DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15174#0174
158
KINGDOM OF BOKHARA,
BOOK I.
animalculae of the water. Another disease of the
country is the " mukkom," or " kolee," a kind of
leprosy. Those afflicted with it are considered
unclean : it does not cover the body with spots as
in common leprosy, but the skin becomes dry and
shrivelled, the hair of the body falls off, the nails
and teeth tumble out, and the whole body assumes
a horrible and unseemly appearance. The disease
is believed to be hereditary, and to originate from
food: it is fearfully prevalent in the districts of Sa-
marcand and Meeankal ; also in the neighbouring-
states of Shuhr Subz and Hissar ; all of which are
rice countries. Some state it to be caused by the
use of the intoxicating spirit called "boozu," which
is distilled from black barley ; but that liquor and
mares' milk are not used in Bokhara. The disease
affects the general health, and is incurable. The
most humane people will tell you that it is a curse
from God, and drive an unfortunate sufferer from
them. A separate quarter of the city is assigned
for the residence of those who are afflicted, as was
the case among the Jews. That scourge, the
cholera morbus, has been felt in all these countries.
It appears to have taken the route of the caravans,
and advanced from India, step by step, into Eastern
Europe. It raged for a year in Cabool; it then
crossed Hindoo Koosh the following season, and
desolated Balkh and Koondooz. For a year it
fluctuated between the valley of the Oxus and
Herat; it then attacked Bokhara, Kokan, and the
other Uzbek states; and, after devastating the
country, passed on to Khiva, Orenburg, and Astra-
KINGDOM OF BOKHARA,
BOOK I.
animalculae of the water. Another disease of the
country is the " mukkom," or " kolee," a kind of
leprosy. Those afflicted with it are considered
unclean : it does not cover the body with spots as
in common leprosy, but the skin becomes dry and
shrivelled, the hair of the body falls off, the nails
and teeth tumble out, and the whole body assumes
a horrible and unseemly appearance. The disease
is believed to be hereditary, and to originate from
food: it is fearfully prevalent in the districts of Sa-
marcand and Meeankal ; also in the neighbouring-
states of Shuhr Subz and Hissar ; all of which are
rice countries. Some state it to be caused by the
use of the intoxicating spirit called "boozu," which
is distilled from black barley ; but that liquor and
mares' milk are not used in Bokhara. The disease
affects the general health, and is incurable. The
most humane people will tell you that it is a curse
from God, and drive an unfortunate sufferer from
them. A separate quarter of the city is assigned
for the residence of those who are afflicted, as was
the case among the Jews. That scourge, the
cholera morbus, has been felt in all these countries.
It appears to have taken the route of the caravans,
and advanced from India, step by step, into Eastern
Europe. It raged for a year in Cabool; it then
crossed Hindoo Koosh the following season, and
desolated Balkh and Koondooz. For a year it
fluctuated between the valley of the Oxus and
Herat; it then attacked Bokhara, Kokan, and the
other Uzbek states; and, after devastating the
country, passed on to Khiva, Orenburg, and Astra-