Talk:Kashgar

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[edit] Culture

Silk culture and carpet manufacture have flourished for ages at Khotan, and the products always find a ready sale at Kashgar. Other manufactures consist of a strong coarse cotton cloth called kham (which forms the dress of the common people, and for winter wear is padded with cotton and quilted), boots and shoes, saddlery, felts, furs and sheepskins made up into cloaks, and various articles of domestic use. A curious street sight in Kashgar is presented by the hawkers of meat pies, pastry and sweetmeats, which they trundle about on hand-harrows just as their counterparts do in Europe; while the knife-grinder's cart, and the vegetable seller with his tray or basket on his head, recall exactly similar itinerant traders further west.

The foregoing was removed by a user; I preserve it here in the hope that if can be reworked in an acceptable fashion and returned to the article. --Dpr 05:44, 30 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] History

"Previously the city consisted of two towns, Kona Sheher or "old city", and Yengi Sheher or "new city", about 5 miles (8 km) apart, separated from one another by the Kyzyl Su (literally: "Red River"), a tributary of the [[Tarim]] river. The division is now less distinct. [[Image:Kashgar road scene, 1870s.jpg|thumb|360px|Kashgar road scene, 1870s]] Kona Sheher is a small fortified city on high ground overlooking the Tuman river. Its walls are lofty and supported by buttress bastions with loopholed turrets at intervals; the fortifications, however, are but of hard clay and are much out of repair. The city contains about 2,500 houses. Beyond the bridge, a little way off, are the ruins of ancient Kashgar, which once covered a large extent of country on both sides of the Tuman, and the walls of which even now (in 1911) are 12 feet (3.7m) wide at the top and twice that in height. This city - Aski Shahr (Old Town) as it is now called - was destroyed in [[1514]] by [[Mirza Ababakar]] ([[Abubekr]]) on the approach of [[Sultan Said Khan]]'s army. About two miles to the north beyond the river is the shrine of [[Hazrat Afak]], the saint king of the country, who died and was buried here in 1693. It is a handsome mausoleum faced with blue and white glazed tiles, standing under the shade of some magnificent silver poplars. Around it [[Yakub Beg]] erected a commodious college, mosque and monastery, the whole being surrounded by rich orchards, fruit gardens and vineyards. The Yengi Sheher of Kashgar was, as its name implies, relatively modern, having been built in [[1838]]. It was of oblong shape running north and south, and was entered by a single gateway. The walls were about 10 metres (33 ft) high, of adobe brick and topped by turrets, while on each side was a projecting bastion. The walls were reportedly wide enough at the top for a two-wheeled cart. The whole was surrounded by a deep and wide ditch, which could be filled from the river, at the risk, however, of bringing down the whole structure, for the walls were of mud, and standing upon a porous sandy soil. When the Communists took power they destroyed the walls. Before [[Yakub Beg]]'s seized power from the Chinese, Yengi Sheher held a garrison of 6,000 men, and was the residence of the ''amban'' or governor. Yakub erected his ''orda'' or palace on the site of the amban's residence, and two hundred ladies of his [[harem (husehold)|harem]] occupied a commodious enclosure nearby. The population of Kashgar was estimated (not long before 1911) at 60,000 in the Kona Sheher and only 2,000 in the Yengi Sheher. "

I have removed this part because it doesn't really fit into the article and most of it is irrelevant. Please incorporate the remaining notable facts into the article, thanks. Aran|heru|nar 10:04, 4 September 2006 (UTC)