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THYSSAGETAE
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THYSSAGETAE , an See also:ancient tribe described by See also:Herodotus (iv. 22, 123) as occupying a See also:district to the See also:north-See also:east of See also:Scythia separated from the See also:Budini by a See also:desert seven days' See also:journey broad—perhaps the Voguls. From their See also:land four See also:rivers flowed into the Maeotis, but as one of them, the Oarus, is almost certainly the See also:Volga, there must be some See also:mistake about this. They seem to have held the See also:southern end of the Urals about See also:Ufa and See also:Orenburg. (E. H. M.) TIAN-SHAN, or See also:CELESTIAL MOUNTAINS, one of the most extensive See also:mountain systems of See also:Asia. In the widest acceptation, the See also:system extends from the E. edge (in about 67° E.) of the See also:Aral-See also:Caspian depression in the W. to the See also:great See also:bend of the Hwang-ho (about 103° E.) in the E. The See also:Chinese geographers, however, appear to have confined the See also:term to that See also:part of the system which falls between the conspicuous mountain-See also:knot of See also:Khan-tengri (8o° 11' E. and 42° 13' N.) and the Otun-koza or Barkul depression in 92°-93° E., where the See also:northern ranges of the system abut upon the Ek-tagh See also:Altai; and this conception and See also:limitation of the term are more or less accepted by some See also:European geographers, e.g. Dr Max Friedrichsen and G. E. Grum-Grshimailo. On the other See also:hand P. P. Semenov (or Semyonov), one of the earliest scientific explorers of the system, applies the name to the ranges which See also:lie immediately See also:west of Khan-tengri, including Khan-tengri itself. The Tarbagatai Mountains and their north-western continuation, the Chinghiz-tau, are some-times considered to belong orographically to the Altai system; but there are See also:good reasons for regarding them as an See also:independent range. Excluding these mountains, the northernmost member of the Tian-shan system is the Dzungarian See also:Ala-tau in 45°-45° 30' N. The southernmost range is the Trans-Alai, or rather its W.S.W. prolongation, See also:Peter the Great Mountains in See also:Karateghin (See also:Bokhara), though some geographers (e.g. Max Friedrichsen) assign both the Alai and the Trans-Alai Mountains to the See also:Pamirs. See also:General Orographical Description.—The Tian-shan consists almost everywhere of " sheaves " of parallel ranges, having their strike predominantly east and west, with deflexions to the W.S.W., west of Khan-tengri and to the E.S.E., east of 92° E., thus describing as it were a wide flattened arc open to the See also:south. The See also:principal constituent ranges are accompanied by another set of ranges which break away from the See also:main axes in a See also:westerly or even in a north-westerly direction. In the east, where the system is narrowest, the predominant feature, at least as far west as 87° E., the See also:longitude of the Bagrash-kul, is the Pe-shan swelling, with its flanking ranges, the Chol-tagh on the north and the Kuruk-tagh on the south. North of the Chol-tagh and west of Barkul and the depression of Otun-koza (alt. 2390 ft.) the principal constituent ranges are the Bogdo-ola, continued west and north-west in the Iren-khabirga, the Talki Mountains and the Boro-khoro, flanking in See also:succession the great depression of See also:Dzungaria on the south. South of this last See also:line of elevations comes the depression of See also:Kulja or See also:Ili, cutting deep and far into the See also:outer edge of the great See also:plateau of central Asia. This again is bordered on the south by another See also:series of ranges, the Narat Mountains and the Tomurlik-tau. The last bifurcates into the Trans-Ili Ala-tau and the Kunghei Ala-tau, skirting the north See also:shore of See also:Lake Issyk-kul. The west continuation of the Kunghei Ala-tau is the See also: But the general altitude of the See also:crest of the watershed he estimates at about 16,500 