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.

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. People. 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.

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.

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.

WESTERN.

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.

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.

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.” Sketch of its history. 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.

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.