The camel is a group of two species of even-toed, ungulate ruminating mammals of the family Camelidae characterised by the absence of horns, the possession of incisor, canine and molar teeth, a fissure in the upper lip, a long and arched neck, one or two humps or protuberances on the back (the Arabian camel has one hump, the Common, Asian or Bactrian Camel, two), and a broad elastic foot which does not readily sink into the sand of the desert.
The native country of the camel is said to extend from Marocco to China, within a zone of 900 or 1000 miles in breadth. The common camel (Camelus Bactridnus), having two humps, is only found in the northern part of this region, and exclusively from the ancient Bactria, now Turkestan, to China. The dromedary, or Single-hump camel (Camelus dromedarius), or Arabian camel, is
found throughout the entire length of this zone, on its southern side, as far as Africa and India. The Bactrian species is the larger, more robust, and more fitted for carrying heavy burdens. The dromedary has been called the race-horse of its species. To people residing in the vicinity of the great deserts the camel is an invaluable mode of conveyance. It will travel three days under a load and five days under a rider without drinking. The stronger varieties carry from 700 to 1000 Lbs. burden.
The camel's power of enduring thirst is partly due to the peculiar structure of its stomach, to which are attached little pouches or water-cells, capable of straining off and storing up water for future use, when journeying across the desert. It can live on little food, and of the coarsest kind, leaves of trees, nettles, shrubs, twigs, etc. In this it is helped by the fact that its humps are mere accumulations of fat (the back-bone of the animal being quite straight) and form a store upon which the system can draw when the outside supply is defective. Hence the camel-driver who is about to start on a journey takes care to see that the humps of his animalpresent a full and healthy appearance. Camels which carry heavy burdens will do about 25 miles a day, those which are used for speed alone, from 60 to 90 miles a day.
The camel is rather passive than docile, showing less intelligent co-operation with its master than the horse or elephant; but it is very vindictive when injured. It lives from forty to fifty years. Its flesh is esteemed by the nomadic Arab and its milk is his common food. The hair of the camel serves in the East for making cloth for tents, carpets and wearing apparel. It is imported into European countries for the manufacture of fine pencils for painting and for other purposes. The South American members of the family Camelidae constitute the genusAuchenia, to which the llama and alpaca belong; they have no humps. Research Camel
Eugene Schuyler was an American statesman. He was born in 1840 and died in 1890. He was US Consul at Moscow from 1866 to 1869, and at Reval from 1869 to 1870. He was secretary of the US Legation at St Petersburg from 1870 to 1876; was Consul-General at Constantinople from 1876 to 1878; Consul at Birmingham, England, from 1878 to 1879; Charge d'Affaires and Consul-General at Bucharest from 1880 to 1882 and Minister Resident and Consul-General to Greece, Roumania and Serbia from 1882 to 1884. He wrote a work on Turkestan, and 'American Diplomacy and the Furtherance of Commerce'. Research Eugene Schuyler
Genghis Khan was a Mongolianchieftain and warrior. He was born in 1162 and died in 1227. His father was chief over thirty or forty clans, but paid tribute to the Tartar Khan. He succeeded his father when only fourteen years of age, and made himself master of the neighbouring tribes. A great number of tribes now combined their forces against him. But he found a powerful protector in the great Khan of the Karaite Mongols, Oung, or Ung, who gave him his daughter in marriage. After much intestine warfare with various Tartar tribes Genghis was proclaimed Khan of the United Mongol and Tartar tribes. He now professed to have a divine call to conquer the world, and the idea so animated the spirit of his soldiers that they were easily led on to new wars.
The country of the Uigurs, in the centre of Tartary, had long excited his ambition. This nation was easily subdued, and Genghis Khan was now master of the greatest part of Tartary. Soon after several Tartar tribes put themselves under his dominion, and in 1209 he passed the great wall of China. The conquest of China occupied the Mongols more than six years. The capital, then called Yenking, now Beijing, was taken by storm in 1215 and plundered. The murder of the ambassadors whom Genghis Khan had sent to the King of Kharism (now Khiva) occasioned the invasion of Turkestan in 1218 with an army of 700,000 men; and the two cities of Bokhara and Samarcand were stormed, pillaged, and burned. Seven years in succession was the conqueror busy in the work of destruction, pillage, and subjugation, and extended his ravages to the banks of the Dnieper.