ft., and it is overtopped by peaks (e.g. Dr von Almasy's peak See also:Edward VII.) rising 3000-3500 ft. higher. Closely connected with the Khan-tengri knot are the Khalyk-tau on the east, and on the west three diverging lines of See also:elevation, namely the Terskei Ala-tau or See also:Kirghiz Ala-tau, overhanging the south shore of Issyk-kul; the Kokshal-tau, stretching away south-west as far as the Terez Mountains between See also:Kashgar and Ferghana; and, intermediate between these two, the successive ranges of the Sary-jas, See also:Kulu-tau, and Ak-shiryak. The snowy See also:chain of Khalyktau is highest in the north and west and sinks gradually towards the south and east. The highest parts of the range have generally an east-west strike and the range itself is continued east in the Kokteke (12,300 ft.), with the Kui-kuleh pass at an altitude of 11,500 ft. From Issyk-kul there is a See also:sharp rise of 6000-9000 ft. to the See also:snow-capped ridge of the Terskei Ala-tau, the peaks of which ascend to 15,000-16,500 ft. and even reach 18,000 ft. At this part the system as a whole has a breadth of 15o m. The Terskei Ala-tau forms a sharply accentuated, continuous, snow-clad range. According to I. V. Mushketov it is continued westwards in the Son-kul (alt. 9,500 ft.) of See also:Baron Kaulbars, the Kara-kol, and the Suzamir-tau, until it abuts upon the Talas-tau. The See also:country immediately south of the Terskei Ala-tau consists " of broad, shallow basins running east and west in en See also:echelon See also:pattern, and lying at 10,000 ft. Between them and bordering them run from five to seven' ridges as broad as the basins and rising by See also:gentle slopes to 13,000-16,000 ft. The ridges rise by See also:long, gentle slopes to See also:flat summits, where often for many See also:miles the See also:sky-line is an almost straight crest, from which the rounded slopes of pure See also: The region east of the Barkul-See also:Hami route was in part explored in the closing years of the 19th See also:century, by P. K. See also:Kozlov, V. A. Obruchev, the See also:brothers G. E. and M. E. Grshimailo, V. I. Roborovsky and Sven Hedin. The system is known there locally as the Barkul Mountains and the r See also:Ellsworth See also:Huntington, in Geog. Journ. (1905), pp. 28 seq. Karlyk-tagh.'which stretch from W.N.W. to E.S.E. Its See also:middle parts are snow-clad, the snow lying down to 12,000 ft. on the north side, while the peaks reach altitudes of 14,000-15,000 ft.; but so far as is known the range is not crossed by any pass except in the east, where there are passes at 960o ft. and 10,600 ft. (Belu-daban). Towards the east, the Karlyk-tagh radiates outwards, at the same See also:time decreasing in altitude, though it rises again in the rocky Emirtagh. From the Karlyk-tagh a stony desert slopes south to the Chol-tagh. The Chol-tagh marks the northern escarpment, as the Kuruk-tagh, farther south, marks the southern escarpment, of the great Pe-shan swelling of the desert of See also:Gobi. These two ranges (described under GOBI) are apparently eastern prolongations, the former of the Khaidyk-tagh or Khaidu-tagh, and the latter of the Kok-teke Mountains, which enclose on north and south respectively the Yulduz valley and the Lake of Bagrash-kul. Thus the Kuruktagh are linked, by the Kok-teke, on to the Khalyk-tau of the Khantengri group. The Khaidyk-tau, which are crossed by the passes of Tash-againyn (7610 ft.) and Kotyl (9900 ft.), are not improbably connected orographically with the Trans-Ili Ala-tau, or its twin parallel range, the Kunghei Ala-tau, in the west, in that they are an eastern prolongation of the latter. The Narat-tau appear to See also:form a See also:diagonal (E.N.E. to W.S.W.) See also:link between the Khaidyktau and the Khalyk-tau and are crossed by passes which V. I. Roborovsky estimates at 10,800 ft. (Sary-tyur) and 11,800 ft. (Mukhurdai). The Jambi pass in this same range lies at an altitude of 11,415 ft. and the Dundeh-keldeh pass at 11,710 ft. At the west end of the Barkul range is the See also:gap of Otunkoza (2390 ft.), by which the Hami-Barkul See also:caravan road crosses