Indian Antiquary Vol 49

SR No.: 032541
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 252
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 34 MB

Page 219

NOVEMBER, 1920]
MISCELLANEA
my "gourt" of the night before which had only been lined with semi-liquid camel's dung), while inside there was an additional lining of thin dark red silk. In summer the felt is all removed so that the breeze may enter freely. The flooring was of stone(as a rule it is of animals' droppings),covered with a heavy and beautiful Ninghsia carpet, and low oushions of the same make were scattered about profusely, while in front of each was a low, delicately inlaid stool as a table. A few small cabinets and some brass Buddhas completed the furniture. The end farthest from the door was slightly raised to form a dais.
The Prince's pet Pekingese was scampering about, much distressed at the absence of his master, and was doing great damage to the fine carpets.
My retinue spent the whole of the first day teasing His Highness's pet monkey, which got a bit of his own back when we retired to rest, for, like an over-excited child, he refused to sleep, and spent the night on the tiles, over which he scampered, dragging a 6-ft. chain behind him. As our only object in halting at this local "Buckingham Palace" was to get rest from the hardships of the journey, I had to issue an ultimatum respecting the capture of the animal.
And so to Ninghsiafu, and, after climbing the Alashan range, a day's journey to the west of his town up an exceedingly picturesque pass, which is nothing more than the rocky bed of a stream, and so steep that our camels nearly col. lapsed during the climb, we enjoyed from the top an extensive view over the Sandy Mongol Kingdom of Alashan, with its capital, Fumafu, or Dinyuaning, nestling in a little oasis below us. The town is visible during the whole descent from the top of the range, and the patch of tall trees afforded a pleasant change to the eye from the bleak monotony of the rest of the landscape. But on reaching the town one finds little water trickling below the trees. However, the fact that there is water at all has brought about the cultivationmostly by Chinese-of a small amount of ground near the town. At the time of my visit there had been a seven years' drought, caused, according to popular opinion, by the presence at Fumafu of the exiled Prince Tuan, of Boxer notoriety. This drought was causing real uneasiness, and a change of capi tal had been mooted. The difficulty was that there was no suitable spot in the "kingdom" to which the "capital" could be moved. However, if the Court, ever is forced to go, the population will doubtless accompany it, and in course of time Fumafu will be added to the list of sand-buried cities of Central Asia.
The town is divided into two parts, the smaller portion being surrounded by high walls in an excellent state of repair. In it is the king's palace, a small collection of ordinary Chinese houses of the meanest description huddled under the southern
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wall. History has, indeed, shown the necessity for a walled town, for in 1869 the Dungares [? Dungans or Jungaris] attacked and destroyed all the buildings outside the walls, but failed to capture the "citadel." The chief weapons of defence were stones, and to this day piles of these lie at various points on the walls in readiness for another defence. A feature of the walls are the numerous shrines, visited once a year in procession by the Lama priests carrying the sacred books.
The government [in 1908] of this capital, the population of which probably consisted of some 4,000 souls, of whom 1,500 were Chinese trad ers, was carried on by a "King"-so his subjects styled him and they considered him the strongest potentate on earth. Although he was said to have a violent temper and a strong aversion to foreigners, I craved an audience. His Majesty's family have married a succession of Manchu prin. cesses, and consider themselves now more Manchu than Mongol: at any rate they prefer to speak Chinese en famille. The arrival of these Manchu consorte had probably much to do with the com. parative civilization of the capital, for even the Mongols there live in ordinary houses like the Chinese, and have ceased to be nomads.
The "King" was supposed to visit Peking once in three years, but the visit was so costly (the retinue always included inter alia a theatre) that it was frequently deferred, and His Majesty would send his annual tribute (in kind) instead, at the hands of his son, the "Duke."
It was at Fumafu that I met Colonel Kozloff's expedition into Central Asia en route for Kokonoor and Szechuan, and it was here that I was privileged to spend an evening in the company of this distinguished Russian explorer. His party, which consisted of several friends and a small Cossack guard, were lodged in the premises of a Russian Buriat, who probably exercised over the King of Alashan as much influence as the famous Dorjieff did at one time over the Dalai Lama. But, although our only language in common was Mongol, I am happy to think that I have nothing but pleasant memories of the gallant colonel, who enter. tained me in a most friendly manner in a spot far removed from European civilization. I met him again the following year in St. Petersburg, where he lectured on this very journey before the Imperial Geographical Society and opened a small collection of manuscripts, etc., brought back from Central Asia.
And so back to Kweihuacheng, across the Gobi to Urga, and westwards by. caravan to Uliassutai and Kobdo, and over the snows of the Altaishan to the new Chinese colony of Sharasumé (7) Here we got fresh camels to proceed by Buluntogo to Chuguchak, and after a week's march westwards from Sharsumé arrived at the camp of the Tourgont [Torgot] (Mongol) Prince, lying close under a