III.—Countries and Places in the Empire of Yue-dsu-bu (Uzbek).

The name Kin-ch’a has been applied by Chinese mediæval authors since the year 1223 to the country of the Kipchaks or Desht Kipchak, as the Mohammedan authors termed the tract of land situated north of the Black Sea, the Caucasus mountains, and the Caspian Sea, and covered by vast steppes. D’Herbelot in the “Bibl. Or.” translates the Persian word Desht by “campagne déserte Où il n’y a ni villes ni villages.” Charmoy (“Expéd. de Timour,” Mém. Acad. St. Petersb., 1836, p. 125) states that Kipchak in the Djagatai-Persian dialect has the same meaning, ie., “desert.”