into the valley of Dzungaria, and at Urumchi (87°3o' E.), over 200 m. farther west, is a similar gap (2800 ft.) which facilitates communication between the See also:oasis of Turfan and Dzungaria. Between these two gaps stretches the snow-clad range of the Bogdo-ola, which runs at an See also:average altitude of some 13,000 ft., and rises to an altitude of 17,000-i8,000 ft. in the conspicuous double peak of Turpanat-tagh or Topotar-aulie, a mountain which the See also:Mongols regard with religious veneration, On the north side of this range the snow-line runs at an altitude of 9500 ft. At the See also:foot of the same slopes lies the broad, deep valley of Dzungaria (2500-1000 ft.). On the south the Bogdo-ola is flanked by the nearly parallel range of the Jargoz, a range which, in contrast to most of the Tian-shan ranges, carries no perpetual snow. But its altitude does not exceed io,000 ft., and its steep rocky slopes meet in a sharp, denticulated crest. West of the Urumchi gap, the Bogdo-ola is continued in the double range of the Iren•khabirga Mountains (11,500 ft.), which See also:curve to the north-west and finally, under the name of the Talki Mountains, See also:merge into the Boro-khoro range. The Iren-khabirga, like the Bogdo-ola and the Terskei Ala-tau, are capped with perpetual snow. They culminate in the peak of Dos-megen-ora at an altitude of 20,000 ft. The more southerly of the twin ranges, the Avral-tau, in which is the Arystan-daban pass at an altitude of io,800 ft., terminates in 82° E., over against the confluence of the Kash and the Kunghez (Ili) rivers. The Boro-khoro Mountains, with an average elevation of at least I1,500 ft., have all the characteristics of a border-ridge. This range, the slopes of which are clothed with Coniferae between the altitudes of 6000 and 9000 ft., separates the valley of Kulja (Ili) on the south from the depressions of Zairam-nor (682o ft.) and Ebi-nor (67o ft.) in the valley of the Borotala on the north, the said. valley opening out eastwards into the wider valley of Dzungaria. The passes in the Boro-khoro lie at See also:lower altitudes than is usual in the Tian-shan ranges, namely at 7000-7415 ft. On its northern side the valley of Borotala is skirted by the important orographic system of the Dzungarian Ala-tau, the northern-most member of the Tian-shan. Its constituent ranges run from E.N.E. to W.S.W., though some of them have a W.N.W. and E.S.E. strike. The two principal series of parallel ranges possess no See also:common names, but are made up as follows: The northern series (going from east to west) of the Baskan-tau, Sarkan-tau, Karazryk-tau, Bionyntau, and Koranyn-tau, running at an average elevation of ii,000-13,000 ft., and the southern series of the Urtak-saryk, Bejin-tau and Kok-su (Semenov's Labazy chain), at altitudes of 12,000-14,000 ft. Western and Southern Tian-shan.—On the north side of the Issykkul, and separated from the Terskei Ala-tau by that lake, are the twin ranges of the Trans-Ili Ala-tau and Kunghei Ala-tau, parallel to one another and also to the lake and to the Terskei Ala-tau. The two chains are connected by the lofty transverse ridge of Almaty, Almata or Almatinka. The more northerly range, the Trans-Ili Ala-tau, swings away to the north-west, and is continued in the echeloned ranges of Kandyk-tau, Kulja-bashi, Khan-tau and the Chu-Ili Mountains, the general altitudes of which lie between 4000 ft. and 9000 ft. These latter ranges See also:separate the Muyunkum desert on the west from the See also:Balkash deserts on the east. The Trans-Ili itself culminates in Mt Talgar at an altitude of 14,990 ft. The Kunghei Ala-tau rises nearly 8000 ft. above the Issyk-kul and lifts its summits higher than 13,000 ft. The passes across the twin i It may however eventually turn out that these ranges, together with the Mechin-ola, farther to the north-east and intimately connected with the Karlyk-tau, belong to the Altai system.ranges lie at 8000-1 i,000 ft. (Almaty pass) in the Trans-Ili Ala-tau and at 900o-10,885 ft. (Kurmenty pass) in the Kunghei Ala-tau. This last is continued without a break past the western end of Issyk-kul, being directly