Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1873-02-14
NUMBER %.

by sympathies of race, but by long sub
mission TO hereditary government and by
fanatical adherence to the tenets OF Is
lam. KhivG, the capital, consists only,
according to Vambery, of "three or four
thousand mud houses standing in differ
ent directions in the most irregular man.
ner, with uneven and unwashed walls,
and surrounded by a wall ten feet high,
also made of mud" But the environs are
rich and populous. The people are born
horsemen, inheriting all the habits of
their Tartar ancestors, except that they
have exchanged vagrant for an agricul-
tural life; and have become accustomed
to war as we'll as robbery. "The Khivan
character" says Vambery, 'though
rough drawn, is the finest in Central
Asia" The Uzbeks are the leading race,
not only here but in the Khanate of Box
hara also. "The Khivan Uzbek betrays
the mixture of his blood with the Iran
elements, for he has beard, always to
be regarded in the Turanis as foreign
popularity; but his complexion and form
of countenance indicate very often genu-
inc Tartar origin" 1t is remarkable that
some of the finest, or, at least, most ener-
getic, of races have been produced by the
intermixture of Tartar blood with that Of
Turks, the UZbeks and other hybrid
tribes in Asia, the Magyars in Europe.
1t is not, however, by their personal
qualities or their military strength that
the Khivans form an impediment in the
way of Russia. 1t is their geographical
position which renders their state a STUN
bling block in the road of Muscovite con-
quest, and sort of constant annoyance.
Khiva is, as we have said, an oasis sur
rounded on all sides by desert. But those
portions of the desert which lie west and
north of the Khanat care within the nomi-
nal limits of Russia. Khiva intrudes itself
and intercepts communication between
sundry outlying sections of the Cars
Asiatic provinces; and, from its central
position, it threatens several surrounding
points at the same time. The chief ports
of Russia on the western shore of the
Caspian, Alexandrovsk to the north,
Krasnovodsk to the south, are within an
easy rush of the Uz5ek horsemen from
Khiva, and can be etfectually prevented
from assisting each other. To the north
east, Khiva menaces the Russian lines
on the Jaxartes (Sir Daria) and on the
IrgiZh; to the northwest, those on the
Emba; and two or three hundred
miles north of the Emba lies Orenburg,
the headquarters of Russian civil and
military organization in that part of the
empire; for the safety Of which, it is re-
ported, fears are already entertained.
Russia has now, according to common
information, about 80, 600 men in Central
ASIA A comparative moderate effort,
with her present railway system, will
double the number. Meanwhile, the
steppes of the "lesser Kirghiz horde"
which lie across the road to Orenburg,
have already been "raided," as the mod
ern phrase runs, by the Khivan squadrons,
and Russian detachment under Colonel
Markosoff repulsed with considerable loss
or camels and baggage.
1t is with this stage of affairs before us
that we have now to Judge of the last in
telligence afforded. According to it the
Russian Government have finally decided
on campaign against Khiva, though
contrary to the strenuous opposition of
Prince Gortschakoff.
The expedition is to move in three col
umns-one from the Caspian (Krasnov-
odsk being the point of departure indi-
cated), one from Orenburg, across the
wide intervening steppes; one from Tash-
kend, the recent acquisition of Russia in
Central Tartary. With all this grand
preparation, we are assured that Russia
has nothing so little at heart as the an
nexation of Khiva. We shall see. Look
ing at geography only, it would seem al
most impossible for Russia to dispense
with the acquisition, or at least the con-
troll, of the Khanate, if she means to re-
tain any hold on Central Asia at all. And
as long ago as the reign of Peter the
Great, the Khan of Khiva, according to
Russian authorities, rendered forever
allegiance to His Majesty the Tsar.'--
Pail Mall Gazette.