ergetic Andijani element within their gates the task of
crossing swords with Buddhist rule, to which the hostility of these
immigrants had always been declared.

The short-sightedness of the Kashgari played the game of the more
fanatical and ambitious people of Khokand; but the rule of China did not
pass out of Eastern Turkestan until the disturbances of forty years had
generated ill-feeling that formerly was not, and had so embittered the
relations of governing and governed, that what had come to be considered
a lenient and impersonal government, assumed all the darker hues of a
military and foreign despotism. Even then China did not fall until there
was dissension within herself, when, split into three hostile camps, her
sword dropped nerveless from her hand in Central Asia, 2,000 miles away
from her natural border. To follow Chinese rule in Kashgar down to 1820,
is to observe the monotonous course of never varying prosperity. From
that year to 1860, the tale is of a different complexion, less
monotonous but also less satisfactory.

In 1758 and 1760 Chinese armies entered Khokand. Tashkent fell in the
former year, and the capital in the latter. The Chinese then withdrew,
after imposing a tribute upon Khokand. During the long reign of
Keen-Lung--that is, down to 1795--the tribute was regularly paid. After
that year, however, the payment became irregular, and border warfare of
frequent occurrence between the two neighbours. At last, in 1812,
Khokand, then under an able prince, refused to pay tribute any longer,
and the Chinese acquiesced in the repudiation. Nor did the change in the
relations between China and Khokand stop here; for, a few years
afterwards, the Chinese found it expedient to pay Khokand an annual sum
to keep the Khoja family, whose representatives were residing in
Khokand, from intriguing against them. The amount of the subsidy was
L3,500 of our money. In addition to this, the Khan of Khokand was
permitted to levy a tax on all Mahomedan merchandise sold in Kashgar
through Andijan merchants. This tax was collected by the Aksakals before
mentioned, and was a very profitable source of income for the
impecunious khans. But even these concessions and perquisites did not
satisfy the Mussulmans of Central Asia, who saw in Chinese moderation an
evidence of weakness and decline. The Aksakals, in these years of
Mahomedan revival, became political agents of the greatest importance.
It was they who gave a point to