prolonged by the Alexander Mountains, although parted from them by the See also:gorge of Buam or See also:Born, through which the Issyk-kul probably once drained. On neither of these ranges are there any true glaciers. The Alexander Mountains terminate over against the See also:town of Aulie-ata (71° 20' E.) at the relatively See also:low altitude of 2460 ft., though farther east they rise to 13,000-14,000 ft., and even reach 15,350 ft. in Mt Semenov. On the north their declivities are steep and rugged. They are crossed by passes at 6550-11, 825ft. (Shamsi). From the middle of the Alexander range, in about i4° E., a chain known as the Talas-tau breaks away from its south flank in a W.S.W. direction, and from near the western extremity of this latter two parallel ranges, the Chotkal or Chatkal (14,000 ft.), and the Ala-tau, break away in a south-westerly direction, and running parallel to one another and to the See also:river Naryn, or upper Syr-darya, terminate at right angles to the middle Syr-darya, after it has made its sweeping turn to the north-west. The Talas-tau, some-times known as the Urtak-tau, while the name of Ala-tau is also extended to See also:cover it, has an average elevation of 14,000-15,000 ft., but lifts its snow-capped summits to 15,750 ft.; it is crossed by passes at 8000-10,650 ft. From near the west end of the Alexander range, in about 71° E., the Kara-tau stretches some 270 M. to the north-west, between the Syr-darya and the Chu. It belongs to the later series of transverse upheavals, and consists almost entirely of sedimentary rocks. It is not clear, however, whether orographically it is connected with the Alexander range or with the Talas-tau. Its average elevation is 5000 ft., but in places it reaches up to 7000-8000 ft. In the same north-westerly to south-easterly direction and belonging to the same series of later transverse upheavals are the Ferghana Mountains, which shut in the See also:plain of Ferghana on the north-east, thus running athwart the radiating ranges of the central Tian-span. The Ferghana Mountains, which are cleft by the Naryn (upper Syr-darya) river, have a mean altitude of io,000 ft., but attain elevations of 12,740 ft. (Suyuk) and are crossed by the Terek pass (distinct from the Terek pass in the Terek Mountains) at an altitude of 9140 ft. On the south the Ferghana valley is fenced in by the lofty range of the Alai, backed by the parallel range of the Trans-Alai. Both ranges abut at their eastern or E.N.E. extremity upon the Pamir plateau, and both extend in their respective continuations a long way out into the desert. The Alai is a well-defined ridge with steep slopes, and both it and the Terek-tau, which prolongs it towards the Kokshal-tau, are flanked next the Ferghana valley by what appear to be the old uplifted strata both of the old Palaeozoic series of metamorphic limestones and of the newer Tertiary series of softer conglomerates and sandstones. The general altitude of both ranges is 16,000-19,000 ft., but the Trans-Alai culminates in peak See also:Kaufmann (23,000 ft.). The Trans-Alai is a true border range, the ascent to it from the Pamir plateau (13,000 ft.) on the south-east being gentle and relatively See also:short, while both it and the Alai tower up steeply to a height of 11,000-14,000 ft. above the valley of the Alai. This valley, which runs up at its eastern end to the Muz-tagh-tau, is about 75 M. long and is continued towards the south-west by the valley of Karateghin. Its breadth varies from 3 to 12 M. and its altitude decreases from 10,500 ft. in the north-east to 8200 ft. in the south-west. It is drained by the Kyzyl-su, which, under the name of Vakhish, finally enters the Amu-darya. The Alai valley is in See also:ill repute because of the enormous masses of snow which fall in it in the See also:winter. Despite that it is an important See also:highway of communication between Bokhara and the Pamirs on the one hand and Kashgar and Ferghana on the other. The principal passes over it into the valley of Ferghana are Taldyk, 11,605 ft.; Jiptyk, 13,605 ft.; Saryk-mogal, 14,110 ft.; Tenghiz-bai, 12,630 ft.; and Kara-kasyk, 14,305 ft. The