Chapter I: AN ACCOUNT of THE KINGDOM OF BOKHARA (3)

The intercourse between Bokhara and Yarkund is carried on by two routes, leading through the valleys of the Sir, or Jaxartes, and the Oxus. The first of these routes passes by Kokan, the ancient Ferghana, and is always passable but in the three summer months, when it is flooded by melted snow. There are two places on this route where the traveller experiences a difficulty of breathing. The disturbances with the exiled Khoju and the Uzbeks of Kokan have of late years closed this route to caravans; but it is the best line of communication between Yarkund and Toorkistan. The route by the plain of Pamere and the valley of the Oxus, through Budukhshan and Balkh, is more circuitous, and likewise less accessible. I have described both these lines of route, when speaking of the commerce of Bokhara; I have only, therefore, to make a brief mention of Kokan, which is the paternal kingdom of Baber. It is ruled by an Uzbek Khan, of the tribe of Yooz, who claims a lineage from that Emperor. It is a much smaller territory than Bokhara, and its power is now on the decline: it is celebrated for its silk. The capital of the country is Kokan, which is an open town on the Sir, about half the size of Bokhara, and the largest place in that neighbourhood. The ancient capital is Marghilan: Indejan is, however, a town of considerable note; and the Chinese of Yarkund denominate all natives who come from the west, Indejanees. The inhabitants of Kokan wear skull-caps instead of turbans. The Khan of Kokan keeps up an intercourse with Russia and Constantinople; but there is no friendly feeling towards the rulers of Yarkund.

CHAP. VII.

ON THE MOUNTAINS OF HINDOO KOOSH.

~Hindoo Koosh; range so called.~

~Errors regarding it.~

When the great range of the Himalaya, which forms the northern boundary of Hindoostan, crosses the Indus, it loses the designation by which it has been familiarly known from the frontiers of China. It also changes its course, and, running west, expends its greatest height in the lofty peak of Hindoo Koosh, from which it dwindles into comparative insignificance. The elevation of the peak appropriately affixes the name of Hindoo Koosh to this portion of the range; but this general term is unknown to the people. A road which leads across the shoulder of this mountain is also called the “pass of Hindoo Koosh.” The part which I am now about to describe lies between Cabool and Balkh, and is that which we traversed in our journey to Bokhara. In the plains of the Punjab we had had a magnificent view of the stupendous mountains which separate Cashmere from the plains; and it is to them that the natives affix the name of Himalaya, without confining it to the mountains beyond that celebrated valley. On crossing the Indus, we found ourselves much nearer this great range, now termed Hindoo Koosh, than is represented in our maps. In the valley of the Cabool River, it seemed to overhang the road which we passed; an error which originates from the city of Cabool being placed in too low a parallel of latitude by fifteen minutes: nor was I prepared to find from these same maps that we had surmounted “the everlasting snows” of Hindoo Koosh before reaching Bameean, since, by every delineation, they were yet half a degree beyond us. Such, however, was the fact, since the rivulet of Bameean is a tributary of the Oxus, and the country there slopes towards the north. There are certainly mountains beyond Bameean; but we have no longer the towering tops of the Himalaya. One broad depressed belt extends to Balkh; and it is this belt that the Arabian geographers denominated the “Stony Girdle” of the earth. The only part of these mountains covered with perpetual snow, is the Koh-i-Baba, that lies between Cabool and Bameean; the range is afterwards lost in a maze of lower hills, towards Herat.

~Height of the Hindoo Koosh.~

We crossed this stupendous chain of mountains by six successive passes; and, after a journey of about 260 miles, and thirteen days, debouched, on the valley of the Oxus, at Khoolloom, which is forty miles eastward of the ancient city of Balkh. The three first passes lie between Cabool and Bameean, and two of them were so deeply covered with snow in the end of May, that we could only travel in the morning, when it was frozen, and would bear our horses. The three remaining passes north of Bameean were of lesser altitude, and free from snow. We commenced our journey at an elevation of 6600 feet[27], which is the height of the city of Cabool from the sea. We then followed the river of Cabool, which falls at the rate of fifty feet a mile, and reached its source at an elevation of 8600 feet; where the snow was first encountered in the valley. We attained our greatest height at the passes called Hajeeguk and Kaloo, which were respectively 12,400 and 13,000 feet high, and covered with snow. None of the other passes exceed an altitude of 9000; and from the last of them, called Kara Koottul, we descended the bed of a river, at the rate of sixty feet a mile, till we reached the plains of Toorkistan, where, in Balkh, we had yet an elevation of 2000 feet above the level of the sea. As we issued from the mountains, we left them rising from the plain in a bold and precipitous line, about 2500 feet high. Their sides, which were bare, black, and polished, had a most imposing appearance, though they had lost much of their sublimity and grandeur. They sank beneath the horizon long before we reached the banks of the Oxus. I am assured that the whole of these passes of Hindoo Koosh are free from snow before the end of June; and in our progress across them we had not, therefore, attained the height of perpetual congelation. I am aware of the interest which is attached to this point, and it is something towards a conclusion, that here, at least, it lies beyond an elevation of 13,000 feet. The peaks of Koh-i-Baba are covered with eternal snow for a considerable distance beneath their summits: nor can I estimate any of these (for it is only an estimate) at a greater altitude than 18,000 feet, judging from the height at which we viewed them. The climate of this elevated zone is variable: the thermometer in May stood below the freezing point at sunrise; while, at mid-day, the heat and reflection from the snow were insufferable. It is said that, at a certain degree of elevation, and in a low latitude, we may find the climate of more temperate countries: nor can the fact be for a moment doubted; still, in that elevation the rays of the sun are most powerful. At the height of 10,000 feet we found the inhabitants ploughing the ground as the snow left the face of the mountains; so rapid is vegetation, from the scorching heat, that they would reap in the beginning of October that which they sowed in the close of May.

