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THE CHALLENGE OF
CENTRAL ASIA
A Brief Survey of Tibet and its Borderlands, Mongolia,
North-West Kansu, Chinese Turkistan, and
Russian Central Asia.
BY
MILDRED CABLE . F. HOUGHTON . R. KILGOUR .
A. McLEISH . R. W. STURT . AND OLIVE WYON.
WORLD DOMINION PRESS,
I, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, B.C. 4
113, FULTON STREET, NEW YORK CITY
632-634, CONFEDERATION LIFE BUILDING, TORONTO, CANADA
1929
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PRINTED BY
WILSON'S PRINTING COMPANY, LTD. V
676, TURNMILL STREET,
LONDON, B.C. I.
Printed in Great Britain.
910802
PREFACE
aim of this series is to describe briefly and
clearly the situation in the various countries
of the world as viewed from the standpoint of the
Kingdom of God.
An earlier Survey of Central Asia, now out of
print, revealed the need for a much more complete
account of the religious situation in this area. This
Survey is a complete restatement.
The nucleus of this book is the work of Miss Mildred
Cable, of the China Inland Mission. Other sections
have been prepared by the Rev. Frank Houghton,
of the China Inland Mission, the Rev. R. Kilgour,
D.D., Editorial Superintendent of the British and
Foreign Bible Society, Mr. R. W. Sturt, of the Brethren
Mission, Miss Olive Wyon, of the World Dominion
Press, and the Survey Editor of the World Dominion
Movement.
Thanks are specially due to the secretaries of the
various missionary societies for the help which they
have given.
The maps have been prepared by Dr. Henry Fowler
and Mr. R. W. Sturt.
The map of Central Asia will repay careful study.
It should be noted that Russian Central Asia is now
a greatly enlarged territory, containing nearly one-
third of the population of the whole of Central Asia.
The term Central Asia is now denned as that
region lying to the north of the main range of the
Himalayas, thereby excluding Bhutan, Nepal, Kashmir
and Afghanistan. The lands described have an area of
4,203,681 square miles, and a population of 34,155,954.
iv PREFACE
It will also be seen from the map how completely
the whole region is dominated by the railway system
of Soviet Russia, southern extensions of which have
already been carried out, and more are contemplated.
From this it can readily- be gathered how serious
is the Soviet menace. The British policy of keeping
these frontier lands as buffer states seems to have
thrown them into the power of their northern neigh-
bours. In the long run the three great powers, Russia,
China and British India, will be involved in the
task of deciding the future of Central Asia, and the
whole region will then be opened to missionary effort.
It behoves the Christian Church thoroughly to acquaint
itself with the present situation, and by its prayers
and efforts to help bring in the light of the Gospel,
which alone can dispel the darkness and gladden the
hearts of the peoples of these immense mountain
tracts and extensive deserts and tablelands.
ALEXANDER McLEisn,
Survey Editor.
I, TUDOR STREET, E.C. 4.
1st October, 1929.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE . . .... . . . . . . . . . . iii
Introduction.
I. CENTRAL ASIA IN WORLD HISTORY 9
II. EARLY AND MEDIEVAL MISSIONS IN CENTRAL ASIA 17
Chapter.
THE SITUATION IN CENTRAL ASIA TO-DAY.
I. RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA . . . . 31
II. CHINESE TURKISTAN (SINKIANG) 42
III. NORTH-WEST KANSU 53
IV. MONGOLIA . . . . 59
V. TIBET 77
VI. ON THE BORDERLAND OF TIBET 88
VII. THE CHALLENGE 104
Appendices.
INTRODUCTION : SUGGESTED POLICY OF MISSIONARY ADVANCE 111
STATISTICAL SUMMARY .. .. .. .. .. ..114
I. RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA .. ..114
II. CHINESE TURKISTAN (SINKIANG) 115
III. NORTH-WEST KANSU AND KANSU-TIBETAN BORDER .. 115
IV. MONGOLIA .. .. .. .. 116
V. TIBET 117
VI. CHINESE AND INDIAN BORDERLANDS 118
BIBLIOGRAPHY .. .. .. .. 119
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES . . . . 122
Maps.
I. CENTRAL ASIA, SHOWING MISSION STATIONS . . Facing
Preface
II. MONGOLIA, ILLUSTRATING CHINESE INFILTRATION Facing
page 59
INDEX . . . . 129
Introduction
The Challenge of Central Asia
INTRODUCTION
I.
Central Asia in World History
(i-)
HP'HREE great names dominate the story of Central
. X Asia : Alexander the Great, Genghiz Khan and
Timur. Of Alexander the Great* it has been said that
he was " singular among men of action for the
imaginative splendours which guided him, and among
romantic dreamers for the things which he achieved."
It was in the year 334 B.C. that he turned his back
upon Europe and began the great adventure of the
conquest of the East. He overran Persia and penetrated
into Afghanistan, struck north through the Hindu
Kush into Turkistan and pressed forward to Samarkand
and Bukhara. Against tremendous odds, and with
cruel sufferings which the King shared with his soldiers,
he finally led his war-weary veterans over the North-
West Frontier into India, whence he returned through
Baluchistan to Persia. Early in 323 Alexander went
to Babylon, and there he died on the 13th of June,
at the age of thirty-two. Young as he was when he
died, Alexander had yet inaugurated a new epoch.
" He is one of the few to whom it has been given to
modify the whole future of the human race."f
As a true Greek, Alexander regarded the establish-
ment of cities as essential to the spread of civilization,
and, wherever he passed, towns and fortresses came
* 356-323 B.C.
t Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. XII, p. 454. Cf also Cambridge
Ancient History, Vol. VI, p. 436.
10 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
into being, many of which were called by his own
name. Where Khojend now stands he founded the
great fortress of " Farthest Alexandria " (Alexandria
Eschatd). This was the final outpost of Hellenism,
looking out over the Scythian Steppes and controlling
the Central Asian trade route through Kashgar into
China, whence came the riches of the East to the
markets of Europe. A century later Demetrius realized
that conquest of the East could only be maintained
.by the control of these trade routes, and for that
purpose he extended his rule right up to the Pamirs.
Meanwhile rival nations, the Hsiung Nu and the
Yueh Chi, were struggling for the supremacy in North
China and Central Asia. The former held the land
from the north of Shansi Province to Lake Barkul,
and the latter settled in the territory forming the
present Province of Kansu. The Chinese took vigorous
measures to overcome the Hsiung Nu, and by 59 B.C.
China had established her authority over the region
which is now called Chinese Turkistan. A few years
later fifty-five states of Western Tartary had declared
themselves vassals of the Chinese Emperor.
Later on the Yueh Chi split into two branches,
one of which mingled with the Tibetans, while the
other became a very powerful tribe which held Kashgar
for some time ; it finally disappeared before the White
Huns in the fifth century. f" \
A branch of the Yueh Chi known as the Kushans
was responsible for the spread of Greek influence
through Khotan, Yarkand andl Kashgar into the
heart of Central Asia. In recent years, traces of Greek
and Babylonian influences have \been found by Sir
Aurel Stein at Khotan and at Tunghwang ; by Dr.
Albert von Le Coq at Turfan and elsewhere ; and by
the Swedish archaeologist, Dr. Anderson, in Kansu.
Chinese supremacy in Asia increased until the first
century of the Christian era, when the Tibetans revolted,
and for a time the Western countries were again cut
off from China. The Great Wall, which had been in
process of construction for three hundred years, was
extended at this time as far as Tunghwang, where a
CENTRAL ASIA IN WORLD HISTORY 11
military camp was established to guard the fortress
against the Tibetans.
After a period of silence we find that the Tibetan
people, who entered on their historical period towards
the end of the sixth century, gained successive victories
over the Chinese until the seventh century, when they
became masters of the four garrisons that formed the
Protectorate of Anhsi, a city which still commands
the entrance to the Gobi Desert, and from whose walls
the traveller still looks out on the arid waste. A quarter
of a century later the Tibetans were in possession of
Kashgaria, thus blocking the road of the Chinese to
the west.
In A.D. 692 the Chinese retook the four garrisons of
Central Asia which they had lost to Tibet : Karashar,
Kuche, Kashgar and Khotan, and, owing to warfare
between Tibet and other tribes, the Chinese frontier
enjoyed a period of comparative peace.
Finally, in the eighth century, Tibetan power had
to yield to the Uigurs, who became masters of the
whole country from the Altai Range to Aksu. These
Uigurs were a powerful people of Turkish race,
descended from the Hsiung Nu. Their influence
increased rapidly from the beginning of the eighth
century, till it extended from Kashgar in the West
to Honan, Central China, in the East.
It was in this Province that the Uigur commander
met some priests of the Manichean religion, and was
converted by them ; when he returned to the north
he took with him four of these priests. This religion
of Mani arose in Babylonia about the middle of the
third century A.D., and during many generations it
exercised a great influence both in the East and in the
West. It claimed to be both a religion and a philosophy,
since it set up a code of ethics and also supplied an
explanation of the constitution of the world, in which
it taught that humanity is of Satanic origin ; it was,
however, scarcely a philosophy in the European sense
of the word. By its teaching idolatry was strictly
prohibited. It prevailed in Persia until the latter half
of the eighth century, and it is believed that it was
12 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
finally swept away by the great Mongol invasion of
the thirteenth century.
In the ninth century the Uigurs suffered some
defeats at the hands of the Kirghiz, and were scattered
to the south and south-west towards Turfan and Kami,
where their agricultural ability did much for the
development of these amazingly fertile oases. Remnants
of the Uigur people settled in Kansu in the border
towns of Kanchow and Suchow, where clear traces
of their descendants are still to be found.
(ii.)
With the rise of Genghiz Khan* Central Asia was
drawn once more into the stream of world history.
The forward march of the conquering Mongol hosts
compelled Europe to recognize the tremendous forces
concentrated in Central Asia.f
Emerging from the obscurity of their pastoral
homes in the regions lying to the east and south of
Lake Baikal, the Mongols first appeared about A.D.
1135 as one of the wild marauding Tartar tribes which
had harassed China for centuries. Under the able
leadership of Genghiz Khan, the " Scourge of God,"
the fierce mounted warriors swept down in resistless
waves of conquest, east, west and south from the
great grassy plains of the north, where at Karakorum
the great Khan had established his world metropolis
of tents and movable huts. J
Thundering across the uplands of Central Asia,
the wild and hardy horsemen carried terror and
desolation far and wide. It was well for the city that
opened its gates to receive them without resistance,
* 1162-1227 A.D. The most reliable account of Genghiz Khan in
English is contained in Bartol'd's Turkestan down to the Mongol Invasion.
f This Mongolian invasion of Asia and Europe is the fourth of the
Nomadic Movements in Asia, described by Sir E. Denison Ross in his
Aldred Lectures on The Arabs, the Turks, the Seljuks, and the Mongols.
Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, 20th and 27th September ; 4th
and llth October, 1929.
J I.e., Karakorum in Mongolia.
CENTRAL ASIA IN WORLD HISTORY 13
else smoking ruins and piles of skulls and bleaching
bones alone were left to tell the tale of those who
refused to yield. During twelve years (1211-1223)
over eighteen million people perished in North China
and South Mongolia alone.
Genghiz Khan had mastered half the known world,
and his name inspired a fear which lasted for
generations.* Unlike the Empire of Alexander, the
Mongol dominion did not fall to pieces with the death
of its creator. The Mongol clans had been unified,
and when, in 1227, Genghiz Khan died in Mongolia,
he left to his sons an Empire which stretched from
the China Sea to the banks of the Dnieper.
Genghiz Khan was more than " a cruel barbarian
at the head of countless savage horsemen." Sir
Denison Ross emphasizes the fact that although he
and his successors " carried destruction and desolation
into the fairest lands of Asia on an unprecedented
scale, what he achieved in unifying his empire, in
organizing his administration, and in codifying his
laws, entitle him to unstinted admiration. As a world
conqueror he does not yield in eminence even to
Alexander the Great ; as a legislator he may fitly be
compared to Napoleon .; as an administrator he showed
a wonderful broadmindedness in choosing the right
men to serve him no matter what their nationality ;
as a general he was never out-manceuvred, and as a
soldier he was the bravest of the brave."!
* His name " is commonly associated with the terrible invasions
of Persia and Eastern Europe which were carried out by the forces
which he had set in motion in the thirteenth century. It was in reality
his grandson Hulagu who turned Bagdad into a smouldering charnel
house, and it was another grandson, Batu, who invaded Europe. Ching-
hiz Khan himself never journeyed further west than the Oxus, or
further south than the Indus. During his active career, extending over
fifty years, he was fully occupied with the unification of the Tatar
tribes, the conquest of Northern China, and the overthrow of the
powerful king of the Eastern Provinces of the Islamic world. It was
another grandson, the famous Kublai Khan, who completed the conquest
of China, and founded the dynasty of the Yuan, which endured for
seventy-five years (1257-1332)." Sir E. Denison Ross in Journal of the
Royal Society of Arts, llth October, 1929, p. 1101,.
f Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, llth October, 1929, p. 1101,
14 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
The effect of this great conqueror upon the world
was amazing. It is difficult to imagine what would
have happened if he had not lived. So devastating
was the storm of the Mongol conquests that wherever
their armies had swept past men had to make a new
beginning. In many lands civilization sprang up afresh.
The growing power of Islam was broken ; Arabic
ceased to be the universal language of scholars
throughout one-half of the world. The Turks were
driven westwards, and the Ottoman Turks finally
captured Constantinople. Genghiz Khan had opened
up the way between the East and the West ; the
barriers of the Dark Ages were thrown down, and
Europe came into contact with China.
For the moment, however, the contact was one of
sheer terror and dismay. Genghiz Khan was succeeded
by his son, Ogdai, who set himself to follow up his
father's conquests. His armies went forth to the East
and to the West, carrying all before them. In 1236
they invaded Georgia and Great Armenia, where they
committed dreadful atrocities. They pushed on into
Russia, burning and torturing as they went. "No
eye remained open to weep for the dead." Moscow
fell before their irresistible advance ; then Kiev was
captured, its inhabitants massacred, and the city
razed to the ground.
Dividing into two sections the Mongols poured
into Poland and Hungary, and on Christmas Day,
1241, the Mongol general crossed the Danube on the
ice and took Esztergom by assault. Panic-stricken
Europe believed itself to be on the point of complete
subjugation by the barbarian hordes.
Suddenly, by an act of God, the tide was stemmed,
and the enormous army hastily withdrew eastwards
in response to a peremptory command from head-
quarters. The great leader Ogdai lay dead ir^ distant
Mongolia, and the campaign was abandoned. As the
army withdrew, it carried away with it many European
women, whose descendants are to be found among
ihe Tartar tribes of the present day.
The Mongols soon became complete masters of
CENTRAL ASIA IN WORLD HISTORY 15
China and placed their Emperor, Kublai Khan, on the
throne at Cambaluc (Khanbalag), the modern Peking.
The splendour and enlightenment of his court became
the wonder of Europe, and it was to this court that
the Venetian travellers, the brothers Nicolo and Maffeo
Polo made their way. The Khan was delighted with
his European guests, and listened eagerly to their
accounts of the Latin world. Finally, he sent them
back to the Pope with letters from himself asking for
a large body of educated men to teach Christianity to
his people. It has been suggested that Kublai's main
purpose was political, and that he desired Christian
teaching in order to tame and subdue his wild subjects.
When, however, Rome failed to respond to his request,
he fell back upon Buddhism as his instrument of
civilization.
The vast extent of the Tartar flood had obliterated
all artificiality of racial prejudice from the Yellow
River to the Danube, and the accidents of war and
the opportunities of commerce inevitably carried a
variety of persons, representing various classes of
European life, into Central Asia. With the opening
up of the trade routes Europe became curious to know
more about " the East." Two centuries later Vascc-
da Gama set out on his journey by sea to the Indies,
and when in August, 1492, Columbus set sail from
Palos in Andalusia, the goal of his hopes was not
America but " the land of the Great Khan/'
Little more than a century elapsed before Central
Asia was again the scene of another vast attempt to
dominate the known world. Timur-i-Leng,* generally
known as Tamerlane, was born in 1336 at Kesh, " the
Green City," some fifty miles south of Samarkand.
With fewer advantages than either Alexander or
Genghiz Khan, Tamerlane achieved all that Alexander
had been able to do. He gathered a people round him,
conquered the military forces of more than half the
* "The lame Timur." 1336-1405 A.D.
16
THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
world, levelled cities to the ground and rebuilt them
according to his fancy, and collected and spent the
treasures of empires.
As with Genghiz Khan, the westward march of
Timur affected the political situation and changed
the course of European history. Once more he opened
up the trade routes. The upheaval caused by his death
was a blow to trade with Asia, and this was one of the
reasons which impelled Columbus and Vasco da Gama
to try to discover the sea route to the Far East. In
Russia the Golden Horde* was crushed, and the
Russians were set free for their own national
development. In Central Asia itself Timur's death
caused the final separation between the warriors of
Turan in the north and the cultured peoples of Iran
in the south. To-day the descendants of the Mongols
and the Tartars the Kirghiz and Kalmuk Tartars
" graze their sheep and horses by the ruins of the
towers that Timur built."
(iv.)
Tamerlane was the last of the great conquerors,
but significant things are happening in Central Asia
in our own day. Throughout this whole region the
growing influence of Soviet Russia is the main factor
in contemporary politics. Some would even go so far
as to say that the return of Russia to Asia is one of
the most momentous changes which has taken place
in the world since 1914.
The " Eurasian " theory of Russia's political destiny
is being applied to the problems of Central Asia with a
large measure of success.
" Let us turn our faces towards Asia. The East
will help us to conquer the West/' These words of
Lenin have been accepted by his followers. One of the
most important centres of Communist propaganda
* The name of a body of Tartars who overran a great part of
Eastern Europe in the middle of the thirteenth century. In Russia
they founded the Tartar empire, known as the Empire of the Golden
Horde or the western Kipchaks.
EARLY AND MEDIEVAL MISSIONS 17
has been situated in Tashkent since March, 1928, A
paper has been published in this city which bears the
title The Bulletin of the Middle Eastern Press. Upon
the cover is a quotation from Lenin : " The modern
revolution is now entering the period of direct inter-
vention of the oriental races in the destiny of the
world."
The Soviet appeal to the Central Asian peasants
as descendants of the great Genghiz Khan does not
fail to stir their pride or to win their support. This
success, however, has not been won without a struggle.
Some confused and chaotic years followed the War
and the Russian Revolution. Muslim fanaticism and
Turkish nationalism spurred the peoples of Central
Asia to revolt. The cities of Central Asia Samarkand
and Bukhara, Khiva and Tashkent were the scene
of street fighting, massacre and executions, while the
villages of the Zarafshan suffered greatly from drought
and famine. When, in 1922, the rising had finally
been crushed, the victors had learned to respect their
opponents. The Soviet policy towards non-Russian
peoples was modified, and the newly created Uzbek
and Turcoman Republics were admitted to the Soviet
Union on the same basis as the Republics of
Russia, the Ukraine, White Russia and Trans-
Caucasia. Almost unobserved by Europe another
great world empire is being built up. Once more
Central Asia is being drawn into the stream of world
history.
II.
Early and Medieval Missions in Central Asia
(i-)
MONG those " devout men from every nation
A 1
under heaven" who were gathered in Jerusalem
on the day of Pentecost were Parthians, Medes and
Elamites, who had left their distant homes in Persia
and Northern Mesopotamia in order to worship at the
B
18
THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
Feast. Set on fire by the great experience in which
they had shared, they carried the Message to their
homes, and thus there arose the " Church of the East,"
with its headquarters at Edessa in Northern Meso-
potamia, and later in Persia.* During the Decian and
Diocletian persecutions many Christians living in the
Eastern provinces of the Roman Empire fled to Persia
and joined themselves to the Church in that country.
One hundred and fifty years later this process was
repeated by the arrival of the exiled Nestorians. f
The Nestorians brought a new impulse to the
Church in Persia ; they were not merely intelligent
and industrious workers who would have been welcome
to any State, but they were full of glowing missionary
zeal. From the fifth century onwards Nestorian Missions
had a wonderful period of expansion ; in their own
history they were repeating on a larger scale that which
happened after the death of Stephen, when " they
that were scattered abroad " by persecution " went
everywhere preaching the word." The Persian perse-
cutions were most severe, and countless multitudes
suffered torture and death rather than deny their Lord.
Those who left the country spread in all directions,
including the regions of Transoxania and Turkistan ;
and wherever they went they carried the Gospel with
them.J
Stimulated by persecution this wonderful missionary
activity was also fed and sustained by a deep life of
prayer, coupled with a strong emphasis on the study
of the Bible. The Nestorian monasteries were practically
Missionary Training Schools, in which the chief subject
was the study of the Scriptures. The version in com-
* Cf. A History of Christian Missions in China. K. S. Latourette,
chapter IV.
f I.e., the followers of Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople, (A.D.
428-431) who was condemned and deposed for " heresy " at the Council
of Ephesus in 431. "The Nestorians were persecuted with such vigour
that they were forced to leave the empire, and by the time of Justinian,
A.D. 527, it would have been difficult to find a church within the whole
Roman empire that shared the views of Nestorians." For a full treat- -
ment of this subject see Nestorian Missionary Enterprise. J. Stewart.
T. & T. Clark, 1928.
J Nestorian Missionary Enterprise. J. Stewart, p. 9.
EARLY AND MEDIEVAL MISSIONS
19
mon use was the Peshitto version. The Nestorian
missionaries introduced the Syriac alphabet to the
Ural-Altaic races of Central Asia.* Some of these
students became " solitaries " or " anchorites," giving
themselves up chiefly to prayer and intercession.
Others remained for a time in the monastery, either
continuing their studies, or training those who flocked
to them for instruction. Others, taking their lives in
their hands, went forth to carry the Gospel to the ends
of the earth. They were men of great faith, deeply
versed in the Scriptures, large portions of which they
knew by heart, fervent in prayer, gentle and humble
in manner, and full of love to God and man.
But this spirit of missionary zeal was not the
portion merely of a large band of trained men, it
animated the whole Church. The sons of Christians
" were expected to study the Psalms, the New
Testament, and to attend courses of lectures before
entering on a business career," and many of the
missionary pioneers of Central Asia were artisans,
traders, merchants and physicians. Jerome says that
" the Huns learn the Psalms from Syrian merchants
who burn by the very warmth of their faith."
The golden age of Nestorian Missions in Central
Asia lay between the fifth and the ninth centuries.
The celebrated memorial in Central China, with its
inscription written partly in Syriac, bears the date of
February 4th, A.D. 781. On it are the names of the
reigning Patriarch, the Bishop of China, of sixty-seven
persons who were apparently Western Asiatics, and of
sixty-one Chinese Christians, all but two of whom
were priests. In the same year (A.D. 781) Timothy,
the Nestorian Patriarch, wrote thus to the Maronites
of Syria: "The King of the Turks, with nearly all
his country, has left his ancient idolatry and has become
Christian, and he has requested us in his letter to create
a Metropolitan for his country, and this we have done."
Writing to another correspondent he says : "In these
*Cf. J. Stewart. Nestorian Missionary Enterprise. Appendix B.
The Bible of the Nestorians and the Spread of Alphabetic Writing and
Culture, p. 330f.
20 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
days the Holy Spirit has anointed a Metropolitan for
the Turks and we are preparing to consecrate another
one for the Tibetans."
Vague rumours of these happenings in the East
filtered through to Europe and gave rise to the legend
of Pr ester John which was so widely diffused throughout
the Middle Ages. The occasion of the birth of this
legend is interesting as an illustration of Nestorian
missionary influence. About the year A. D. 1007 the
Metropolitan of Merv wrote to the Nestorian Patriarch
to tell him some good news. In the course of his letter
he relates how the King of a people called the Keraits
(Eastern Turks living near Lake Baikal) was out
hunting among the mountains when he was overtaken
by a violent snowstorm and lost his way. Just when
he was in despair someone appeared and said to him :
" If you believe in Christ I will lead you in the right
direction, and you will not die here." When the King
had reached the tents in safety he summoned some
Christian merchants who were there and asked them
what he ought to do: They gave him a Gospel and
told him he must be baptized. The " good news " in
this letter is the fact of the conversion of this King
which was speedily followed by a movement in which
about two hundred thousand Turks and Mongols
became Christians.*
Nestorian Missions in Mongolia, China and Northern
Siberia, began rather later than in Transoxania and
Turkistan, and they continued until the thirteenth
century. By the beginning of the eleventh century
the influence of the Nestorian Church extended from
China to Mesopotamia and from Lake Baikal to Cape
Comorin. Indeed, in the opinion of Dr. Latourette,
if the Nestorian Missions had been " supported by
powerful Christian monarchs the entire religious map
of Central Asia might have been altered." It is no
exaggeration to say that this was " the most
missionary Church the world has ever seen."
* Cf. A History of Christian Missions in China. K. S. Latourette,
p. 63ff.
EARLY AND MEDIEVAL MISSIONS 21
Further, as Dr. John Stewart points out in his inspiring
study of Nestorian Missions, " all this was accomplished
without any of the elaborate machinery that we have
come" to look upon as necessary for the carrying on of
the missionary work of the twentieth century." He
adds some highly suggestive comments on this fact :
" If one compares the outcome of the missionary
activity of the ' Church of the East with the results
of the more highly developed organizations of to-day,
one may well ask if the missionaries of those early
centuries have not, even yet, something to teach us
as to the methods and conditions that are essential
to the gathering out and building up of a Christian
community, which shall not be only self-supporting
and self-governing, but, most important of all, self-
propagating as well."