first-named has been made practicable for See also:artillery and wheeled carriages. The Pamir plateau is reached by means of the Kyzyl-art pass at an altitude of 14,015 ft. The Alai Mountains are continued westwards in the radiating ranges of the Karateghin Mountains, Zarafshan Mountains, the Hissar Mountains and the Turkestan range, which reach altitudes of 18,500-22,000 ft., though peak Baba in the Zarafshan range reaches nearly 20,000 ft. The Trans-Alai are continued in the Peter the Great range, which culminates in the See also:Sandal group at See also:close upon 25,000 ft. (see further BOI HARA). The passes across these ranges are as a See also:rule difficult and lie at altitudes of some 10,000-13,000 ft. The last outlying range of the Tian-shan system in this direction is the Nura-tau, which, like the Kara-tau farther north, belongs to the more See also:recent series of upheavals having a W.N.W to E.S.E. See also:axis. It rises abruptly from the desert and lifts its snowy peaks to altitudes of 15,000-i6,000 ft., separating the river Syr-darya from the river Zarafshan. The passes over it lie at altitudes of 10,000-13.000 ft. Glaciation.—In the central and western parts of the Tian-shan there exist numerous indications of former glaciation on an extensive See also:scale, e.g. in the Sary-jas, the Terskei Ala-tau, Khan-tengri, Alai, Trans-Alai, Terek range, Trans-Ili Ala-tau, Kunghei Ala-tau, Kokshal-tau, Dzungarian Ala-tau, Alexander Mountains and Talas-tau. Indeed, the evidences, so far as they have been examined, appear to See also:warrant the conclusion that the region of the western Tian-shan, from Lake Issyk-kul southwards, was in great part the See also:scene of probably five successive glacial periods, each being less severe than the See also:period which immediately preceded it. At the See also:present See also:day four or five large glaciers stream down the shoulders and embed them-selves in the hollow flanks of Khan-tengri—the Semenov at altitudes of 12,410-11,100 ft., the Mushketov at 11,910-10,920 ft., the Inylchik at 11,320-10,890 ft., and the Kaindy at Io,810-Io,o4o ft. The Inylchik See also:glacier is computed to have a length of about 45 M. Glaciers occur also on Manas See also:mount to the south of the town of Aulie-ata. In the Alai region there are other extensive glaciers, e.g. the See also:Fedchenko and Shurovsky glaciers south of peak See also:Kauffmann. Generally speaking, the snow-line runs at 11,500-12,800 ft. above See also:sea-level, and all ranges the peaks of which shoot up above 12,000 ft. are snow-clad, and all ranges which are snow-clad rise to higher altitudes than 11,500 ft. A feature generally characteristic of the Tian-shan as a whole is that the See also:absolute elevation of the ranges increases gradually from north to south, and from the centre decreases towards both the east and the west. At the same time the relative altitudes, or the heights of the mountain ranges above the valleys which flank them, decrease from north to south. For instance, in the Dzungarian Ala-tau, the valleys going south lie successively at altitudes of 4300 ft. in the Borotala, at 5600 ft. in the Urtaksaryk and at 682o beside the Zairam-nor. Again, while the Ili (Kulja) valley lies at 1300 ft., the Issyk-kul has an altitude of 5300 ft., the Koshkar basin, in which the river Chu has its source, reaches 6070 ft., the Son-kul valley 9430 ft., the Ak-sai valley, farther east, 10,000 to 11,150 ft., and the Chatyr-kul on the north side of the Terek Mountains 11,200 ft. In the elevated regions of this part of the system, between the Kokshal-tau and the Pamir plateau, the snow-line runs at a higher level than is usual elsewhere, namely at 12,500 ft. and even at 13,000—13,800 ft. on the Kokiya Mountains. See also:Climatic Conditions.