~General features of Hindoo Koosh.~

This portion of Hindoo Koosh is entirely destitute of wood, and, in many places, of verdure; the range of Koh-i-Baba rises in peaks, but in all other places they present the appearance of rounded and naked mountains. In the defiles the road frequently passes at the base of a mural precipice, rising in a perpendicular height of 2000 and 3000 feet, and exhibits monuments of solemn grandeur, which it is difficult to describe. About seven years since, near Sarbagh, the shock of an earthquake precipitated a huge mass of rock into the valley, which blocked up the river for four days, and rendered the road for a long time impassable. The watercourses appear to have excavated for themselves a channel in the lapse of ages; and, to judge from the stratification of the rocks on either side, these have, at one time, formed the banks, from the top downwards, of rivulets now depressed some thousand feet. These walls have a resemblance to cut stone or brick, rising in horizontal layers above one another. So tortuous is the defile we traversed, that it forms, as it were, in every half mile, distinct enclosures, which appear like so many fortified positions, the view being bounded on every side. One part of the valley, to which this remark more particularly applies, has the name of the “Dura-i-zundan,” or the Valley of the Dungeon; and in many parts the height was such as to exclude the sun at mid-day. I was unable to take an altitude of the pole star from Bameean to within thirty miles of the plains of Toorkistan.

~Productions of Hindoo Koosh.~

There are no cedars or pines to adorn Hindoo Koosh, and the only fuel of the inhabitants is a dry stunted furze, which tenaciously clings to the soil. Its thorns are disposed like the quills of a hedge-hog, and it is familiarly known to the people by the name of the Koollah-i-Huzara, or the Huzara Cap. At an elevation of 7000 feet we found the asafœtida plant flourishing in great luxuriance. It is an annual, and grows to the height of eight or ten feet, when it withers and decays. The milk which exudes is first white, and then turns yellow, and hardens; in which state it is put in hair bags, and exported. In the fresh state it has the same abominable smell; yet our fellow-travellers greedily devoured it. If the odour of the asafœtida be offensive, the inhabitants are amply compensated by the variety of aromatic plants which grow in these hills, and scent the air. The rocks are very bare, but the few plants which protrude from between the stones are mostly fragrant. The pasture is peculiarly favourable to sheep from its aromatic qualities. We saw these animals browsing on the tender plants of asafœtida, which is believed to be highly nutritious. They rear a barley in this elevated country, which has no husk, and grows like wheat, but it is barley. The valleys in Hindoo Koosh are more favoured by nature, and stored with the finest fruit-trees. We sometimes passed for miles among orchards of apricots, a fruit which grows on the most elevated regions, and attains the highest perfection. On descending to Khooloom, we had the cherry, peach, fig, pomegranate, mulberry, pear, quince, and apple,--all of them on the brink of the rivulet; for the breadth of the defile never exceeded 200 yards, and was generally narrower. On the verge of this watercourse I frequently observed the blackberry bush, the sweet-briar, and the hawthorn. Grass is most abundant, and I could discover the peppermint and the hemlock among many other weeds.