Up to this point it is an inspiring story. It is,
however, a fact of experience that the vitality of
Christianity needs to be constantly renewed. Every
generation has to fight the battle of faith afresh.
There is no substitute for a living Christian experience,
and if this dies out in the Church in any land no strength
of organization, custom or tradition, will avail to keep
that Church alive. Thus, when towards the end of the
sixteenth century some Jesuit missionaries revisited
the cities where groups of Nestorian Christians were
said to exist, all they could discover were some material
relics a bell, a cross, or a Greek inscription. All other
traces had been blotted out.
The causes of this decline seem to have been of two
kinds, internal and external.* The slow insidious process
* Discussing the parallel problem of the disappearance of Nestorian
Christianity from China, Dr. Latourette suggests that it was due to the
following factors :
(a) Nestorian Christianity was always primarily the faith of a
foreign community ;
(6) It arrived in China at a time when there was no particular sense
of need for a new faith ;
(c) The Nestorian missionaries were separated from the centre of
their Church by immense distances and could look for little assistance
and inspiration from the main body ot their fellow-believers.
22 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
of internal decay was undoubtedly due to the growth
of the spirit of compromise. According to Sir Henry
Yule, by the end of the tenth century Christianity in
Central Asia had already lost much of its earlier
vitality owing to the rise of Manichean and other
dualistic cults. It was still more greatly affected by
Buddhism. " If Christianity " says Stewart
" exerted a liberalizing influence on Buddhism, it in
turn had a similar effect on Christianity. Evidently
there was a levelling up on the one hand and a levelling
down on the other. The spirit of compromise was
abroad. It was a question of give and take. Not
perhaps that there was any formal departure from,
or denial of, fundamental doctrines, but less emphasis
was probably laid on these than their importance
demanded, and the influence of the Nestorians on the
non-Christians among whom they lived, and their
power to exert a restraining influence on the Mongol
storm which was about to burst on Asia, was corres-
pondingly decreased. The note of urgency and
definiteness which had been so characteristic of their
message in the early centuries had disappeared ; the
Laodicean period in their history had set in."*
Thus it came about that a Church, which in its
early days had only been stimulated by persecution,
was unable to stand against the overwhelming forces
of Islam and of the persecutions which accompanied the
extension of Islam in Central Asia, and later of the
Mongol devastations of the thirteenth century. Under
the grandson of Hulagu Khanf all the Christian
Churches in his empire were destroyed, and the order
was issued that every Christian should be banished
from his dominions.
The final blow to Christianity in Central and
Northern Asia and in Mongolia was dealt by Tamerlane.
He hated the Christians, destroyed their towns,
* Nestorian Missionary Enterprise. J. Stewart, p. 253.
f Great-nephew of Genghiz Khan, Viceroy of Persia A.D. 1256,
said to have been a supporter of the Christian religion. (See Nestorian
Missionary Enterprise, pp. 268-270, by J. Stewart.)
EARLY AND MEDIEVAL MISSIONS 23
churches and monasteries, hunted the terror-stricken
refugees out of their dens and caves among the
mountains and massacred them by the thousand.
So great was the terror he created that it has been
said that " his mere nod was sufficient to cause vast
multitudes to abandon Christianity." With the
complete victory of Tamerlane, Islam was firmly
established in Central Asia, while in the lands which
had suffered less severely Buddhism became the chief
religion.*
(ii.)
In the year 1238, Europe was suddenly awakened
to the Mongol danger. Panic seized the minds of men
as they heard of these savage hordes who had " brought
terrible devastation to the eastern parts (of Europe),
laying them waste with fire and carnage." A curious
little incident which has been preserved shows how
widespread was the fear inspired by the Mongol
invasion. In the year 1240, the people of Gothland
and Friesland did not dare to go to Yarmouth for the
herring fishery as usual, in consequence of which it is
recorded that " the herrings were so cheap that forty
or fifty sold for a piece of silver, "f
It was at this time, when " distress and darkness
and the gloom of anguish " were brooding over Europe,
that the Christian Church rose up declaring that in
one way only could civilization be saved from doom :
by winning the barbarians for Christ, and through
Christianity to civilization.
Inspired by these motives the first Franciscan
missionaries set out on their adventurous journey to
Asia. Three names stand out among those who
embarked on this courageous campaign : Friar John
* The Churches of Eastern Christendom. B. J. Kidd, chapter XVI.
t Contemporaries of Marco Polo : edited by M. Komroff, Intro-
duction, p. xiii.
24 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
de Piano Carpini, Friar William of Rubruck, and,
somewhat later, Friar Odoric.*
Carpini set out from Lyons on Easter Day, 1245,
on the first important journey made by a European
into the vast Mongol Empire. The expedition occupied
two years, and involved great hardships. Carpini
and his companions often slept on the bare snow, and
they suffered much from hunger. Carpini brought
back a letter from Kuyuk Khan (grandson of Genghiz
Khan) to the Pope, which ends by asking the Pope
to come to the East and do homage to the Mongol
rulers : " And if you do not observe the order of God
. . . then we will know you as our enemy.'* Carpini
did not live long after his return to Europe. Worn
out by the hardships he had endured, he died in
1252.
William of Rubruck left Europe for the East the
year after Carpini's death. He was sent by King
Louis IX of France, who gave him a little money for
his journey, letters to the Mongol Khan and a Bible.
The story of his journey is vivid and accurate and a
valuable record of travel. Rubruck returned to Europe
in 1255. The results of his mission were somewhat
doubtful, as the Mongol Khan had no real desire to
receive the Christian message. Rubruck's references
to the " Christians " he met in Central Asia are inter-
esting ; he was often shocked by their ignorance and
disgusted by their paganism ; of one group he says :
" They were ignorant of all things regarding the
Christian religion, excepting only the name of Christ."
Friar Odoric set out for the East about 1318. After
a long and hazardous journey by way of India he
returned overland through Tibet, Persia, and the land
of the famous Assassins, f He died in Italy in 1331.
Soon after his death his fame both as saint and traveller
spread far and wide.
The Franciscan missions were most successful ;
* For the full account of these travellers see Contemporaries of
Marco Polo. Edited by M. Komroff. 1928.
f A Shiite sect which was active in Syria and Persia from the
eleventh to the thirteenth century ; it was crushed by Hulagu Khan.
EARLY AND MEDIEVAL MISSIONS 25
by the close of the thirteenth century they were
firmly established in China ; their converts were so
numerous that Pope Clement V found it necessary
to appoint Asiatic bishops, and in 1307 John de Monte
Corvino was consecrated Archbishop of " Cambaluc
in Cathay."
Corvino translated the New Testament and the
Psalms into the " language most used among the
Tartars/* and the outlook was promising for the
future. His enthusiasm fired other groups of men
in the Church, and the authorities began to further
the cause of missions in Asia with something of the
ardour which Corvino himself possessed. The great
pioneer died in 1328, and with his death the best days
of the mission to the Far East were over. The Church
in Europe, however, did not at first show any signs of
failing energy. A certain Brother Nicholas, also a
Franciscan, was appointed to succeed Corvino, and he
set out for Cathay accompanied by several helpers.
It is not known whether he ever reached Peking, but
it is recorded that he arrived at Almalig, the modern
Kulja (now on the frontier between Russian and
Chinese territory), and that in 1338, Pope Benedict
XII wrote to the Jagatai Khan thanking him for his
courtesy to Brother Nicholas.
Rome did not give up the effort to plant the Faith
in Central Asia without a struggle. In the early years
of the fourteenth century, for instance, we hear of
the establishment of a complete Persian hierarchy
with a Metropolitan whose seat was at. a town south
of the Caspian and whose jurisdiction extended over
Persia, India, Ethiopia and Central Asia. Yet before
the time of Tamerlane the Roman Missions had lost
touch with the governing classes in Central Asia, and
by the time he came upon the scene the Islamizing
process was almost complete. As late as 1362, however,
there were still traces of Roman Catholic missionary
effort in Northern Tartary. Probably it was about
this time that the Latin Missions in Central Asia were
swept away by a fierce storm of persecution.
26 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
In the second half of the fourteenth century the
great Mongol Empire began to totter ; finally it fell
before the incessant attacks of the Chinese. Luxury
and the effeminate influences of civilization had so
degenerated the Mongol race that its power was gone,
and the people were driven from China and other
conquered lands back to their own inhospitable uplands,
where they finally relapsed into semi-nomadic pastoral
life.*
From the time of the reassertion of Celestial
supremacy, the ancient policy of isolation, to which
the Chinese revert by a dominating psychological
instinct, led them to expel the foreign traders who had
followed the missionaries, and Islam, which had been
temporarily checked by the Mongols, once more
closed its fatal grasp on the peoples of Central Asia,
where it remains unchallenged to this day.
The number of the missionaries steadily decreased,
and, though occasional mention is made of reinforce-
ments, they declined and finally entirely disappeared.!
" They vanished in the gathering darkness and then all
is silent."
* " In the latter half of the fourteenth century, the Franciscan
Mission fell upon evil days. In Europe the Black Death depleted the
houses of the Order, and so much energy was required to maintain and
replenish them that scant resources were available for the distant and
perilous mission to the Far East. More disastrous still was the break-up
of the Mongol Empire. As it progressed, the various routes to Cathay
became unsafe. Fresh invasions, such as those of Timur, wasted Eastern
and Central Asia. Missionaries were martyred in Central Asia." A
History of Christian Missions in China. K. S. Latourette, p. 73.
f Cf. " Of one thing we may be certain : the Chinese national
reaction which broke out in 1368 set the Ming dynasty upon the throne,
and expelled the Mongol Yuen, put an end for centuries to Western
Christianity and to European trade within the Middle Kingdom.
When this calamity befell, it is said that the friars flying across Asia
from Peking to Sarai and the Volga, carried with them the relics of the
Grand Khan converted by Corvino." Encyclopaedia of Religion and
Ethics, Vol. VIII, p. 711.
EARLY AND MEDIEVAL MISSIONS 27
( * v
m)
Early in the sixteenth century the Portuguese,
landing on the east coast of Asia, became familiar
with the name of Peking without being aware that it
was identical with the great city of Cambaluc whose
name was famous to all educated Westerners. Gradually
it became evident that though the names were different,
yet the description of the people, customs, products
and trade, tallied perfectly with that which the
ancient Franciscan missionaries gave of Cambaluc. In
particular, the renowned Matthew Ricci, who reached
Peking in 1598, became convinced of the identitj^ of
China with Cathay, of Cambaluc with Peking. His
arguments, however, did not meet with universal
assent, and the question remained an open one until
it was finally settled by Bento de Goes.
Jerome Xavier, missionary at Lahore in 1595,
relates that at Akbar's court there was admitted one
day to the presence of the Great Mogul a Muhammadan
merchant. He stated that he had come from Cathay
and had lived in Cambaluc for thirteen years. He
said that many in Cathay were " followers of Jesus,"
and that there were also many " followers of Moses,"
as well as Muhammadans.
The upshot of this remarkable audience was that
Bento de Goes, a lay brother of the Jesuit order, set
out on a great adventure : the endeavour to reach
Cathay by the overland route, through the dangerous
Muslim lands of Central Asia. In order to escape
notice he let his hair and beard grow, and adopted
the dress of a Persian trader. De Goes started out
from India in 1603. He travelled through Afghanistan
and the Pamirs, visiting Yarkand, Khotan and Aksu
on the way. At last in the winter of 1605 he reached
the Great Wall of China, and entered the town of
Suchow, in Kansu. " This admirable person," as Sir
Henry Yule calls him, spent some time in Suchow ;
finally he died there in March, 1607 ; in the words of
the old chronicler, "seeking Cathay he found Heaven."
Before his death, however, he had established com-
28 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
munication with Ricci at Peking, and had proved
that Cathay and China were one and the same country.
* *
From the beginning of the seventeenth century
no more was heard of Central Asia in the Christian
West. So far as Christian missions were concerned
this vast region had ceased to exist.
The Situation in
Central Asia To-day
CHAPTER I.
Russian Central Asia
THE TURCOMAN, UZBEK AND KAZAK
REPUBLICS
I.
SPRING has come to Samarkand. The spreading
silver poplars with their over-arching branches
throw a welcome shade over the wide European roads,
hiding the houses so successfully that it seems almost
impossible to believe that one is in the famous city
of " Golden Samarkand/' Every street is an avenue
of willow, acacia, elm and poplar trees, all clothed in
their fresh green leaves. The atmosphere is so clear
and translucent that every atom of dust shines with
a golden radiance.
Samarkand lies on a high plain, bounded on the
south by a jagged wall of snowy mountains. The
Asiatic quarter with its mosques and schools lies upon
a patch of uneven ground ; the whole is dominated
by an old fortress. There, amid an Oriental mingling
of squalor and beauty, the real life of the city goes on.
Yet at every step one may " kick a fragment of the
past." In the Afrosiab quarter the ground is honey-
combed with holes where men have been searching
for coins or unbroken relics, or the pariah dogs have
been hunting for bones. All around are the ruins of
ancient buildings, chief among them the magnificent
Bibi-Khanum, whose tiles of brilliant blue still glow
in undimmed splendour on crumbling domes.
Autumn is the bracing season in Samarkand The
trees turn yellow ; the air is keen. Then comes
December with its clear cold days. Through the
leafless branches hidden houses emerge from their
summer seclusion, while far away across the flat
plain the snow mountains stand out clearly against
the deep blue sky.
32 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
Samarkand is full of memories of the past. Here
Alexander slew Clytus. Here Genghiz Khan quartered
his armies. Here, above all, Tamerlane has left his
mark. Samarkand was the city of his dreams. He
found it a half-ruined town of mud and brick and
wood ; he rebuilt it and turned it into the " Rome of
Asia." Blue was the favourite colour of the Tartars,
and Timur's new buildings shone with fa9ades of
turquoise. The fame of Samarkand spread through
Asia, and everywhere it was known as Gok-kand, the
Blue City.
Bukhara is very different from Samarkand : " One
has the money, the other the charm." It is a crowded
huckstering place, with some of the fascination of
the Middle Ages still clinging to its closely-packed
houses and narrow lanes. The bazaar is wonderful,
with its dim passages pierced here and there by shafts
of sunlight, with its noise and its smells, odours of
mutton fat and camels and men, mingling with the
fragrance of nutmeg and cinnamon and Oriental
spices. Nine-tenths of the people who jostle each other
in these crowded alleys wear the same kind of white
turban, forming a beautiful and harmonious back-
ground to the riot of colour on the stalls with their
flaming silks, jewellery, carpets, and sparkling objects
of tin or glass. It has been well said that " the glory
of Holy Bukhara is her bazaar."
Both Samarkand and Bukhara depend for their very
existence upon one of the famous rivers of Turkistan,
the Zarafshan, the Polytimetus of the ancients, known
now-a-days as the " Strewer of Gold," the " Picture
of Life." Rising in the Alai Mountains, it runs through
a ravine for two hundred miles, then for another two
hundred miles through open country ; finally, it loses
itself in the plains without reaching the Oxus.
Thus we see clearly why it is that the scattered
population of Russian Central Asia lives in the fertile
oases which " seem to float like islands upon a sea of
sand." The soil is so fruitful that the inhabitants
are able to supply almost all their wants from the
produce of their fields and gardens.
RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA 33,
When Sir Percy Sykes was travelling to Kashgar
in 1915, he passed through Russian Central Asia. His
sister gives some delightful impressions of their journey.
Here are two glimpses on the road between Andijan
and Osh. It was springtime, and as they drove along
she noticed that " ploughing was in full swing, barley
some inches high in the fields, fruit blossom everywhere,
and the poplars and willows planted along the countless
irrigation channels made a delicate veil of pale green.
Beyond the cultivation lay bare rolling hills, behind
which rose the lofty mountain ranges which we must
cross before we could reach our destination.
" The whole country seemed thickly populated,
and we passed through village after village teeming
with life, the source of which is the river. . . . Tortoises
were emerging from their winter seclusion, the croak
of the frog filled the land, hoopoes and the pretty
doves, which are semi-sacred and never molested, flew
about, and the ringing cry of quail and partridge
sounded from cages in which the birds were kept as
pets. . . . Our second day's march found us approaching
the mountains, and we rode to the top of a low pass
where hills slashed with scarlet, crimson and yellow,
rose one behind another, to be dominated by the
glorious snow-covered Tien Shan peaks, clear cut
against a superb blue sky."
The further they travelled towards Chinese
Turkistan, the more barren became the country,
until they wondered how the flocks and herds could
subsist upon such scanty vegetation. " At one point
the hills were a bright scarlet, and it was strange to
see a red mud-built village with sheep grazing in this
brilliantly coloured setting."*
Away to the north and west the sands of Russian
Central Asia merge into the great Kirghiz Steppe, the
original home of the Turks and the Mongols, " the
mother of nations and of conquerors." When Kublai
Khan was at the height of his power, he enclosed
* Through Deserts and Oases of Central Asia : P. and E. Sykes,
pp. 22-29.
C
34 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
within his palace grounds a little field which he
sowed with grasses from the prairie, in order that,
as he put it, " his children might remember and be
humble before the mother of them all."
Kipchak, " emptiness, space," is the Kirghiz name
for these vast grassy plains which stretch away and
away in every direction like some great sea of land.
In summer they lie drab, scorched and withered
beneath the blazing sun ; sometimes even the sparse
grey grass disappears before a greater desolation,
and the steppe flowers only with the white bones of
worn-out sheep and camels, recalling the Kirghiz
saying : " The steppe is cruel and Heaven is far."
But in the springtime the steppe is transformed ;
the grass springs up afresh, the few dwarf trees and
bushes burst into leaf, and the lovely tulip of the
steppe sparkles on the green turf, and sways to and
fro at the touch of the light airs of spring. The
" empty " steppe has become Eulnek, a " flowering
meadow."
Between the Sea of Aral that strange expanse
of inland ocean with its ships and seamen, and its
mysterious islands and Lake Balkhash, the steppe
is strewn with lakes and tarns, " strung together like
pearls on a string."
The only signs of human life in the steppe country
are the round black tents of the nomads, and it was
in such surroundings that Genghiz Khan was born.
It is a vast country, this region of Russian Central
Asia, stretching from the shores of the Caspian Sea
to the great snow mountains on the borders of Sinkiang,
and from Siberia to Afghanistan.
II.
Russia was an Asiatic power before her position
in Europe was established, but the Russian advance
into Central Asia belongs to the nineteenth century.
By the end of the eighteenth century Russia had formed
an irregular frontier, twelve hundred miles in length,
RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA 35
across the Kirghiz Steppes. This desert borderland
was a constant source of trouble. Russian statesmen,
therefore, determined to try to stabilize conditions in
Turkistan. This movement began in the early thirties
of last century ; at first progress was slow, and success
was not finally assured until the Russians captured
Merv and reached the great Hindu Kush mountain
borderland in 1884. The stages of the Russian advance
south of the frontier line of 1846 are clear : Tashkent
was occupied in 1865, Samarkand in 1868, Khiva,
the Oxus and Trans-Caspian Provinces in 1873, Akhal
Tekke in 1881, Merv in 1884 and the Pamirs in 1895.
Fifty years of political restlessness and fever were
ended by the Anglo-Russian Convention of 31st August,
1907, which dealt with Persia, Afghanistan and Tibet.
The Russian Government consolidated its position
in Central Asia by opening up trade routes, and linking
up the most important towns by railway. For many
years the Russian Government gave peace, protection,
and a certain measure of prosperity to the people of
Turkistan. As a colonizing experiment,, however, the
Russian administration of Central Asia during the
nineteenth century can scarcely be called a success.
The upheaval of the World War stirred up a spirit
of restlessness in Russian Turkistan. Even before
the Russian Revolution of 1917 local risings occurred
in which Austrian and Hungarian prisoners of war
took part.
In 1920, an organized insurrection broke out,
known as the " Basmaji* Revolt," which assumed
large proportions. Two main causes led to this revolt.
On the one hand, the fanatical Muslims of Turkistan
had been goaded to fury by the blasphemous pro-
paganda and the policy of confiscation of ecclesiastical
property carried on by the Soviets ; on the other hand,
there was the growing force of Turkish nationalism,
which presented a sharp challenge to the Bolshevists'
idea of " Eurasian " domination. Enver Pasha, the
Turkish Nationalist, appeared in Bukhara in November,
* Literally " robber," really " rebel." Cf. " Badmashi."
36 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
1921, and organized an anti-Soviet pan-Turanian
movement, by which he hoped to combine into one
huge Islamic State the Turks from Angora eastward
including Afghanistan.
In January, 1922, Enver sent an ultimatum to
Moscow demanding a total evacuation of Turkistan
by the Soviet Government. In answer the Red Army
was despatched to Bukhara, and in August the
movement was definitely broken by the death of Enver
Pasha in a rearguard action. The two Emirates were
then turned into two independent Soviet Republics.*
The significance of these happenings has scarcely been
realized in Europe, yet, to quote Sir Denison Ross,
" Things have come very near to the creation of another
big Empire where so many big Empires have been
set up in the past."
Before the Russian Revolution the term " Russian
Turkistan " was used in a very wide sense. At the
present time, however, it is limited to the region
which is covered by the Turcoman and Uzbek Socialist
Soviet Republics. Both are constituent states of the
U.S.S.R. Economically, the new organization centres
in the Uzbek Republic, " upon which the other units
are dependent, while this state is entirely dependent
upon Soviet Russia the sole consumer of its cotton.
In this way the whole vast territories of the Kirghiz
Steppes and Turkistan have become economic feeders
of Soviet Russia, "f The official name of the Steppe
region which lies to the north of the old Russian
Turkistan is the Cossack Autonomous Socialist Soviet
Republic, or Kazakstan.
Soviet rule in Central Asia is characterized by
energy, intelligence and industry. Coal, oil, cotton
and silk are all being produced, and roads and railways
are being improved and extended. The Turkistan-
Siberian railway, which was begun in 1927, is to be
completed in 1931. The northern sectiqn of the railway
* The " Basmaji " bands continued to give trouble until 1926,
and in 1929 they renewed their activities.
f Europe and the East : N. D. Harris, p. 467.
RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA 37
was inaugurated on 15th December, 1928. An
extensive re-organization of the Air Service in these
republics is being planned. At the present time Khiva
and Dyushambe in Tadzhikst an. are connected by aero-
plane. Very soon, however, the Government expects to
open a new route from Tashkent and Samarkand to
Dyushambe. The flight from Tashkent to Dyushambe
will occupy six hours ; at present it takes seven days
to cover the same distance by railway or motor-car.
These separate ethnic republics enjoy a considerable
degree of autonomy. Each one has its own schools
and school-books, and various Turkish dialects which
have not hitherto been reduced to writing are now
being studied by educational specialists.
The main policy directing these Muslim republics
lies in the hands of Moscow, but to a considerable extent
they are allowed to manage their own home affairs. It
is noteworthy that they have become far more aware
of Europe than Europe is aware of them. News, not
only of the Eastern but of the Western world, is here
transmitted by word of mouth, and it is remarkable
how sensitive these remote people are to world
movements. A carelessly uttered word by European
politicians may soon be the talk of the market place
in many a town of Russian Central Asia.
III.
The region of Russian influence in Central Asia
has been the scene of so many migrations and conquests
that the population is naturally extremely mixed.
The predominant element is the Ural-Altaic, and the
following are the chief tribes.
The Turkomans were nomad horse-breeders until
the Russian occupation of Merv. In 1881, the Russians
destroyed their power by capturing their chief fortress
and putting down their slave trade. The " clan "
spirit is strong among them, and they seem to be a
fairly democratic people.
The Uzbeks are of Turko-Tartar origin, but their
38 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
contact with Persians, Kirghiz and Mongols, has been
frequent and intimate. The Turkish element is probably
predominant, though in the case of the Uzbeks of
Khiva the Iranian type is uppermost. On the whole,
women are better treated among the Uzbeks than
among the Sarts and Tadzhiks.
The Sarts are Uzbeks who have settled down and
given up a nomad life. They occupy themselves
with trade, and less often with agriculture. They all
speak Turkish and are Sunnite Muslims ; there are
many Sufis among them.
Of smaller groups there are the Dzungaris, the
Kalmuks and the Torgutes. The Tadzhiks (Aryans)
who inhabit the little " Autonomous Socialist Soviet
Republic " of Tadzhikstan live under the wing of
Uzbekistan. These people form the intellectual element
in the country ; they are the chief owners of the
irrigated lands, merchants and mullahs. They are
Sunnite Muslims.
The Kirghiz are divided into two branches: (1)
the Kazak (Cossack)* Kirghiz, and (2) the Kara
(Black) Kirghiz. These tribes are virtually the masters
of the steppes and the highlands. They have been
described as " a gross and stolid people, kindly, but
given to fits of sullen rage that know no bounds,
black and violent as the desert storms. They are
superstitious, but not religious, their only real faith
is a vague pantheism. Their lives are centred about
their flocks, their horses and their herds, and their
minds are the minds of herdsmen."
IV.
Jalal al-Din Rumi,f the great Persian poet, wrote
in one of his poems :
" Thou wilt to Bukhara ? O fool for thy pains !
Thither thou goest, to be put into chains."
* Literally, Free Birds of the Steppe.
f Born A.D. 1207 in Eastern Persia. Died A.D. 1273 at Qoniya
(Iconium) in Anatolia.
RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA 39
And Arminius Vambery* says that he found exactly
the same feeling about the Muslims of Turkistan
among his learned friends in Turkey and Persia.
They warned him of his danger when he announced
his intention of going to Bukhara and Samarkand,
and when he returned and described his experiences
many of them criticized and laughed at " the over-
heated religious zeal of their fellow-believers." From
various causes this part of Central Asia has long been
a stronghold of Islam, to the point of fanaticism.
Hence the boast : " Bukhara is the real strength of
Islam."
In the opinion of Professor Vambery this boast is
fully supported by facts. He considers that Bukhara
is the main stronghold of Islam for the whole of Central
Asia. It is the social capital, and the centre of Muslim
culture for this vast region. It contains several colleges
and schools for the training of Muslim teachers.
Kokand, Samarkand and Tashkent, are also important
Islamic centres. The Muslim press is fairly active in
these towns. Tashkent has five Muslim newspapers,
Kokand and Samarkand one each, and papers are
printed at Bukhara in the Arabic, Persian and Turki
languages, f
To-day ninety-five per cent, of the population
profess Islam, and this faith inspires and regulates
the religious and social life of the people. The smallest
village has its mosque, to which is attached the school
and the shelter for the poor and the pilgrim. The
strength of Islam, therefore, is the first difficulty
which would confront the Christian missionary. The
second is the closed door of the Soviet Government.
So far only a few missionaries have lived in Russian
Central Asia. Eighteen years ago two members of the
Swedish Missionary Society were sent to Bukhara,
but they were only allowed to remain for a short time.
At one time the German Mennonites started work
amongst the Kirghiz : one of these missionaries acted
as agent for the British and Foreign Bible Society at
* Born A.D. 1832.
f Cf. Across the World of Islam : S. M. Zwemer : p. 309.
40 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
Tashkent until 1917, when, owing to the War, this
mission had to give up its work. Individual Christians
from other lands have done quiet work amongst the
people, but under the rule of Soviet Russia even they
have had to leave the country.
For generations the Scriptures in Russian have been
finding their way across the border. For Russian
Central Asia itself, the British and Foreign Bible
Society has published the four Gospels in Uzbek, the
lingua franca of the districts round Bukhara, Khiva and
Kokand. The translation was made by an inspector
of schools who was editor of a newspaper in Tashkent.
The latest edition is dated 1913. Other names by
which Uzbek is also known are Sart, Turkestani and
Central Asian Turkish. Remembering the importance
of Bukhara as a great centre of intellectual life, as well
as of busy trade, it is important to note that the
Gospels are available in its own form of speech.
In Jagatai or Trans-Caspian Turkish, sometimes
known as Eastern Turki, or as Tekke Turkoman, the
British and Foreign Bible Society has printed the
Gospel of St. Matthew for the tribe of nomads found
in the oasis to the north of Damani Koh and the
Gulistan Mountains, and the deserts as far as the Oxus.
They are said to number anything from two hundred
thousand to five hundred thousand.
Meanwhile, however, while the door to Russian
Central Asia is bolted against the foreign missionary,
a spontaneous Russian movement has been springing
up. The possibilities for evangelistic work are much
greater in these remote regions than in Soviet Russia
itself. These Russian Christians go " everywhere,
preaching the Word," both to their fellow-countrymen,
and to the peoples of the Turcoman, Uzbek and Kazak
Republics. In a large number of towns and villages
little communities of Christians have already been
formed.* The Bible is being read with eagerness ;
* Further details of this movement can be obtained, if desired,
from the World/ Dominion Press.
RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA 41
indeed, at present it is impossible to keep pace with
the demand for it, especially for translations in the
various languages and dialects of the country. This
movement is strong, in the Russian Altai region,
whence its leaders hope to send a constant stream of
missionaries throughout Russian Central Asia. This
widespread evangelical movement breathes something
of the fragrance of primitive Christianity, when " the
disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost."
CHAPTER II.
Chinese Turkistan (Sinkiang)
I. <
HIGH mountains surround the vast plain of
Sinkiang. It is a desert land, fringed by oases.
Much of the country is covered by great sandy wastes,
where the sand is piled up by the force of the wind
into fantastic dunes ; other regions are bare and stony,
and in some parts are wide rolling steppes covered
with coarse grass. Hemmed in on three sides by lofty
mountain ranges, and on the fourth by a great desert,
Sinkiang is indeed remote from the world : " It is a
land steeped in the Middle Ages, picturesque and
quaint almost beyond belief."
The land is crossed by a few ancient trade routes
which connect oases of varying size and importance.*
Some of them contain only one well or spring of very
brackish water, others consist of hamlets with a few
acres of cultivated fields, while in some cases large
walled cities are surrounded by thousands of acres
of highly irrigated fertile land.
In springtime these oases are most attractive.
The trees that border the numerous irrigation channels
are delicately flushed with green ; the Babylonian
willows are bursting into fragrant bloom ; the flat
fields are a brilliant carpet of springing corn. Flowers
are few, but the graveyards are filled with sheets of
blue iris, and here and there by the sandy bridle-tracks
bushes of wild roses fill the air with their perfume.
Fruit trees abound, and the low mud houses are
embowered in masses of the pink and white blossom of
apple and peach and pear.
* It is estimated that the area of the oases is rather less than one
and a half per cent, of the whole country. The Chinese, however, claim
that thirty per cent, of the land is under cultivation, thirty per cent,
consists of mountains and lakes, and forty per cent, is desert.
Mildred Gable and others
The Challenge of Central Asia
, 1950
-Ci.
CHINESE TURKISTAN (SINKIANG) 43
The great drawback to spring in Chinese Turkistan
is the frequency of the sandstorms which rage furiously
at times, filling the air with a constant haze of dust.
In the Kashgar Oasis, for instance, it is said that there
are only one hundred clear 'days in the year. The
Kashgaris, however, do not complain, for they are glad
of the relief from the brilliant sunshine. This haze
gives the sunsets of Kashgar a peculiar charm. The
sky will be softly flushed with pale yellow and mauve
and rose-colour, while the whole scene is bathed in a
wonderful golden light.
Rivers are scarce, for, owing to the sandy nature
of the soil, the water produced by the melting snows
buries itself in the sand as soon as it has reached the
foot of such ranges as the Barkul Mountains and the
Tien Shan. The Yarkand or Tarim River, which takes
its rise in the mountain ranges to the south-west, is
the largest in the province, and the principal cities
of Sinkiang are to be found along its bank. The Manas
River, in the north-east, waters an area which is the
granary of Eastern Turkistan.
Urumtsi,* the capital, is a rapidly growing city,
and during the last few years the Russian Quarter
has gained in importance. Its population is cosmo-
politan, and the provincial Governor appointed by
the Central Government has his residence here. His
jurisdiction extends from the borders of China proper
to Siberia and Kashgaria.
Manas, further north, is situated on the river of
the same name, and is a market town in the centre of
the best- watered farming country of the northern
area.
The great oasis of Hami, which the Turks call
Kumul, stands at the cross-roads of the trade routes
stretching north, south, east and west.
Kucheng, east of Urumtsi, is a commercial centre
which draws Chinese from all the different provinces
to its business firms.
* Known to the Chinese as Tihwafu, or by its local name of Hung-
miao-tze.
44 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
Barkul occupies a unique position behind the
snow-clad range of the same name and on the borders
of the Barkul Lake.
Turfan lies in a depression below sea level. The
locality is very fertile, and Turfan grows enough
grapes to supply the whole province with sultanas.
Khotan supplies the white jade or nephrite which
Chinese craftsmen have carved so beautifully that it
has gained world-wide repute.
In the south-west are Kashgar and Yarkand.
Kashgar is a town of such political importance that
it needs the consular representation of Western lands.
It is the terminus of the Trans-Himalayan caravan
routes connecting India with Central Asia.
II.
After many vicissitudes this Central Province of
Asia was finally brought under Chinese control in the
eighteenth century, and it has gradually become one
of China's most valuable colonies.
At the fall of the Manchu dynasty, in 1911, its
Governor was a Manchu, but at the time of crisis he
fled. There was a period of fighting in which the
Muslim troops took a prominent part, and their leader,
General Ma, gave his support to a Chinese official who
had held various appointments in Kansu and in
Sinkiang, and who declared himself to be whole-
heartedly on the Republican side.
Once having been entrusted with the reins of
Government, Governor Yang showed himself to be a
firm and able ruler. His appointment was later
confirmed by the central Government at Peking, and
he was able to keep his territory free from the
disturbances and civil war which have torn the
provinces of China proper.
His methods were those of a Dictator. He allowed
no newspaper to be published in his province ; even
the circulation of Chinese papers was forbidden. The
cultivation of the opium poppy was absolutely
CHINESE TURKISTAN (SINKIANG) 45
prohibited, and brigandage was held in check. An
effective system of espionage and censorship was
exercised, and summary punishment was meted out
to those who were suspected of disloyalty.
A ruler so autocratic and ruthless as Governor
Yang was bound to rouse bitter hostility against
himself. Suddenly, the smouldering hatred flared up,
and, on 7th July, 1928, while Yang was giving away
the prizes at the Russian School of Law and Politics
in Urumtsi, he was assassinated by the bodyguard of
the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The Foreign Minister himself and his bodyguard
of thirty soldiers were immediately captured by the
Minister of the Interior, named Ching Shu-jen, the
adopted son of Yang Tsen-hsin. The Foreign Minister
was tried by court martial and shot. Two days after
the death of Yang, Ching took over the government of
the Province. The death of Governor Yang will cause
great changes. It is even possible that these changes
may be so drastic and far-reaching that they will alter
the course of Central Asian history.
A glance at the map will show how deeply Russian
interests are involved in the future of Chinese
Turkistan. Russia controls the only two feasible
routes into Sinkiang : (1) the route to Urumtsi from
Omsk on the Trans-Siberian railway, via Semipalatinsk ;
by this route the journey from London, by rail and
road, takes forty-five days ; (2) the route to Urumtsi
by the Trans-Caspian railway, via Osh and Kashgar ;
by this route the whole distance from London to
Urumtsi can be covered in about eighty-six days.
Sinkiang has recently added to its territory the
triangular area north of Urumtsi which was previously
part of Outer Mongolia ; this brings the frontier of
Sinkiang into touch with that of Soviet Russia, and
throws it open more than ever to penetration from
that side. There seems little doubt that Russia has
designs on the territories of Mongolia, Manchuria and
Sinkiang which the present weakness of China greatly
facilitates.
46 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
It is impossible to foretell what course events will
take, but the political future of Chinese Turkistan is
fraught with perilous possibilities.
III.
The people of Chinese Turkistan represent many
tribes and nations, diverse in type, manners, customs
and religion. Some are Aryans, others belong to races
of Ural-Altaic stock, and some are of mixed blood.
The following is a brief description of the tribes which
make up the population.
The Turkis, who are also called Chan-tou, are the
agriculturists of the fertile oases, and their caravans
carry the produce of one part of the country to the
other. They are known ethnologically as Turanian
Turks. Their language is Turki, and they are a Muslim
people.
The Kazaks are a tent-dwelling people distributed
over the steppes of Northern Dzungaria. There is
reason for believing them to be descended from bands
of people who, in the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries, reverted to a nomadic life in order to escape
from the strong state organization of the Turkic
empires. The conditions of life which they adopted
have led to their mixing freely with nomads like the
Western Mongols. They are Muslims, but they are
less fanatical than the Turkis.
The Tungans are a Chinese-speaking people of a
Semitic type of countenance, probably of Arab descent.
Being Muslims they do not mix easily with the Chinese,
and at times of rebellion they usually play a leading
part.
The Taranchis (farmers), or Hi Tartars, are to be
found in the Kulja district of Hi. As their name
indicates, they are an agricultural people, a large
number of whom emigrated to Russian Turkistan
at the time that Kulja passed under Chinese rule.
They are Muslims.
The Sarts (town-dwellers) really belong to Russian
CHINESE TURKISTAN (SINKIANG) 47
Central Asia, but they appear sporadically in Sinkiang.
They congregate in village centres, and although they
are chiefly engaged in commerce they are also successful
agriculturists. They are reputed to be the best
cultivators of cotton and fruit plantations. They
are Muslims and keep their women more strictly in
seclusion than is usual in other Turki tribes.
The Nogais are Tartars, descendants of a tribe
which derives its name from an early tribal chief who
led his hordes into Europe, whence they returned
with many Western women. They are somewhat
European in type, and have considerable commercial
intercourse with Russia. The Nogais are Muslims, but
some of them seem to differ from the Russian colonists
solely in the matter of religion.
The Kirghiz are a tent-dwelling people living
between Aksu and Uch-Turfan. Their occupation is
cattle-breeding. In religion they are Muslims.
The Badakshan border tribes, who bring tribute
to the Governor at Urumtsi, live on the Afghan frontier.
Further, the traders, craftsmen, and market-
gardeners, are mainly Chinese colonists from the eighteen
provinces of China ; their religion is Buddhism. Then
there are the Manchus, descendants of the Manchu
troops which fought under Chien Lung for the conquest
of Sinkiang, and who were rewarded for their pains
by grants of territory. They are met with in Kulja
and on the Siberian border at Chuguchak. Many of
them are well educated and are merchants or officials ;
they are Buddhists.
Finally, there are the Mongols, who belong to the
Kalmuk or West Mongolian tribe ; they are a semi-
nomadic people whose encampments are found in
Karashar, Hi and the Altai Mountains. They are
divided into Torgut and Hoshut branches. Their chief
occupation is cattle ranging. They are Buddhists,
and under the control of Lamas.
The difficulty of governing a province in which so
many tribes and nations mingle and where the diversity
of race and religion inevitably causes friction, will be
easily understood. On the whole, however, the people
48
THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
are attractive, peaceable and tolerant. Further, it
must always be remembered that the trade routes of
Sinkiang unite India, Russia, Tibet and China, thus
bringing this province into a position of political
importance which can scarcely be over-estimated.
With very little adjustment the roads of Central
Asia could become military highways for motor
transport ; wireless communication has already been
established between Kashgar and Urga, via Urumtsi.
IV.
To the student of the history of Christian missions
it will be a matter of regret that a country so rich in
opportunity as Sinkiang has remained until the present
time so largely unevangelized. The total missionary
force resolves itself into a small group of members of
the Swedish Missionary Society in Kashgar and three
neighbouring towns, and three men, members of the
China Inland Mission, at Urumtsi. In the year 1908,
Mr. George Hunter travelled from Kansu to Urumtsi,
where he established his headquarters ; later on he
was joined by Mr. Percy Mather and, more recently, by
Mr. H. F. Ridley. From this base constant journeys
have been made along all the main trade routes. The
difficulty of the work can be judged from the fact
that there are still only eight communicants.
Some idea of the distances which have been covered
may be gathered from the length of journeys which
have been made over and over again.* Messrs. Hunter
and Mather have not only taken these extensive
journeys, but they have also done much valuable
* Urumtsi to
Urumtsi to
Urumtsi to
Urumtsi to
Urumtsi to
Urumtsi to
Urumtsi to
Urumtsi to
Urumtsi to
Kashgar . .
Hi and Kulja
Chuguchak
Karashar
Turfan
Hami
Barkul
Zaisan
Kobdo in Altai
56 days' march.
20
20
10
6
18
18
28
28
CHINESE TURKISTAN (SINKIANG) 49
translation into the languages of the peoples among
whom they live.
The missionaries of the Swedish Mission reached
Sinkiang in 1894. They found almost the entire
population professing a form of Muhammadanism
which was mixed to a great extent with Indian
mysticism and crude superstition. The Mission started
work at Kashgar, and in spite of the fact that the
country was under the Chinese, its missionaries met
with opposition and persecution. At one time the
Chinese stirred up the Kashgaris to besiege the little
community in the mission house, and afterwards they
used every kind of threat to induce the missionaries
to leave the district. They stood firm, however, and
in the end the Chinese official who was responsible
for the trouble was recalled.
The Swedish Mission has now extended its work
through the Kashgar Oasis to Hancheng and Yangi-
Hessar. Hancheng, a Chinese city, is situated at a
distance of seven miles from Kashgar. Yangi-Hessar
is a small walled town surrounded by gardens and
cultivated land. It stands on the banks of a river
bordered by picturesque cliffs, from which there is a
fine view of the magnificent range of Muztagh Ata,
with its snow-peaks clearly outlined against the blue
sky.
A vast marshy plain covered with reeds, varied by
stretches of gravelly desert, separates the Kashgar
Oasis from that of Yarkand where the Swedish Mission
has also founded a station. The Yarkandis are apathetic
and dull compared with the lively cheerful Kashgaris,
but the reason is obvious : goitre is prevalent ; indeed,
it is authoritatively stated that about fifty per cent,
of the population are victims of this complaint which
here assumes most distressing forms. Yarkand is a
dirty, dusty, squalid city. The Swedish missionaries
are training boys and girls to cleaner, healthier habits
in two orphanages in which are twenty-eight boys and
eighteen girls.
The Mission has primary schools in all its stations,
and Bible training is given in connection with them.
D
50 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
In Kashgar there are two lower primary schools, one
for Turki-speaking and one for Chinese-speaking
children. In Hancheng there are three schools, one
lower primary and one higher primary for boys, and
one for girls, all for Chinese-speaking children. In
Yangi-Hessar there is one school for Turki-speaking
children. In Yarkand there are three schools for
Turki-speaking children, one in the station and one in
each of the orphanages. In connection with the boys'
orphanage there is a training school for workers, and a
similar training class is carried on in the evenings at
Hancheng for Chinese workers. Sunday schools are
connected with all the day schools.
In a few of the larger towns the Chinese have
begun to provide schools, but most of the educational
work is still being done in connection with the Muham-
madan mosques, which number over a thousand, and
where the teaching provided is extremely poor. One
of the earliest activities of the Swedish Mission was
to set up a printing-press, at Kashgar, the first in
Sinkiang, from which the missionaries issue books for
the use of schools throughout the province. Tracts,
hymnbooks, and portions of Scripture are printed in
the Eastern Turki dialect. About five thousand tracts
and five hundred Gospel portions are distributed annu-
ally. At present the total staff of the Swedish Mission
is thirty-one, of whom about eight are usually on
furlough. There is not a single doctor on the staff,
but two missionaries have taken a course at Living-
stone College, and there are eight trained nurses. It
is therefore surprising that in the year 1926 the at-
tendances at the mission dispensaries were 28,050, of
which 15,965 were in Kashgar alone. This work is
steadily increasing.
The Swedish Mission is holding on firmly, but it
finds it necessary to work quietly and unobtrusively.
The Chinese authorities are friendly to the work, but
in their desire to keep the peace between Bolshevik
influence on the one side, and a disturbed China on
the other, they are naturally afraid of any effort which
might anger the Mullahs and stir up unrest among the
CHINESE TURKISTAN (SINKIANG) 51
people. In spite of difficulties and persecutions,
chiefly from the Muhammadans, the Church is gradually
being built up, and there are several Turki preachers.
The dispensary work is of great value in various ways,
and in times of tension and danger it is " like a shield/'
Pioneer work of this nature urgently requires the
services of a missionary doctor.,
The influence of the Bible is silently and surely
making itself felt in Sinkiang, and Scriptures in many
languages are available for this region. China Inland
Mission missionaries have reported that they have sold
British and Foreign Bible Society Scriptures in about
a score of languages in their travels. Mr. G. W. Hunter,
of Urumtsi, has made a great contribution in the
translation of the Gospels and of the Acts of the
Apostles in the Kazak or Altai form of Kirghiz, spoken
over a wide area from Urumtsi. He wrote out these
versions in Arabic characters. These sheets were then
photographed, and the books were published from the
Shanghai Depot of the British and Foreign Bible
Society. In 1928 over five thousand portions were
actually sold in Kazak. The China Inland Mission
missionaries and other workers have also distributed
books in many other languages : in several forms of
Chinese, in Manchu, Kashgar Turkish, Mongolian,
Kalmuk, Tibetan, Arabic, Russian and even in Nogai
or Tartar Turkish. Indeed, so important did Mr.
Hunter find this last-named tongue that he prepared a
fresh translation in the dialect used in the two
Turkistans and Siberia, especially in the large towns
from Urumtsi to Kalgan. These books were issued in
1925.
In the south-west corner of Sinkiang, in the country
round Kashgar, the predominant language is a form
of Turkish known as Kashgar Turkish. The whole
of the New Testament, and, in addition, Genesis,
1 Samuel and Job, have been issued in this language.
Most of these translations were made by members of
the lonely advance guard of the Swedish Mission.
Others were prepared by Mr. G. W. Hunter, the Rev.
52 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
G. Raquette, and the Rev. Johannes Avetaranian,
who was at one time a Muslim Turkish mullah.
The National Bible Society of Scotland bears the
cost of the Arabic Gospels which the Swedish Mission
distributes among the mullahs of Kashgar, who refuse
to read the Gospels in Turki. They are quite willing
to read the Arabic Gospels, and will discuss their
contents with the missionaries.
Sinkiang used to be divided into four Tao or
circuits, but it is now divided into eight. The Swedish
Mission is working in one and has prospect of main-
taining the work in two more of these huge districts.
At the present time, however, the Kashgar circuit
alone is adequately occupied. It is hoped to open
stations in the Khotan circuit and the Aksu circuit
in the near future. The Urumtsi circuit is occupied
by the China Inland Mission, Thus only two circuits
are occupied. There remains a vast field for extension
of present work and for the evangelistic efforts of the
Chinese Christian Church. If the example of Dr.
Kao in Kansu could be followed in this vast colony,
great things might be achieved.*
Here is a great challenge to the Christian Church,
that by its faith and prayer it may call forth labourers
into this " harvest." All honour is due to the brave
pioneers who labour in these territories in such difficult
conditions and who, in spite of almost unbelievable
obstacles, persevere in faith and labour in love for
the redemption of these peoples.
* See page 56ff.
CHAPTER III.
North-West Kansu
FOR centuries Kansu has been one of the
" battlefields of humanity/' Silent and deserted
villages, ruined homes, houses with the air of fortresses,
fortified towns, " backed by castles, towers, and
signalling posts": these are the sights that greet
the traveller along the famous Silk Route between
the cities of Lanchow and Liangchow.
Liangchow itself lies on a wide plain. The flat-
roofed villages, surrounded by trees bared of branches
almost to the top, the feudal castles, and the over-
arching cloudless sky, all unite to give the impression
of a desert scene in some other part of Asia.
The Province of Kansu is the extreme north-
western province of China. Otherwise compact in
form, it throws out a narrow arm of territory between
Mongolia and Tibet. Scientists have agreed that
geographically and ethnologically all that lies beyond
the city of Liangchow should be reckoned as part of
Central Asia rather than of China proper.
The traveller cannot fail to be impressed by the
change of conditions which he meets at this point.
The land is traversed by one main road which lies
almost at the foot of the Tibetan hills, and within
sight of the Mongolian sands. The natural course of
the rivers which rush down from the Richthof en Range
transforms the otherwise arid plain into one of great
beauty and variety. The sandy expanse is intersected
by irrigated belts of great fertility.
In certain localities there is a vast underground
supply of good water which makes its way to the
surface in countless springs. Where this happens the
land produces wheat, rice, cotton, and an abundance
of leguminous crops. Wide tracts are covered by
54 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
fruit orchards, filled with apple, pear and apricot
trees, by melon fields and vineyards. The life-giving
rivers continue their course until they meet the all-
devouring sands of Mongolia.
Between these large oases are strips of unirrigated
land which sometimes take the form of loose sand,
and sometimes of a springy alkaline deposit more
hopelessly arid than the sand itself. The rivers are
wide and shallow ; throughout the summer they are
dangerous to cross, owing to sudden spates due to the
rapid melting of the snows.
Along the northern margin of Kansu stretches the
Great Wall of China, which is here far less impressive
than it is in the Chihli Province. Still further north,
however, the long line of earthworks is abruptly
broken by the splendid brick fortress of Kia-yu-Kwan
(Barrier of the Pleasant Valley). This is the Western
Gate of China, twenty miles beyond the important
city of Suchow. The inscriptions which surround
this famous gate express in poignant terms the sadness
and misgivings felt by the many thousands of Chinese
settlers who pass through it into the distant regions
beyond. One of the inscriptions has become so famil-
iar that it is almost a proverb :
" Forth from Kia-yu-Kwan,
Eyes blinded with tears,
Looking ahead, nothing but desert ;
Looking behind, the Great Gate closed.
Wife and Mother far from sight :
Thinking upon them, tears will not cease."
At this point the Great Wall turns southwards,
sealing the narrow opening between a stony ridge of
low Mongolian hills and the impressive heights of the
outer range of the Tibetan Alps.
The country beyond the Great Wall is known as
Kou wai (Outside the Mouth). It is here that the
Gobi Desert begins, although for a further space of
eight marches oases are fairly frequent. Some of these
are large and fertile ; from a distance they look like
islands of green in an ocean of grit.
NORTH-WEST KANSU 55
For centuries the Chinese Government has sent
disgraced officials and criminals of a certain type to
Kou wai. It has been the place of banishment, the
country of exile. At certain periods, too, either by
stratagem or by force, masses of people have been
induced to migrate to Kou wai, in order to cultivate
the waste land, and thus make a contribution to the
Empire. Sometimes flood and famine in other parts
of China have forced large groups of people to leave
their homes and settle in this remote region.
The chief towns of Kou wai are Yumen, Tunghwang
and Anhsi. The oasis of Tunghwang is famous for
its temples, known as The Caves of the Thousand
Buddhas and The Lake of the Crescent Moon. It is
not easy to reach this town, for between it and the
nearest oasis lies a stretch of desert which takes four
days to cross, and the only water supply is bitter.