—As a rule on all the Tian-shan ranges the ascent from the north is steep and from the south relatively gentle. But the deep lateral indentations (e.g. Kulja) provide a more or less easy See also:access up to the loftier tablelands and plateaus of the interior. Broadly speaking, the See also:climate on the north and west of the main ranges is both milder and moister than on the south and east, and accordingly the precipitation in the former is relatively heavier, namely to to 20 in. annually. It used to be supposed that the Tian-shan confronted the basin of the Tarim with a steep, See also:wall-like versant. But this is not the See also:case. G. Merzbacher, speaking of the slopes of the Khalyk-tau and other neighbouring ranges of the central Tian-shan, says that " nearly everywhere the Tian-shan slopes away gradually towards the high plain at its southern See also:base, in places. ..subsiding gradually in ranges of trans-See also:verse spurs, whose cape-like ends project far into the desert, or in other places in the step-like tailing off of See also:longitudinal ranges.... In some places limestones appear as projections from the range; at others conglomerates and Tertiary See also:clay marls form the outermost See also:fold."' On the north versant of the ranges the rainfall increases from the foot of the mountains upwards, and at 9000-10,000 ft. the vegetation becomes luxuriant. According to P. P. Semenov, the following See also:vegetable zones may be distinguished on the northern slopes: altitudes of 525-1575 ft. are See also:steppe lands, of 1575-4300 ft. are the See also:zone of cultivation, 4300-8100 ft. the zone of coniferous trees, 8100-9500 ft. alpine pastures, 9500-11,900 ft., the higher alpine regions, and above the last limit is the region of perpetual snow. The south versant, on the other hand, is barren and desolate below the ro,000 ft. limit and above that it is dotted with scanty patches of grass and See also:bush vegetation. Its general aspect is that of rugged slopes of See also:bare See also:rock, seamed with the beds of dry torrents choked with See also:gravel (see further TURKESTAN, WEST). Routes.—The traditional routes between See also:China on the one side and West Turkestan and See also:Persia on the other have from time immemorial crossed the Tian-shan system at some See also:half a dozen points. After traversing the desert of Gobi from Sa-chou to Hami, the great northern route crossed over into the Dzungarian valley either by the Otun-koza depression or by the gap at Urumchi, or else it proceeded over the Muz-art pass on the east side of Khan-tengri or over the Bedel pass in the Kokshal-tau and so down into the valley of Kulja. The shortest route, though not the easiest, between Kashgar and East Turkestan in the east and Ferghana and West Turkestan in the west is over the Terek pass or the pass at the See also:head of the Alai valley, a dangerous route in winter by See also:reason of the vast quantity of snow which usually accumulates there. ' G. Merzbacher, The Central Tian-shan Mountains, pp. 139-140 (See also:London, 1905)." Erforschung See also:des Thianschangebirgssystems, 1867," in Petermanns Mitteilungen, Erganzungshefte 42 and 43 (1875); I. V. Mushketov, " Short See also:Report of a Geological Journey in Turkestan " (in See also:Russian), in Zapiski of Russ. Geog. See also:Soc., 2nd series, vol. xx. (St See also:Petersburg, 1877), and Geological and Orographical Description of Turkestan, 1874-188o (in Russ.; St Petersburg, 1886); S. D. Romanovsky, Materialien zur Morphologie von Turkestan (188o, &c.) ; I. V. lgnatyev and A. M. Krasnov, in Izvestia of the Russ. Geog. Soc. (1887); A. M. Krasnov, in Zapiski of the same society (1888); Dr von Almasy, in Mitteilungen der k. k. oesterreichischen Geog. Gesellschaft (See also:Vienna, 1901) ; Baron A. von Kaulbars, " Materialien zur Kenntniss des Thien-schan," in Izvestia of Russ. Geog. Soc. (1874) ; J. W. Regel, Reisebriefe aus Turkestan (See also:Moscow, 1876) ; and G. E. and M. E. Grum-Grshimailo, Along the E. Tian-shan (in Russian; St Petersburg, 1896) ; V. A. Obruchev, in Izvestia of Russ. Geog. Soc. (1895) ; G. See also:Saint-Yves, on the " Terskei Ala-tau," in Annales de geographic (1898) ; E. Huntington, " The Mountains of Turkestan," in Geog. Journ. (London, 1905) ; and P. K. Kozlov, " See also:Account of Roborovsky's Tibetan Expedition," in Izvestia of Russ. Geog. Soc. (1897). (J. T. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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