Baisun, a picturesque Uzbek town considered to be very healthy, lies on the road from Derbend to Hissar town. Emerging from the somewhat complex mountain mass which fills up this part of Hissar, the valley of the Surkhan is reached. This large river is formed by several affluents from the snowy range to the north, one of which, the Tupalan, formerly gave its name to the whole stream. The valley in its upper part is between 40 and 45 miles wide; the banks of the river are flat and reed-grown, and are frequented by wild hogs and a few tigers. The Surkhan valley is highly cultivated, especially in its upper portion, where the villages are crowded. It supplies Bokhara with corn and sheep, but its chief products are rice and flax. When Hissar was independent the valley of the Surkhan was always its political centre, the town of Hissar being simply an outlying fortress. Passing by four fortified towns, Dehinau, Sarijui, Regar, and Karatagh, all in the basin of the Surkhan, Hissar ( = fort) claims notice. Its position at the entrance of the Pavi-dul-dul defile commanded the entrance into the fertile valleys of the Surkhan and Kafirnihan, just as Kubadian at the southern end of the latter stream defended them from the south. The famous bridge of Pul-i-sanghin (stone bridge, Tash-kepri in Turkish) lies on the road from Hissar and Kafirnihan to Baljuan and Kulab. It spans the Surkhab, which is here hemmed in between lofty and precipitous cliffs barely 30 paces apart. The bridge itself abuts on projecting rocks, and is ten paces wide. The next place of importance is Kulab, in the valley of the Kichi Surkhab, so called from the lakes or inundations-near which it stands. The district is part of that once famous as Khotl. The town (which, strictly speaking, is the capital of Kulab district as distinct from Hissar) contains about 500 houses and a poor citadel, and from it there are roads to Badakhshan and Kurgan-tepe and Kubadian. These two lie in the valleys of the Vaksh (or Surkhab) and Kafirnihan respectively. Kulab produces wheat in great profusion, and gold is brought thither from the surrounding districts. Kubadian is a large, silk-producing town, and is surrounded with rice-fields. Formerly the two last-named valleys were densely peopled, and a series of settlements extended southward from Dehinau, from which town an arik or canal provided the city of Termez with water. Termez, or Termedh, was an ancient and important city on the Oxus. After being destroyed by Jenghiz Khan and lying for some time in ruins, it rose again into note in the following century, and when visited by Ibn Batuta, and later by Clavijo, it had grown again into a place of some importance. It is now a mass of ruins.

The population of the districts of Hissar and Kulab consists principally of Uzbeks and Tajiks, the former predominating, and, as in the valleys of the Sir and ⅛rafshan, gradually pushing the aboriginal Tajiks into the hills. East of Dushamba the Tajiks are the dominant race. On the banks of the Oxus there are some tribes of Baigush Turkmans who work at the ferries, drive sheep, and accompany caravans. Lyuli (gipsies), Jews, Hindus, and Afghans are also to be found in Hissar. But the Uzbeks are the most numerous, and their influence is so great that at Bokhara Hissar is known as Uzbekistan. The climate of the valleys of Hissar and Kulab is pleasant, as they are shut in by mountains to the north and open towards the Oxus to the south. Baisun (3410 feet) is the most elevated town. Hissar and Kulab produce in abundance all the cereals and garden plants indigenous to Central Asia. Cotton is grown in considerable quantities in the district of Shirabad, whence it is exported by way of Khuzar to Karshi. The difficulties of transport would prevent its being brought in any quantity from other places. Dehinau, Hissar, and Dushamba export corn and flax to Bokhara. From the vicinity of Khuzar is exported rock-salt, and sheep are brought to Bokhara and Karshi from all parts of Hissar district, as well as from Baljuan, Yurchi, and Afghanistan. A species of juniper, called archa, is used for timber. Salt is found at Bash-kurd, in the mountains oi Hazret-Imam, and at other places. There are numerous brine springs in various quarters, indicating generally an inexhaustible supply of rock-salt. Auriferous sand has been discovered in the Vaksh, and the inhabitants wash the sands after the floods in spring. Merchandize is conveyed by means of camels, mules, and horses from Hissar to Karshi and Bokhara. Not a single waggon is to be found in the district, and the wooden arba is not even known there. Politically, Hissar now consists of seven sub-districts, governed by begs, Shirabad, Baisun, Dehinau, Yurchi, Hissar, Kurgan-tepe, and Kubadian; and Kulab of two, Baljuan and Kulab. The fact of the chief route between the Russian and British possessions in Asia lying through Hissar has served oi late years to bring it into prominence, and will always invest it with a certain importance.

