National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

basin from the one in the south it is mainly because it is thus easier to indicate certain topo-
graphical distinctions deserving of notice. ¹ But both share the essential feature of contain-
ing whatever ground within the Tārim basin is capable of permanent cultivation under
existing conditions.

The cultivable area is considerably greater within the western and northern belts.
Western and northern
belt of oases. This may be taken as extending in a big arc from Yārkand and Kāsh-
gar to Korla and the tract immediately south of it. It contains the
far larger number of important oases, such as Yārkand, Kāshgar, Ak-su,
Kuchā, and owing to them and to the short distances at which smaller ones are strung out
between them, the route passing through this belt of cultivable ground has from the earliest
historical times to the present day been the chief line of communication and trade within the
Tārim basin. These advantages for permanent occupation and traffic result mainly from the
fact that irrigation—that indispensable condition of all cultivation in this basin—is here greatly
facilitated by the volume and number of the rivers as well as by physical features of the
ground which favour full use of their irrigation resources.

Among such features may be mentioned the absence or comparative narrowness of
Position of cultivated
areas. barren gravel stretches at the foot of the outer hills, which allows
cultivation to be started from the very debouchure of the rivers; also the
protection which the Yārkand river or Tārim with its broad riverine
jungle belt affords from the moving sands of the Taklamakān. Hence we find in the case of
the larger oases cultivation extending for considerable distances along the beds of the rivers. ²
Since all of these reach the Tārim and on their lower courses command extensive areas inun-
dated during flood times, grazing grounds adequate for the needs of the oases are also
available. On the other hand the map shows a complete absence of cultivated areas of any
size along the Tārim itself after the river has passed the northern edge of the Yārkand
district. This striking fact is explained by the great difficulties which the very slight fall in
the river's bed and the consequent constant shifts of its course here oppose to the construction
and maintenance of irrigation canals of any size.

With the northern belt of oases may conveniently be mentioned also the subsidiary
Kara-shahr basin. basin of Kara-shahr which adjoins the extreme north-eastern corner of the
Tārim basin proper. ³ Though draining into the latter by the Konche-
daryā, it shows characteristic geographical features of its own. It is
divided from the plains of the Tārim by the westernmost hill-range of the Kuruk-tāgh which
encircles it on the south, and a considerable portion of its area is occupied by the large fresh-
water lake of the Baghrash-köl. This gathers the waters brought down by the Kara-shahr
river from high plateaus of the Central T'ien-shan and, acting as a big natural reservoir,
discharges them with an almost constant volume through the defile above Korla. An
abundant water supply and an apparently less arid climate assure to Kara-shahr chances of
extensive cultivation, and the historical importance of the territory shows that in antiquity
these were adequately utilized. Their present neglect seems to be largely due to the popula-
tion containing a considerable element of semi-nomadic Mongol herdsmen. The latter's
presence alone serves to illustrate the difference in climatic conditions between the Kara-
shahr district and the rest of the Tārim basin. ⁴