~Formation of Hindoo Koosh.~

I shall endeavour to convey some notions of the formation of these vast mountains. The nature of the valleys is highly favourable to the researches of the geologist; but I have to claim much indulgence in treating on a subject of such interest, but (to me, at least) of considerable difficulty. I cannot introduce it to the notice of the reader better than in a detailed account of the defile under the pass of Kaloo, by which we descended to Bameean. It lies between the two great snowy passes that I have noted, and it is to be observed, runs at an elevation of 8000 feet. The section which was here laid open extended for about twenty miles, during which we descended 3000 feet. The highest hills between Cabool and Hajeeguk appeared to be gneiss, or granite; and, after we had wound over that pass, they became deeply impregnated with iron, even to their summits. These were succeeded by blue slate and quartz. The sides of the defile rose up in steep slanting precipices of this micaceous schist; but the summit presented a rugged outline of nodules. From the higher parts of these, huge blocks of green granite and other stones, said to be shivered by the cold and frost, had been hurled into the valley. Descending further, we came to conglomerate limestone, in which were mixed up a variety of other stones, not unlike gravel or shingle. About eight or ten springs of water, of the colour of deep rust, were exuding from various parts of this rock, and tinged its sides as they trickled down. The waters have a purgative effect, and a metallic taste, and run, I presume, over a deposit of iron. There is a large spring of the same kind in the valley, leading to the pass of Hajeeguk. Then followed huge cliffs of clay of a reddish and purple colour, which were succeeded by ridges of indurated clay, mixed with harder stones, till we reached Bameean. It is in this ridge that the great idols and caves are excavated, for it is easily worked. The vicinity of Bameean is exceedingly rich in the mineral kingdom. At Fouladut, gold is found; also lapis lazuli; and in the hills of Istalif, north of Cabool. There are ten or twelve mines of lead in a defile close to Bameean, which are at present worked. There are also ores of copper, tin, and antimony; sulphate of copper (_neeltota_, _moordarsung_), and sulphur. Asbestos (sung i poom bu, or cotton stone,) is found at Judraun, north-east of Cabool; and iron exists in Bajour, north of Peshawur. Travelling north of Bameean, the same appearances continued till we descended from the first pass, where cliffs of granite, blackened by the elements, rose up in dusky, but majestic columns, not unlike basalt. The specimens which had fallen down proved them to be of the formation which I have named. The two last passes of Hindoo Koosh presented an entirely different appearance from what has been yet described: they consisted of a light brown limestone, I presume, of primary formation, and of great hardness, exhibiting, when fractured, the sharpest angles. This stone is so slippery, from the polish which it takes on, that one of the passes of which it is composed is called the “Tooth-breaker[28],” from this circumstance. It was in this formation that we met with those steep and lofty precipices which overhung the valley on our descent; but before we had reached the plains, they were succeeded by rocks of sandstone. In one of these, near Heibuk, I observed round and separate stones of pure flint, imbedded at regular intervals, and running in as distinct a line as if they had been fixed by art. The flint is extracted for military purposes. There is also an extensive deposit of sulphur between these last passes and Hindoo Koosh.

~Mountain of Hindoo Koosh.~

I have hitherto been describing the nature of the country which fell under my own observation; but I have not spoken of the true mountain of Hindoo Koosh, which lies about a degree eastward of this route. This great peak is visible from Cabool, and entirely enveloped in milk-white snow. I saw it also from Koondooz, on the north, at a distance of 150 miles. Its altitude must be considerable, for the travellers complain of the difficulty of breathing, and carry sugar and mulberries with them, to ease their respiration; and the strongest of men suffer from giddiness and vomiting. Thousands of birds are also found dead on the snow, for it is believed that they are unable to fly from the violence of the winds; but it is more probable that they are prevented by the rarity of the atmosphere: yet birds are used to higher elevations than men and quadrupeds. They often attempt to walk across; and numbers of them are ensnared.[29] Beasts of burden suffer as much as man, and many sink and perish. The greatest silence is preserved in crossing Hindoo Koosh; and no one speaks loud, or fires a gun, lest the reverberation cause a fall of snow: such, at least, is the reason assigned; nor does it appear to be destitute of foundation. But the most singular phenomenon of nature on Hindoo Koosh appears to be the snow-worm, which is described to resemble the silk-worm in its mature state. This insect is only found in the regions of perpetual congelation, and dies on being removed from the snow. I do not suppose that the existence of the creature will be doubted, because I have not seen it, since I speak on the united testimony of many who have passed Hindoo Koosh.

CHAP. VIII.

TOORKMANIA, OR THE COUNTRY OF THE TOORKMUNS.

~Country so called.~

In speaking of the Toorkmuns and their country, I shall adopt the term of Toorkmania, since it describes that people under a generic name which is not altogether unknown in Europe, and not likely to lead into mistakes. Toorkmania, then, is that country lying south of the Oxus or Toorkistan, stretching from Balkh to the shores of the Caspian, and filling up the space between that sea and the Aral. On the south it is bounded by hills, the continuation of Hindoo Koosh, and the Paropamisus of the ancients. A line drawn from Balkh to Astrabad on the Caspian,--which two places are nearly in the same parallel of latitude,--will separate the country of the Toorkmuns from that of the Afghans and Persians. On the south-eastern shore of the Caspian, where Toorkmania adjoins Persia, the country is mountainous, and watered by the rivers of Goorgan and Attruk, which fall into that sea. In all other places it is a flat and sandy desert, scantily supplied with water. The streams that flow from the mountains are speedily absorbed by the sand, and never force their passage to the Oxus. The greatest of these is the Moorghab or Merve River, and the Tejend, which passes Shurukhs. This country is destitute of towns and villages; for the Toorkmuns are an erratic tribe, and wander from one well to another with their herds and flocks, taking their conical “khirgahs” or huts along with them, in search of water and pasture.

~Its nature.~

~People.~

The desert of the Toorkmuns is a vast ocean of sand, flat in some places, and rising in others to mounds, such as are seen on the sea-shore. It increases in volume towards the Caspian; and in that vicinity the sand-hills attain a height of sixty and eighty feet. They appeared to rise from a hard caked surface of clay, which was observable in several places. There was little difficulty in crossing these sand-hills; and the wells, though few and far between, offer their supply of water at no great distance from the surface, seldom exceeding the depth of forty feet. Such is the desert of the Toorkmuns; and inhabited by a tribe of people who boast that they neither rest under the shade of a tree, nor a king. They do not exaggerate, since a garden is unknown among them; and their desert is not enlivened by a single tree: neither do they live under a fixed or permanent ruler. They only acknowledge the patriarchal government of their “Aksukals” or elders; though now and then, and in limited parts, subjected to the power of the neighbouring nations. The life of a Toorkmun is passed in the most reckless plunder of property and human beings; and his children are brought up from their earliest years to the same demoralisation. A proverb among them boasts that a Toorkmun on horseback knows neither his father nor mother; and such a saying conveys by no means an imperfect view of their compassion, when engaged in a foray or “chupao.” The Toorkmuns have happily no ruler to guide or direct their united efforts, which lessens their power and the effects of their barbarity.

