KHOKAND, a city of Turkestan, was, previous to the Russian conquest, the capital of an independent khan, but, owing mainly to the fact that those who reside in it are subject to goitre, it has not been made the administrative centre of the Russian province (Ferghana, g.v.). The town is situated on the skirts of the Kashgar De van ridge, which separates Kashgar from Ferghana, and it is traversed by three mountain gullies which send their scanty waters to the Jaxartes. Dating only from the reign of Saur Khan, about the early part of the 18th century, Khokand has within the 10 miles circuit of its mud walls a greater amount of space to spare than is to be found in any other city of Central Asia; some of the market-places are of great extent, and the bazaar is built on a more handsome scale than that even of Tashkend. The palace erected by the last khan is after the style of the palace at Samarkand, and rivals it in the rich colouring of its enamels and the general effect of its relief. The audience chamber now serves as a Russian church and the women’s apartments are occupied by the Russian governor of the fortress. The mosques, according to native exaggeration, number 600, and there are fifteen colleges. The gardens, especially those of the palace, are conspicuous for their rich foliage. Silk weaving and papermaking are the chief industries. Coins bearing the inscription “Khokand the Charming,” and known as khokands, have a wide currency. Population about 75,000.

See Schuyler’s Türkistan, 1876; Khoroshkin’s narrative translated in Recueil d'itineraries et de voyages dans l'Asie Centrale, Paris, 1878; Ujfalvy, “L’Asie Centrale,” in Tour du Monde, 18S0.