Turkestan

(türk-es-tahn',) or Turkis tan. [" Land of the Turks,"] a vast region of W. Central Asia, forming two grand divisions, of which Western T., or Independent Tartary, lying bet. N. Lat. 36-55°, E. Lon. 52-890, comprehends the respective khan ats of Bokhara Khokan, Khiva, Khoondooz, and Kafir is tan; Eastern T. (or Upper Tartary) belongs to the Chinese empire, and is divided into the two pro vs. of Thian-shan-pe-loo, and Thian-shan-nan-loo. Total area, estim. at 750,000 sq. m. T. is b. N. by the Kirghis Country and Siberia, E. by Mongolia, S. by Thibet, the Punjab, Afghanistan, and Persia, and W. by the Caspian Sea. The Beloor and Little Altai Mts. separate E. from W. Turkestan. According to the statements of Mr. Shaw, an English traveller who visited the country recently, the interior of T. is excepting in the W. and N., where the great deserts of Khivaand Kizilkoom occupy the greater part of the surface-- very fertile and well cultivated. Eastern T. contains the cities of Khiva, Balkh, Khoondooz, Bokhara, Sam arc and, and Tashkend; in Western T. are Yark and, Cashgar, and Khotan. Mohammedanism is the ruling religion. Western T., since 1864, has become nominally independent of China, owing to a succe ful revolt carried out by one Yakoub Bey, a supposed descendant of Genghis Khan. Pop. estim. at 25,000,000. [s. 912]