Note 1 — THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE IN CENTRAL ASIA. BY MAJOR-GENERAL SIR HENRY RAWLINSON, K.C.B.

Bala Murgháb, where Sir P. Lumsden and his party have passed the winter, is apparently built on the site of the old city of Abshín, which was the capital of the Shárs of Gharshistan, a line of princes of great celebrity in Oriental history. The family was of Persian descent, and reigned in Gharshistan (the upper valley of the Murgháb) for nearly two centuries during the Samanide and Ghaznevide dynasties, the Shar Abu Nasar, who was defeated by Mahomud and died in captivity at Ghazni in A.H. 406, being one of the most learned men of his time.