IIIF Color HighRes
National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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| IIIF Color HighRes |
| Southern Tibet : vol.7 |
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Citation Information
STRAHLENBERG AND OTHERS.
76
On his map he makes use of the information he was able to collect in Tobolsk and other parts of Siberia during his captivity, but in his text he has made himself too much dependent upon the classical geographers. In the history of geographical research in Central Asia, his name, however, occupies a very prominent place.
We cannot pretend to find any trace of the Kara-korum System on RENAT'S map of 1733.1 I have already mentioned2 that the hydrography of Eastern Turkestan on his map is nearly correct, especially regarding the Kashgar-daria, Yarkand-daria and Khotan-daria. But the towns Ierken and Choton are removed one step too far east, and thus Yarkand comes to be placed on the Khotan-daria. South of Eastern Turkestan he has the mountain range of Mustack or Mustagh, which here in reality corresponds to the Kwen-lun and not to the Mustagh-Kara-korum, of which Renat could not have the slightest notion. I have said above 3 that Renat's Khotan-daria is drawn as if it comes from a lake Charchol which I believed could be the Kara-kul. This presumption, however, I think cannot be maintained. The name Charchol rather indicates a country than a lake, and it may be a corruption of the name Sarkol, Sarikol, Sarik-kol. This would seem the more probable as, just south and S. W. of Charchol, the people Siara-kolser, 1. e. Siara-kols or Siara-kolians, inhabitants of Sarikol, is entered. East of the latter are the Kasmirer, i. e. Kashmirians, and west of it Badaschaner or Badakshanis. For the Kara-korum, there is no room on the map.4
In an atlas entitled Bequemer Hand Atlas aus 26 Hommanisclien Landkarten .... etc. A. 1754, there is a map with the title: Imperii Russici et Tatariae Universae.... Tabula.... Joh. Mathiae Hasii .... Norib. A. i739, of which Pl. IX is a reproduction.5 On this map the general geography S. W. of Eastern Turkestan is superior to that on RENAT'S map. The Kashgar Range is here called M. Tenebrosi, and west of it is the country, Vagian, obviously Vakhan. To the south of the latter is Balur and R. Bedacschan. Kashgar-daria, Yarkand-daria and Khotan-daria are all entered, though less correctly than on Renat's map. S. E. of Khotan-daria is a river, parallel with it, and running S. W.—N. E. One would think it ought to be the Keria-daria. The fact that it on the map, as in reality, never reaches Yerken f., or Tarim, is only a chance. It is called Kotomni f. At its end in the desert is Peim, at its middle
I P1. L, Vol. I.
2 Vol. I, p. 256.
3 Ibidem.
4 In his excellent work, Russia, Mongolia, China, Vol. I, London 1919, p. CCIV, JOHN F. BADDELEY, has already expressed his doubts regarding my first identification of the name Charchol. He says: »The only point that calls for notice here is that Dr. Hedin takes Sharkol to be Lake Kara-kul, as, from the relative position of Mustak, might well be supposed. But Sharkol is marked, seemingly, as a town, presumably `the town Sharagol' of Filisoff, and it lies on the same river as Yarkand; so that, while leaving the ultimate verdict to expert judgment, I retain, provisionally, my identification of Sharkol with Sharagol, and of both with Saricol.» — There is not the slightest doubt about the identification of Mr. Baddeley being the only correct one.
5 I am indebted to Mr. Emil Trinkler of Bremen for having directed my attention to this map.
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