In 1225, though more than sixty years old, he marched in person at the head of his whole army against the King of Tangut (South-western China), who had given shelter to two of his enemies, and had refused to give them up. A great battle was fought, in which the King of Tangut was totally defeated with the loss of 300,000 men. The victor remained some time in his newly-subdued provinces, from which he also sent two of his sons to complete the conquest of Northern China. At his death his immense dominions were divided among his four sons. Research Genghis Khan
Rubber is a gummy substance exuded by a wide variety of trees and plants, especially the trees Hevea brasiliensis, and several other species of Hevea which grow in the East Indies, particularly the Malaypeninsula, and other parts of the world. Rubber is also obtained from the large tree Castilla elastica, found in Mexico. So-called dandelion rubber is derived from the roots of various species of dandelion plant Taraxacuin, chiefly Kok sagyz, etc., grown in Turkestan.
Rubber trees are tapped and the latex, a milk-like juice, containing about 30-40% rubber, is coagulated by exposing it to heat and wood smoke, or by mechanical means, so as to separate the
rubber from the water, mineral salts, sugars, resins, and protein matters. The rubber obtained in this way is known as 'crude'. Latex is also extensively used in industry for making foam rubber products, footwear, dolls, etc.
Untreated crude rubber is naturally soft and lacks the requisite strength for making into manufactured articles. To improve its strength and usefulness it is vulcanised or heated with sulphur, the proportion of sulphur used determining the hardness and elasticity of the rubber. Fillers such as carbon black or channel black are also vital constituents of rubber, particularly tyre rubber. About 75% of the rubber produced goes into the manufacture of tyres, the remainder being utilised for cable sheathing, wire covering, footwear, flooring, proofing of clothing, togs, upholstery material, hose, etc. Latest developments include bullet-proof tyres, non-tear rubber for fuel tanks, flame-proof hose, suits for frogmen. Research Rubber
Jade is a compact, opaque gemstone ranging in colour from dark green to almost white. The term is applied to specimens cut from the minerals jadeite and nephrite.
Jadeite, the less common and more highly prized of the two minerals, is a silicate of sodium and aluminium, NaAl(SiO3)2, usually containing some iron, calcium, and magnesium. It belongs to the group of minerals called pyroxenes.
Jadeite crystallizes in the monoclinic system but rarely occurs in distinct crystals and is usually found in fibrous, compact, massive aggregates. It has a hardness ranging from 6.5 to 7; it is extremely tough and difficult to break. The lustre on fresh fracture is dull and wax like, but polished jadeite has a vitreouslustre. Jadeite is found chiefly in eastern Asia in Burma, as well as in sections of Tibet and southern China. Nephrite, a member of the amphibole group of minerals, is a silicate of calcium and magnesium, with a small amount of iron replacing part of the magnesium. It is a tough, compact variety of the mineral tremolite with a hardness of 6 to 6.5. Polished nephrite has an oily lustre. It is found in Alaska, Mexico, New Zealand, Siberia, and Turkestan.
Jade was used in ancient times for weapons, utensils, and ornaments. A variety of jade called axstone is used by the natives of the South Sea islands for making hatchets. Jade has always been prized by the Chinese and Japanese as the most precious of all stones, and the most beautiful specimens of carved jade in the form of ornamental pieces, such as vases, bowls, tablets, and statues, many of which are now museum pieces, were made in China. Jade is a highly valued gemstone used in jewellery. Research Jade
Afghanistan is a country in Asia. It has a total area of 647,500 km2 and a land area of 647,500 km2. The climate is extremely cold in the higher, and intensely hot in the lower regions, yet on the whole it is salubrious. The most common trees are pines, oaks, birch, and walnut. In the valleys fruits, in the greatest variety and abundance, grow wild. The principal crops are wheat, forming the traditional staple food of the people; barley,rice, and maize. Other traditional crops were tobacco, sugar-cane, and cotton, though since the 20th century opium has become a major crop.
Afghanistan consists chiefly of lofty, bare, uninhabited table-lands, sandy barren plains, ranges of snow-covered mountains, offsets of the Hindu Kush or the Himalayas, and deep ravines and valleys. Many of the last are well watered and very fertile, but about four-fifths of the whole surface is rocky, mountainous, and unproductive. The surface on the north-east is covered with lofty ranges belonging to the Hindu Kush, whose heights are often 18,000 and sometimes reach perhaps 25,000 feet. The whole north-eastern portion of the country has a general elevation of over 6000 feet; but towards the south-west, in which direction the principal mountain chains of the interior run, the general elevation declines to not more than 1600 feet. In the interior the mountains sometimes reach the height of 15,000 ft. G-reat part of the frontier towards India consists of the Suleiman range, 12,000 feet high. There are numerous practicable avenues of communication between Afghanistan and India, among the most extensively used being the famous Khyber Pass, by which the river Cabul enters the Punjab; the Gomul Pass, also leading to the Punjab; and the Bolan Pass on the south, through which the route passes to Sind.