~Origin of the Toorkmuns.~

The Toorkmuns belong to the great family of the Toorkee or Tatar race: they differ from the Uzbeks, in being exclusively a nomade tribe. The name of Toorkmun is obscure. Toorkumæ, I am informed, means a wanderer; and I have been so assured by the Toorkmuns themselves. Toorkmun, it is also said, is “Toork-manind,” which in Persian means, like a Toork, from the mixture of races produced by the inhabitants of Toorkmania seizing on the neighbouring nations. Toork-mun, I am a Toork, may likewise be assigned as a derivation. Turci and Comani, a mixed people, seem far-fetched, though nothing which has been here recorded may prove more satisfactory to some critics, for the mind wanders in etymology. We however deduce from these that the Toorkmuns are Toorks, though differing from Uzbeks, and many other tribes denominated Tartars by Europeans. For the seat of Toorkmun migration, we should certainly be disposed to look on the countries north-east of Bokhara, the abodes of Jengis, of Timour, and their Uzbek successors: but the Toorkmuns themselves believe that they came from Mangusluk, and the north-eastern shores of the Caspian, till they gradually overran the territories which our historians have given, in the time of the Roman world, to the valorous Parthians. I have, indeed, heard a vague and uncertain tradition among the Toorkmuns, which states them to be the descendants of garrisons, transplanted from other countries by Alexander the Great.

~Tribes.~

The whole Toorkmun race claim a common lineage, though divided into different tribes, and conceding to some a greater degree of honour than to others. The total number of families is rated at 140,000, which I shall class into the obvious division of eastern and western Toorkmuns, as follows:--

EASTERN.

Salore (of Shurukhs) 2,000
Saruk (of Merve) 20,000
Ersaree (of the Upper Oxus) 40,000
Tuka (of the Tejend) 40,000
Sakar (of the Oxus) 2,000
-------
104,000

WESTERN.

Yamood (of Astrabad and Khiva) 20,000
Goklan (of the Goorgan) 9,000
Ata (of Balkhan) 1,000
Choudur (of Mangusluk) 6,000
-------
36,000
-------
Total of the race 140,000
=======

The most illustrious of all the Toorkmuns is the tribe of Salore; and then follows the Ata, who are said to be the Syuds of the race, and descended from the Caliph Osman. The three great tribes, the Yumood, Goklan, and Tuka are said to have been descended from brothers; but the last, as sprung from a Persian slave, is considered inferior to the other two. It would be profitless to dilate on a nameless list of the subdivisions of these tribes: I may merely instance that of Goklan, which is classed into nine divisions, that encamp apart from each other. These are their names:--

1 Ghaee,
2 Karabul Khan,
3 Baeéndur,
4 Kevish,
5 Kyk-soorunlee, or Arkuklee,
6 Aye durwesh,
7 Chakur, or Bugdulee,
8 Yunguk, or Gurkus,
9 Sangreek.

It is said, that the tribe at one time consisted of twenty-four divisions, to each of which there was a “yooz kyelee,” or commander of 500; but internal feuds, not yet, or ever likely to be removed, together with wars on Khiva and Persia, have thinned their number, and disturbed the patriarchal habits of all the Toorkmun race.

~Language.~

While the Toorkmuns themselves fail to trace their origin from a country more remote than the shores of the Caspian, they yet assert that they are the founders of the Ottoman empire. Their dialect appears to differ from the Osmanlee Turkish; but the following specimens, taken from the Toorkmuns themselves, may not only serve to refute or confirm their fatherly claim on the second Rome, but assist investigations upon other points.

_Specimen of the Dialect of the Toorkmuns._

Man Urkuts.
Woman Ailehee.
Daughter Kiz.
Son Ooglee.
Vizier Kooshbegee.
Bird Lööke.
Sea Durya.
Mountain Dugh.
Earth Yerr.
Wheat Booghdye.
Barley Arfa.
Melon Koon.
Water Soo.
Fire Ote.
Cold (adj.) Souts.
Hot Issee.
Sun Goon.
Moon Arje.
Star Yooldooz.
Sword Ghilich.
Musket Doofung.
Carpet Palus.
Father Ata.
Mother Cija.
Brother Ceneeng.
Sister Ishig.
Eye Gooz.
Nose Boorun.
Teeth Deesh.
Mouth Ughz.
Beard Sukal.
Hair Such.
Foot Eyak.
Hand Ill.
Knee Deez.
White Ak.
Black Kara.
Red Saree.
Ice Booz.
Snow Kar.
Rain Yughish.
Thunder Gok gooburdee.
Heaven Gok.
Lightning Yeldrum.
Horse Al.
Camel Doya.
Cow Sughur.
Goat Guchee.
Sheep Koyaon.
Salt Tooz.
Sand Koom.
Mud Lace.
Milk Sood.
Stone Dash.
Death Sukulat.
Marriage Toee.
I Oozoom.
You Sun.
Sleep Okhee.
Boat Gumee.
Silk Yepuk.
Good Yukhshee.
To lose Yettee.
To kill Oldee.
To swim Soo dooshelee.
To fly Yooz up kedelee.
Wool Yoon.
Cotton Puktu.
Sickness Khastu.
Near Yukeen.
Afar Oozak.
Hunger Ach.
Blood Kan.
Smell Ees.
One Bir.
Two Ikee.
Three Ooch.
Four Toort.
Five Bush.
Six Altee.
Seven Yedee.
Eight Sikkus.
Nine Daghuz.
Ten Ool.
Twenty Eegurnee.
Fifty Illee.
Hundred Yooz.
Thousand Meeng.