The inhabitants of Tunghwang are exclusive, deeply
conscious of their own historic importance, and proud
to be citizens of a town which is known locally as
Little Peking.
Anhsi is an ancient historic garrison outpost which
served to guard the extreme border of China's
protectorate against Tibetans, Uigurs, and other ancient
enemies. At the present time it is being rapidly
overtaken by the encircling sands which threaten it
with the same fate as that which has overtaken so
many of the buried cities of the Gobi Desert.
II.
The population presents features of great ethno-
logical interest. Sinkiang, which lies to the north-west
of KansU, is China's most progressive colony, and
attracts the more venturesome youths from all the
eighteen provinces. Many of these emigrants never
get beyond the Great Wall ; this fact explains their
presence in the towns of Kansu ; in Kanchow and
Suchow, for instance, the smithies' hammers are
handled by Honan men, delicate china is most skilfully
rivetted by the Szechwanese, and Shansi dialects
56 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
greet the traveller from behind the money-changer's
counter or in the pawnbroker's citadel. Few of the
colonists give themselves to farming, and agriculture
is almost entirely in the hands of the native peasants.
The native of the north-west belongs to a mixed
race. His ancestry includes the remnants of Uigur,
Yueh Chi and Tibetan tribes, in addition to the
aboriginals who still exist as a class by themselves.
The farmers are poor and illiterate, but through their
ancestry (in particular the racial strain which they
have inherited from the Uigur), they reveal occasionally
an unexpected appreciation of the beauties of nature
and art, which is not found among the more prosperous
colonists. This is not surprising when we remember
that during the eighth and ninth centuries the Uigurs
attained a high level of artistic and literary culture.
Red and fair hair, blue or brown eyes and a ruddy
complexion are not uncommon among these people.
Much has been written of the signs of early civilization
which have been discovered at Tunghwang, Kanchow
and other places, and many a secluded village in
North- West Kansu possesses a temple whose frescoes
are worthy to be classed with the better-known art
treasures exhibited in Western museums ; many of
the monuments and temple decorations are so strongly
reminiscent of the art of bygone civilizations, that by
their means the path of ancient cultures can be traced.
III.
The missionary situation in North- West Kansu
is unique. Before missionary societies were able to
occupy the territory, a Chinese Christian man
established himself in one of the largest towns of the
district, and began aggressive missionary work.
In the year 1919, Dr. Kao, who had been employed
in the Borden Hospital at Lanchow, took a medico-
evangelistic journey through the north-west region
of the Province. In the course of his travels he entered
the town of Kanchow. His spirit was stirred within
him as he beheld the city full of idols, and he reasoned
NORTH-WEST KANSU 57
in the market place daily with those whom he met.
The populace said : " He seems to be a setter forth
of strange gods," because he preached unto them
" Jesus and the Resurrection."
Meanwhile, the young man became convinced that
Kanehow was the place of God's appointment for him.
In spite of a good deal of opposition, he was finally
allowed to buy a piece of land, upon which he built
a house and carried on his medical work. By this
means he supported his wife and family.
After a few years, as a result of his efforts,
a Christian community came into being, and the
Indigenous Church manifested its zeal by a persistent
attempt to reach the people of the surrounding towns
and villages. Some of its members even sought to
cross the borders of Kansu and enter Chinese Turkistan ;
in the end, however, the material resources at their
disposal proved insufficient for such an extensive
undertaking, and they were forced to give up the
idea. But, although the full plan could not be carried
out, these men accomplished a great deal.
Work was further extended when three British
women, members of the China Inland Mission, at the
definite request of this Church, opened a Bible School
in Suchow, where thirty Chinese Christian men and
women were enrolled as students. By means of a
course which combined Bible study with practical
evangelism, a preaching band was formed, which
carried the message of Christ to a wide and hitherto
unevangelized region.
The two cities of Suchow and Kanehow are situated
a week's journey apart and form admirable bases for
pioneer work. In particular, the town of Suchow, the
first city of China proper, lies only twenty miles
within the western boundary of the Great Wall. It
is a halting place for caravans, whether travelling
eastward or westward. One suburb is used by Mongolian
camel drivers for stalling their beasts, and another is
mainly given up to Muslim inns where Turki traders
carry on their business. It is at Suchow that all
arrangements are made by caravans for the desert
58 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
journeys. Teams are overhauled and carts repaired,
while travellers enjoy a few days' rest in comparative
comfort, free from the exertions and fatigues of the
road. These conditions combine to make Suchow a
strategic point of great importance, and at evangelistic
services a constantly changing audience is easily
secured. Christian books find a ready market among
the moving population, and are thus carried to far
distant places.
Kanchow, on the other hand, is a larger town
with a more settled population. It is the nearest city
to one of the most important passes in the Tibetan
Alps, and the Tibetan people use its markets for the
bartering of skins and gold dust in exchange for grain,
tea and sugar.
One of the main evangelistic openings of the great
North- West is afforded by the local fairs and religious
festivals of its numerous temples, which are attended
by men and women of all the surrounding villages.
Large crowds never fail to assemble, and no opposition
has hitherto been offered to the preacher who is thus
able to make the very best use of his opportunity.
By crossing sandy belts for distances varying from
twenty to fifty miles, fertile areas can be reached,
for wherever there is water colonies of agriculturists
are found. These colonies are very isolated and the
people welcome with great enthusiasm any visitor
from without. Preaching tents are crowded for every
service, and the distribution and sale of books is most
encouraging.
It is of paramount importance that the independence
shown by the Chinese Church in North- West Kansu
should be respected by the missionary societies.
Assistance given by the foreign missionary to this,
as to other indigenous organizations, should be clearly
defined, both as regards its scope and its time limit.
No assistance given should be of such a nature as to
diminish the sense of responsibility which the local
Church has recognized. The whole of this region
should be evangelized by the Chinese themselves ;
the local Church is fit and ready for this enterprise.
MAP OF
Showing! Chinese colonization, distribution of
,
MAP OF EASTERN
MONGOLIA.
Shaded portions show
extent of Chinese infil-
tration into the Mongol
grasslands which they
are cultivating, arid on
which they are building
towns and villages.
Unshaded portions
show the grasslands of
the semi-nomadic Mon-
gol tribes living on the
plains in encampments
and lamaseries on the
old feudal lines. The
distribution of the six
leagues of Mongol tribes
is indicated.
Lamaseries visited
by Mr. Reginald
Sturt, in which
he left thousands
of Gospels, etc.,
working from
Hada.
Mission stations
in towns.
*
Mission stations
not situated in
towns.
4 Appearing without
names represent
A ? D non-residential
stations or chur-
ches.
WORLD DOMINION PRESS. 1928.
MAP OF EASTERN MONGOLIA.
tion, distribution of the six leagues of Mongol tribes, arid the present missionary occupation.
120
111
** /*^--
MAMCHURIA
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-A-4 1^* *1-
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Prepared by Mr Reginald Stttrt.
CHAPTER IV.
Mongolia
I.
EVER since the days when Marco Polo crossed
the plains of Turkistan into distant Cathay,
and the days when the Tartar hosts of Asia burst into
Russia and threatened the life of Europe, the names
of Mongol and Mongolia* have held a certain fascination
for Western peoples. Yet, until the last few years,
Mongolia was actually one of the least-known countries
in the world. Of late, however, the expeditions
organized by the American Museum of Natural
History, and other associations for archaeological
research, have done something to overcome the great
difficulties of travel, and thus to open up the country.
The grassy plateau of Mongolia is of great scientific
interest, not only as the original home of pre-historic
and giant reptiles, like the huge rhinoceros-like
titanotherium and the gigantic baluchitherium, but
also because there lie beneath its all-devouring sands
and flower-strewn steppes the ruined cities and burying
places of once populous and powerful kingdoms.
Mongolia lies immediately north of the Great Wall
of China, and Chinese Turkistan ; thus it separates
both Sinkiang and China proper from Russia. The
country is surrounded by mountains, and is a wide,
shallow, basin-like plateau, lying at an altitude of
three thousand to five thousand feet above sea level.
Broadly speaking, Mongolia may be divided into
three parts : the North- Western region, which covers
the high terrace of the plateau ; the Gobi (using this
* The term " Mongolia," as it is found on modern maps, is used
to describe the great northern province of China, whose boundaries
have never been fixed with scientific precision. The term " Mongolia "
to-day does not correspond with the Mongolia of earlier days, nor with
the region of the same name ruled by the Mongol princes.
60 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
term in a wide sense), which occupies the lower terrace
of the plateau, and South-Eastern Mongolia, which
covers the eastern slope of the Khingan Mountains.
In North- Western Mongolia there are great tracts
of forest and undulating steppes, where the flocks
and herds of the semi-nomadic Mongols find pasture,
and herds of antelopes and wild asses roam at will.
The glens of the Altai Mountains are a refreshing
change from the plains. In springtime there is about
them a freshness and fragrance which recalls the
Scottish Highlands. The streams are full of water,
and the sides of the valleys are clothed with larch
and poplar, birch and willow. Sometimes a forest of
larch will spread from the hills to the plain, joining
the grassy meadows which are deep in flowers : gentian,
purple and blue, crimson cyclamen, anemones, and
masses of purple, violet, cream and yellow violas.
These pastures are full of flocks, and here and there
on the grassy hillside stand Kirei encampments. The
whole of this region is well watered, and it contains
several lakes. One of the largest of these lakes, named
Kossogol, lies at an altitude of 5,320 feet above sea
level, close to the Russian frontier, at the foot of a
great snow mountain.
A great part of Mongolia is, however, very desolate.
One-fourth of the country is either entirely desert, or,
if it is not actually desert, it is so arid that only the
poorest nomads can exist in it.
The great Gobi Desert is the deeper part of the
enormous depression which fills the lower terrace of
the vast Mongolian plateau. It looks like the dried-up
bed of some huge primeval sea, and covers an area of
over two hundred thousand square miles. This great
expanse presents a varying appearance : in some
parts it is crossed by ranges of hills, barren and empty
of all signs of life ; in others it is an undulating plain,
strewn with gravel, and dotted with mounds of clay ;
in the district north of the Alashan Mountains there
is nothing to be seen for hundreds of miles but bare
sands, so wide, waterless, and unbroken that the
Mongols call them Tyngheri : " the sky."
MONGOLIA 61
Throughout Mongolia and Dzungaria there are very
few oases. The country suffers, in fact, from the lack
of mountain ranges, with large glaciers and great
snow fields to act as the source of streams in the
desert. The consequence is that although sufficient
grass is produced to support flocks throughout the
year, they are obliged to wander from place to place
in order to find the best pasture available.
We have here the obvious explanation of the
nomadic life which is characteristic of these vast
regions.
The prevailing impression left on the traveller's
mind by this desert country is one of monotony and
desolation, yet there are times when the sense of space
is most exhilarating.
II.
The early centuries of Mongolian history are lost
in a mist of legend. The founder of the first Mongol
Empire was the redoubtable Genghiz Khan,* one of
the greatest conquerors the world has ever known.
From being merely the chief of a petty Mongolian
tribe, he rose to be the ruler of an empire which
extended from the China Sea to the banks of the
Dnieper. Foremost among his descendants was Kublai
Khan, I who became Emperor of China in A.D. 1280.
Kublai was the first of his race to rise above the natural
barbarism of the Mongols, yet he possessed a full
measure of their virility and vigour. Through the
story of Marco Polo the fame of this Mongol Emperor
reached Europe. No great king arose after Kublai,
and the reign of his ninth successor, Toghon Timur,
ended in disgrace in 1368. The Mongols were expelled
from China, and the rulers of the Ming Dynasty reigned
in their stead.
The disintegration of the Empire of Genghiz Khan
* 1162-1227 A.D. f 1216-1294 A.D.
62 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
and the fall of his dynasty in China were due to the
Mongol incapacity to establish a settled form of
government, or to gain the confidence and allegiance
of conquered peoples.
Driven northwards and harried by the conquering
Chinese, the Mongol tribes gradually broke away
from all centralized government, and settled in scattered
communities under their own chieftains throughout
the vast region which lies between eastern Russia and
Manchuria. In time some of these tribes were absorbed
by Russia, and others by Turkey. Those who remained
independent made their home in Eastern Mongolia.
After some years had elapsed the Mongols began
to recover from the shock of the disaster which had
befallen their race. Now and again they made successful
raids into Tibet, and even into China. As the Chinese
control over the frontier tribes weakened, the Mongols
moved gradually southwards, and some of them even
settled within the northern bend of the Yellow River.
Thus it came about that when the Manchus overthrew
the Ming Dynasty in 1644 the Mongol tribes were
involved in the fortunes of China.
For nearly three hundred years Mongolia was a
dependency of the Chinese Empire, and in 1911 she
became an unwilling partner in the Chinese Republic.
III.
At the present day, for purposes of government,
the Chinese divide Mongolia into two unequal portions :
Inner Mongolia, the smaller, which lies to the south
and east of the Gobi, and extends to the borders of
China and Manchuria, and Outer Mongolia, which
forms the rest of the country.
Inner Mongolia is divided into four districts,
Jehol, Chahar, Sui Yuan and Sitao, containing much
rich grass-growing prairie land and well- watered hill
country. The Jehol territory alone claims more than
half the total population of Mongolia.
Since the establishment of the Chinese Republic
MONGOLIA 63
there have been more changes in the political status
of Mongolia than several previous centuries had
witnessed.
After the fall of the Manchus, in 1911, the Mongol
princes expelled the Chinese officials from Urga,
declared the independence of Outer Mongolia and
proclaimed the Bogdo Lama, or Huktuktu, as ruler,
under the title of Bogdo Khan. Russia immediately
stepped in to recognize and " protect " this new state.
Despite a belated and ineffective " cancellation of
autonomy " in 1920, by means of a petition to Peking
signed by representatives of the Chinese residents and
Mongolian Council of Ministers in Urga, there is to-day
a Soviet Government established in Urga, the capital,
in direct communication and collaboration with
Moscow. Some of the young Mongol leaders have been
educated in Moscow, and their attitude towards
religion is largely that of the Soviet leaders in Russia.
Of late years the Mongols have become increasingly
awake" to the hopelessness of their condition : to
their need of education and of political, social and
religious reform. Recent events in China, Russia, and
the world at large, have so shaken their self-
complacency that at least in Outer Mongolia they
have received with some show of willingness the
proffered help of Soviet Russia. In common with
other Far Eastern nations, Mongolia was represented
by delegates at a " Conference of the Toilers of the Far
East," held in Moscow, in January, 1922, under the
auspices of the Communist International.
On the 20th of May, 1924, the Huktuktu -Living
Buddha, Pope of Mongol Buddhism and ruler of the
country died in Urga, and the Soviet authorities
immediately announced that no one was to be elected
in his place. Further, it was decreed that all lamas
under forty years of age were to return to civil, and
presumably to family, life ; in future, also, no more
acolytes were to be trained. Thus the power of the
corrupt system of Lamaism seems to have been broken,
even though it may continue to linger for a while.
" Here the Soviets have struck shrewder blows at
64 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
Buddhism the dead hand on Mongolian manhood
for four hundred years than they have in Russia
at Byzantine Christianity. And the awakening and
fertilization of Mongolian youth which will follow the
break-up of monastic life may well bear a big surprise
in the coming generation."*
The feudal princes, who held the right of life and
death over their " property/' have been largely
deprived of power. All class distinctions, and titles
like " prince/' " official," " noble," and " saint," have
been abrogated, and their holders are disqualified
both from electing and from being elected to office.
Further, on the 31st of May, 1924, a Sino-Soyiet
Treaty was signed recognizing that " Outer Mongolia
is an integral part of the Republic of China and
respecting China's sovereignty therein " ; at the same
time it is stated that Mongolia enjoys an " autonomy
so far-reaching as to preclude Chinese interference
with internal affairs," and that " Mongolia has settled
down and been consolidated on a basis somewhat
similar to the Soviet System, "f In November of the
same year the first assembly of the new Mongol
Parliament (the Huruldan or People's Assembly) was
convoked. In the text of its Constitution it proclaimed
that Outer Mongolia is an independent republic without
a president, and that the Seal and Supreme Power of
the Bogdo Khan (Holy Ruler) has been transferred to
the People's Assembly.
Moreover, in the " Declaration of Rights of the
Labouring (sic) People of Mongolia " " the fundamental
principle is laid down as a guarantee of the religious
liberty of the labouring masses," that the Church is
separate from the State, and that " Religion is the
private concern of every citizen."
Although Outer Mongolia is largely cut off from
other parts of the world, the young Republic spares
no effort to maintain the closest relations with Moscow
* W. E. D. Allen. The Times, 24th June, 1929.
f Georgiy Chicherin, People's Commissary for Foreign Affairs since
1918.
MONGOLIA 65
and the U.S.S.R. The Soviet-Mongol Railway Agree-
ment of 1926 seeks to link up Mongolia by rail with the
Trans-Siberian route, by steamship on the Selenga
and Orkhon Rivers, by the telegraph system, and,
eventually by regular airship services connecting
Urga with Werkne-Udinsk and Chita. Towards the
south a railway has been projected linking up Urga
and Kalgan, and at present a regular motor service
operates for passenger traffic between these places.
Merchandise is still carried by camel caravans. The
real cultural, political and economic connections are
with the north ; and there is no indication that there
is any relationship between the Nanking Government
and that of Urga.
Most effective of all the Soviet methods, however,
is that of indirect propaganda. The Russian film,
Storm over Asia, which has been described as "an
artistic masterpiece," cannot fail to make a strong
appeal to the awakening minds of Mongolian youth.
This film is the story of a Mongol shepherd boy, who is
robbed by Buddhist bonzes, swindled by American
fur-dealers, and ill-treated by White Russian soldiers.
Suddenly the " White " general discovers that the lad
is a descendant of Genghiz Khan and he sets him up
as a puppet prince in Urga. Finally the young Mongol
" prince " rouses the people, and in a lightning cavalry
charge the Mongol horsemen sweep away the White
troops. That is the story. " The appeal is double-
barrelled to the community of sympathy of the
Russian and Asiatic workers, and, more subtly, to the
traditional military ' superiority-complex ' of the
Central Asian peasants "* the descendants of Genghiz
Khan.
IV.
In appearance the Mongol is dirty and unkempt.
His unwashed face and hands are scarcely surprising
in a land of biting winds, cruel frosts, and little water,
* The Times, 24th June, 1929.
E
66 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
where the traveller often has to decide whether he
will drink the precious liquid or wash in it. His hair
is tousled, and his shaggy, greasy sheep-skin garments
may raise a prejudice against him. If to his unattractive
appearance and primitive habits are added fatalism,
lack of ambition, laziness, love of strong drink, quick
temper, and a religiously perverted sense of right and
wrong, the worst has been said of the average Mongol,
for, although he is held in bondage by a religion
paralysing in its grip and fatal to any growth in personal
character, the Mongol yet retains much natural
attractiveness.
He is simple-minded, fearless and self-reliant,
generous and comparatively honest, kindly and
hospitable, and, when he is understood and treated
with proper consideration, he is quite approachable,
although he is sensitive and quick to resent slights.
He is capable, willing and trustworthy. Inured to a
life of hardship, he seldom grumbles, and is patient
and cheerful under difficulties. In business he is no
match for the subtle Chinese, whom he distrusts, but in
simple-hearted manliness and in all martial pursuits
the Mongol is more than his equal.
Across Mongolia's vast territory its people, who are
grouped in a Feudal Federation, live their simple
pastoral lives, dwelling in tents and huts on the grassy
plains, moving their encampments according to season,
water supply and condition of the pastures, much as
their ancestors have done for centuries.
The divisions of the people are as follows :
Princes and officials of the old hereditary
nobility of varying ranks, or free people ;
taxpayers, or serfs ; lamas, or celibate
monks of varying hierarchal rank, or " lords
spiritual " ; and their vassals, or serfs.
The. local administrative unit is the Hosho, the
" banner " or tribe, forming the fief of any one ruling
prince, who controls his people through civil officers
and military vassals ; the latter provide their quota
of mounted warriors when required and administer a
modern adaptation of the Code of Genghiz Khan.
MONGOLIA 67
The eighty-six Hosho, or Tribes, of Outer Mongolia
are grouped into four Aimaks or Khanates, being
groups of one or more Principalities (Hosho) forming
the feudal inheritance of one princely family bound
together by ties of direct descent and heredity ; the
senior living prince of the reigning family is considered
the head of the Aimak. These rulers are called the
Tsetsen, Tushetu, Sainnoin and Tsasaktu Khans.
The fifty-seven Principalities, or tribes, of Inner
Mongolia are confederated into six Leagues (Chinese
" Meng "), not identical with the Aimak, but designed
by the Manchus to weaken the tribal organization.
A senior prince is elected by his peers in the associated
tribes, but confirmed in office by the Chinese Govern-
ment. These are the names of the six Leagues : the
Djerim, Djosotu, Djouda, Silingol, Ulan-tsab and
lehedzu.*
V.
The religion of Mongolia is Lamaism. Introduced
into Tibet from India in the seventh century before
Christ, it was accommodated to Tibetan superstition
and demonology, but it was not imposed upon the
Mongols until the reign of Kublai Khan.
* To complete the summary we ought to mention the various
scattered groups of Mongols living mainly outside Mongolia, not includ-
ing the Buriat Mongols of the Baikal regions of Siberia.
1 . Alashan Oleuts west of the Yellow River.
2. Elsin-gol Turguts of Central Asia.
3. Kokonor and Tsaidam Mongols twenty-nine tribes.
4. Hi and Tarbagatai Mongols of Dzungaria, some seventeen
tribes.
5. Altai Mongols of Kobdo and Sinkiang, some ten tribes.
6. Darhat, or tribes of Turkis in North-West Mongolia, now
forming a small " independent " Tannu-Tubin (Soviet)
Republic.
7. Mannai Oleut Mongols in North Manchuria west of Tsitsihar.
8. Mongol Bannermen in and around Peking and Jehol, where
with the Manchus they formerly performed garrison duties.
9. Shabunars or serfs of the late Bogdo Lama of Urga, some two
hundred thousand in number, have since his death and the
abolition of his office as spiritual and temporal head of
the country, been formed into eight Hosho under special
Jassaks (princes).
68 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
Gradually an elaborate temple service was built
up, which is still in daily use. Twice a day at least
in the lamaseries portions of the sacred Tibetan
scriptures are chanted in deep-toned voices by robed
and mitred monks, sitting cross-legged in rows before
the image of Buddha, presided over by an enthroned
" living Buddha," or abbot. These chants are
accompanied by the sound of drums, bells, conch-
shells, cymbals and enormous trumpets, twenty feet
long, with the sprinkling of holy water, and the burning
of incense.
The more ethical and spiritual teaching of original
Buddhism has been replaced by a system of magic
spells and meaningless ritual, the external observance
of which is held to be the full equivalent of the practice
of all the virtues. The mere repetition of these ritual
acts has power to coerce the spirits and to bring
deliverance and happiness to those who pray. Hence
the never-ending repetition of the cryptic words,
practically the only prayer of the Tibetan and the
Mongol : " Om mane padme hum " (O, thou jewel
in the lotus flower !). This pathetic invocation and
other equally meaningless prayers enclosed in cylinders
are piously set in motion by means of windmills and
prayer wheels, or inscribed on flags that flutter from
the tops of dwellings, trees and sacred piles of stones.
The mystic syllables are often carved on the rocks
or in huge characters on the hillside. Told by the
fingers on the never-absent rosary, muttered with the
lips in the crowded market or when crossing the lonely
plain ; morning, noon and night, at birth and in
death, and on every occasion, the same futile cry for
deliverance continues to ascend to heaven from a race
held fast in the bondage of sin.
The effect of this religion upon the Mongol has
been extraordinary. On the one hand, it has done
much " to restrain the Mongols' predatory and savage
instincts, quenching in them the thirst for blood, and
implanting certain religious ideas and ideals, however
inadequate. Yet, on the other hand, it has robbed
their manhood of its energy and natural ambition,
MONGOLIA 69
seared and beclouded their conscience as to moral
guilt, and strangled all progress, intellectual activity
and moral endeavour. At the same time, through its
tyrannous, depraved and corrupting priesthood the
lamas composing more than sixty per cent, of the
male population and universally characterized by
unblushing and unnatural wickedness it has not only
degraded worship and prayer to a mechanical ritual
but it has debased womanhood, destroyed the sanctity
of family life, flooded the land with immorality, and
made its religious establishments hot-beds of vice."
As a result of this drain upon the nation's vital
strength the population has steadily declined, and the
only hope of preserving the Mongols from ultimate
extinction lies in their deliverance from the power
and blight of Lamaism into the glorious liberty of the
children of God.
VI.
About one hundred years ago the pioneer
missionaries, Swan, Stallybrass and Yuille, of the
London Missionary Society, settled among the Buryat
Mongols on the Siberian frontier. There, on the banks
of the Selenga River and its neighbourhood, they
laboured for over twenty years, until the work was
stopped by order of the Tsarist Government. The
whole Bible was translated into classical Mongolian,
and ever since it has been of the utmost value to those
who have endeavoured to evangelize the Mongol
race.
About thirty years later, in 1885, the devoted
James Gilmour (also of the London Missionary Society)
began his itinerations. He felt that the work among
the nomads was not very promising, and thought that
his time might be more profitably spent among the
settled Mongols and Chinese in the south-eastern
'parts of Mongolia. For this reason he made his head-
quarters at Chao Yang, where he gathered a few
splendid converts from the Chinese. He was joined
70 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
by John Parker, of the London Missionary Society,
who carried on the work after Gilmour died in 1891.
