Travels Into Bokhara (Volume 2 of 3) / Being the Account of A Journey from India to Cabool, Tartary, and Persia; Also, Narrative of a Voyage on the Indus, From the Sea to Lahore, With Presents From the King of Great Britain; Performed Under the Orders of the Supreme Government of India, in the Years 1831, 1832, and 1833

by Sir Alexander Burnes

Knights and heroines of Merve.

We were now in the vicinity of Merve, and several members of the caravan, on their approach to the river, declared that they had a view of the elevated mound of its ruined castle. I sought in vain, but the other spectators were looking for their native city, and wished, perhaps, to persuade themselves that they beheld it. I listened to the tales of valour which these people related to me of one Bairam Khan and a chosen body of seven hundred, that long resisted the arms of the Uzbeks of Bokhara, till Shah Moorad finally subdued them by a stratagem in war, and forcibly transferred the whole population to his capital. Nor was I less gratified to hear the patriotic tale of the heroines of Merve, the wives and daughters of the gallant band. It is recorded, and it is believed, that on one occasion, when the forces of Bokhara invaded the land of Merve, during the absence of Bairam Khan and his knights, these fair ones embodied and appeared in the field. The Uzbeks were intimidated at the sight of troops whom they believed they had surprised, and fled with precipitation, leaving the heroines of Merve their virtuous victors: nor is this a solitary instance of female triumph over man. The people of Merve, in their loss of country and liberty, retain the same reputation for valour which characterised their ancestors; and, to this day, when they quit the country, their valiant partners are held in Bokhara as a pledge of their fidelity, and may on no account cross the Oxus.

Alarm.

Some circumstances here came to our knowledge that called for prudence and caution, and which appeared to excite the justest alarm. As our party had arrived at the Orgunje camp, they found the chief in the act of despatching a body of 350 Toorkmuns on a foray to the frontiers of Persia. Our friends had arrived even in time to give these barbarians the usual “fatha;” for, whatever they felt, it was impossible to appear otherwise than pleased at their intentions. The Yooz-bashee in their presence charged the robbers to be of good cheer, and remember the good work on which they were to be engaged, and the golden “tillas” to be reaped in the country of the Kuzzilbash. “Go,” exclaimed he, “and bring the Prince Royal of Persia, Abbas Meerza himself to the feet of the Khan Huzrut.” The Allamans mounted in a moment, and one of the merchants, who seemed to have had his senses about him, begged that the formidable band would spare our caravan. The Yooz-bashee gave instructions to that effect; but they now shook their heads, and seemed but little disposed to put the honesty of such men to a trial. They turned over all the bearings of the case in their minds, and looked very woful. As a member of the party, I could not help asking for information on the blessings which they had been called on gratuitously to bestow on such a horde. “Fatha,” said a Persian, “I did take the name of the holy Prophet, but it was that these man-selling scoundrels might never return.” Our conductor Ernuzzer himself said, that it was an abomination to have made such a use of the first sentence of the Koran; so easy is it to make the ritual of a faith correspond with the wishes. The doctor and myself, I believe, were the only members of the caravan who would have liked to have a peep at the ferocious Allamans; but I dare say it was fortunate that our curiosity was not gratified. Since such a horde of plunderers was abroad, it was decided that we should march upon Shurukhs, a large Toorkmun settlement, and there await the result of their expedition, which the merchants of the caravan had more desire to hear of than witness. The party had been instructed to proceed by easy marches, as the Toorkmuns always do in their forays, and was expected to return on the tenth day.

Toorkmuns; their laws of plunder.

On the 30th of August we retraced the greater part of yesterday’s route, and travelled down the opposite bank of the river for about sixteen miles, when we again halted among the Toorkmuns in their native state, at an encampment called Kunjookoolan. We here mixed among them without hesitation, and gathered many particulars concerning them. The Toorkmuns are Toorks; but they differ from the Uzbeks, and are entirely devoted to a pastoral life. There are several great tribes of the race, all of whom claim a common origin; we had seen the Ersarees on the Oxus, and were now mingling with the tribe of Saruk, beyond which are the Salore. Towards the Caspian lie the Tuka, Goklan, and Yumood, all of them great tribes, and of which I shall speak as we advance. Among our Saruk acquaintances there was one individual who had passed his days in making incursions into Persia, and in his odious traffic had acquired a perfect knowledge of the language of that country, which enabled me to learn the genuine sentiments of a Toorkmun robber. His name was Noornyaz; and in his forays he had accompanied the largest and smallest parties: he had, indeed, only returned with three captives, that had been secured by the small number of six horsemen. He described the manner of approaching Persia by slow and short stages, and that, after reaching the frontiers, they frequently hovered for days in sight of a fort to watch for a favourable opportunity of capture. If none presents itself, they make a dash in upon the fields in the morning, as the shepherds and husbandmen pursue their occupations, and bear off with speed whoever they may seize. If hotly pursued, they relinquish a spare horse with which every two individuals is provided, and carry off the more valuable slave. In such a transient expedition every thing depends on the fleetness of their horses, and the Toorkmuns accordingly bestow the utmost care upon them. Training of the horses. My Toorkmun acquaintance said, that he was now preparing his horse for another foray, which consists in exercising him most severely after a long abstinence from food and water, which brings the animal to a matchless state of hardihood. They do not permit them to taste green forage, but confine them to dry food, which they believe hardens the flesh. They sweat them till their fat entirely disappears, and of this they judge by the quantity of water which the horse drinks, since it is very small if his flesh has been properly reduced. The Toorkmun horse, with such a training, far surpasses in bottom those of Europe and Arabia; but he is a coarse-looking animal, and has neither the sleekness nor beauty of coat which we see in India or our own country. Since the life and fortune of the Toorkmun are identified with the goodness of his horse, we can account for the care and attention that he bestows upon him. The little food to which he is inured enables his rider to provide with ease for his own wants: he carries the grain for the horse and himself, as well as bread and flour: in his advance he sometimes buries these in a well-known place, till he shall return from the foray; and when the Toorkmun retreats into his native desert, he is thus supplied with provisions, though he may have been weeks from his camp, which he shares with the victims of his capture, whom he drags into miserable servitude.