~Merve.~

~Sketch of its history.~

Amid the sterile regions of Toorkmania, and between Bokhara and Persia, lies the once fertile land of Merve, the capital of which is said to have been built by Alexander. It is better known to European readers from a celebrated epitaph on one of its kings, often quoted by moral writers: “You have witnessed the grandeur of Alp Arslan exalted even to the skies; repair to Merve, and see it buried in the dust.” Historians are obscure regarding it. It is yet styled, “Merve Shah i Juhan,” or, Merve, the king of the world; and the natives point to the ruins of “Merve i mukan,” as the city built by the Greeks. They are better informed on the deeds of Sultan Sunjur, whose tomb yet remains, and who reigned upwards of 800 years since. Merve long continued a dependency of the Persian empire, and here Ismaeel Sefi, the Shah of Persia, defeated the founder of the Uzbeks, Sheibanee Khan, A.D. 1510. Under the Persians, Merve rose to a great and opulent country, and the waters of its river, which before had wasted themselves in the desert, were distributed by canals and a judicious use of dams throughout the territory. The soil was enriched; the people were prosperous. _From one maund reap a hundred_, is a proverb which attests the fecundity of the earth, the prosperity of the people; a portion of a Persian couplet bids the members of the “faithful” rejoice to say their afternoon prayers in the dry and delightful climate of Merve.[30] Here, also, the wheat-fields furnished the astonishing phenomenon of three succeeding crops from the same seed, as has been described in the districts of Andkho and Meimuna. Such was the prosperous condition of Merve under a well-known chief named Beiram Khan, who was conquered in the year 1787, by Shah Moorad of Bokhara. That king demolished its castle and canals, and forcibly marched the greater portion of its inhabitants to people his capital, where they still exist as a separate community. At a later period the remnant of its population has been driven into Persia, and this flourishing land, which presented so beautiful a contrast to the rest of Toorkmania, now partakes of its sterility, while the Toorkmun hordes have usurped the place of its once fixed population. From the ruins of the castle of Merve, the traveller may yet behold a depopulated circle of thirty miles, studded with deserted villages and decayed walls. The fields on the verge of the Moorghab alone are cultivated, and here the Toorkmuns yet rear the finest of wheat, juwaree, and excellent melons.

~General features of the inhabitants.~

We shall be excused for dwelling upon the beauties of Merve, since we are still in Toorkmania, and impart an interest to its dreary solitudes, by describing this once beautiful oasis. From the ancient city of Balkh to the shores of the Caspian, we have the people, as well as the country, almost in a state of nature. The Toorkmuns have neither science nor literature; they are even without mosques, though not altogether without religion; they are a warlike people, and their domestic habits fit them for the hour of battle. Their food is simple, consisting of the milk and flesh of their herds and flocks. Mares’ milk and “boozu” are unknown south of the Oxus, and the Toorkmuns are even ignorant of the art of extracting or distilling spirits. A few Jews from Meshid sometimes wander among them with intoxicating liquors, which are happily beyond the reach of the poor. The Toorkmuns drink the milk of the camel, which is a grateful beverage. The inhabitants of Toorkmania are, perhaps, equal to the irregular cavalry of any nation, and their horses possess some matchless qualities. Great care is bestowed upon these noble animals. The subject is interesting, and we shall close this book with a notice on the horses of Toorkistan.

CHAP. IX.

ON THE INROADS OF THE TARTARS; WITH A NOTICE OF THE TRIBES IN TOORKISTAN.

~Sketch of the Tartar invasions. Their seats.~

We have been treating of countries which have, in different ages of the world, sent forth successive hordes to overrun and occupy the fairest regions of Asia, and our curiosity now leads us to note the present state and condition of these various tribes of human beings. Attila and Alaric spread devastation in the empire of the Cæsars. Jengis and Timour have succeeded them in more modern but equally destructive inroads. Through these great revolutions we trace the ever-wandering spirit of the Tartar people; but ere the first of these destroyers inflicted his calamities on Rome, we could gather the evil propensities of the race from the histories of Semiramis, Cyrus, and Alexander. Subsequent to the age of Timour, we have another irruption from the Uzbek Tartars, though it wasted its strength at the base of Hindoo Koosh. From the days of Herodotus to the present time, we are presented with a state of ceaseless change and fluctuation in the countries of Central Asia. For this great storehouse of emigration we have been referred to Khitai, the regions of Northern China; but authentic history fixes it in a site far less remote. Jengis and his bands issued from the pastoral lands beyond the Jaxartes, which is also the migration seat of his successors; and may be, therefore, safely fixed as the cradle of Scythian, Hun, and Tartar inroad.

