"Therefore He Must Have Left The Aksu Valley To Cross The Pass Of
Tagharma, About 50 Or 60 Kilometres To
The north of the Neza Tash Pass;
thence to Kashgar, the distance, in a straight line, is about 200
kilometres,
And less than 300 by the shortest route which runs from the
Tagharma Pass to little Kara Kul, and from there down to Yangi Hissar,
along the Ghidjik. And Marco Polo assigns forty days for this route,
while he allows but thirty for the journey of 500 kilometres (at least)
from Jerm to the foot of the Tagharma Pass."
Professor Paquier (Bul. Soc. Geog. 6'e Ser. XII. pp. 121-125) remarks
that the Moonshee, sent by Captain Trotter to survey the Oxus between
Ishkashm and Kila Wamar, could not find at the spot marked by Yule on his
map, the mouth of the Shakh-Dara, but northward 7 or 8 miles from the
junction of the Murghab with the Oxus, he saw the opening of an important
water-course, the Suchnan River, formed by the Shakh-Dara and the
Ghund-Dara. Marco arrived at a place between Northern Wakhan and Shihgnan;
from the Central Pamir, Polo would have taken a route identical with that
of the Mirza (1868-1869) by the Chichiklik Pass. Professor Paquier adds: "I
have no hesitation in believing that Marco Polo was in the neighbourhood of
that great commercial road, which by the Vallis Comedarum reached the
foot of the Imaues. He probably did not venture on a journey of fifty
marches in an unknown country. At the top of the Shihgnan Valley, he
doubtless found a road marked out to Little Bukharia. This was the road
followed in ancient times from Bactrian to Serica; and Ptolemy has, so to
speak, given us its landmarks after Marinus of Tyre, by the Vallis
Comedarum (Valley of actual Shihgnan); the Turris Lapidea and the
Statio Mercatorum, neighbourhood of Tash Kurgan, capital of the present
province of Sar-i-kol."
I must say that accepting, as I do, for Polo's Itinerary, the route from
Wakhan to Kashgar by the Taghdum-Bash Pamir, and Tash Kurgan, I do not
agree with Professor Paquier's theory. But though I prefer Sir H. Yule's
route from Badakhshan, by the River Vardoj, the Pass of Ishkashm, the
Panja, to Wakhan, I do not accept his views for the Itinerary from Wakhan
to Kashgar; see p. 175. - H. C.]
The river along which Marco travels from Badakhshan is no doubt the upper
stream of the Oxus, known locally as the Panja, along which Wood also
travelled, followed of late by the Mirza and Faiz Bakhsh. It is true that
the river is reached from Badaskhshan Proper by ascending another river
(the Vardoj) and crossing the Pass of Ishkashm, but in the brief style of
our narrative we must expect such condensation.
WAKHAN was restored to geography by Macartney, in the able map which he
compiled for Elphinstone's Caubul, and was made known more accurately by
Wood's journey through it. [The district of Wakhan "comprises the valleys
containing the two heads of the Panjah branch of the Oxus, and the valley
of the Panjah itself, from the junction at Zung down to Ishkashim. The
northern branch of the Panjah has its principal source in the Lake
Victoria in the Great Pamir, which as well as the Little Pamir, belongs to
Wakhan, the Aktash River forming the well recognized boundary between
Kashgaria and Wakhan." (Captain Trotter, Forsyth's Mission, p. 275.) The
southern branch is the Sarhadd Valley. - H. C.] The lowest part is about
8000 feet above the sea, and the highest Kishlak, or village, about
11,500. A few willows and poplars are the only trees that can stand
against the bitter blasts that blow down the valley. Wood estimated the
total population of the province at only 1000 souls, though it might be
capable of supporting 5000.[1] He saw it, however, in the depth of winter.
As to the peculiar language, see note I, ch. xxix. It is said to be a very
old dialect of Persian. A scanty vocabulary was collected by Hayward. (J.
R. G. S. XXI. p. 29.) The people, according to Shaw, have Aryan features,
resembling those of the Kashmiris, but harsher.
[Cf. Captain Trotter's The Oxus below Wakhan, Forsyth's Mission, p.
276.]
We appear to see in the indications of this paragraph precisely the same
system of government that now prevails in the Oxus valleys. The central
districts of Faizabad and Jerm are under the immediate administration of
the Mir of Badakhshan, whilst fifteen other districts, such as Kishm,
Rustak, Zebak, Ishkashm, Wakhan, are dependencies "held by the relations
of the Mir, or by hereditary rulers, on a feudal tenure, conditional on
fidelity and military service in time of need, the holders possessing
supreme authority in their respective territories, and paying little or no
tribute to the paramount power." (Pandit Manphul.) The first part of the
valley of which Marco speaks as belonging to a brother of the Prince, may
correspond to Ishkashm, or perhaps to Vardoj; the second, Wakhan, seems to
have had a hereditary ruler; but both were vassals of the Prince of
Badakhshan, and therefore are styled Counts, not kings or Seigneurs.
The native title which Marco gives as the equivalent of Count is
remarkable. Non or None, as it is variously written in the texts,
would in French form represent Nono in Italian. Pauthier refers this
title to the "Rao-nana (or nano) Rao" which figures as the style of
Kanerkes in the Indo-Scythic coinage. But Wilson (Ariana Antiqua, p.
358) interprets Raonano as most probably a genitive plural of Rao,
whilst the whole inscription answers precisely to the Greek one [Greek:
BASILEUS BASILEON KANAERKOU] which is found on other coins of the same
prince. General Cunningham, a very competent authority, adheres to this
view, and writes: "I do not think None or Non can have any connection
with the Nana of the coins."
It is remarkable, however, that NONO (said to signify "younger," or
lesser) is in Tibet the title given to a younger brother, deputy, or
subordinate prince.
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