In 1897, Dr. Thomas Cochrane joined Mr. Parker and
started medical mission work. By the year 1900, at
three or four centres, groups of Chinese Christians had
been gathered into small churches.
After the Boxer Rising, when all missionary effort
in Inner Mongolia was brought to a standstill, this
work was handed over to the Irish Presbyterian
Mission, who in their turn transferred it to the
Brethren missionaries in 1912. At that time the Church
at Chao Yang was composed solely of Chinese members.
Since then the Brethren missionaries have carried on
a work characterized by steady growth. Dr. Case,
one of their number, died at Chao Yang, and has
recently been succeeded by Dr. Soutter, who has
revived the hospital work. Dispensary work is carried
on at four of their stations. Primary schools for boys
and girls are distinctive of their work everywhere.
These missionaries are particularly active in Bible
distribution, in connection with which they undertake
extended itinerations. Periodical Bible schools are
also held. Every station records converts ; at Chao
Yang, the oldest of the former London Missionary
Society stations, there is a membership of one hundred
and forty.
Of all the missions now at work in Inner Mongolia,
that carried on by the Brethren, which was begun at
Pa Kow in 1887, is the oldest. Since then seven new
missions have entered the country.
The Scandinavian Alliance Mission has established
an agricultural and industrial colony as an experiment
at Patsebolong on a large tract of land just north of
the Ordos Desert, irrigated from the Yellow River. A
new station has recently been opened at Wangtefu.
This Mission has about four workers.
The Swedish Mongol Mission began work in 1899
at Halong-Osso, eighty miles north of Kalgan, and
since then has extended its work to Gulchagan, Hattin-
Sum and Doyen. Owing to changes in the migration
of the Chinese, the work at Halong-Osso has been
MONGOLIA 71
given up. Including those on furlough, this Mission
has now eleven workers. It has also one hospital and
one dispensary, with two doctors and two, nurses.
The Assemblies of God Mission has established
several stations in Chahar, with nine or ten workers.
The Swedish Alliance Mission works in association
with the China Inland Mission, and its field of operations
is in Sui Yuan and Chahar. The work is steadily
growing and is organized into eight churches, and
missionaries live at eight centres. There are ten out-
stations. In the Sunday schools there are about five
hundred children. Day schools number seven and are
attended by equal numbers of boys and girls. At
present the Bible school is closed. In the industrial
school there are fifty-eight students, and in the two
children's homes about three hundred children. There
are three dispensaries which treated two hundred
patients last year, and one hospital which dealt with
fifty-nine patients. The Mission has one European
nurse and three Chinese nurses, but no doctor.
Although the majority of the inhabitants of this
region are Chinese, most of the land is owned by
the Mongol princes, to whom taxes are paid.
The Hephzibah Faith Mission opened work in 1922
at Chininghsien in Chahar, where it now has four
missionaries.
In 1923, the Kremmer Mennonite Brethren Church
began work at Chotzeshan in Chahar ; it has a staff
of six workers.
The Brethren Mission, which has already been
mentioned, carries on work in the Jehol territory of
Eastern Inner Mongolia, among the Chinese and the
tribes of the Djosotu and Djouda Leagues. It has
five stations and thirty-two missionaries.
The Salvation Army has been extending its work
since 1918, and has missionaries at two or three stations.
It has opened work at Fengchen, the capital of Chahar.
In addition to these missions located in Mongolia,
the Irish Presbyterian Mission and the Danish Mission
72 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
carry on Mongol work from two or three stations in
Manchuria.
The British and Foreign Bible Society serves all
the missions. From its headquarters at Kalgan it
touches not only Inner Mongolia, but also the northern
Marches of the Chinese provinces, Chihli and Shansi.
Although the region which lies beyond the Gobi
Desert is still closed to Christian missions, Bible
Society agents make tours in this district as oppor-
tunity offers. Until the present time these journeys
have been tedious and hard, mostly by camel. The
motor-car service recently established between Urga
and Kalgan provides new facilities for Bible distri-
bution. Even working on the older and slower
lines, the British and Foreign Bible Society colporteurs
sold over one hundred and seventy-six thousand books
(mostly portions in Mongolian) in 1928. These figures
vary from year to year ; in 1927 they were nearly one
hundred thousand more than in 1928. In all the
mission hospitals, every patient hears the Word and
leaves with a Gospel in his bundle. Mongolian Scriptures
are still in demand even as far west as Sinkiang. The
Bible Society has published Scriptures in four forms
of Mongolian : (1) Literary or Classical Mongolian,
in which the whole Bible is available, translated in the
middle of last century by the London Missionary
Society missionaries, Stallybrass, Swan and Yuille,
assisted by learned Buryats, most of whom were lamas.
Their version of the Gospels was afterwards revised
by two Bible Society agents and a Mongol from Urga,
named Serim Pon Sok ; (2) Buryat or Northern
Mongolian, spoken principally round Lake Baikal,
has St. Matthew's Gospel with the Russian version
alongside ; (3) Kalmuk or Western Mongolian is spoken
by nomads on the eastern part of the Tien Shan Range,
on the western border of the Gobi Desert, and even as
far west as the Kalmuk Steppes in South-East Russia.
The complete New Testament has been issued in this
dialect ; (4) Khalka or Eastern Mongolian, is used from
the Great Wall of China to the River Amur and right
across the Gobi Desert as far as the Altai Mountains.
MONGOLIA 73
St. Matthew's Gospel, prepared by a Mongol lama
and revised by foreign missionaries, was first published
in 1872, and another edition was issued in 1894.
From Manchuria, at the north-east corner of this
unoccupied field, over four hundred thousand copies
of Scripture were sold in 1928, some of which no doubt
found their way far west across the Khingan Mountains.
The Manchu version of the New Testament will always
be associated with the name of George Borrow, who saw
an edition through the press at St. Petersburg almost
a hundred years ago. This Manchu New Testament,
first published in 1835, has just (1929) been reproduced
by photography in Shanghai to meet the present needs.
On the eastern side, Central Asia is bounded by
China, and from that quarter Scriptures in the various
forms of Chinese are frequently being sent to many
far distant places from the Depot in Shanghai. Even
during the upheavals of the last few years, in spite of
difficulties of transport, dangers to colporteurs (more
than one has lost his life in carrying out his arduous
task) and the disorganization of large parts of the
country, the circulation of Scriptures from the British
and Foreign Bible Society Agency (and this includes
Central Asia) has been greater than ever. The latest
figures reach the marvellous total of 3,951,809. The
reports of the colporteurs speak of the wonderful and
pathetic willingness on the part of the people to spare
coppers from their scanty means to buy copies of the
Gospels.
In Outer Mongolia for a time the Swedish Mongol
Mission occupied the town of Urga, until it was expelled
by the Soviet authorities. Thus there is now no mission
in Outer Mongolia.
Although Inner Mongolia has remained open for
mission work, the conditions among the Mongols are
such that it is .one of the hardest fields in Eastern
Asia. A few heroic missionaries have remained at their
posts through the recent months of war and famine.
The apparent results of their labours are small. It is
reported that three Mongolians were baptized last
year (1928).
74 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
The work of these eight Societies is still largely
among the growing Chinese population and those
Mongols who can be reached. Among the small number
of Mongol Christians, some show such sterling Christian
character that the future is not without promise.
The Christian witness of Europeans, Chinese and
Mongols, should have a greater and greater effect.
James Gilmour said : "I am still of opinion that our
best way to reach the Mongols is from a Chinese base."
Of late years this possibility has been placed in the
hands of the Church. A marked feature of the present
situation in Mongolia is the steady flow of Chinese
immigration from Shantung. This process of infiltration
is for the first time in history setting the plough to the
fertile valleys and well-watered prairies of Southern
Mongolia, a country which bids fair to compare with
Siberia and Canada as one of the great granaries of
the world. This fact presents an unparalleled
opportunity for the evangelization of Mongolia.
On a recent evangelistic journey a missionary
discovered three -new Chinese districts in course of
being marked out on the best grasslands of the Djouda
League. They are veritable islands of Chinese culture
in the midst of the simple pastoral life of the plains
and valleys on the south-eastern slopes of the great
Khingan range. The same thing is happening from
the Manchurian side among the tribes of the Djerim
League. One of Marshal Feng's constructive efforts
has been to encourage this emigration of Chinese
families to similar regions outside the Great Wall
north of the Shansi and Shensi provinces.
The burden of the evangelization of the surrounding
Mongols must, therefore, be laid mainly on the Chinese
Christians. Theirs is a very special responsibility,
even greater than that of the foreign missionary. It
may be said that the Chinese have not proved
acceptable evangelists to the Mongols, on account of
the friction arising from land settlements and trade
relationships. But the Chinese Christians will have to
face this difficulty which is no greater and perhaps
not so great as that of the European or any other
MONGOLIA 75
foreigner. One of the most acceptable evangelists
among the Mongols was Liu Yi, a Chinese who helped
Gilmour. He spoke Mongol fluently and was on most
friendly terms with the people.
The centres of light are still few, and the darkness
is very dense. " Mongolia to us seems a great spiritual
wilderness. Generations have come and gone without
knowing God : still they come and go. Perhaps there
is something in the hard climatic conditions of the
country which has withered the souls of the people
or hardened their hearts. The long, long winter ; the
wild winds which sweep across the desert ; the hard
hoarless frost which for months checks all vegetable
life ; the sudden and short-lived spring with the
scanty rains it brings, followed by parching heat and
storms of dust in summer ; these conditions seem to
have repressed the finer human elements in Mongol
character."*
The Mongols are scattered over an immense area,
and their nomadic habits make all efforts to approach
them with the Gospel very difficult. Only men of strong
physique and great powers of endurance can stand the
hardships of life in this land. But difficulties of this
kind have never deterred the heralds of the Cross.
The societies which are at present working in Mongolia,
however, need a larger measure of support. With a
view to effective work in the future, there is need for
some definite co-ordination of policy among the
missions. Plans for reaching the Mongols of the remoter
regions should be formed on an intelligent basis of
co-operation, in order to avoid the mistakes which
have often hampered missionary work in the past.
Work among people of such nomadic habits must
necessarily be of a simple nature, whether it be
evangelistic, educational or medical. It is of supreme
importance to teach converts from the beginning the
New Testament ideal of the Church. Wherever two
or three meet in fellowship, there the Church with all
its privileges and responsibilities exists. This living
* The Bible in China. Report for 1928, page 28.
76 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
fellowship possesses all the resources of Christ's Body,
and should from the first be encouraged to exercise
its spiritual functions. The hope of the future lies not
with scattered converts, but in such small living groups.
They are living branches of Christ's Church, no matter
how few and poor their members. In all difficult fields
like Mongolia, this supreme spiritual conception of
the Church and its divine prerogatives should be kept
in view all the time. From such living units, even
when only the " Church in the house of Feng," the
Church of Christ will grow. Thus, from the beginning
the definite aim should be : a self-supporting Church,
full of evangelistic fervour, sending forth its. witnesses
to the furthest limits of Mongolia.
CHAPTER V.
Tibet
I.
LL roads lead to Rome," and in Tibet " All
roads lead to Lhasa." But along whatever
road the traveller comes, from India or from China,
always he must cross a high mountain barrier. On
every side the country is enclosed within long ranges
of snow-capped mountains : on the south by the
Himalayas and the transverse ranges of Upper Yunnan,
on the east by the western mountainous borderland
of Yunnan, Szechwan and Kansu, on the north by
the Kuen Lun Range, and on the west, where it narrows
to a breadth of only one hundred and fifty miles, by
the junction of the Karakoram Mountains with the
Himalayas. It is not difficult to see why Tibet has
gained the title of the Great Closed Land. From the
point of view of geography it is more difficult to
approach than almost any other country in the world.
Further, its great altitude* is a strain on all foreigners
who have been used to living at ordinary levels, and
the journeys over the mountain passes are fatiguing,
difficult and often dangerous. It is significant that
no great armies have ever passed through Tibet to
invade India ; even Genghiz Khan led his troops round
through Bukhara and Afghanistan in order to avoid
the necessity of crossing Tibet by the direct route.
The most well-known highway into Tibet passes
through Sikkim. The road crosses the frontier near
* Tibet is the highest country in the world : the tablelands have
an average height of nearly 17,000 feet ; the mountain peaks rise to a
height varying from 20,000 to 24,000 feet, and the passes range from
16,000 to 19,000 feet above the sea. Several of the great rivers of Asia
the Indus, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Mekong and Yangtze rise in
this mountain region, and flow down into the valleys and plains of
India, Siam, Yunnan and Szechwan.
78 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
Pharijong, a little town through which passes all the
trade of southern Tibet with India. Pharijong is one
of the highest places in the world inhabited by man,
and is one of the dirtiest. The name means literally
" Hill of the Pig/' and nothing could be more apt.*
Yet as the traveller gains the summit of the pass, and
looks down on the town, it is not the filthy little
frontier station that grips his attention, but the view.
The valleys behind him may be filled with mist, but
ahead it seems as though all Tibet lay spread out
before him. It is a marvellous expanse of mountain
country, range upon range of brown, bare hills, all
clear-cut and distinct, while behind them towers one
pure white peak, Chomolhari " divine mother of
mountains " serene and ineffable, against a cloudless
sky of turquoise blue.
Beyond Pharijong the road winds up and down,
now through desolate valleys, cold and windswept,
then over snow-covered passes out on to the high
tableland, with its boggy soil broken up by tussocks
of grass and numerous lakes and tarns. In summer
the same track will wear a different aspect : the
valleys and the lower slopes of the barren hills will be
clothed with fresh green grass and flowers. Blue
larkspurs, orange marigolds and familiar yellow
dandelions stand out among a mass of less familiar
blossoms, purple and pink and white. Tiny ferns cling
to every crevice in the rock, vetches and violet primulas
spring from the very face of the rock itself, while the
dark blue spires of monkshood mingle with all this
beauty " like devils in heaven, "f All along the route
the vivid sky-blue Tibetan poppy is easily the most
striking flower in the country, while on the high
tableland the dark gorges and level river valleys are
often lit up by brilliant patches of yellow mustard
blossom.
One of the most wonderful sights on the road to
* See The Land of the Lama : by David MacDonald, page 256.
f This is the Aconitum Luridum ; its roots contain a deadly poison.
TIBET 79
Lhasa is the "Turquoise Lake," or Yam-Dok-Tso.
Few foreigners have ever seen it, for it does not lie on
the direct route to the capital. The waters are of an
exquisite blue-green, ringed by clean shores of pure
white sand. Solitary and still it lies among its enfolding
hills. Here and there near the shore are little patches
of cultivated ground, and wherever the springing
barley pushes its way through the earth there also
will be a sheet of forget-me-nots. On the margin of the
Lake the ruins of ancient castles add the final touch
of romance to the scene, while beyond, on the horizon,
are the eternal glaciers of the Himalayas, a silver
setting for the " Turquoise Lake."
II.
The first sight of Lhasa is as unexpected as it is
beautiful. Standing on the height overlooking the city
the traveller gazes with amazement at the stretches of
green woodland, and marshy grass, watered by
streamlets of clear brown water winding among the
over-arching trees. The whole city is surrounded by
this belt of luxuriant vegetation, a mile in depth.
The town itself is overshadowed and completely
dominated by the Potala, the great Palace-Temple of
the Grand Lama. Its massive white stone walls rise
from a sea of green. The central building stands out
impressively between wide blocks of masonry of
glowing crimson. It is crowned with glittering golden
roofs, shining and dazzling against the pale blue sky.
This Palace is a " marvel in stone," nine hundred feet
long, and seventy feet higher than St. Paul's Cathedral.
There is an utter disproportion between this great
Palace-Temple of the Potala and the town which lies
at its feet. It seems to symbolize the gulf that separates
the people of Tibet from their priests.
After this striking approach the town itself seems
almost insignificant. It consists of large groups of
houses, separated by dark and narrow lanes. Here
and there are squares or patches of waste ground.
80 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
The poorest quarter of the city is as dirty as Pharijong,
and even more repulsive. Yet in these loathsome
surroundings the flowers bloom better than elsewhere :
nasturtiums trail their gold and flame-coloured blossoms
over the decaying walls ; tall bright hollyhocks spring
from the oozing black mud, and crimson stocks, with
their delicate grey-green leaves, strive to cover the
filth of the dust-heaps upon which they grow.
Amid a tangle of dark and dirty lanes stands the
great temple, the Jokang, built in A.D. 652. The outside
of the building is unpromising, but the interior is one
of the most interesting sights in Central Asia. Its
chief treasure is an image of the Buddha, golden and
magnificent, lit up by the soft radiance of countless
butter lamps. The face is that of Gautama as a young
and eager prince, and the image is ornamented with
masses of precious stones. This temple is the Holy of
Holies for the whole of Northern Buddhism.
III.
" There is no approach to God unless a lama leads
the way " so runs the Tibetan proverjb. The word
Lama means literally " Superior One," and theoretically
it should be applied only to the Abbots of monasteries ;
in practice, however, it has come to be used of every
member of the Tibetan priesthood. It is estimated
that the Lamas form one-sixth of the adult male
population of Tibet. The term " Lamaism " is often
applied to Tibetan religion, but it is not accurate.
The religion of Tibet is Buddhism, derived from and
identical with the Indian Buddhism of the Mahayana.
The Tibetans themselves say that they are believers
in " Buddha's religion " or " the orthodox religion."*
* The pre-Buddhist religion of Tibet was called the Bon religion.
It is a necromantic cult with devil-dancing. Although strictly forbidden
by the lamas of Central and Western Tibet, it is nevertheless largely
and openly professed over the greater part of Eastern and South-
Eastern Tibet, where Chinese influence is strong. It is particularly
popular among the settled agricultural population.
TIBET 81
It seems probable that Buddhism was introduced into
Tibet in the seventh century of the Christian era, that
is, about twelve hundred years after the death of the
Buddha.
Buddhism in Tibet has developed the teaching
and practice of its founder to great extremes. Since
salvation is bound up with the monastic state,
monasticism has here reached greater proportions
than in any other country in the world. For centuries
the government of the land has been in the hands of
the monks themselves. At the head of the priesthood
are the Dalai Lama and the Tashi Lama. In theory
the Tashi Lama, whose headquarters are at Shigatse,
is superior to the Dalai Lama, who lives at Lhasa.
In practice, however, the Dalai Lama is supreme,
since he alone wields secular as well as religious
authority.
Thus there has arisen the strange phenomenon
of a social order dominated by thousands of celibate
monks, who lead a parasitic existence and decimate
the people. Since Buddhism was introduced into the
country, the Tibetans, who were at one time virile
and enterprising, have steadily declined both in power
and in numbers, until now the population has decreased
to a tenth of its former size. In a land more than six
times as large as Great Britain, there are only from
two to three million people, who live in about 13,000
towns and villages. It is possible, however, to ride
for many miles without seeing a trace of human life.
The country is dotted with monasteries, great and
small. Most of them have been built in retired and
beautiful spots. Some are perched high up among
the mountains, in rocky fastnesses, where the buildings
seem part of the rock itself ; others are built in sheltered
valleys, or on low hills in the plains, where they have
glorious views of the surrounding country. Near
Lhasa there are three large lamaseries with a total
population of over twenty thousand monks. Of these
three Drepung is the largest monastery in the world ;
it is situated about three and a half miles away from
the western gate of Lhasa. The monks are more like
F
82 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
mercenary soldiers than anything else, and during
popular festivals their armed regiments terrorize the
people of the capital. Besides these large monasteries
there are numbers of smaller ones inhabited by groups
of lamas varying from four or five to one hundred.
Some of these lamaseries are wealthy and prosperous,
but others are simply collections of poor and squalid
huts.
From the earliest days of Tibetan Buddhism there
have always been some souls full of a passionate
longing for spiritual enlightenment ; impelled by this
desire they have left the ordinary ways of men.
Sometimes the period of solitude has been short ;
others have secluded themselves for twelve years;
a few Lamas leave the world for ever. In the
neighbourhood of Gyantse there is a hermitage where
monks shut themselves up in dark stone huts for the
rest of their lives. This hermitage was founded in
the year 1100 by a great hermit saint, and ever since
it has usually been inhabited. A hermit retires into
his voluntary prison for a first period of three months
and three days. He then comes out and goes through
a special course of study and preparation for the next
period of retirement, which is supposed to last for
three years, three months and three days. During
this second period many lamas begin to suffer in mind,
and some of them entirely lose their reason. At the
end of this period the hermit comes forth once more
to prepare for the final term of imprisonment which
will end only with his death.
The Lamas look down upon the laity, calling them
" the dark ignorant people " and " the worldly ones/'
though sometimes they are kind enough to give them
the title of " the givers of alms," making it quite clear,
however, that it is the givers who gain most by this
exercise of charity. The people accept the authority
of the Lamas without question, and give lavishly
towards their support.
The ordinary people are kindly, hard-working,
cheerful, and hospitable; they are also extremely
courteous and well-mannered. David MacDonald
TIBET 83
says that "on the roads everyone who passes by has
a cheery word and a smile for one, even the very poor
and the beggars protruding their tongues to the full
extent as a sign of greeting. This tongue-protruding
takes a little getting used to, before the traveller new
to Tibet realizes it is all meant in respect, and not as
rudeness." Their main occupations are agriculture,
cattle and sheep raising, and trade. The two trade
centres are Pharijong on the Indian trade route, and
Chamdo on the Chinese frontier. The daily life is hard,
for the climate is severe, and there is little comfort in
the houses of the poorer people.
Religious ideas play a leading part in everyday
life. The doctrine of Karma and of the transmigration
of the soul, and the insistence upon the importance
of acquiring merit by good deeds, affect the life of the
laity in many ways. The spirit of Buddhism dominates
their folk-lore, their proverbs, and their songs and plays.
It influences their attitude towards animals, prohibiting
any careless sacrifice of life. Crime is punished with
ruthless severity, and mutilation is a common form of
punishment.
The popular religion has, however, some very
striking non-Buddhist features, derived from the Bon
religion which preceded Buddhism. The hardness of
life in such a severe climate, where the forces of nature
seem like implacable enemies, leads the Tibetans to
believe that their disasters are due to the activity of
malignant spirits. Hence their craving for protection
by means of charms and amulets which everyone
wears, even the Lamas themselves. Pilgrimages are
popular, and prayers are ever on the lips of the people.
Day and night the prayer-flags flutter in the breeze,
the people turn their prayer-wheels and use their
rosaries ; yet with all their strivings they never enter
into peace.
IV.
The rule of the Lamas dates from the time of
Kublai Khan and of Gushi Khan, his Tartar successor
84 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
in Central Asia. Kublai Khan appointed the Abbot
of Sakya as ruler of Tibet; Gushi Khan transferred
the control to the priests and created the office of
Dalai Lama ; this official together with the Tashi
Lama became the source of all the power in the State.
Gradually, however, the political power came to be
vested solely in the Dalai Lama, while the influence
of the Tashi Lama was limited to purely religious
functions and ceremonies. ,
In 1720 China drove out the Tartar overlords from
Tibet and thus secured a certain amount of control
over the country. Relations between China and Tibet,
however, remained uneasy and uncertain, and the
political question of the Sino-Tibetan border has never
been entirely settled. The political situation assumed
a new aspect in 1914 when Tibet signed a treaty with
India* which completely transformed its political
position. From being a reluctantly dependent country,
it became an independent autonomous State.
To-day Tibet stands at the parting of the ways.
Lhasa, the Sacred City, the conservative stronghold
of Lamaism, has been besieged in the seeming security
of its isolation, and that in the most subtle manner,
for the foe is no external one, but dwells within its own
walls.
The Younghusband Mission of 1904-05 may be
said to mark the beginning of modern history in Tibet,
and, since the visit of the Dalai Lama to India, Lhasa
has become the scene of the efforts of the progressive
party, which has outlined a tentative scheme of
reform.
At present the only roads in Tibet are those which
have been worn by the great caravans travelling to
and fro, but plans are in the air for better roads and
for the construction of a light railway. Reformers
have succeeded in establishing a regular postal service
between the chief towns, and in the installation of
* Simla Convention, 3rd July, 1914. For a full account of this poli-
tical development, see Europe and the East, by N. D. Harris> chapter X.
Cf. also The People of Tibet, by Sir Charles Bell, chapter II.
TIBET 85
telegraph and telephone lines from Darjeeling to
Lhasa. It is not surprising that there is much opposition
to such reforms in a land which has prided itself for
centuries upon its rigid isolation. The progressive
party, although comparatively small, is favoured by
the Dalai Lama himself, and includes within its ranks
some outstanding men.
The vast majority of the Lamas are opposed to all
reform and to every kind of innovation, whether
secular or religious. At the same time there are signs
which suggest that the progressive element cannot
be measured merely in terms of numbers.
Whatever changes the future may hold for Tibet,
the modern movements which have recently taken
place seem to have rendered the country more exclusive
than ever. Strangely enough institutions like the post
and the telegraph are proving the means of shutting
the door against European intrusion.
A Tibetan proverb says : " The goal will not be
reached if the right distance be not travelled," and
when so much power is vested in the conservative,
clerical party, whose influence over the people is
unlimited, it is useless to expect that the whole situation
can suddenly be transformed by a handful of
" moderns." Until some degree of enlightenment
can penetrate the ignorance and gross superstition of
the lama hierarchy, there is little hope of either spiritual
or material progress in Tibet.