~Exaggerated numbers.~

~Probabilities of success in modern times.~

We shall not stop to speculate on the probabilities of a country so thinly peopled sending forth hordes which have been exaggerated by terror to thousands and hundreds of thousands. With greater reason shall we attribute the size of these armies to their increasing number, as they advanced to plunder and victory. A pastoral is but another name for a migratory nation, and its transfer to a near or distant country, generally depends upon the ambition or spirit of a few of its leaders. This state of society is not altered in the paternal seats of Jengis and Timour, and an invader might pursue, though with limited success, the same paths of conquest. The volcano may rest for a time in a quiescent state, but the Tartar, in his erratic life, will ever sigh for new scenes; but it depends on the Khan if that passion be gratified. The disciplined valour of Russia would now arrest him on the west; and European prowess, engrafted on the legions of India, might there oppose the torrent; but in Turkey, Persia, Cabool, and China, a horde of Tartars would make the same impression as in former times. The Tartar inroads have ever been of the most transitory nature. Neither the empires of Jengis or Timour were consolidated, and the subjugation of India, afterwards effected by their successors, arose from fortuitous circumstances, over which their previous inroads had had little influence.

~Tartar tribes.~

The literary world has long dwelt with an attentive and scrutinizing eye on the history of the Tartars, exercising, as they ever have, so great an influence over the destinies of the world. Received opinions now present to us a vast nation in Northern Asia, classed into three grand divisions, under the generic name of Tartar. I shall, elsewhere, record the few facts, which I gathered in the country regarding this race, but the subject partakes too much of a dissertation to be here introduced. The intermixture of the Tartars with the more western nations has brought about many changes, and the Tartar is no longer disfigured by those unseemly features which inspired disgust. But a physiognomist will not deduce from the change, that the Toork of the Oxus differs from his countrymen of Yarkund, the Moghul of modern writers, and far to the eastward. The Toorks intermarried with the Tajiks of Mawurool nuhr, much in the same manner as the Seljooks, who entered Persia, formed alliances in that country; but we cannot on that account reckon them a separate race, because of their beauty. The features of the Tartar have not altogether disappeared from the natives of Toorkistan; and may yet be traced in small eyes, flattened foreheads, and a scanty beard, though we see nought of the hideous visages which are described in the records of their inroads. The well-known couplet[31] of Hafiz, that paints the beautiful Toorkee girl of Shiraz, near Samarcand, has been celebrated; nor have the fair sex ever been destitute of charms in these regions, since we learn that Roxana, whom Alexander married in Transoxiana, was the most beautiful woman whom the Greeks had seen in Asia, after the wife of Darius. The inhabitant of the city, however, is more changed than the peasant; and on the mountains of Hindoo Koosh we had among the Huzaras a much closer resemblance to the Tartars. Among them there is a singular tribe, known by the name of Tatar Huzaras, which amount to about a thousand families, and occupies the space between Hindoo Koosh and Bameean. Tradition states these people to be descendants of Jengis Khan’s army, but their name of Tatar deserves remark, since the only other tribe so denominated by the people themselves is the Nogai on the frontiers of Russia.

~Uzbek tribes.~

Such is the mutability of men and things in this circle of Tartar abode, that if you now ask for the race of Zagatye or Chaghtye, the illustrious descendants of Jengis and the conquerors of Hind, and find them at all, they exist in the most abject poverty. The kings of Bokhara did, however, claim a lineage and uninterrupted descent from it, till a profligate minister snapped the thread by assassination. The Uzbek ruler of Kokan, the second state in Transoxiana, still asserts his descent from Baber, whose paternal kingdom of Ferghana he now inherits. The Uzbeks distinguish themselves by thirty-two tribes, into which they are said to have been divided in their pastoral seats. The following list exhibits a few of the principal divisions of the Uzbek race.

Bokhara. Mungut.
Kokan. Yooz.
Hissar. ----
---- Lakay.
Baeesoon. Kongrad.
Kuwadian. Doormun.
Koondooz. Kutghun.
Khooloom. Moeetun.
Heibuk. Kunglee.
Balkh. Kipchuh.
---- Yaboo.
Maimuna. Meeng.
Orjunje. Kongrad.