Natural resources include opium, natural gas, crude oil, coal, copper, talc, barites, sulphur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, precious and semi-precious stones. The inhabitants belong to different races, but the Afghans proper form the great mass of the people. They are allied in blood to the Persians, and are divided into a number of tribes, among which the Duranis and Ghiljis are the most important. The Afghans are bold, hardy, and warlike, fond of freedom and resolute in maintaining it, but of a restless, turbulenttemper, and much given to plunder. Tribal dissensions have constantly been in existence, and seldom or never do all the Afghans pay allegiance to the nominal ruler of their country .The religion is 74% SunniMuslim, 15% Shia Muslim and 11% other. The official language is Pashto spoken by half the population, with 35% speaking Afghan Persian (Dari), 11% Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen), 4% thirty minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) with widespread bilingualism.
In 1738 the country was conquered by the Persians under Nadir Shah. On his death in 1747 Ahmed Shah, one of his generals, obtained the sovereignty ofAfghanistan, and became the founder of a dynasty, which lasted. about eighty years. At the end of that time Dost Mohammed, the ruler of Kabul, had acquired a preponderating influence in the country. On account of his dealings with the Russians the British resolved to dethrone him and restore Shah Shuja, a former ruler.
In April, 1839, a British army under Sir John Keane entered Afghanistan, occupied Kabul, and placed Shah Shuja on the throne, a force of 8000 being left to support the new sovereign. Sir W Macnaghten remained as envoy at Kabul, with Sir Alexander Burnes as assistant envoy. The Afghans soon organized a widespread insurrection, which came to a head on November the 2nd,1841, when Burnes and a number of British officers, besides women and children, were murdered, Macnaghten being murdered not long after. The other British leaders now made a treaty with the Afghans, at whose head was Akbar, son of Dost Mohammed, agreeing to withdraw the forces from the country, while the Afghans were to furnish them with provisions and escort them on their way.
On the 6th of January, 1842 the British left Kabul and began their most disastrous retreat. The cold was intense, they had almost no food - for the treacherous Afghans did not fulfil their promises - and day after day they were assailed by bodies of the enemy. By the 13th of January 26,000 persons, including camp-followers, women and children, were killed. Some were kept as prisoners, but only one man, Dr. Brydon, reached Jelalabad, which, as well as Kandahar, was still held by British troops. In a few months General Pollock, with a fresh army from India, retook Kabul and soon finished the war.
Shah Shuja having been assassinated, Dost Mohammed again obtained the throne of Kabul, and acquired extensive power in Afghanistan. He joined with the Sikhs against the British, but latterly made an offensive and defensive alliance with the latter. He died in 1863, having nominated his son Shere Ali his successor. Shere Ali entered into friendly relations with the British, but in 1878, having repulsed a British envoy and refused to receive a British mission (a Russian mission being meantime at his court), war was declared against him, and the British troops entered Afghanistan. They met with comparatively little resistance ; the ameer fled to Turkestan, where he soon after died; and his son Yakoob Khan having succeeded him concluded a treaty with the British at Gandamak in May, 1879, in which a certain extension of the British frontier, the control by Britain of the foreign policy of Afghanistan, and the residence of a British envoy in Kabul, were the chief stipulations. Not long after this settlement the British resident at Kabul, Sir Louis P. Gavagnari, and the other members of the mission were treacherously attacked and slain by the Afghans, and troops had again to be sent into the country. Kabul was again occupied, and Kandahar and Ghazni were also relieved; while Yakoob Khan was sent to imprisonment in India.
In 1880 Abdur-Rahman, a grandson of Dost Mohammed, was recognized by Britain as ameer of the country. He was on friendly terms with the British during his reign, which ended with his death in 1901, his son Habibullah being his successor. Encroachments by the Russians on territory claimed by Afghanistan almost brought about a rupture between Britain and Russia in 1885, and led to the delimitation of the frontier of Afghanistan on the side next Russia,
In 1926 a royal kingdom was established in Afghanistan, this was overthrown in 1973 and a republic was declared. There followed a period of unrest until in 1979 a left-wing coup occurred. Civil war ensued and the Soviet Union invaded at the invitation of the government. The American government and its allies sponsored and armed a Islamic fundamentalist
opposition - the Mujaheddin - and in 1989 the Soviets withdrew and in in 1992 the Mujaheddin gained power, installing a very fundamentalist Islamic government known as the Taliban. The Taliban were then overthrown by an American-led invasion in 2002 following the Taliban's support for those responsible for the attack on the World Trade Center in New York and a coalition of tribal warlords was put in power. Since then civil unrest has once again continued, as it always has in Afghanistan. Research Afghanistan
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
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