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0439 The Pulse of Asia : vol.1
The Pulse of Asia : vol.1 / Page 439 (Color Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000233
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their flocks southward in winter to the warm plains of
India. In the Lop basin an opposite state of affairs pre-
vailed, and conditions were highly favorable. The rivers
were full of water; Lop-Nor was the "Great Salt Lake;"
the desert was comparatively small and the zone of vegeta-
tion extensive; and on all sides there was a density of popu-
lation and a degree of prosperity far beyond those of to-day.
And in the Turfan basin the same was probably true.

A great change took place throughout the six basins dur-
ing the early centuries of the Christian era. The lakes of
Gyoljuk, Seyistan, the Caspian, Lop-Nor, and presumably
Turfan were greatly reduced in size. In the case of the first
three, parts of the old lake-beds were utilized as sites for
villages. Except in Kashmir, the change of climate appears
to have brought disaster, although in Turkey the question
has not yet been investigated. In the other regions, scores
of once prosperous oases were abandoned for lack of water.
A few of the displaced inhabitants probably went into the
mountains and dug canals such as those of Son Kul. Others
perhaps went to Kashmir, which now became warm enough
for agriculture, and hence able to support a far larger popu-
lation. The rest appear to have been impelled to start
hither and thither in waves of migration to confound the
civilized world.

Again there came a change. The process of desiccation
gave place to a slight, but important tendency toward in-
creased rainfall and lower temperature. Kashmir became
colder and more snowy, and hence more isolated; the rivers
of Lop and Turfan gained greater volume; and the lakes of
Lop, the Caspian, and Seyistan expanded once more. The