~Kalmuks. Kirgizzes. Kuzzaks.~

The roaming propensities of the Tartar occur in every page of his history, and the example of the Kalmuks, who returned, in our own age, from the Black Sea to their original seats on the frontiers of China, exhibits the wonderful facility with which erratic nations alter their places of abode. The event took place in the latter end of the last century, and is still remembered by many of the inhabitants of Toorkistan, who described it to me. The colony advanced with their herds and flocks; and occupied, it is said, in the _breadth_ of its advancing column, a journey of no less than three days. It forced its way through all opposition to the “dusht i Kipchak,” north of the Jaxartes, and reached the primeval seat of their ancestors at Yarkund and Eela. The Kalmuks are not Mahommedans, and the “faithful” made war on them as they passed, and about 1500 Kalmuk slaves were added to the population of Bokhara; but small was the impression that could be made on the hundred thousand families, the reputed number of the migrators. The Kalmuk and Uzbek are said to have sprung from one tribe[32], and this change of habitation has now mingled it with the Kuzzak[33], a great tribe that once lay to the eastward of it; and Kalmuks, Kuzzaks, and Kirgizzes are mingled together. The Kirgiz and Kuzzak appear to be much the same people, differing only in location. The Kirgizzes whom I met, had a flat countenance, and closely resembled the Toorkmun. They inhabit Pameer. The Kuzzaks pass the summer in the southern parts of Russia, and repair in winter to the neighbourhood of Bokhara, where they sell their sheep.

~Citizens of Toorkistan.~

We find as great a variety among the citizens of Toorkistan as in the subdivisions of the Tartars. The aborigines of the country are the Tajiks or Tats; sometimes, but erroneously, denominated Sart, which is a nickname given to them by the nomade tribes. The hostile Toorks from the north subverted the power of this people, in a remote age; as different dynasties of the same hordes have overwhelmed each other. The Tajiks are addicted to commerce. Their language is Persian, which has long been that of the country; for Toorkistan fell under the dominion of Persia before the age of the Caliphs. In a Persian manuscript which I procured at Bokhara, I even find that this language was used by order of the Arabs themselves, in converting the people to Islam. The number of Persians in Toorkistan is great; since we hold the inhabitants of Merve in that light, as well as the slaves and their descendants. There are also Jews, Hindoos, and Armenians. Of the Toorkmuns I have already spoken; but there is yet another description of Tartars, the Nogais, who have migrated from Russia, and settled to the number of about a thousand families in the city of Bokhara.

~Traces of Tartar religion. Speculations.~

The people of Northern Asia worshipped the sun, fire, and the elements previous to the age of Mahommed; and we are informed, that in the earlier times of Islam, some of the priests or Magi of Persia fled from that country beyond the Oxus. I searched much for a trace of the original or imported worship; the Uzbeks assured me that there were fire worshippers in the ancient Tartar city of Cazan in Russia; but the censer of the Greek Padre was probably mistaken for the altar of the Magi. But the similarity between the creed of the Tartar and the Persian was curious; and since we find such innumerable hordes issuing from beyond the Oxus in the ages of authentic history, may we not derive the creed of Zoroaster or Zeratusht from Scythia or Tartary?

How full of interest is every thing connected with races of man that have so often changed the destinies of the world. Could we but follow up that at which we have now glanced, we might gather from the traditions of the people much that would illustrate early history, and the secret of these irruptions upon nations both barbarous and civilised. How much, too, might be traced from the shades of resemblance between the original tree and the branches which it has shot forth to stimulate an enquiry that is eminently attractive. I dismiss it, deploring my own incompetency.

CHAP. X.

ON THE HORSES OF TOORKISTAN.

~Toorkmun horse. Its origin.~

The horse attains a noble perfection in Toorkistan and the countries north of Hindoo Koosh. The climate is favourable to its constitution, and the inhabitants exhibit the most patient solicitude in its breeding and food; so that its best qualities are fully developed. The Toorkman horse is a large and bony animal, more remarkable for strength and bottom than symmetry and beauty. Its crest is nobly erect, but the length of body detracts from its appearance in the eye of an European; nor is its head so small or its coat so sleek as the brood of Arabia. This want of ornament is amply compensated by its more substantial virtues, and its utility is its beauty. We are informed by the historians of Alexander, that the countries on the Oxus were celebrated for their horses; and their subsequent and close connexion with Arabia suggests to us the extreme probability of an intermixture with the blood of that country. Tradition confirms the belief. At Shibbergaum, near Balkh, the people will yet tell you that their horses are descended from the famous Ruksh of Roostum, the steed of the Persian Hercules; from which we readily gather that they are of Persian descent. Timourlane introduced, from his conquests in China and India, Persia and Turkey, the finest horses of those distant countries to his capital of Samarcand and his native and adjacent city of Shuhr Subz. In this very neighbourhood, we now find, in the hands of the Uzbek tribe of Karabeer, the most matchless horses of the East. The great Nadir appears to have imitated Timour; and from India to the confines of Persia the introduction of many celebrated breeds of horses are referred to that conqueror. The most famous of these is found in Merve, though the animal be small. Another, met on the Oxus, known by the name of Aghubolak, is invariably marked by a dimple on some part of the body.