V.
The first follower of Christ to penetrate into the
mountain fastnesses of Tibet was Friar Odoric of
Pordenone, who is said to have reached Lhasa by way
of China about 1328. " Going on further," says Odoric,
" I came to a certain Kingdom called Tibet. . . . The
people of this country do for the most part live in tents
made of black felt. Their principal city is surrounded
with fair and beautiful walls . . . curiously put
86 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
together."* Two hundred years passed before any
further attempt was made to enter the country in the
Name of Christ. Antonio de Andrade, a Portuguese
Jesuit, determined to enter Tibet through India. It
is claimed that he was the first Christian missionary
to cross the Himalayas, and on Easter Day, 12th
April, 1626, he laid the foundation stone of the first
Christian Church in Tibet at a little town on the
upper Sutlej River. He died eight years later, with
symptoms of poisoning.
Stephen Cacella, another Portuguese Jesuit, reached
Shigatse in 1627, and died in that town in 1630. In
1643 the Tibetan Jesuit Mission issued an eloquent
appeal to Europe for support to enable them to continue
their work :
" Want of men and money has compelled us to give
up the Mission, but we cannot leave the country
entirely to itself. Great sacrifices have been made.
Brother Bento de Goes has died in discovering it.
After him Fathers Cacella and Diaz have passed away
let us not be less generous ! The people are worth it ! "
But the appeal was unheeded, and in the West the
daring enterprise was soon forgotten.
Twenty years later two monks, Johann Grueber
and Albert D'Orville, made a prolonged journey through
Tibet from China to Nepal. They visited Lhasa in
1661. Worn out by the hardships of the way D'Orville
died at Agra in 1662 : " Midway upon his journey
between China and Europe he departed for his heavenly
home."
During the eighteenth century various Capuchin
friars travelled freely between Calcutta and Lhasa.
They founded a mission in Lhasa which was carried
on from 1715-1733. Attempts were made to revive
it, but it finally collapsed in 1745. It was during this
time that Hippolyte Desideri, another Jesuit priest,
spent several years in Lhasa (1716-1721). In the
judgment of Sven Hedin, Desideri was " one of the
most brilliant travellers who ever visited Tibet."
* Contemporaries of Marco Polo. Edited by M. Komroff, p. 244.
TIBET 87
The collapse of the Capuchin Mission in 1745 marked
the close of all attempts at settled missionary work
in Tibet. Efforts have been made to reach the capital,
but the proceeding has always been attended by
much danger. For instance, in 1898 two Dutch
missionaries, Mr. and Mrs. Rijnhart, set out from
the Kokonor for Lhasa. Rijnhart was murdered on
the Upper Mekong, and his wife only escaped with
great difficulty into Szechwan.
Thus from the beginning of the nineteenth century
Tibet became the Great Closed Land.
CHAPTER VI.
On the Borderland of Tibet
A GLANCE at the map will show that Tibet is
surrounded by a long mountainous frontier.
Starting from the north it runs southward along the
borders of the three Chinese provinces of Kansu,
Szechwan and Yunnan. Turning westward towards
India, it skirts the northern frontiers of Burma and
Assam, finally reaching Kashmir by way of Bhutan,
Sikkim and Nepal. Beyond, to the north, lies Chinese
Turkistan.
Thus, speaking broadly, Tibet lies midway between
China and India, and from the political standpoint
these are the powers with which it has to reckon.
The situation is further complicated by the presence
of Russia in the background.
What then is the missionary situation throughout
this vast borderland ? To what extent is Tibet a
" closed land " ? How far are the Tibetans being
affected by the work of missions in neighbouring
lands ?
From the side of India Tibet is a " closed land "
to missions. The situation is far more promising on
the Sino-Tibetan frontier. In 1928 two missionaries
received official permission from Lhasa to travel through
Tibet. It took them ten months to march from Sining
in Kansu to Leh in Kashmir. It was a hazardous
expedition, and the travellers had much to endure.
On one occasion they went for twenty-seven hours
without anything to drink ; when they did find water
it was covered with a green scum and swarming with
mosquitoes, but such things seem almost tolerable
when one is consumed by raging thirst. One of the
great difficulties in travelling through such desert
country was the frequent loss of animals due to lack
of grass and water. Everywhere the missionaries had
entire freedom to preach and distribute the Scriptures,
and they found the people friendly and approachable.
ON THE BORDERLAND OF TIBET 89
I.
(i-)
Kansu-Tibetan Border.
Sining, the city of " Western Peace/' bears a name
out of keeping with its history. Certainly the city has
suffered severely in the miseries which have accom-
panied the Muhammadan rebellions. Its sufferings
were especially severe during the Rebellion of 1895.
The China Inland Mission early recognized the im-
portance of Sining as a missionary centre, standing as it
does where four wide valleys meet, and easily accessible
to the Tibetan traders who come to it from beyond
the mountains. Tibetans visit the city freely, bringing
with them for sale their loads of firewood, butter,
wool, and other products. Not far away, among the
western mountains, there are some twenty lamaseries,
and fed and yellow lamas often mingle with the crowds
in the streets of Sining.
Since 1885 pioneer work in Sining has been carried
on by Mr. Cecil Polhill, of the China Inland Mission,
and many others on whose hearts God has laid the
burden of the great " closed land." Since 1923 a very
definite step forward has been taken by the purchasing
of premises now known as the Tibetan Gospel Inn,
where there is free accommodation for a large number
of guests. Plenty of stable room is provided, for nearly
all Tibetans who visit the city are mounted on camels,
yaks, mules, horses or donkeys. There is also a kitchen
in which the guests cook their own food. The chief
feature of the Inn is the Preaching Hall, a large room
which will seat about fifty people in comfort. Since
the opening of this building in December, 1923, the
Tibetans have gradually overcome their first suspicions,
and, especially from November to April, the Inn has
often been overcrowded. The Tibetan evangelists,
Mr. Tong and Mr. Feng, are kept busy preaching and
teaching and distributing tracts.
Among the many Tibetan lamaseries near Sining,
that of Kumbum, just over twenty miles distant,
90 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
ranks as second or third to Lhasa in importance. It
contains three thousand six hundred lamas, many
of whom have visited the Gospel Inn. At the great
Butter Festival, which takes place on the fifteenth day
of the first Chinese month, there are always splendid
opportunities for preaching the Gospel at Kumbum
itself.
A number of Tibetans have already professed
faith in Christ. The first to become interested in the
Gospel was Chi-Fah-chia. The lamas who own the
land on which he lives, have beaten him unmercifully
for his refusal to continue idolatrous practices. On
more than one occasion he has been imprisoned in the
lamasery, chained to the ground in such a way that
all night long he could neither sit down nor stand
upright. Instead of the great prayer flag which has
hung in the middle of his courtyard ever since he can
remember, he has allowed the missionary to hang up
another flag of the same length,* but instead of the
Tibetan prayer " Om mani padme hum " the words
of Mark i. 1.5 are inscribed on it : " The Kingdom of
God is at hand ; repent ye and believe the Gospel."
In 1927 there were two rather remarkable
conversions ; here is the story of one of them. A man
who lives on the other side of Lake Kokonor had been
staying at the Inn for some weeks and attending the
Tibetan services, though this attendance is quite
optional. At the end of one of the evening services
he left his seat and came to the front. Taking his
khata (scarf of blessing) in both hands he presented it
to the God of Heaven, " for," he said, " Thou art the
true God, and I will serve Thee to the end of my days."
After some time this old man of seventy returned to
his home in Tibet, where he will most certainly have
to face the severest persecution.
In May, 1927, the foreign missionaries had to leave
Sining, and the work was left in the hands of the
Chinese and Tibetan evangelists. In 1928, however,
the missionaries had scarcely returned to Sining
* Twenty feet.
ON THE BORDERLAND OF TIBET 91
before the Muhammadan Rebellion caused great
tension in the neighbourhood: "Country people
flocked into the walled cities, and city people sought
refuge in mountain caves/' The country side was
swarming with armed robbers.
Up till the year 1927 the Christian and Missionary
Alliance in this province was working amongst Chinese
and Tibetans at ten stations and ten out-stations.
At that time this Society had a staff of thirty-nine
missionaries and fifty-four native workers. There
were thirteen organized churches, with a total
membership of six hundred and thirty-two. Enquirers
were numerous, and, on an average, sixteen were
baptized every year.
For thirty-five years this work had been going on,
and it had been greatly blessed. Then came the
disturbances of 1927 and the foreign missionaries had
to withdraw, leaving the mission in the hands of three
Chinese leaders.
During 1928 the foreign missionaries began to return
to Kansu. It is the policy of this mission to press
forward into unevangelized areas, and plans which
had already been made for entering Tibet before 1927
were taken up again in 1928. The Chinese side of the
work is being handed over to the Chinese Church,
leaving the missionaries free for Tibetan work. The
extension of the latter work is being planned from
two new centres. The old Tibetan work, at Labrang,
Lupasi and Heh-tsao is being re-opened, while work
among Chinese and Tibetans is being carried on at
Hochow and Choni.
The Christian and Missionary Alliance has handed
over the two stations of Paoan and Rungwa to the
Swedish Assemblies of God, and some Tibetan work
is being done there. The General Council of the
Assemblies of God has work among the Tibetans at
Minchow, Labrang and Tangar, with a staff of five
workers.
This steady faithful work of peace is being carried
on under most disturbed conditions. In Central
Kansu there has been no rain for four years. The
92 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
fertile region which produces wheat has become a
desert. In one town the population has been reduced
from sixty thousand to three thousand. Several
foreign relief workers have died from typhus.* All
these troubles have been accentuated by the Muham-
madan Rebellion of 1928. This revolt affected Central
and Western Kansu. It is believed that at least two
hundred thousand people have died as a direct result
of the fighting. Disease and famine have fbllowed
in the wake of the Rebellion, leaving a trail of desolation
behind them. People have tried to stay their hunger
with oil-cake, leaves, bark, roots and grass. Many
persons have died from starvation, and in some places
dogs and wolves have feasted on the children thrown
outside the city walls. The rebels have sacked and
burned, the Tibetan monastery of Choni, destroying at
the same time the only set of wooden printing blocks of
the Tibetan classics in North-Eastern Tibet. The
rich monastery of Labrang was seized and looted.
The rising has now been subdued, and many mal-
contents have fled to the mountains.
At the close of the Rebellion, the Nationalist
Government in Nanking decreed that the Sining
district or circuit is to be carved out of Kansu Province
and added to Tsinghai (Kokonor). Sining itself is to
be the capital of the new province. Evidently, in
future the Chinese Government hopes to exercise
more than its present nominal suzerainty over Kokonor.
If these hopes are realized, it is probable that this whole
region will become far more open to the Gospel than
it is at present.
Szechwan-Tibetan Border.
Tatsienlu is a centre of Tibetan work under the
China Inland Mission. Owing to recent political
changes this city is now the capital of the specially
administered district of Chwanpien, which has ceased
* The Times, 30th July, 1929.
ON THE BORDERLAND OF TIBET 93
to form an integral part of the Province of Szechwan.
Besides a large number of aboriginal tribes, many of
whom are unknown by name to Europeans and have
never yet been reached with the Gospel, Chwanpien
also contains a very large, if somewhat floating,
Tibetan population. Tatsienlu is the great tea centre
on the Tibetan frontier, and from all parts of Tibet
traders come there for this precious commodity.
From 1897, when the station was first opened, attempts
have constantly been made to reach these people,
but difficulties, due to the uncertain political
conditions, have made the work less fruitful than had
been hoped.
Mr. J. Huston Edgar, an Australian member of the
Mission, who is a born explorer as well as a keen
evangelist, has met with most amazing adventures
during his long itinerations in this territory. He sums
up one year's work as follows : " Sold and distributed
a hundred and two thousand tracts in Tibetan, fifty
thousand books in Tibetan, and another 21,500 books
in Chinese, making a total of 173,500 copies." In
order to achieve these results he spent a hundred and
eighty-one days away from home, travelled nearly a
thousand English miles on mountainous tracts, and
thirty times he reached an altitude varying from
fourteen thousand five hundred to sixteen thousand
feet. Dangers from wild animals, dangers from the
fierce dogs which surround every nomad encampment,
and dangers from robbers, were an almost daily
experience. He bivouacked in the pouring rain among
these precipitous hills, spent one night in drenching
rain in a bog at an altitude of fourteen thousand feet,
slept for six nights in soaked bedding, and for eight
days wore drenched clothing. To crown all he suffered
from a poisoned foot, which kept him in bed for a week
and hampered him for a month, but through this
delay he was able to place twenty-six thousand portions
of Christian literature in the hands of lamas and other
Tibetans.
In the space of twelve months this daring servant
of God was able to visit the districts of no less than
94 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
sixteen large lamaseries with a total of fifteen thousand
priests. In spite of much opposition there are several
outstanding features which enable us to glorify God
on his behalf. The abbot of the lamasery at Atuntze
promised that he would do all he could to circulate
the Gospels which Mr. Edgar had given him. The
abbot of the lamasery at K'ongyu told him that he had
been spending a, part of the night in prayer for him,
pleading for his safety, while the high priest of the
region of Tantong gave him his blessing.
One of the most important places in the district is
Litang. This town lies only two hundred miles to the
west of Tatsienlu, but in order to reach it ten days
of arduous travel are required ; thirteen passes have
to be crossed at an altitude of over fifteen thousand
feet. The town of Litang has about 3,300 inhabitants
and the famous lamasery contains 3,700 lamas. Mr.
Edgar's last visit to this place was thoroughly successful:
" Scores of encampments were visited, and in spite
of baying bloodhounds and grunting yaks with tails
erect, eyes ablaze, and jets of steam pouring from
dilated nostrils, we were able to put large quantities
of literature into the hands of nomads, lamas, and
brigands."
For many years Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham have
been stationed at Tatsienlu, and throughout the
upheaval of the last two years they remained there,
caring for the small body of Chinese and Tibetan
believers, and carrying on tract distribution in the
surrounding neighbourhood.
An evangelistic service for Tibetans is held on
Sunday afternoons. One of the great difficulties of
preaching to Tibetans is that they have never been
trained to sit for more than one minute in one position,
or accustomed to listen for any duration beyond sixty
seconds ! Mr. Edgar writes : "I have prepared a* great
number of addresses in the Tibetan language, which
I have memorized very carefully. An address lasts
for about five minutes ; that is about as much as
they will endure." This explains his statement that
on one day he preached twenty-five times, and that
ON THE BORDERLAND OF TIBET 95
within two years he delivered seventeen hundred
addresses.
From the station of Batang, established in 1908,
Tibetan work is carried on by the United Christian
Missionary Society (Disciples of Christ). That the work
is hard is indicated by the fact that in 1926, even
before the recent troubles, there were no baptisms.
There are fourteen native workers, amongst whom
there are two evangelists and ten teachers. Some
medical work is being attempted with the assistance
of Chinese medical workers. In a field where it is
possible to reach fifty thousand people, this Mission is
making a noble effort to carry on work under exceed-
ingly difficult conditions.
(* \
m.)
Yunnan-Tibetan Border.
South of Szechwan the western province of Yunnan
forms a kind of wedge between Burma and the rest
of China. The narrow end of the wedge touches the
Tibetan border. The whole of the frontier is marked
by wonderful mountain scenery. Here in Yunnan there
is a wealth of beauty in the flowers that bloom in its
remotest regions. Indeed, this province contains
some of the finest scenery in the world. French Roman
Catholic missionaries live in some of these isolated
valleys, shut off from all contact with the outer world
during many months of the year. Their work, however,
is mainly among the aboriginal tribes and does not
affect Tibet.
No Protestant mission has taken up work among
the Tibetans along this frontier. The country is
mountainous and the villages are built at an altitude
which varies from six thousand to eight thousand
feet above sea level. There are many aboriginal hill
tribes, and the larger cities have a small resident
population of Tibetan traders, who go as far as
Yunnanfu where there is a Tibetan colony.
The Pentecostal Missionary Union (The Assemblies
96 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
of God) has four workers at Likiang, a small town
situated among the hills. The work is mostly among
the hill people. Tibetans frequently visit this town
on their way through to Tibet, and Gospels are given
to them. The work previously carried on at Atuntze
has been given up. A new station has recently been
opened at Weihsi, in the country which lies between
the Mekong and the Yangtse by the Tibetan Border
Mission ; at present this work is confined to the
Lisu hill people.
II.
From Yunnan we pass to BURMA, for the Northern
Territories of Burma meet the frontiers of Yunnan
at a point where both touch Tibet. Mission work has
only recently been projected on the south of this
region, which embraces the Hukawng Valley and the
Triangle, where the Government of India has recently
been engaged in freeing the slaves and in putting an
end to head-hunting among the Nagas. The population
consists of Shans in Putao, and Nagas, Kachins, and
other small hill tribes, many of which have not yet
been brought under Government administration.
The frontiers of Tibet north of Burma and Assam
are possibly the least-known parts of Asia. One or
two expeditions have entered the Abor country beyond
Sadiya in Assam, but the stretch of frontier known as
the Sadiya and Balipara frontier tracts and the hills
beyond, lying between the bend of the Brahmaputra
and the Eastern frontier of Bhutan, are still a terra
incognita. There are no missions among these frontier
peoples.
BHUTAN itself is a closed land. The people speak
a form of Tibetan and their religion is lamaistic
Buddhism. It has only been possible to establish
indirect contact with the inhabitants. It is safe to say
that economically, socially and spiritually, the quarter
of a million people in Bhutan are the neediest in the
whole frontier region. Work has been carried on
ON THE BORDERLAND OF TIBET 97
amongst those living on the Indian frontier, but with
little success. The people are very apathetic and do
not desire education.
The Church of Scotland has a Christian congregation
and a dispensary on the borders of the country, which
exercise considerable influence in Western Bhutan.
It is principally due to the kindly personal relations
of the Rev. Dr. Graham of that Mission and the present
Rajah that several village schools have been carried
on in Bhutan itself, and a number of boys have also
received education outside its borders. The people
are not, therefore, quite without a witness, but they
are for the most part hard to reach, and they remain
indifferent and incurious.
THE BRITISH INDIA DISTRICTS OF DARJEELING
AND KALIMPONG, with what remains of the once
independent kingdom of SIKKIM, form a wedge between
Bhutan on the east and Nepal on the west. Here
enters the road to Lhasa, and along its difficult marches
communication is kept up with India. This road passes
over the Jalep La (14,390 feet) in Sikkim. At
Kalimpong, a most important market town on this
route, one of the Church of Scotland missionaries is
specially set apart for work among the many Tibetan
traders who pass through the village. In addition to
services for the small congregation of Tibetan Christians,
there is regular preaching in that language in the
bazaar. The Nepalese have overrun Sikkim, and only
eight thousand of the original inhabitants, the Lepchas,
remain. The Lepchas were originally animists, but the
State religion is Buddhism and Tibetan influence is
strong. In the north there are a number of monasteries
of the Dukpa or Red-Hat sect of Tibet.
The Church of Scotland started work in Sikkim
in 1880 ; it now has twenty elementary schools and
small Christian communities at about twelve places.
Dispensaries or dressing stations have been established
at nine of these centres, where Christian Lepchas and
Nepalese seek to help the villagers to combat disease.
About thirty years aga (1898) members of the Free
Church of Finland organized evangelistic and industrial
98 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
work among the people in the north of Sikkim. Twenty-
eight per cent, of the Christians are literate. There
are to-day eleven missionaries and forty-six indigenous
workers.
West of Sikkim, stretching for nearly five hundred
miles, lies the beautiful well-watered land of NEPAL/
a wild mountainous country containing the highest
peak in the world. As mission work is forbidden in
Nepal, and no possibility of communication exists
for missionaries with Tibet, the door to Central Asia
is closed in this direction.*
At the east end of Nepal lies the British Indian
District of KUMAON, which was captured from the
Gurkhas. Here mission work is carried on by the
American Methodist Episcopal Mission, which affects
to some extent the people who use the trade routes
which lead over the Milam Pass to the western
extremity of Tibet and the Manasorawar Lake, a
sacred place of pilgrimage in Tibet, also frequented by
many Indians.
Some work in the District on this side of the Milam
Pass was carried on until recently by Miss Gow, late
of Rajputana, who has now retired. Another interesting
work for Bhotiyas and Tibetans was that carried on
for a number of years by Dr. Martha Sheldon, of the
Methodist Episcopal Mission in Dharma Bhot. The
sphere of her work lay in the valley of the Kali Ganga,
beyond which lie the mountains of Nepal. Here at
Dharchula and Tarkot in the winter, and at Sikha in
the warm weather, she carried on medical work. Several
attempts made by Dr. Sheldon to work in Tibet were
fruitless owing to the opposition of the authorities.
Dr. Sheldon died in 1912, and for sixteen years
the work has lapsed. In 1928, however, it was reopened
by the Rev. and Mrs. E. B. Steiner. A small Christian
community still survives as a proof of the enduring
nature of the work already done.
There are other unevangelized valleys which also
* The position of Sikkim in relation to Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet,
is unique, and by strengthening the work here much might be done
to prepare and send workers into these lands.
ON THE BORDERLAND OF TIBET 99
abut on Tibet, but as they are quite cut off from the
north by the barrier of mountains they belong to
India's problem. The same may be said of the people
of the neighbouring Tehri Garhwal State, where there
is a small medical work at the capital, Tehri, under
the care of Dr. Vrooman of the Tehri-Anjuman Mission.
As we travel westwards along the Himalayas the
next approach to Tibet is by way of the SUTLEJ
VALLEY, passing through Simla and thence through
the Bashahr State via Poo and over the Shipki Pass.
This is called the Hindustan-Tibet road, and down it
came Dr. Sven Hedin from Srinagar in Kashmir, after
completing his journey through Western Tibet.
For many years the Church Missionary Society
had a missionary at Kotgarh, forty miles north of
Simla. The missionaries of this Society and the Baptist
missionaries from Simla often visited the upper Sutlej
Valley villages of Bashahr and Kunawar. Both these
Missions have now withdrawn. At one time the
Moravian Mission had work at Chini and Poo, close
to the Tibetan frontier ; the Chini work was handed
over to the Salvation Army and finally abandoned,
and recently the Poo work has also been closed. The
Tibetan-speaking people of this Valley are very poor
and ignorant, and, in spite of all attempts to reach
them, there are no Christians there to-day.
During the season when the Shipki Pass is open,
lamas and travellers pour down the Sutlej Valley,
bringing ponies and wool. They can be seen in hundreds
along the road, the men clad in their dirty red garments
and the women with elaborately plaited hair. They
listen to the preaching, but save for the occasional
purchase of a Gospel they seem to be quite indifferent
to all that is said. Large numbers gather at the Rampur
Fair, where there is a Tibetan temple which was
erected by one of the recent Rajas of Bashahr who was
himself a Hindu.
There are workers associated with the Christian
Missions in Many Lands in Dagshai, who go among
the hill peoples, with whom Tibetan traders carry on
business.
100 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
Dr. Watson, of the Leper Asylum at Sabathu,
Simla District, superintends the work of the colporteurs
of the National Bible Society of Scotland, who meet
with the Tibetans coming to the Simla Hills during
the summer. Gospels are continually being distributed
and in this way the Message is conveyed in their
own language.
On the west of the upper Valley of the Sutlej lies
the high mountainous district of SPITI, through which
the river of that name flows to join the Sutlej. The
villages are mere hamlets, and shelter about three
thousand people. The average height of the Valley
above sea level is eleven thousand feet ; it is surrounded
by mountain peaks, some of which rise to a height of
twenty-three thousand feet. This is one of the most
inaccessible parts of the British Empire. Government
is conducted through the local chief the Nono of Spiti.
These people are strict Buddhists, and, except for
occasional visits from Moravian missionaries who used
to pass through Spiti on their way from Poo (which is
now closed) to their station at Kyelang in Lahoul,
they have never heard the story of the Gospel. They
remain to-day unreached.
Still further west we cross the high passes into
LAHOUL, which, with Spiti, forms the frontier part
of the Kangra District of the Punjab. The land of
the Chandra-Bhaga Rivers came into the possession
of the British in 1846. It has been the theatre of
many contending forces Buddhism from Ladakh
and Hinduism from Kulu and to-day Buddhism is
the principal religion of the people. The road to the
north runs over the Lingti Pass to British Tibet
(Ladakh). The Moravian Mission has worked since
1854 at Kyelang, the meeting place of the Chandra
and Bhaga Rivers, and has won a few converts. The
Christians in the Kyelang congregation, however, are
mainly from Ladakh.
Beyond Lahoul, with its eight thousand people,
lies the CHAMBA STATE, the northern district of which
is inhabited by some Buddhists, who number only
about five hundred, and among whom no Christian
ON THE BORDERLAND OF TIBET 101
work is done. The frontier countries of Chamba,
Kashmir and Jummu are mainly occupied by Hindus
and Muhammadans. The Church of Scotland and the
Church of England carry on work in these States.
In Northern Kashmir, however, there is a Buddhist
population of about thirty-eight thousand in LADAKH,
where the Moravian Mission has worked for over fifty
years. To-day at Leh and Kalatse there is a Christian
community of one hundred, half of whom are
communicants. Indifference, ignorance and self-
satisfaction are found everywhere, and the work calls
for the highest kind of Christian courage. Organized
medical work is carried on, and leprosy is being treated
on modern lines. There are several schools for boys
and girls, but no keenness to learn. Two women
members of the Central Asian Mission are at present
visiting the Moravians at Leh, in order to get some
insight into work among Tibetan-speaking people.
