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0452 On Ancient Central-Asian Tracks : vol.1
On Ancient Central-Asian Tracks : vol.1 / Page 452 (Color Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000214
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in the extent of the cultivated area. Hence there are no
sites there which once abandoned to the desert like that
beyond the Niya river, or those of Lou-lan, have remained
uninhabitable and practically inaccessible ever since, to
preserve for us undisturbed remains of everyday life datable
within narrow chronological limits. These circumstances,
coupled with the immunity from complete devastation and
consequent abandonment which the important localities
of the territory have enjoyed, explain why the plentiful
ruins of the pre-Muhammadan period in the Turfan basin
are practically all found within the area of actual cultiva-
tion or in the immediate vicinity of still occupied towns
and villages.

Easily accessible and conspicuous as they are, the abun-
dant ruins of Buddhist times had not failed to attract the
attention of Russian travellers towards the close of the last
century. Subsequently they became the scene of extensive
archaeological operations by successive expeditions, Russian,
German and Japanese. Among them those conducted by
two very distinguished German scholars, Professors GrĂ¼n-
wedel and Von LeCoq, between 1902 and 1907 had been
exceptionally fruitful. Yet my own short visit of 1907 had
shown me that those ruined sites of Turfan were not yet
completely exhausted.

So I was glad to make Turfan the base and chief ground
for our combined archaeological and geographical labours
of the ensuing winter. R. B. Lal Singh, ever pining for fresh
work, was sent off for surveys in the great and as yet partly
still unexplored desert area of the Kuruk-tagh, while with
the second surveyor the detailed survey of the Turfan basin
was taken in hand. With my remaining two Indian assist-