We Will Now Quit This Subject, And I Will Proceed With My Account Of The
Countries Lying In The Direction Between North-East And East.
NOTE 1.
- The identification of this province is a difficulty, because the
geographical definition is vague, and the name assigned to it has not been
traced in other authors. It is said to lie between north-west and north,
whilst Kamul was said to lie towards the north-west. The account of both
provinces forms a digression, as is clear from the last words of the
present chapter, where the traveller returns to take up his regular route
"in the direction between north-east and east." The point from which he
digresses, and to which he reverts, is Shachau, and 'tis presumably from
Shachau that he assigns bearings to the two provinces forming the subject
of the digression. Hence, as Kamul lies vers maistre, i.e. north-west,
and Chingintalas entre maistre et tramontaine, i.e. nor'-nor'-west,
Chingintalas can scarcely lie due west of Kamul, as M. Pauthier would
place it, in identifying it with an obscure place called Saiyintala, in
the territory of Urumtsi. Moreover, the province is said to belong to the
Great Kaan. Now, Urumtsi or Bishbalik seems to have belonged, not to the
Great Kaan, but to the empire of Chagatai, or possibly at this time to
Kaidu. Rashiduddin, speaking of the frontier between the Kaan and Kaidu,
says: - "From point to point are posted bodies of troops under the orders
of princes of the blood or other generals, and they often come to blows
with the troops of Kaidu. Five of these are cantoned on the verge of the
Desert; a sixth in Tangut, near Chagan-Nor (White Lake); a seventh in the
vicinity of Karakhoja, a city of the Uighurs, which lies between the two
States, and maintains neutrality."
Karakhoja, this neutral town, is near Turfan, to the south-east of
Urumtsi, which thus would lie without the Kaan's boundary; Kamul and the
country north-east of it would lie within it. This country, to the north
and north-east of Kamul, has remained till quite recently unexplored by
any modern traveller, unless we put faith in Mr. Atkinson's somewhat hazy
narrative. But it is here that I would seek for Chingintalas.
Several possible explanations of this name have suggested themselves or
been suggested to me. I will mention two.
1. Klaproth states that the Mongols applied to Tibet the name of
Baron-tala, signifying the "Right Side," i.e. the south-west or south
quarter, whilst Mongolia was called Dzoehn (or Dzegun) Tala, i.e. the
"Left," or north-east side. It is possible that Chigin-talas might
represent Dzegun Tala in some like application. The etymology of
Dzungaria, a name which in modern times covers the territory of which we
are speaking, is similar.
2. Professor Vambery thinks that it is probably Chingin Tala, "The Vast
Plain." But nothing can be absolutely satisfactory in such a case except
historical evidence of the application of the name.
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