BALTISTAN, which lies to the west of Ladakh, also
forms part of Northern .Kashmir. It is an extremely
mountainous country, and one of great interest from
the geographical point of view. The people are very
poor and ignorant ; in winter they suffer much from
cold and hunger. Many of their villages are built in
remote valleys, high up among the mountains, which
are most difficult to reach. Skardu, the capital, is a
scattered collection of houses, perched high up upon
a rock above the Indus, at a height of 7,250 feet above
the sea.
Two workers of the Central Asian Mission live among
the Muslims in Skardu and its neighbourhood, where
two schools have been established. Forty miles north-
west of Skardu lies a group of villages at Rondu, which
has been reported as a suitable centre for medical
work. These are but small efforts in such vast
territories. The interesting feature of the work of these
two Missions is that it lies across the great route from
India to Central Asia, from Kashmir to Kashgar and
beyond. This road passes near Skardu and goes on to
Gilgit, where the British Government has a military
post.
102 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
On the south side of the Karakoram Range, lie
the little countries of the HUNZA and NAGAR peoples,
whose true origin has long been a puzzle to ethnolo-
gists. They claim descent from Alexander the Great,
and are Muslims of the Mulai sect, owing allegiance
to the Aga Khan, though religion plays only a
small part in their daily lives. When travellers to
Kashgar pass this way visits are usually paid to the
chiefs of Hunza and Nagar. The occupation of these
people used to consist in raiding the caravans passing
along the Leh-Turkistan road, but this has now been
completely stopped, and the States, which are very
poor, receive a subsidy from the Indian Government.
No missionary work exists either at GILGIT or in the
HUNZA-NAGAR country.
The frontier now leads into the wild valleys and
passes of the Hindu Kush Mountains, a region known
as KOHISTAN, which lies partly in Kashmir, partly
in the Swat and Chitral areas of the North-West
Province of India, and partly in Afghanistan. Little
is known of these regions and neither traveller nor
missionary has penetrated into their wilds.
There is a good deal of coming and going over the
passes which lead from Afghanistan to Russian Central
Asia, but, as Christian missions can make no approach
through the closed land of Afghanistan to the lands
of Central Asia, that way is closed and barred. Yet
we have the story of how the Nestorian Church in
the sixth century passed up through Persia and
Afghanistan and penetrated to the heart of Central
Asia. It may be that a day will come when this may
also be possible for the Church of the twentieth century.
There is, however, one Christian messenger which
is stealing into Tibet from the borderlands ; the
Christian New Testament. The attractively printed
Gospels including one edition printed on native
paper exactly like a Tibetan Buddhist Scripture are
continually finding their way over the border. There
is a constant coming and going of Kashmiri merchants,
Balti traders, Punjabi shop-keepers, religious men-
dicants and devotees from India as well as from Tibet,
ON THE BORDERLAND OF TIBET 103
highlandmen from Ladakh and Lahoul, and even
from Nepal. For all these Christian Scriptures are
available. Kashmiri, Chambiali, Kumaoni, Garhwali,
Kanauri, Ladakhi, three forms of Lahuli, Nepali, all
have the Bible in whole or in part. We have reason
to believe that books in all these tongues have actually
entered Central Asia. Arabic, Persian and Pashtu are
also heard over their own borders, both north and south,
and in all three complete Bibles are ready for the
reader. Both the British and Foreign Bible Society
and the National Bible Society of Scotland are supplying
the Scriptures to the missionary societies and
individuals who are carrying on the work of Bible
distribution along the borders of Tibet.
One of the most forceful means of spreading the
knowledge of the true God to this dark corner of
God's earth is, without doubt, His own Word. It is
the silent missionary as well as the ubiquitous
missionary and the permeating instructor. In the
Bible Societies with their translations and their
attractive publications, the Christian Church has at
her hand what The Times called the gift which is in
itself good, and the giving of which is perfect.
Along this extensive frontier the points of missionary
contact are still few and feeble, and the strongholds
of indifference and ignorance can only be broken down
by faith and prayer. The call of dire need is
overwhelming and constitutes a perpetual challenge
to the Christian Church.
CHAPTER VII.
The Challenge
DURING the summer of 1924 the undaunted,
though baffled members of the Everest
Expedition returned home to tell their tale of
courageous effort launched against the insuperable
difficulties of the Himalayan conquest. The party
was not complete, for two of its number had vanished,
last seen alive silhouetted on the sky line near the
summit of the impregnable mountain peak.
One who went as far as he dared in a vain attempt
to track his two companions, speaks of the cold
indifference with which Everest looked down on him
and howled derision at his feeble attempt to wrest
from it the secret of his friends' disappearance. Even
as he turned back to join the camp, he realized that
he had touched that line beyond which, if a man step,
he must ever be led on, and regardless of all obstacles
press towards that most sacred and highest peak of all.
Everest is a fitting symbol of the seemingly
insuperable difficulties which confront the Central
Asian missionary. The Himalayan Range is but one
of the obstacles which combine to guard the land from
conquest by the pioneer band. He who would enter
must first sit down and count the cost, measuring
his own resources of strength, endurance, time and
money, and take counsel whether he be able with ten
thousand to meet him that cometh against him with
twenty thousand.
Nature has contributed her full quota of defence,
for on the east He deserts which are torrid or icy
according to the season, whose limitless sands may
only be crossed at the expense of life itself, and whose
caravan routes are strewn with bleaching bones. To
the south are unbroken ranges, whose few accessible
passes are only grudgingly open to travellers for a few
months in the year before fresh snows again block the
THE CHALLENGE 105
way. On the north are the wide waterless steppes of
Siberia, whose distances and dangers spell terror to
the traveller.
Before the birth of Christ the Chinese historians
were indicating in detail the various routes which
transected the lands lying beyond their own western
border. In spite of some development in railway and
motor transport along the frontiers, in most of the
countries described in this book the only means of
transit is by cart, or camel, or on horseback. In these
regions no progress in modes of travel has been made
in the course of the centuries, and the stages described
by Marco Polo are still followed by the weary traveller.
It takes three months to traverse the trade route which
connects Kucheng in Sinkiang with Peking, seventy-
five days to cover the distance between Khotan and
the Siberian frontier, and ninety-four days to travel
from Kashgar to Suchow.
The expenditure of time and money, the demand
on physical strength, the dangers from robbers, from
hunger and thirst, involved in these long journeys
over burning deserts, dangerous rivers or lonely
waterless steppes, are some of the obstacles which must
be overcome by the missionary who would seek to
preach Christ in any one of the countries described in
this survey.
As though in league with nature, the Governments
of these lands, which are at variance on so many points,
are at one in the determination to exclude the disturbing
Christian missionary from a territory which all tacitly
acknowledge may yet be the Champs de Mars of the
nations.
Only those who have attempted to penetrate these
fastnesses know how many obstacles block the road.
Conflicting interests, international suspicion and the
spirit of fear, inspire unreasoned action and astigmatic
policies on the part of diplomatic Governments. How
slow is man to recognize that in the coming of the
Kingdom of Christ lies the peace of the world, and
that apart from His dominion the air will always be
alive with rumours and with the reports of those wild
106 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
and foolish deeds that men perform when under the
domination of fear.
Throughout the centuries statesmen and generals
have coveted the control of the trade routes of Asia,
knowing that great power would lie in the hands of
any ruler who could dominate these strategic lines of
communication. What spirit of blindness can have
possessed the Christian Church for so many centuries,
that she has failed even to detect that the same arteries
which circulated the reports of Alexander's victories,
the advance of Genghiz Khan, of Chien Lung's battles,
of the progress of the great European War, and of
Russia's bloody revolution, might be used to carry
the knowledge of the Evangel of the Prince of Peace
to places which, at this hour, are still closed to the
Christian missionary.
A few Christian missionaries have overcome the
initial difficulties presented by the combined forces of
man and nature, and have secured entrance to the
lands which lie enclosed within these formidable
barriers. Then it is that the icy, sterile opposition of
Islam meets their ardour and enthusiasm with cold
derision and confident security : "If any man dare to
oppose us he shall be swallowed up as surely as were
the serpents of the magicians swallowed by the rod of
Moses." Then also they encounter the paralysing
atmosphere of Lamaism, well called the "Blight of
Asia," which includes the teaching and practices of a
debased Buddhism permeated by the obscenities of
Tantric sex symbolism, and the demonism of the
primitive Bon worship.
The Everest expedition did not return with
the triumphant knowledge of having reached the
summit. If the two brave men who so tragically
vanished from sight on that May morning gained
their objective, they did not return to tell the story.
Yet so much was accomplished that every subsequent
attempt will be on known ground until the explorers
are within a few hours' climb of the summit.
The missionaries of Central Asia are still wrestling
with the initial difficulties of pioneer advance in
THE CHALLENGE
107
unknown lands amongst people of many a strange
tongue. Their reports speak rather of a great attempt
than of actual achievement, and some of these
pioneers are working in such great isolation that
they are lost from view by the watchers at the base.
At some future time the adventure which is costing
them so much may have become an easy undertaking
for their successors, but these will advance over the
road traced by the vanguard, which, having opened
the way, will have proved the possibility of the
undertaking. Men and women, see to it that neither
cowardly fear nor dastardly ease hold you back from
keeping open that road which it has cost the very life
of the pathfinder to make.
APPENDICES
INTRODUCTION : SUGGESTED POLICY OF MISSIONARY ADVANCE.
STATISTICAL SUMMARY.
STATISTICAL TABLES.
I. RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA.
II. CHINESE TURKISTAN.
III. NORTH-WEST KANSU AND KANSU-TIBETAN BORDER.
IV. MONGOLIA.
V. TIBET.
VI. CHINESE AND INDIAN BORDERLANDS.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES.
INTRODUCTION
Suggested Policy of Missionary Advance
Since the last Survey was issued there has been some increase
in missionary effort. This advance has been carefully reviewed
in the preceding pages. The recently created Central Asia Prayer
Fellowship has resulted in a more comprehensive knowledge of, and
deeper interest in, these lands, and will enable the missions
concerned to devise more concerted policies of advance.
The most hopeful and productive method of missionary work
in the conditions which have been described is that of Bible
distribution. For more than a century the Bible Society has been
supplying Scriptures in the principal languages spoken within the
enormous area constituting Central Asia, as well as in those tongues
used on its borders. By colporteurs, missionaries, travellers, mer-
chants, these volumes have been filtering through for many years.
Its agents have regularly made long caravan tours across the Gobi,
reaching not only the nomads roaming over the Desert, but leaving
portions of Scriptures in monasteries and villages on and off the
main trade routes. The few missionaries actually at work all agree
in testifying to the value of the printed Gospels with which they
are regularly supplied. They bear their testimony to the fact that
this is one of the greatest contributions to the spread of the know-
ledge of the Gospel, even in those closed lands into which mission-
aries are not permitted to enter. The Word of God is not bound ;
and doors closed to foreign missionaries are often open to the
printed page.
It must be remembered that most of the peoples living in Central
Asia speak languages like some form of Chinese, or of Turkish,
or Russian, or Tibetan, or Mongolian, which are used widely
outside of their own particular territory, and in all these
widely-spoken languages the Scriptures, either in whole or in
part, are now available. Even the more provincial tongues, such
as the various dialects of Kashgar, or Kirghiz, are increasingly
being enriched by books of Christian Scripture. In all the principal
languages encircling Central Asia, as well as those spoken within
this great tract, the Bible Society is supplying, and is always ready
to supply, portions of God's Word. Travellers have told us that
the number of those who are able to read is much larger than might
be expected. Most monasteries and religious houses impart a certain
amount of instruction, and most villages contain at least a few who
are literate. To such, a nevy printed book in their own tongue is a
wonderful experience.
The policy of extensive distribution is being steadily pursued
by the British and Foreign Bible Society and by the National Bible
Society of Scotland, and is profoundly influencing the whole region.
112 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
The rise of the Chinese and Indian Churches to the consciousness
of their separate existence forms another great factor in the
further evangelization of Central Asia. The effective co-operation
of these two great Churches is essential to evangelistic advance.
What is happening in the Kansu Corridor is prophetic of what may
happen in Mongolia, Sinkiang and Tibet.
A third need in reviewing any policy of advance in Central Asia
is that of increasing the missionary contribution of the Western
Churches.
The missions now at work on the Chinese frontier need to be
greatly strengthened and their work co-ordinated by mutual
consultation. It is essential to carry the Chinese Church with them.
The missions in Inner Mongolia, in co-operation with the Chinese
Christians, can easily make a more concerted advance into the
interior. The two missions at work in Northern Kashmir among
the Muslim and Buddhist peoples respectively need much more
help from their supporters, and a mutual plan of operations should
be agreed upon, so that the very most may be made of their resources.
It has been suggested that a base should be established at Srinagar,
to which workers could retire for recuperation, and from which
supplies could be forwarded regularly. The conditions of life are
so strenuous in these regions that no great and effective work can
be contemplated without such a base, which could also be a training
centre. Plans of work in such regions need to be far-sighted and
the workers effectively equipped if any permanent result is to be
achieved^
In a peculiar way the responsibility for the evangelization of
these lands must devolve on the indigenous Christians, and the
contribution which missions and the Chinese and Indian Churches
are especially called on to make is to equip and inspire them to
undertake this arduous task.
From both the Chinese and Indian sides enterprising evangelists
have sought to penetrate Tibet. Sadhu Sundar Singh has shown
how difficult such approach is, but he has also proved its possibility.
All these efforts are signs of promise. There is no doubt that the
Church of India can do much to carry the Gospel over its frontiers.
These closed lands are the natural mission field for the efforts of
the Church of India and the Church of China.
In all missionary effort the controlling factor should be
co-operation with these Churches, without whose aid the task cannot
be completed.
Above all, the Kingdom can only truly advance through the
prayers of Christian people. Closed doors will thus be opened,
labourers thrust forth into this needy field, and a great harvest
reaped to the glory of God and the salvation of these millions for
whom Christ died.
113
LIST OF MISSIONARY SOCIETIES WITH
THEIR ABBREVIATIONS
A.G. Foreign Missions Department, General Council of the
Assemblies of God.
B.F.B.S. British and Foreign Bible Society.
C.A.M. Central Asian Mission.
C.I.M. China Inland Mission.
C.M.M.L. Christian Missions in Many Lands.
C. of S. Church of Scotland Foreign Mission Committee.
C.M.A. Christian and Missionary Alliance.
C.M.S. Church Missionary Society of Africa and the East.
F.C.F. Free Church of Finland.
H.F.M. Hephzibah Faith Mission.
K.M.B.C. Kremmer Mennonite Brethren Church (China Mennonite
Mission Society).
M.E.F.B. Board of Foreign Missions of the Methodist Episcopal
Church.
Mor.M. Moravian Missions.
M.P. Board of Foreign Missions of the Methodist Protestant
Church.
S.A. Salvation Army.
S.A.M. Scandinavian Alliance Mission of North America.
S.M. Swedish Mongol Mission.
S.M.F. Swedish Missionary Society.
Sv.A.M. Swedish Alliance Mission. (Working in conjunction with
the China Inland Mission.)
Sw.A.G. Swedish Assemblies of God.
T.B.M. Tibetan Border Mission.
T.T.M. Tibetan Tribes Mission.
U.C.M.S. United Christian Missionary Society (Disciples of Christ).
H
114
STATISTICAL SUMMARY
Countries covered
in this Survey.
Area.
Sq. Miles.
Population.
No. of
Missions.
No. of
Stations.
Mission-
aries.
Russian Central Asia . . 1,612,891
14,710,378
__
Chinese Turkistan . . 550,340
2,519,579
2
5
34
Kansu* 125,450
5,927,997
6
12
22
Mongolia . . . . | 1,445,000
8,098,000
10
27
97
test.)
Tibet 470,000
2,900,000
i
(est.)
4,203,681
34,155,954
15
44
150
Szechwan-Tibetan Border
2
2
17
Yunnan-Tibetan Border
2
2
6
Indian-Tibetan Border . .
8
6
27
23
54
200
* Kansu : The total area is given. There are three million Muslims in Kansu.
About one-quarter of the population is in that part ascribed to .Central Asia in the
survey.
STATISTICAL TABLES
APPENDIX I.
RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA
Republics.
Area.
Sq. Miles.
Population.
Chief Town.
Population.
Uzbek S.S.R
Tadzhik Aut. S.S.R.
Kazak Aut. S.S.R
Kara-Kalpak Aut. Area
Turcoman S.S.R
Kirghiz Aut. S.S.R.
131,410
30,888
1,129,347
43,630
182,630
94,983
5,270,200
745,200
6,530,528
303,460
883,549
977,441
Samarkand
Dyushambe
Kzyl-Orda
Turtkul
Askhabad
Kara-Kol
101,400
8,466
4,252
47,155
1,612,891
14,710,378
Uzbek S.S.R. has 31 towns and 14,788 villages.
Turcoman S.S.R. has 7 towns and 2,066 villages.
The above six Republics make up the area here described as Russian Central
Asia. The Uzbek and Turcoman Republics are constituent members of the Union
of Soviet Socialist Republics. The Tadzhik Aut. S.S.R. is under Uzbek. The Kazak
(Cossack) and Kirghiz Aut. S.S.Rs. are constituent members of the Russian Socialist
Federal Soviet Republic. The Kara-Kalpak Aut. Area is under the Kazak Republic.
The Oyrat Aut. Area shown on the map is in Siberia.
115
APPENDIX II.
CHINESE TURKISTAN (SINKIANG)
Stations.
Mission.
Missionaries.
Men.
Wives.
Single
Women.
Total.
Urumtsi (1908)
Kashgar (1894)
Hancheng (1909)
Yangi-Hessar (1912)
Yarkand (1897)
C.I.M.
S.M.F.*
S.M.F.
S.M.F.
S.M.F.
3
3
1
1
3
2
1
1
3
1
6
3
8
2
2
10
5
2
11
4
10
25
* The Figures for this Mission are those of 1926.
thirty-one, of whom six are on furlough.
At present the total staff is
APPENDIX III.
NORTH-WEST KANSU AND KANSU-TIBETAN BORDER
Missionaries.
Stations.
Mission.
Men.
Wives
Single
Women.
Total.
Sining
C.I.M.
2
1
3
Kanchow
Chinese Church
Suchow
Chinese Church
3
3
Labrang
C.M.A.
1
1
2
A.G. ..
1
1
Lupasi
C.M.A.
Heh-tsao
C.M.A.
Choni
C.M.A.
2
1
3
Taochowling
C.M.A.
Paoan
Sw.A.G.
1
1
2
Rungwa
Sw.A.G.
1
1
2
Minchow
A.G. ..
1
1
2
T.T.M.
1
1
2
Tangar
T.T.M.
1
1
2
12
6
11
8
3
22
116
APPENDIX IV.
MONGOLIA
Missionaries.
Stations.
Mission.
Men.
Wives
Single
Women
Total.
Sui-Yuan District.
Patsebolong
S.A.M. (1904)
1
1
1
3
Wangtefu, via Ningsia
ft
1
1
Kweihwating
S.A. (1918)
1
1
2
Pingtichuan
l
1
1
Kweihwating
Sv.A.M. (1886)
1
1
2
4
Pao-tow-chen
1
1
2
4
Saratsi
>
3
4
7
Shaerhtsin . .
t
-
Tokotoching
t
Liang-Cheng
t
Peh-keh-chi
9
-
Chahar District
Fengchen
S.A.
2
1
3
f 9
Sv.A.M.
1
1
2
4
A.G. (1909)
1
1
Dolonnor
A.G.
1
1
2
Gashatay
i
4
4
Chang Pei Hsien
tt
1
1
2
Halong-Osso
S.A.
1
1
2
S.M.
Gulchagan
t*
2
1
1
4
Hattin-Sum
t>
1
1
1
3
Doyen
t*
2
2
Chininghsien
H.F.M. (1922)
1
1
2
4
Chotzeshan
K.M.B.C. (1923)
2
2
2
6
Jehol District.
Jehol (1906)
C.M MX.
4
4
3
11
Pa Kow (1887)
)
1
1
1
3
Ta-Tze-Kou (1885)
t
1
1
3
5
Chao Yang
t
2
2
2
6
Hada (1912)
)
4
1
2
7
Sitao District.
Nil.
Mongolian Borders. (Chihli.)
Kalgan
B.F.B.S.
1
1
tl . . .
M.P.. (1909)
2
1
1
4
.. . .
S.A. (1918)
1
1
27
10
36
24
37
97
117
APPENDIX V.
TIBET
Province.
Area.
Sq. Miles.
Population.
Chief
Towns.
Population.
U ..
Lhasa
20,000*
Tsang
/Shigatse
\Gyantse
17,000f
5,000
To-ngari-Korsum
Chang Tang
Kam
Hor
Derge
470,000
2,900,000
* Permanent Population, 12,000 ; Floating Population, 8,000.
t 12,000; 5,000.
118
APPENDIX VI.
CHINESE AND INDIAN BORDERLANDS
SZEGHWAN-TIBETAN BORDER
Stations.
Missions.
Missionaries.
Men.
Wives.
Single
Women.
Total.
Tatsienlu
Batang
C.I.M.
U.C.M.S.
2
6
2
6
1
4
13
2
2
8
8
1
17
YUNNAN-TIBETAN BORDER
Stations.
Missions.
Missionaries.
Men.
Wives.
Single
Women.
Total.
Likiang
Weihsi
A.G.
T.B.M.
1
1
1
1
2
4
2
2
2
2
2
2
6
INDIAN-TIBETAN BORDER
Missionaries.
District.
Mission.
Men.
Wives.
Single
Women.
Total.
Sikkim
C. of S. \
F.C.F. )
4
1
6
11
Dharchula Pass
M.E.F.B.
1
1
2
(Almora)
Simla Hill States
C.M.S.
2
1
2
5
S.A.
C.M.M.L.
Lahoul
Mor.M.
1
1
2
Ladakh
Mor.M.
2
2
1
5
Baltistan
C.A.M.
2
2
6
8
12
6
9
27
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The bibliography of Central Asia is immense, and it exists in a
variety of languages. The following brief list of books in English
is merely suggestive. Several of these works contain detailed lists
of books. Articles in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Journal of the
Central Asian Society, and the Geographical Journal are a mine of
general information.*
Andrews, Roy Chapman. Across Mongolian Plains. 1921. (T.G.)
Andrews, Roy Chapman. On the Trail of Ancient Man. 1926. (T.G.)
Bartol'd, Vastly V. Turkestan down to the Mongol Invasion. 1928.
(Second edition.) (H.)
Bell, Sir Charles Alfred. Tibet, Past and Present. 1924. (G.)
Bell, Sir Charles Alfred. The People of Tibet. 1928. (G.)
Bitton, Nelson. Our Gilmour. 1925. (M.)
Browne, E. G. A Literary History of Persia. (Volume III., Persian
Literature under Tartar Dominion, 1265-1502.) 1920. (H.)
Bryson, Mary Isabella. The Story of James Gilmour and the Mongol
Mission. 1894. [Re-issued 1928.] (M.)
Budge, Sir G. A. Wallis. The Monks of Kublai Khan. (M.H.)
Cable, Mildred, and French, Francesca. Dispatches from North-West
Kansu. 1925. (M.T.)
Cable, Mildred, and French, Francesca. The Red Lama. 1927. (M.)
Cable, Mildred, and French, Francesca. Through Jade Gate and Cen-
tral Asia. 1927. [An account of journeys in Kansu, Turkestan
and the Gobi Desert] (T.M.)
Candler, E. The Unveiling of Lhasa. 1905. (T.)
Christie, Ella R. Through Khiva to Golden Samarkand. 1925. (T.)
Combe, George Alexander (Editor). A Tibetan on Tibet. (Paul
Sherap.) 1926. (G.)
Curtin, Jeremiah. The Mongols : A History. 1908. (H.)
Easton, John. An Unfrequented Highway. 1928. [Through Sikkim
and Tibet to Chumolaori.] (T.)
Fox, Ralph. People of the Steppes. (T.G.)
Francke, A. H. A History of Western Tibet. 1907. (H.)
Gilmour, James. James Gilmour of Mongolia. His diaries, letters and
reports. Edited by R. Lovett. 1892. (M.)
*G= General Information.
H= History.
M= Missions.
T=Travel.
120 THE CHALLENGE OF CENTRAL ASIA
Gilmour, James. More about the Mongols. 1893. [Selected by R.
Lovett.] (M.)
Gregory, J. W., and C. J. To the Alps of Chinese Tibet. 1923. (T.)
Harrison, Marguerite E. Asia Reborn. 1928. (H.)
Harris, Norman D wight. Europe and the East. (H.)
Haydon, H., and Cosson, C. Sport and Travel in the Highlands of
Tibet. (T.)
Heber, A. R., and K. M. In Himalayan Tibet. 1926. (M.T.)
Hedin, Sven Anders. Central Asia and Tibet. 1903. (T.)
Hedin, Sven Anders. Adventures in Tibet. 1904. (T.)
Hedin, Sven Anders. My Life as an Explorer. 1926. (T.)
Hedley, John. On Tramp among the Mongols. 1906. (M.T.)
Hedley, John. Tramps in Dark Mongolia. 1910. (M.T.)
Howorth, Sir H. History of the Mongols. 1876-78. (H.)
Hue, E. R., and Gabet. (Translated by W. Hazlitt. Edited by Paul
Pelliot.) Travels in Tartary, Tibet and China. 1844-46. 1928.
