Yarkund
or YARKAND, the chief town of the province of the same name in eastern Turkestan; 140 miles S. E. of Kashgar. It It i is a great emporium of trade between China and the W., but it has been repeatedly devastated by the internecine wars which are chronic in central Asia. The bulk of the inhabitants are Mohammedans of the Turki race; and in 1866 it was captured from the Chinese by Yakub Beg, who in 1874, entered into a commercial treaty with the British in India, and caravans of traders annually pass to and fro through the valley of Kashmir. The exports are chiefly shawl wool, raw silk, gold, and borax; the imports are piece goods, metal wares, tea, and indigo. In 1876 an English company sent its goods direct to Yarkund under European conduct, and Yarkund merchants annually YARMOUTH go down to the Punjab. The soil of the province, which is watered by the Yarkund river, a tributary of the Tarim Kul, which flows E. into the lake called Lob Nor, is fertile; the crops are wheat, rice, barley, millets, fruits, and mulberry; and there are large herds of sheep, goats, cattle, and horses. Pop. about 70,000.