Samarcand to Khokand.

Manawatu Herald, 20 February 1892, Page 2

Samarcand to Khokand.

«. — — We have been endeavouring to discover in what manner we may be interested in the cablegram that " merchants in Moscow have raised funds for the construction of a railway from Samarcand to Khokand, in Central Asia." We are unaware that any railway at present runs near to either of these two towns. Samarcand is situated in Tartary to the north-west of the much ques tioned Pamir plateau, and until lately was rnled by Tamerlane, a Mahometan, but the restless Russian after a fierce conflict occupied the town in 1868 and still retains it. Ehokand is situated to the north of the Pamir plateau and originally was subject to China, but in 1760 it rebelled and became a tributary to that power. In 1874 another rebellion broke out but was repressed, then Russia began a war and finally annexed it in 1876. Turkestan, in which country both these towns lie has been under a process of absorption by the Russians. In 1865 it was declared a new province of Russia, and in 1884 the Merv tribes, whose territory adjoins the 'northern boundaries of Afghanistan, accepted fche rule of the Czar. This is Russia's way of getting to India in time.