Reflections.

In the catalogue of human miseries there are few more severely felt, and the consequences of which are more destructive to domestic happiness, than the cruel system of man-stealing. Great as are the miseries produced by this, the hordes who engage in it appear to derive none of the luxuries or enjoyment of human life from such an occupation, and live in rags and penury, seemingly without advantage from their devastations. The terror which the Toorkmuns inspire among the people of the neighbouring countries is fearful, nor is this surprising, since they evince such fortitude and persevering energy in their dangerous occupation. We cannot fail to admire their address, and acknowledge their valour, at the time that we deplore the lot of the unhappy country on which they display their prowess. The manners and customs of the Toorkmuns, in the odious practices which they pursue against their fellow man, sap the best principles of human nature, and we consequently find this people wanting in much of the honour which is often seen among half-civilised nations. “A Toorkmun,” the people will tell you, “is a dog, and will only be kept quiet with a bit of bread, like a dog: give it then, is the doctrine of the traveller, and pass on unmolested.” They have likewise the character of being perfidious and treacherous, nor is it altogether unmerited. The Persians have endeavoured, but without success, to put a stop to these reckless inroads of the Toorkmun, but he himself lives in a desert where he is safe, and is encouraged by the ready sale which he finds for his captives in the favoured countries that lie beyond his own desolate region. In their expeditions into Persia, some Toorkmuns are occasionally captured, and an exorbitant ransom has been placed upon their heads, but yet they have been redeemed by their kinsmen. A Toorkmun passes his life either in a foray, or in preparing for one; and it is a disgraceful fact, that the chiefs of Khorasan have long and unnaturally leagued with these enemies of their religion and their country, to barter a still greater portion of unfortunate Persians into their hands, and eternal slavery. Avarice is the most baneful of our vices.

Meeting of the caravan. Claims against us.

Now that we were beyond the power of the Orgunje troops, the merchants of the caravan assembled in conclave to bemoan the loss of their money in a new tax, and to devise ways and means to recover it. It appeared to the majority, that the Firingees, that is, ourselves, should bear a portion of the burthen, and the assemblage waited on us in the evening to express their wishes, and request that we would bear one fourth of all the duties. Since the payment of the regular customs had induced the officer to forego the usual fee on each pair of panniers, we had certainly escaped every kind of tax, and this was evidently owing to the wealth and size of the caravan with which we were travelling. The Orgunje officer, too, it was now stated, had been bribed to the amount of ten tillas. It appeared both reasonable and just that we should bear our share of this outlay, and I therefore offered the usual tax of a tilla on each of our camels, since it would tend to diminish the general expenditure of the caravan. It was a point that called for the exercise of discretion and judgment, since a total denial might have converted a friendly into a hostile party; and, on the other hand, it at all times behoved us to be most sparing in our expenses. In the present instance, I had the good fortune to conciliate by my concession the principal merchants of the party. There were several who still called on us to pay a fourth share of the tax; but as I ascertained that no additional expenses had been incurred on our account, and the duties would have been levied whether we had been present or absent, I declined compliance, and stated to them that we were travellers, and their guests, in a foreign land, and hoped for their forbearance and justice. The Toorkmun chief, our friend Ernuzzer, appeared at this stage of our conversation, to enter his protest against such an outrage to hospitality as the demand which had been made upon us; but I had already made up my mind, and passed my word. The rights of the stranger are much respected among these people, and the cry of the many died away into the feeble vociferations of the poorer traders, whose scanty means made them feel more heavily the levy that had been made upon them. In one respect the character of an European in such countries is ill suited for a traveller; he is believed to possess boundless wealth, though he may be sunk in poverty; an Asiatic, in his expenses, has nothing in common with the opinions of an European.