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Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books
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| 0525 |
Sand-Buried Ruins of Khotan : vol.1 |
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bladet of July, 1897—I know how these got to Khotan, but "that
is another story"—were relics of the imposture when Islam Akhun
tried to make a living by representing himself among the ignorant
'Taghliks' south of Khotan and Keriya as an agent sent by Mr.
Macartney to search out owners of slaves originally carried away
by Hunza raiders from Indian territory. One of these newspaper
sheets, nicely mounted on cloth, showed the portrait of a Swedish
missionary in China, for which Islam Akhun pretended to have sat
himself. The few Chinese characters printed below, giving the
Chinese name of the reverend gentleman, were cunningly repre-
sented by him as containing his own name. Armed with these
truly imposing documents, which he passed off as his official
credentials, the clever rogue had managed to levy blackmail from
innocent hillmen who feared to be accused of the retention of non-
existent slaves. But after a short period of success he had been
found out, and subsequently, on Mr. Macartney's representation,
had received due punishment at the Khotan Yamen. When about
1898 the sale of "old books" fell off, owing to the growing
suspicion attaching to them among the European residents of
Kashgar, Islam Akhun had taken to the calling of a 'Hakim,' or
medicine man. The leaves of a French novel (left behind perhaps
by MM. Dutreuil de Rhins and Grenard) and the fragments of
some Persian texts, which had been found on his person and
were also duly produced, were said to have figured as part of his
latest equipment. But whether he used the leaves of the French
novel merely to read out imaginary charms from, or administered
pieces of them for internal consumption, was, I regret, not ascer-
tained at the time.
The examination of this versatile individual proved a protracted
affair, and through two long days I felt as if breathing the atmo-
sphere of an Indian judicial court. When first arraigned in my
improvised "Cutchery," Islam Akhun readily and with contrite
mien confessed his guilt in the above "personation case," and also
to having in 1898 obtained money from Badruddin, the Afghan
Aksakal, by a forged note purporting to be in Captain Deasy's
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582
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