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0331 Innermost Asia : vol.2
Innermost Asia : vol.2 / Page 331 (Grayscale High Resolution Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000187
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Sec. iii]   A TANG ITINERARY FROM AK-SU TO KASHGAR   841

account for the name recorded in the Tang itinerary ; for Ch`i   literally means ` twin peaks 26

The high road at present passes close to the foot of the north-western outlier of the Mazàr-tàgh, as seen in Map No. 8. A. I, and it seems to me very likely that it did so in ancient times ; for the slight rise of this ground must always have been appreciated by traffic passing over an area liable to inundation by summer floods, and consequently offering, at times, difficulties for camels and carts. In order to reach this ground the road had in those days to cross the ` Red River ', i. e. the Kàshgar-daryà, just as it does now north of the Mazàr-tàgh.

As no fresh crossing of the river is mentioned we must assume that the road from the vicinity of Maràl-bàshi, right through to Kàshgar, kept to the south of the river. We have seen that in fact it did so until quite recent times.27 The distance of 340 li over which the itinerary next takes

us before reaching Chia-lu Kuan   seems to indicate that the tract crossed by the road
between the vicinity of Maràl-bàshi and Kàshgar contained, then as now, no settlement of any importance. The position of Chia-lu Kuan cannot be exactly determined. On general grounds I should be inclined to place it somewhere near Faizàbàd, where continuous cultivation from the Kàshgar side now starts. The proportion between the distance of 34o li, whether counted from the foot of the Mazàr-tàgh or the site near Arach, and the 140 li reckoned to Su-lo Chên 4 a

the ` trading town of Su-lo ', i. e. Kàshgar, would well agree with such a location. As to the

position of the ` city of Ta-man '   j passed on the way, I am unable to offer any suggestion.

But it deserves to be noted that Ta-man   is the name of a Kagan or paramount chief of

the Western Turks who reigned at the beginning of the seventh century A. D. and who is repeatedly mentioned in the Tang Annals.28

Finally I may point out how much the description of Su-lo, or Kàshgar, as being ` surrounded by mountains on three sides, south, north, and west ', must appeal to any one whose eyes on a clear day have rested upon the magnificent panorama of glittering snowy ranges which stretch from far away above Sarikol to the ` Celestial Mountains ' in the north.

28 Cf. Giles, Chinese-English Dictionary, 2nd ed., p. ro8   " See above, p. 838.

(1103).   28 Cf. Chavannes, Turcs occid., pp. 3, 14, 51.

Location of Chia-lu Kuan and Ta-man.

Description of Su-lo, Kàshgar.