History.— Our knowledge of the history of Hissar is most fragmentary. In early written history this country was part of the Persian empire of the Achaemenidae, and probably afterwards of the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom, and then subject to the Eastern swarms who broke this up. In the time of the Sassanian kings of Persia it was under thø Haiathalah, the Ephthalites or White Huns of the Greeks, subdued by the Turks in the early part of the 7th century, these soon to be displaced by the Mahometan power. Termedh, Kubadian, and Chagaman are named as places of importance by the Arab geographers of the 10th century; the last name was also applied territorially to a great part of the Hissar province, but is now obsolete. The country was successively subject to the Mongol Chagatai dynasty and to Timur and his successors; it afterwards became a cluster of Uzbek states of obscure history. Hissar was annexed by the amir of Bokhara in 1869-70, soon after the Russian occupation of Samarcund. (θ∙ ®· D. B.)

Rice is the staple crop of the district. In favourable seasons, cotton is extensively grown in lands irrigated by the Western Jumna Canal. In 1872-73, 1,431,541 acres were under tillage, out of an assessed area of 2,265,428 acres. Hissâr produces a breed of milk-white oxen, 17 or 18 hands in height, which are in great request for the carriages of nativos. The district has always been subject to famine. The first calamity of this kind of which we have authentic record was the famine of 1783; since then there have been several more or less serious failures of the crops.

The principal exports are oil-seeds, gram, grains, copper and brass utensils, hides, and a little cotton; the imports —salt, sugar, fine rice, cotton goods of English make, spices, and iron. The exports are double the imports in value. The rural manufactures comprise coarse cotton cloth, vessels made of prepared skins, and copper and brass vessels. The annual out-turn of rough saltpetre is estimated at 450 maunds. The trade of the district centres in Bhawâni, where nine lines of traffic converge. The main road, about 50 feet wide, unmetalled, traverses the district, passing through Hânsi and Hissâr towns; fourteen other roads supply communication. The census of 1868 returned the population at 484,681 (males, 266,847; females, 217,834). The Hindus numbered 373,937; Mahometans, 102,928; Sikhs, 1812; and “others,” 6004. There are three municipalities, viz., Bhawâni, 32,254; Hissâr, 14,133; and Hânsi, 13,563. The district police numbered 396 men in 1872-73, and the municipal police 174. In the same year there were 50 schools, with 1729 scholars. The climate of Hissâr is very dry; hot westerly winds blow from the middle of March till July. The average rainfall for the six years 1867—68 to 1872-73 was 14 ’ 57 inches. The principal diseases are fevers and smallpox. Cholera occasionally breaks out. Skin diseases also are common. Government dispensaries are situated at Bhawâni and Hânsi.

Prior to the Mahometan conquest, the semi-desert tract of which Hissâr district now forms part was the retreat of Chauhân Eâjputs. Towards the end of the 18th century, the Bhattis of Bhattiâna gained ascendency after bloody struggles. To complete the ruin brought on by these conflicts, nature lent her aid in the great famine of 1783. Hissâr passed nominally to the British in 1803, but they could not enforce order till 1810. Early in the mutiny of 1857 Hissâr was wholly lost for a time to British rule, and all Europeans were either murdered or compelled to fly. The Bhattis rose under their hereditary chiefs, and the majority of the Mahometan population followed their example. Before Delhi had been recovered, the rebels were utterly routed.

Hissâr, municipal town and administrative headquarters of the above district, 29° 9' 5Γ' N. lat., 75° 45' 55'' E. long.; population (1868), 14,133 (Hindus 9211, Mahometans 4805, Sikhs 34, Christians 83). The town is situated on the Western Jumna Canal, 102 miles W. of Delhi. It was founded in 1354 by the emperor Firoz Shâh, who constructed the canal to supply it with water; but this fell into decay during the last century, owing to the constant inroads of marauders. Hissâr was almost completely depopulated during the famine of 1783, but was afterwards occupied by the adventurer George Thomas, who built a fort and collected inhabitants. It contains a cattle farm, both for commissariat purposes and for improving the breed of the province; attached is an estate of 43,287 acres for pasturage. There is an import trade in grain, ghi, sugar, oil, cotton, tobacco, and English piece goods. The municipal revenue in 1875-76 was J>1229.