(T.M.)
Hutton, J. E. History of the Moravian Missions. 1922. (M.H.)
Kidd, B. J. The Churches of Eastern Christendom. 1927. (M.H.)
Komroff, Manuel. Contemporaries of Marco Polo. 1928. [Travel
Records of Rubruck, Carpini and Friar Odoric.] (T.M.)
Lamb, Harold. Genghis Khan : The Emperor of all Men. 1928. (H.)
Lamb, Harold. Tamerlane : The Earth-Shaker. 1928 ? (H.)
Landon, Perceval. Lhasa. 1906. (T.)
Lansdell, Henry. Russian Central Asia. 1887. (T.M.)
Lansdell, Henry. Through Central Asia. 1887. (T.M.)
Latourette, K. S. A History of Christian Missions in China. 1929.
(M.)
Lattimore, Owen. The Desert Road to Turkestan. 1928. (T.)
Le Coq, Albert. Buried Treasures of Chinese Turkestan. 1928. (T.)
Le Strange, Guy. Lands of the Eastern Caliphate. 1896. (G.)
Le Strange, Guy (translated by). Clavijo's Embassy to Tamerlane,
1403-1406. 1928. (H.)
Macdonald, David. The Land of the Lama. 1929. (G.)
Mingana, Alphonse. The Early Spread of Christianity in Central Asia
and the Far East. 1925. [Reprint from the Bulletin of John
Rylands Library, Manchester. Volume IX., No. 2, July, 1925.]
(H.M.)
Morden, W. J. Across Asia's Snows and Deserts. (T.)
Nairne, W. P. Gilmour of the Mongols. 1924. (M.)
Rickmers, W. R. The Duab of Turkestan. 1913. (G.T.)
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(M.T.)
Rockhill, W. W. The Land of the Lamas. 1891. (G.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY 121
Robson, E. I. Alexander the Great. 1929. (H.)
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' (T.)
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122
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INDEX
A.
Afghanistan, 9, 27, 34, 35, 36, 77,
102.
Aga Khan, 102.
Akhal Tekke, 35.
Aksu, 11,27,47.
Aksu Circuit, 52.
Alai Mountains, 32.
Alashan Mountains, 60.
Alexander the Great, 9, 13, 15, 32,
102, 106.
Alexandria EschatS, v. Farthest
Alexandria.
Almalig, v. Kulja.
Altai Kirghiz, v. Kazak Kirghiz.
Altai Mountains, 11, 41, 47, 60, 72,
American Methodist Episcopal Mis-
sion, 98.
American Museum of Natural His-
tory, 59.
Amur River, 72.
Anderson, Dr., 10.
Andrade, Antonio de, 86.
Anhsi, 55.
Protectorate of , 1 1 .
Anglo-Russian Convention, 35.
Aral, Sea of, 34.
Armenia, 14.
Aryans, 38, 46.
Assam, 88, 96.
Assassins, The sect of, 24.
Assemblies of God Mission, 71, 91,
95, 96.
Atuntze, 94, 96.
Avetaranian, Johannes, 52.
B.
Babylon, Death of Alexander the
Great at, 9.
Babylonia, Source of Manichean
religion, 11.
Babylonian Influence, Traces of, 10.
Badakshan, Border-tribes of Sin-
kiang, 47.
Baikal, Lake, 12, 20, 72.
Balkhash, Lake, 34.
Baltistan, 101.
Baluchistan, 9.
Barkul, 44.
Barkul, Lake, 10, 44.
Mountains, 43.
Bashahr, 99.
" Basmaji " Revolt, 35.
Batang, 95.
Bhotiyas, 98.
Bhutan, 88, 96, 97.
Bible Circulation :
In North- West Kansu, 57.
In Mongolia, 72.
In Russian Central Asia, 40.
In Sinkiang, 51, 72.
In Tibet, 88, 93, 94, 102.
Increase in Central Asia of, 73.
Importance in Central Asia of,
111.
Bible Society,
British and Foreign, 39, 40, 51,
72, 73, 103, 111.
National, of Scotland, 52, 100, 103,
111.
Bogdo Khan, v. Bogdo Lama.
Bogdo Lama, 63, 64.
Bon Religion, 83, 106.
Brethren Mission :
In Mongolia, 70, 71, 99.
On the Borderlands of Tibet, 99.
British and Foreign Bible Society,
v. Bible Society.
Buddhism, 15, 22, 23, 47, 64, 68, 96,
97, 100, 102, 112.
v also Lamaism.
Bukhara, 9, 17, 32, 35, 36, 38, 39,
40, 77.
Burma, 88, 95, 96.
Buryat Mongols, 69, 72.
C.
Cacella, Stephen, 86.
Calcutta, 86.
Cambaluc, 15, 25, 27.
v. also Peking.
Capuchin Mission in Tibet, Collapse
of, 86, 87.
Carpini, Friar Johnnie Piano, 24.
I
130
Case, Dr., 70.
Caspian Sea, 34.
Cathay (China), 25, 27, 28, 59.
Central Asian Mission, 101.
Central Asian Turkish, v. Uzbek.
Chahar, 62, 71.
Chamba State, 100.
Chambiali, 103.
Chamdo, 83.
Chan-tou, v. Turkis.
Chao Yang, 69, 70.
Chien Lung, 47, 106.
Chi-Fah-Chia, 90.
Chihli Province, 54, 72.
China, Great Wall of, 10, 27, 54, 55,
57,59,72,74.
China Inland Mission, 48, 51, 52, 57,
71, 89, 92.
Chinese :
In Sinkiang, 43, 47, 49.
In Mongolia, 62, 64, 66, 69-73, 74-
Chinese Church, 52, 57, 74, 91, 112.
Chinese Turkistan, v. Sinkiang.
Ching Shu-jen, 45.
Chini, 99.
Chininghsien, 71.
Chita, 65.
Chitral Area, 102.
Chomolhari, 78.
Choni, 91.
Tibetan monastery burned by
rebels at, 92.
Chotzeshan, 71.
Christian and Missionary Alliance,
91.
Christian Missions in Many Lands,
v. Brethren Mission.
Chuguchak 47.
" Church of the East," 18, 21.
Church Missionary Society, 99, 101.
Church of Scotland Mission, 97, 101.
Chwanpien :
District of, 92.
Tibetans in, 93.
Clytus, 32.
Cochrane, Dr. Thomas, 70.
Columbus, 15, 16.
Constantinople, 14.
Corvino, John de Monte, 25.
Cossack Autonomous Socialist So-
viet Republic, v. Kazakstan.
Cunningham, Mr. and Mrs., 94.
D.
Dagshai, 99.
Dalai Lama, 81, 84, 85.
Damani Koh, 40.
Danish Mission, 7.1.
Darjeeling, 85, 97.
Decian Persecution, 18.
Desideri, Hippolyte, 86.
Dharchula, 98.
Dharma Bhot, Dr. Sheldon's work
at, 98.
Diaz, Father, 86.
Diocletian Persecution, 18.
Disciples of Christ Mission,
v. United Christian Missionary-
Society.
Djerim League, 67.
Chinese Settlements in, 74.
Djosotu League, 67.
Brethren Mission in, 71.
Djouda League, 67.
Brethren Mission Work hi, 71.
Chinese Settlements in, 74.
Dnieper, 13, 61.
D'Orville, Albert, 86.
Doyen, 70.
Drepung, 81.
Dukpa, Buddhist sect of, 97.
Dyushambe, 37.
Dzungaria, 46, 61.
Dzungaris, 38.
E.
Eastern Turki, 50.
v. also Jagatai.
Edessa, 18.
Edgar, Mr. J. Huston, 93, 94.
Enver Pasha, 35, 36.
Esztergom, 14.
Eurasian Theory in Central Asia, 16.
Evangelical Movement in Russian
Central Asia, 41.
F.
Farthest Alexandria, 10.
Feng, Marshal, 74.
Feng, Mr., 89.
Fengchen, 71.
Finland, Free Church of , 97.
Franciscan Missionaries, 23, 24, 27.
131
G.
Garhwali, 103.
Genghiz Khan, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15-17,
24, 32, 34, 61, 65, 66, 77, 106.
Georgia, 14.
German Mennonites, 39.
Gilgit, 101, 102.
Gilmour, James, 69, 70, 74, 75.
Gobi Desert, 11, 54, 55, 59, 60, 62,
72, 111.
Goes, Bento de, 27, 86.
Gok-kand, v. Samarkand.
Golden Horde, Defeat of, 16.
Gow, Miss, 98.
Graham, Dr., 97.
Great Wall of China, 10, 27, 54, 55,
57, 59, 72, 74.
Greek Influence in Sinkiang, 10.
Grueber, Johann, 86.
Gulchagan, 70.
Gulistan Mountains, 40.
Gushi Khan, 83, 84.
Gyantse, 82.
H.
Halong-Osso, 70.
Kami, 12, 43.
Hancheng, 49, 50.
Hattin-Sum, 70.
Hedin, Sven, 86, 99.
Heh-tsao, 91.
Hephzibah Faith Mission, 71.
Himalayas, 77, 79, 86, 99, 104.
Hindu Kush Mountains, 9, 35, 102.
Hindustan-Tibet Road, 99.
Hochow, 91.
Honan, 11, 55.
Hoshut Branch, v. Mongols.
Hsiung Nu, 10, 11.
Huktuktu, v. Bogdo Lama.
Hulagu Khan, 22.
Hungary, Mongols in, 14.
Hunter, Mr. George, 48, 51.
Hunza, 102.
Hunza-Nagar, 102.
I.
lehedzu League, 67.
Hi, 46, 47.
Hi Tartars, v. Taranchis.
India, 9, 25, 67, 84, 88.
Trade Route to Central Asia
from, 44, 48, 78.
Indian Church, Responsibility of,
112.
Iran, v. Persia.
Irish Presbyterian Mission, 70, 71.
Islam, 14, 23, 26, 39, 91, 92, 106.
J-
Jagatai, 40.
Jalep La Pass, 97.
Jehol, 62, 71.
Jerome, St., 19.
Jesuit Missionaries, 21, 86.
Jokang, Temple of, 80.
Jummu, 101.
K.
Kalatse, 101.
Kalgan, 51, 65, 70, 72.
Kali Ganga Valley, 98.
Kalimpong, 97.
Kalmuk, 51.
Kalmuk Steppes, 72.
Kalmuk Tartars, 16.
Kalmuks, 38, 47.
Kanauri, 103.
Kanchow, 12, 55-58.
Kansu, 10, 12, 27, 44, 48, 52, 53, 55,
56-58, 77, 88, 91, 92, 112.
Kansu-Tibetan Border, 89-92.
Kao, Dr., 52, 56.
Kara Kirghiz, v. Kirghiz.
Karakoram Mountains, 77, 102.
Karakorum, 12.
Karashar, 11, 47.
Kashgar, 10, 11, 33, 43-45, 48-52,
102, 105, 111.
Kashgar Circuit, 52.
Kashgar Oasis, 43, 49.
Kashgar Turkish, 5 1 .
Kashgaria, 11, 43.
Kashgaris, 43, 49,
Kashmir, 88, 99, 101, 102.
Kashmiri, 103.
Kazak Kirghiz, v. Kirghiz.
Kazak Kirghiz, 51 (Language).
Kazaks, 46.
Kazakstan, 36.
Keraits, Conversion of King of, 20.
I*
132
Kesh, 15.
Khanbalag, v. Cambaluc.
Khingan Mountains, 60, 73, 74.
Khiva, 17, 35, 37, 38, 40.
Khojend, 10.
Khotan, 10, 11, 27, 44, 105.
Khotan Circuit, 52.
Kia-Yu-Kwan, 54.
Kiev, destroyed by Mongols, 14.
Kirghiz, 12, 34, 38, 39, 47, 111.
Kirghiz Steppe, 33, 35, 36.
Kirghiz Tartars, 16.
Kohistan, 102.
Kokand, 39, 40.
Kokonor, 87, 92.
Kokonor, Lake, 90.
Kossogol, Lake, 60.
Kotgarh, 99.
Kou Wai, 54, 55.
Kremmer Mennonite Brethren
Church, 71.
Kublai Khan, 15, 33, 61, 67, 83, 84.
Kuche, 11.
Kucheng, 43, 105.
Kuen Lun Range, 77.
Kulja, 25, 46, 47.
Kulu, 100.
Kumaon, 98.
Kumaoni, 103.
Kumbum, 89, 90.
Kumul, v. Hami.
Kunawar, 99.
Kushans, v. Yueh Chi.
Kuyuk Khan, 24.
Kyelang, 100.
L.
Labrang, 91.
Tibetan Monastery looted by
rebels at, 92.
Ladakh, 100, 101, 103.
Ladakhi, 103.
Lahoul, 100, 103.
Lahuli, 103.
Lamaism, v.. also Buddhism, 63,
67-69, 80, 106.
Lanchow, 53, 56.
Languages of Central Asia v. also
separate entries.
Altai Kirghiz.
Central Asian Turkish.
Chambiali.
Eastern Turki.
Garhwali.
Jagatai.
Kalmuk.
Kanauri.
Kashgar Turkish.
Kashmiri.
Kazak Kirghiz.
Kumaoni.
Ladakhi.
Lahuli.
Manchu.
Mongolian.
Nepali.
Nogai Turkish.
Pashtu.
Persian.
Russian.
Sart.
Tartar Turkish.
Tekke Turkoman.
Tibetan.
Trans-Caspian Turkish.
Turkestani.
Turki.
Turkish.
Uzbek.
Latourette, Dr., 20.
Le Coq, Dr. Albert von, 10.
Leh, 88, 101.
Lenin, 16, 17.
Lepchas, 97.
Lhasa, 77, 79-81, 84-88, 90, 97.
Liangchow, 53.
Likiang, 96.
Lingti Pass, 100.
Litang, 94.
Little Peking, v. Tunghwang.
Liu Yi, 75.
London Missionary Society, 69, 70,
72.
Lupasi, 91.
M.
Ma, General, 44.
MacDonald, David, 82.
Manas, 43.
Manas, River, 43.
Manasorawar Lake, 98.
Manchu, 51, 73.
Manchu Dynasty, 44.
Manchuria, 45, 62, 72-74.
133
Manchus, 44, 47, 62, 63, 67.
Mani, 11.
Manichean Religion, 11.
Manichean Influence in Central Asia,
22.
Mather, Mr. Percy, 48.
Mekong, River, 87, 96.
Merv, 20, 35, 37.
Methodist Episcopal Mission (Amer-
ican), 98.
Milam Pass, 98.
Minchow, 91.
Ming Dynasty, 61, 62.
Mongolia, 13, 14, 20, 22, 45, 53, 61,
62, 63, 65, 67, 69, 72, 74, 75, 112.
Mongolian, 47, 51, 69, 72, 111.
Mongolian Missions, 70, 75.
Mongol Invasions, 12, 14, 22, 23.
Mongol Parliament, 64.
Mongols, 12, 14, 16, 20, 26, 33, 38,
46, 47, 60-63, 65-69, 71, 73-75.
Moravian Mission, 99-101.
Moscow, 36, 37, 64.
Mongolia represented at Confer-
ence of Toilers of the Far East
at, 63.
Taken by Mongols, 14.
Muhammadan Rebellion, v. Islam.
Muhammadans v. Muslims.
Muslims, 27, 35, 39, 46, 47, 51, 57,
89, 91, 92, 101, 112.
Sufis, 38.
Sunnites, 38, v. also Islam.
Muztagh Ata, 49.
N.
Nagars, 102.
National Bible Society of Scotland,
v. Bible Society.
Nepal, 86, 88, 97, 98, 103.
Nepalese, 97.
Nepali, 103.
Nestorian Church in Central Asia,
20, 102.
Nestorian Missionaries and the
Bible, 19.
Nestorian Missionaries, 18, 19, 21,
22.
Nicholas, Brother, 25.
Nogai Turkish, 51.
Nogais, 47.
North- West Province of India, 102.
O.
Odoric, Friar, 24, 85.
Ogdai, 14.
Omsk, 45.
Ordos Desert, 70.
Orkhon River, 65.
Osh, 33, 45.
Ottoman Turks, 14.
Oxus, 32, 35, 40.
P.
Pa Kow, 70.
Pamirs, The, 10, 27, 35.
Pan-Turanian Movement, 36.
Paoan, 91.
Parker, John, 70.
Pashtu, 103.
Patsebolong, 70.
Peking, 15, 25, 27, 28, 63, 105.
Pentecostal Missionary Union, v.
Assemblies of God Mission.
Peoples : v. also separate entries.
Aryans.
. Badakshan border-tribes.
Bhotiyas.
Buryat Mongols.
Chan-tou.
Chinese.
Dzungaris.
Hoshut Branch of Mongols.
Hunza.
Ili Tartars.
Kalmuks.
Kalmuk Tartars.
Kara Kirghiz.
Kashgaris.
Kazak Kirghiz.
Kazaks.
Kirghiz.
Kirghiz Tartars.
Kushans.
Lepchas.
Manchus.
Mongols.
Nagars.
Nepalese.
Nogais.
Ottoman Turks.
Persians.
Russians.
Sarts.
Szechuanese.
134
Tadzhiks.
Taranchis.
Tartars.
Tibetans.
Torgut Branch of Mongols.
Torgutes.
Tungans.
Turanian Turks.
Turkis.
Turkomans.
Turks.
Uigurs.
Uzbeks.
Yarkandis.
Yueh Chi.
Persia, 9, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25, 35, 39,
102.
Persian, 103.
Persians, 38.
Peshitto Version of Scriptures, 19.
Pharijong, 78, 80, 83.
Polhill, Mr. Cecil, 89.
Polo, Marco, 59, 61, 105.
Polo, Maffeo, 15.
Polo, Nicolo, 15.
Poo, 99.
Pordenone, Friar .Odoric of, 24, 85.
Potala, The, 79.
Prester John, Legend of, 20.
R.
Raquette, Rev. G., 52.
Red-hat Sect of Buddhism, v.
Dukpa.
Ricci, Matthew, 27, 28.
Richthofen Range, 53.
Ridley, Mr. H. F., 48.
Rijnhart, Mr. and Mrs., 87.
Roman Missions, 25, 95.
Rondu, 101.
Ross, Sir Denison, 13, 36.
Rubruck, Friar William of, 24.
Rumi, Jalal al-Din, 38.
Rungwa, 91.
Russia, 16, 17, 34, 35, 45, 48, 59, 62,
63, 65, 72, 88.
Russia, Soviet, 16, 35-37, 39, 40,
45, 63-65.
Russian, 40, 51, 111.
Russian Altai Region, 41.
Russian Central Asia, 36, 37, 46.
Russian Evangelical Movement, 40,
41.
Russian Revolution, 17, 35, 36, 106.
Russian Turkistan, v. Russian Cen-
tral Asia.
Russians, 37.
S.
Sabathu, 100.
Salvation Army, 71, 99.
Samarkand, 9, 15, 17, 31, 32, 35, 37,
39
Sart, v. Uzbek.
Sarts, 38, 46. v. also Uzbeks.
Scandinavian Alliance Mission, 70.
Scotland, Church of, 97, 101.
Scotland, National Bible Society of,
v. Bible Societies.
Selenga River, 65, 69.
Semipalatinsk, 45.
Serim Pon Sok, 72.
Shanghai, Bible Society Depot at,
51, 73.
Shansi Province, 10, 55, 72, 74.
Shantung, 74.
Sheldon, Dr. Martha, 98.
Shensi Province, 74.
Shigatse, 81, 86.
Shipki Pass, 99.
Siberia, 20, 34, 43, 47, 51, 74, 105.
Sikha, 98.
Sikkim, 77, 88, 97, 98.
Silingol League, 67.
Simla, 99.
Simla District :
Colportage work among ^Tibetan
travellers in, 100.
Sining, 88-90, 92.
Sinkiang, 34, 42, 47, 48, 51, 52, 55,
59, 72, 105, 112.
Sino-Tibetan Frontier, Missionary
Situation on, 88.
Sitao, 62.
Skardu, Work of Central Asia Mis-
sion at, 101.
Soutter, Dr., 70.
Spiti, 100.
Srinagar, 99.
Stallybrass, Edward, 69, 72.
Stein, Sir Aurel, 10.
Steiner, Rev. and Mrs. E. B., 98.
Stewart, Dr. John, 21, 22.
135
Suchow (Kansu), 12, 27, 54, 55, 57,
58, 105.
Sui Yuan, 62, 71.
Sutlej River, 86, 100.
Sutlej Valley, 99, 100.
Swan, William, 69, 72.
Swat Area, 102.
Swedish Alliance Mission, 71.
Swedish Assemblies of God, 91.
Swedish Missionary Society, 39,
48-52.
Swedish Mongol Mission, 70, 73.
Sykes, Sir Percy, 33.
Szechuan, 77, 87, 88, 93, 95.
Szechuanese in Kansu, 55.
Szechuan-Tibetan Border, 92, 95.
T.
Tadzhiks, 38.
Tadzhikstan, 37, 38.
Tamerlane, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 25, 32.
Tangar, 91.
Taranchis, 46.
Tarim River, v. Yarkand River.
Tarkot, 98.
Tartars, 16, 25, 32, 47, 59, 83.
Tartar Turkish, v. Nogai Turkish.
Tashi Lama, 81, 84.
Tashkent, 17, 35, 37, 39, 40.
-Tatsienlu, 92-94.
Tehri, Medical Mission at, 99.
Tehri-Anjuman Mission, 99.
Tehri Garhwal State, 99.
Tekke Turkoman, v. Jagatai.
Tibet, 11, 24, 35, 48, 53, 62, 67, 77,
81, 84, 86, 87, 90-92, 95-99,
102, 112.
Tibetan, 51, 92, 93, 111.
Tibetan Alps, 53, 54, 58.
Tibetan Border Mission, 96.
Tibetan Converts, 90.
Tibetan Gospel Inn at Sining, 89.
Tibetan Hermits, 82.
Tibetan Jesuit Mission, Appeal to
Europe of, 86.
Tibetan Laity, 82, 83, 85.
Tibetan Lamas, Conservatism of, 85.
Tibetan Tribes Mission, v. Assem-
blies of God Mission.
Tibetans, 10, 11, 20, 55, 56, 58, 80,
81, 88-91, 93-99.
Tien Shan Mountains, 33, 43, 72.
Tihwafu, v. Urumtsi.
Timothy, Nestorian Patriarch, 19.
Timur, v. Tamerlane.
Timur-i-Leng, v. Tamerlane.
Toghon Timur, 61.
Tong, Mr., 89.
Torgut Branch, v. Mongols.
Torgutes, 38.
Trade Routes, Strategic Importance
in Central Asia of, 106.
Trans-Caspian Railway, 45.
Trans-Caspian Turkish, v. Jagatai.
Trans-Caspian Province, 35.
Trans-Caucasia, Republic of, 17.
Trans-Himalayan Caravan Routes,
44.
Transoxania, 18, 20.
Trans-Siberian Railway, 45, 65.
Tsinghai, v. Kokonor.
Tungans, 46.
Tunghwang, 10, 55, 56.
Turan, 16.
Turanian Turks, v. Turkis.
Turcoman Socialist Soviet Republic,
17, 36.
Turf an, 10, 12, 44.
Turkestani, v. Uzbek.
Turki, 46.
Turkis, 46, 47.
Turkish, 37, 38, 111.
Turkistan, 9, 18, 20, 32, 35, 36, 39,
59.
Turkistan-Siberian Railway, 36.
Turkomans, 37.
Turks, 14, 20, 33, 36, 43.
U.
Uch-Turfan, 47.
Uigurs, 11, 12, 55, 56.
Union of Socialist Soviet Republics,
17, 36, 65.
See also Russia, Soviet.
United Christian Missionary Society,
95.
Ural-Altaic Races, 19, 37, 46.
Urga, 48, 63, 65, 72, 73.
Urumtsi, 43, 45, 47, 48, 51.
Urumtsi Circuit, 52.
Uzbek, 40.
Gospel in, 40.
Uzbek Republic, 17, 36, 38.
Uzbek U.S.S.R, v. Uzbek Republic.
136
Uzbekistan, v. Uzbek Republic.
Uzbeks, 37, 38.
V.
Vambery, Arminius, 39.
Vasco da Gama, 15, 16.
Vrooman, Dr., 99.
W.
Wangtefu, 70.
Watson, Dr. 100.
Weihsi, 96.
Werkne-Udinsk, 65.
William of Rubruck, Friar, 24.
Y.
Yam-Dok-Tso, 79.
Yang, Governor of Sinkiang, 44, 45.
Yangi-Hessar, 49, 50.
Yarkand, 10, 27, 44, 49, 50.
Yarkand River, 43.
Yarkandis, 49.
Yellow River, 15, 62, 70.
Younghusband Mission to Tibet, 84.
Yueh Chi, 10, 56.
Yuille, Robert, 69, 72.
Yule, Sir Henry, 22, 27.
Yumen, 55.
Yunnan, 77, 88, 95, 96.
Yunnanfu, Tibetan Colony in, 95.
Yunnan-Tibetan Border, 95, 96.
X.
Xavier, Jerome, Missionary at La-
hore, 27.
Z.
Zarafshan River, 17, 32.
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Aut . Sov . Soc . Rep .
Lake Balkhash
SEA OF ARAL
TURCOMAN
S.S.R. Khioa
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Dominion Press, 1929.
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Tribes
YELLOW SEA
MAP OF
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showing Mission Stations.
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-MM M-< M Railways .
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