6 THE NORTHERN FRONTAGERS OF CHINA.

grew, until its limits were very wide asunder. On the west it
conquered the towns of Kua chau, Sha chau, and Su chau
from the Uighurs, while

its
authority apparently extended
over Khamul, Barkul, Urumtsi, Turfan, and the country

.
watered by the river Chaidam and the part

of
the Gobi
situated between China, Khamul and Lake Lob, while south
far Bayan Mountains, which

as

as
wards extended
it the

p.
separated from Tibet (Nouv. Journ. Asiat. vol. xi.
it 461).
On the east dominated over the country

of
it the Ordus
(Timkofski, Travels), and large part the ancient province

of
a
Shensi, the Yellow River. In the resumé
of

of
far east
of as

as
the Kangmu we are told that after the
history
in
the Hia
Li

reign yuen hao (vide infra) having crossed the Hoangho

of

and built Hing chau (i.e. Ning hia), where they held their
court, the princes Hia soon found themselves masters
of

of
Yu Ling
In

Hia chau, Sui chau, chau, chau, chau, Yen chau,

chau, Wei chau, Chang ye, Tsui chuen, Tun hoang and
U

many other towns and departments. To the south they ex

tended their empire far the mountain Heng Shan,
as

as

to
Siho (i.e. west
in of

far
as

as

the east the river).

Their country was 10,000 extent, and comprised
in li

thirty-two departments; nine Honan, literally south

of
no

river, and here meaning

of
in

the doubt the enclave the

Hoangho, i.e. Ling chau, Hong chau, Yu chau,
In

chau, Hia
chau, She chau, Yen chau, Nan wei chau, Hoei chau. Nine
Hing Ting chau, Hoai chau, Yong
si,

namely,
in

Ho chau,
chau, Leang chau, Kan su, Sha lu, Tsin chau, Kua chau,
Ho wei, -i.e. the river Wei—Si ning chau,
on

and four
in

Lochau, Ku chau, and Ki she chau, which supplied the five

grain and, above all, plenty
of

of

kinds abundance,
in

rice
and wheat (De Mailla, vol. ix. pp. 126–127).
During the Mongol period Tangut was divided into seven
prefectures, thus enumerated by Pauthier:
or

lus Sha chau

1.

Marco Polo), i.e. the sand district, outpost

an

Sachiu
of

(the
the eastern verge the worst part the Sandy
of

of
at

p. of

China
Desert (Yule's Marco Polo, 209); was conquered by
it

the Tangutans from the Uighurs. Suh chau (the Succiur

2.

Polo, and Sukchu Rashid-ud-din); this was also

of

of