~Toorkmun mode of rearing horses.~

The peculiar manner in which a Toorkmun rears his horse arrests the attention, and will, perhaps, account for its stamina and superiority; since education, whether of the beast or the man, leaves the most permanent impression. The diet is of the simplest kind, and entirely free from the spices and sugar, the thirty-two and forty-two “mussalas” (condiments) of the Indians. Grass is given at stated periods in the forenoon, evening, and midnight; and, after feeding on it for an hour, the horse is reined up, and never permitted to nibble and eat, as in Europe. Dry food is preferred at all times; and if green barley and juwaree[34] (here called jougan) are given in its stead, the animal then receives no grain. At other times, a horse has from eight to nine pounds of barley once a day. Clover and artificial grasses are cultivated in Bokhara and on the banks of the Oxus, and, when procurable, always used in a dry state. The stalk of the juwaree, which is as thick as a walking-stick and contains much saccharine juice, is a more favourite food. The long interval between the times of baiting inure these horses to great privation; the supply of water allowed them is also most scanty. Before a Toorkmun undertakes a foray, or chupao, he trains, or, to use his own expression, “cools his horse” with as much patience and care as the most experienced jockey of the turf, and the animal is sweated down with a nicety which is perhaps unknown to these characters. After long abstinence from food, the horse is smartly exercised, and then led to water. If he drinks freely, it is taken as a sign that his fat has not been sufficiently brought down, and he is starved and galloped about till he gives this required and indispensable proof. A Toorkmun waters his horse when heated, and then scampers about with speed, to mix the water and raise it to the temperature of the animal’s body! Under this treatment, the flesh of their horses becomes firm, and their bottom is incredible; I have had authentic accounts of their performing a journey of six hundred miles in seven, and even in six days. Speed is at all times looked on as an inferior quality to bottom. At the marriage festivals, where horseraces form a part of the amusement, the Toorkmuns decide their matches, which are generally a few sheep, on a course of twenty or twenty-five miles. Youths of eight and ten years of age ride the horses; and the spirit with which these sports are carried on by the Toorkmuns is not surpassed in any country. The favourite horse afterwards moves throughout the neighbourhood as if the owner had the encouragement of a farming association in the deserts of Toorkmania.

~Varieties of the Toorkmun horse. Extent of the trade.~

I have pointed out the seat of the most celebrated horses of Toorkistan; but the animals which are sometimes sent to India under the name of Toorkmun horses, are reared about Balkh, and the eastern parts of Toorkmania, in the districts of Andkhoo and Maimuna, as also on the banks of the Oxus: they are considered inferior to the horses of Bokhara, Merve, as also Shurukhs. The price, too, is the best proof of this assertion; since the eastern horses seldom bring a higher sum than 100 tillas (650 rupees), and more frequently average less than half. Among the western Toorkmuns, a horse often sells for 200 tillas, and there are some in the stables of the King of Bokhara for which 300 tillas have been paid. These horses differ much from the animals that are sent into India from Candahar and Cabool, which are of an inferior and distinct breed. They, too, are reared in Toorkistan, but only used as baggage horses or hacks. Very few of the genuine Toorkmun horses are ever sent across Hindoo Koosh, since there are no purchasers but the Afghan chiefs and the Court of Runjeet Sing. It is only the best description of horse that will yield a profit to the importer. They cannot be brought to the territories of British India for less than 1000 or 1200 rupees; and few of the European gentlemen will give such a price in addition to the small profit asked by the dealer. Such, at least, is the language of the horse merchants themselves; and it carries some conviction along with it; since the points of a Toorkmun horse have not much recommendation in the eyes of an European, whose taste would appear to be better suited by imports from the Persian Gulf. In speaking of the horses imported from Toorkistan, Mr. Elphinstone observed, in the year 1809, that if the studs in India should succeed, the trade would be annihilated; a prediction which has been fulfilled; as I learn that the whole remount of the Bengal cavalry is now furnished from the stud, with some few exceptions for the horse artillery. The undersized horses which are bred there are also bought up by officers and natives; and there are now no princes of sufficient consequence to induce horse merchants to speculate longer in a losing and foreign trade. The annual tax of fifty or sixty horses, which the ruler of Lahore imposes on the chief of Peshawur, is furnished from Toorkmun horses, since Runjeet Sing is fastidious in his choice. That the value of the Toorkmun horse has not been over-rated is most certain, since some of them, which were entered into the lists of the cavalry twenty years ago, are yet good and serviceable animals, and highly appreciated by cavalry officers. Were it ever contemplated to seek a further supply of these horses, they could be procured with every facility at Meshid in Persia, from Shurukhs, and Merve, or by means of an agent in Cabool. Afghans sent from that city could also purchase them.

~Characteristics of the Toorkmun horse.~

The breed of the Toorkmun horse is of the purest kind. When the animal is over-heated, or has performed any great work, nature bursts a vein for it in the neck,--which I did not at first credit till I had become an eye-witness of the fact. The Toorkmuns cut their horses; as it is a popular belief among them that they are then more on the alert, and undergo greater fatigue, than stallions. The Toorkmuns believe their horses to be exceedingly nice in hearing; and will often trust to their steeds for the alarm of an approaching enemy. I was particularly struck with the fine crests of the Toorkmun horses; and I heard, though I could not authenticate its truth by observation, that they are often confined in a stable with no other aperture than a window in the roof, which teaches the animal to look up, and improves his carriage. The contrivance seems fitted for such an end. The finer horses of the Toorkmuns are seldom sold, for their owners may be truly said to have as much regard for them as their children. It must not, however, be imagined that all the horses of Toorkistan are equally renowned; for as almost every person beyond the Oxus has a mount of some kind, a great portion of them are very inferior animals. In Bokhara there are many Kuzzak horses, a sturdy and little animal, with a shaggy coat and very long mane and tail, much and deservedly admired. They are brought from the deserts between Bokhara and Russia.