CHIMKENT  , a

town of Asiatic Russia, in the province of Syr-darya, 7o m. by rail N.N.E. of Tashkent . Pop . (1897) 10,756, mostly Sarts . It occupies a strategical position at the west end of the valley between the Alexander range and the Ala-tau (or Talas-tau), at the meeting of commercial routes from (I) Vyernyi and Siberia beyond, from the north-east, (2) the Aral Sea and Orenburg (connected with it by rail since 19o5) to the north-west, and (3) Ferghana and Bokhara to the south . The citadel, which was stormed by the Russians in 1864, stands on high ground above the town, but is now in ruins . Chimkent is visited by consumptive patients who wish to try the koumiss cure . It has cotton mills and soap-works .