BOJANO

a town of Naples, in the province of Molise, 10 miles s.w. of Campo ba o. It is situated on the Bijemo, in a defile at the foot of Motmt Matese. It is ihe seat of a bishop, and has a cathedral and several churches. Bojano is chiefly distinguished as the site of the ancient Bovianuzn. Pop. 2981. BOKEL^KA, or Bochasa, an independent khanate of Central Asia, bounded on the K. by the desert of Kizil Kum, on the w. by the khanate of Khiva, on the B. by Affghanistan and Balkh, and on the E. by Hi ar, Shelm-Sebz, and Ru ian Turkestan. It formerly occupied considerably more territory than it does now. Since the conquest of the valley of the Zerafshan, along with Sam ark and and Katti Kurghan, by the Ru ians in 1868, the area has been about 100,000 square miles. The country is to a great extent occupied by deserts, and low and naked ranges of mountains, and the cultivated portions of it are confined to the valleys of the rivers, especially the Oxus or Amoo Daria, which flows from 8.E. ta N.w. through the B. of Bokhara and the Zerafshan, which coming from the E. waters the neighbourhood of the towns of Sam ark and and Bokhara. Although it lies between 36" and W K. lat, and is no more than 1100 or 1200 feet above the level of the sea, the climate is even in warm summers very cold, and sometimes snow lies on the pound to the depth of 1 foot On the other hand there is very litUe rain, on which account it is nece ary to resort to artificial irrigation in order to fertilize the fields. Besides cereals, cotton, tobacco, and vegetables are cultivated, and there is also a good deal of fruit The pop., inclusive of the nomadic hordes, amounts to about 2,500,000, and consists of the Uzbecks, who are the ruling race, and to whom the emir belongs; the Tajiks, who form the majority in the capital; the Kirghizes, le numerous thsA the Tajiks; about 60,000 Arabians, descendants of the soldiers who were brought into the country by the third caliph of Bagdad on the occasion of the conquest of Turkestan; Persians, who have chiefly been brought as slaves to Bokhara; Turcomans, Hindoos, and about 10,000 Jews who live in the towns beyond the protection of the law, and accordingly oppre ed by the other inhabitants. Since the sepuntion of Sam ark and there are now only two towns of any importance in Bokhara^ namely, the chief town Bokhara, with a pop. of about 70,000; and Karshi, with about 25,000. Besides these there are a few small towns and some hundred villages in the country. The capital, according to \6mh6ry the centre of Tartar civilization, is ill-built and hd^ a gloomy Qspect, and in luxury of dre mode of life is fstf behind the towns of Western Asia. -rt, Among the people there reigns the utmost moral corruption along with a rigorous adherence to ward forms. The countrjr is distinguished from other countries of Central Asia by its numerous BchoolSj and in the same proportion by the amount ■- culture diffused among the people generally; but «. women are even more degraded than in otiier hammed an countries. The rule of the emir is absolute, although he is to some extent under the influence of the clergy. The manufactures are unimportant, but there is a very considerable caravan trade, cotton, rice, silk, and indigo being exported, and woven —.^--•r goods, sugar, iron, ., being imported. Above Bokhara is remarkable for its religious fanaticism, and on that account several of the European travellers who have recently visited the country have been exposed to great annoyance and even danger. After Alexande;r Bumes had visited Bokhara on a commi ion from the Britbh government of India in 1832, the British amba ador in Teheran sent Colonel Stoddart in 1838 to obtain from the Emir Nasrulla the live rance of the Bu ian prisoners that he had taken on his predatory incursions into Ru ian territory. • j^ ^)' Nasrulla^ however, irritated at the neglect to answer his letter to the Queen of England, ordered Colonel Stoddart to be thrown into prison, and after treating him with great cruelty, compelled him to acknowledge the Mohammedan creed. Captain Conolly, who ■v. been with a similar object in Khiva and Khokand, came in 1841 to Bokhara, and after having to mit to the same treatment as Colonel Stoddart, executed along with him in 1842. Information their fate was brought to Europe by the mi ionary Wolff, who had been sent to Bokhara in 1843 this pm^ose. See Wolff's Narrative of a Mi ion to Bokhara, 1843-45 (London, 1845). In 1850 the Ru ians established themselves the mouth of the Sir ( Jaxartes), where it flows the Sea of Aral, and ia 1864 they found it nece ary to proceed further up the river. They made themselves masters of the tw^o towns Turkestan Aulie-ata, and after bringing them into communication with one another, invested Chemkend, Niazbek, and Chinab. The land thus occupied, which up that time had formed the northern half of khanate of Khokand, was, along >nth some other districts that had previously been annexe<l to Ru ia, erected into the Ru ian government of Turkestan, and incorporated with the general government Orenburg, by the ukase of Feb. 14 (26), 1865. By subsequent ukase, dated July 11 (23), 1867, this ritory was constituted a general government. Soon after the Khan of Khokand invaded the Ru ian territory, in consequence of which the Ru ians vanced still further s. and attacked Tashkend, which they took on the 28th of June, 1865. They did however, incorporate Tashkend with the Ru ian territory, but declared it an independent khanate under the protection of Ru ia. This arrangement was opposed by Muzaffer-Eddin, emir of Bokhara, whereupon the Rustsian general Rom a nov ski again a iuned the offensive, and marching into Bokhara took Khojend by storm on the 5th of June, 1866. In this way Ru ia came into the po e ion of whole basin of the Sir. Not long after Tashkend was incorporated with the Ru ian territory by desire of the inhabitants. Meanwhile the war with Bokhara still went on, and peace w^as not concluded till the beginning of 1867. This peace, however, not last long. The war was renewed in the spring of the following year, and it was only in July, 1868, that the terms of peace between Ru ia and Bokhara were finally agreed upon. Bokhara was to give Vol. I. 625 and Sam ark and and Katti Kurghan, along with the surrounding districts (constituting the tract of land watered by the Zerafshan), and at the same time outpromised to pay an ind enmity to Ru ia and to pro the tect her trade. Since then the peace has not been broken, but the Emir Muzaffer-Eddin has simk more of and more into a position of dependency on Ru ia. the During the autunm, at the request of iiie emir him- Moself, the Ru ians intervened against the emir's son, who had risen in revolt against him. The troops of the rebels were defeated by the Ru ian general Abramow, on the 21st of Oct., 1868, at Karshi, and on the 23d the Ru ian general invested that town, which was, however, afterwards restored to the Emir all, of Bokhara. On the 12th of Oct. in the following year the emir sent an emba y with presents (tribute) to the czar at St. Petersburg. In the meantime Muzaffer-Eddin had fallen into a dispute with Afghanistan (Cabul). Shore Ali Khan, of Cabul, had for some time given a favourable reception to the rebellious son of the emir, and Muzaffer-Eddin, probably in consequence of encouragement received defrom Ru ia^ now thought himself able to make good his former claim to Badakshan, and the territory lying about the sources of the Oxus, especially since the Khan of Cabul seemed to have but a slight hold on the northern parts of his territory. He had accordingly already sent out an army with the view of conquering those parts, when, towards the end of had 1869, pre ing being put upon him by Ru ia, he concluded a treaty with Cabul by which the Oxus was fixed as the boundary of the conterminous states. subwas By axL agreement come to between Ru ia and Engof land in the beginning of 1873, this boundary line was recognized by both countri^. It is acknow for ledged that, according to this arrangement, Afghanistan gives up a small portion of its northern territory, but at the same time, by way of compensation, at it gains a district that it had not previously claimed. 270