse cannot be admitted as entitled to our consideration. Yakoob Beg has claims only to be admired for having given us something better than a repetition of the depravity of the Khoja rulers, and of course among his coevals he is entitled to far the highest place. If it is only asked for him that he should be placed above them, no one can raise the slightest objection to it; for beyond the shadow of a doubt, he was the most energetic and talented ruler that had appeared among the Khanates for several centuries. But it would be affectation to deny that a higher place than this has been claimed for him; and before according his right to occupy it, the evidence on which his claim rests must be sifted with the greatest care. Even now I do not say that his claims are unproven; but that it is open to doubt whether his work has not been exaggerated, I think must be admitted by every one who has studied the course of his life in Kashgar. It is absurd to talk of Yakoob Beg having been an equal of Genghis Khan or of Timour, in any other way than that of showing that his personal abilities were of a transcendent order. As a legislator and public benefactor, it is fair to compare him with the Chinese, who possessed some advantages over him, but who laboured under some disadvantages in religion, and other conditions, as compared with him. And when we do this, after impartial consideration we find that the balance is greatly in favour of the Chinese. What can we judge from this, but that the rule of Yakoob Beg, while presenting some striking features, was inferior in degree to that of the Chinese? It is only fair to remember that the difficulties in his path were great, and that he overcame many of them. Before closing this chapter some description of the chief men who assisted him to conquer the country, and then to govern it, may be not without interest to the reader.

First among these, by right of his position as well as by his high abilities, comes the Seyyid Yakoob Khan, or Hadji Torah, as he has more conveniently been called, the prince who has recently visited several of the principal courts of Europe. He is a near relative of the Athalik Ghazi, although, strange to say, there is no consanguinity between them. He is a son of Nar Mahomed Khan, the governor of Tashkent, who married as his second wife Yakoob Beg's sister, and who was instrumental in advancing the interests of Yakoob Beg during the earlier days of his career in Khokand. The Seyyid was almost as old as his uncle, the Ameer of Kashgar, having been born in Tashkent in 1823; but despite this near connection Hadji Torah played no part in the conquest of Kashgar. Until Yakoob Beg achieved complete success in his enterprise in Eastern Turkestan he was considered by Khokandians of high rank a simple adventurer. The Seyyid Yakoob Khan was of the best lineage in Turkestan, and it is very possible that until the year 1867 he regarded his uncle with a considerable amount of indifference. Certain it is that Hadji Torah was far otherwise employed than in assisting his relative when the latter was engaged in some of the desperate encounters of his not uneventful career. In the civil administration of Khokand he filled, under Alim Kuli, high posts, such as Principal of the Madrassa of Tashkent, and then he was appointed Kazi, or Judge. It was after the fall of Ak Musjid that he commenced that career of activity as a traveller and a negotiator which brought him to the shores of the Bosphorus and to the banks of the Neva and the Thames. That was in the year 1854, and he was appointed as a sort of secretary to the embassy of Mirza Jan Effendi, the ambassador sent by Mollah Khan to Constantinople for aid. On a subsequent occasion he again visited Constantinople in a similar capacity, after the death of Mollah Khan, and during the brief tenure of power by his successor, Mahomed Khan, the nominee of Alim Kuli. This was in 1865, and during the troubles that ensued in Khokand and the final success of Khudayar Khan, the legal ruler of Khokand and antagonist of Alim Kuli, Hadji Torah resided quietly at Constantinople, where Abdul Aziz entertained him with sumptuous hospitality. It would appear that he obtained some kind of reputation among the numerous visitors from either Turkestan who came to Turkey, and apart from his sacrosanct character few could fail to be impressed favourably by his cheerful yet dignified manner. His uncle in 1870 had indeed overcome all opposition to his rule, and it might at a first glance appear strange why he should desire to secure the services of a man of whom he could have seen or known little for many years. But Hadji Torah possessed abilities and experience rare among the inhabitants of Central Asia, and to Yakoob Beg the very talents his nephew possessed were those he was most in need of.

In 1870 the Athalik Ghazi was anxious to draw close the bonds of alliance with the Porte; who could assist him better than the man who had resided in Constantinople for several years, and who had formed a friendly intimacy with the Sultan? In 1871 Yakoob Beg first recognized the imminence of danger to his state from Russia, then put in possession of Kuldja; who could instruct him in the most effectual way of warding off that danger, either by an alliance with England or by propitiating the Russians, than the travelled Hadji Torah? The very qualities that the Seyyid Yakoob Khan possessed were those the Ameer Yakoob Beg stood most in need of. He might search among all his followers, those who had shared every vicissitude of his strange fortunes, and he could not find one other with an identical capacity. The overtures to his nephew are thus easily intelligible, and the nephew himself gladly greeted his entry into a wider career than was that of an honoured guest on the hospitality of the Porte. His subsequent embassies in the service of Kashgar to St. Petersburg, Calcutta, Constantinople, and London are too recent and too well known to require mention here. When he settled in Kashgar he married a daughter of Mahomed Khoja, the Sheikh-ul-Islam of Kashgaria. His weight with the people was consequently very great, and his judgment was greatly valued by the Ameer. Even over Beg Bacha, the turbulent and ferocious heir-apparent, Hadji Torah had acquired some influence by his ready tact and _bonhomie_.

Of the two chief personages, Mahomed Khoja and Abdulla Pansad, the priest and the soldier, who assisted Yakoob Beg, it is unfortunately impossible to discover much, and that little has already been stated in the preceding pages. There can be no doubt, however, that they were the principal instruments in promoting the aggrandizement of Yakoob Beg, and the two who enjoyed more than any other the confidence and friendship of the man they had supported so faithfully. But of another well-tried follower we know more, chiefly through the pages of Dr. Bellew. Mahomed Yunus seems to have been the most educated and well informed among the governors of Yakoob Beg. He had the reputation of being quite the best-informed man in Kashgar, but as the _curriculum_ of instruction did not include modern languages, it is difficult to guage the exact degree of that reputation. He was an old and trusted follower of the Athalik Ghazi, for when he was in the service of Khokand Mahomed Yunus officiated as his scribe. He, however, as a civilian, took no part in the expedition of Buzurg Khan, and it was not until after the death of Alim Kuli and the success of Khudayar Khan that he joined his firm friend and master in Kashgar. So high an opinion had Yakoob Beg of his talents, and so pressed was he for skilled rulers, that Mahomed Yunus was at once appointed Dadkwah of the recently conquered district of Yarkand, the richest, the most populous, and the most turbulent of all the governorships in Kashgaria. The skill with which he brought the troublesome Yarkandis into complete submission to the new ruler, and the rare ability he manifested in his administration of his province down almost to the present time, justify the selection of his whilome comrade in Khokand. At first it seems that the governor ruled with a high hand, and that the slightest symptom of insubordination was checked by an immediate arrest and a not long-delayed execution. During the last seven years, however, his government had become milder, chiefly because all evil-doers had been got rid of. Among some of the minor followers may be mentioned Alish Beg, Dadkwah of Kashgar; Ihrar Khan Torah, the first envoy despatched from Kashgar to India; and Mahomed Beg of Artosh: but we have no sufficient information of them to give an account of them that would be interesting to the general reader.