PERSIA. 



733 



government, and the center of power of every 

 kind, more than counterbalance the commercial 

 interests which connect the rest of Persia with 

 India and Great Britain. The acquisition of 

 the freedom of Ashurada port destroys the 

 value of the mountain frontier abutting on Kara 

 Kum Desert, which might otherwise have been 

 fortified and held against all the armies in the 

 world. Russia, from that port, dominates the 

 whole interior. The court at Teheran already 

 bows to the will of the Czar. 



The magnificent provinces of Ghilan and Ma- 

 zanderan are not only the richest part of Per- 

 sia, but one of the most fertile belts of country 

 in the world. The northern slopes of the El- 

 burz Mountains, which traverse them, are cov- 

 ered with forests of teak, oak, walnut, and box. 

 On their southern plateau are mines of coal and 

 iron. These are the scene of Russian mejcan- 

 tile enterprise, and may in the future be merged 

 in the Muscovite Empire. The oasis of Merv, 

 at the northeast corner of Persia, which has 

 been conquered by the Russians, is a fertile 

 tract, ninety miles in circumference, which 

 bears three crops a year, and once supported 

 a million inhabitants. This acquisition brings 

 Russia into contact with the great province of 

 Khorassan, and, though the Merv country is not 

 likely to be occupied, and affords no means of 

 commercial communication, the Russians have 

 won the undying gratitude of the inhabitants 

 of this section of Persia by their subjugation of 

 the Akkal Tekke Turkomans. 



The tent-dwelling Turkomans of the Kara 

 Kum are of the same race as the civilized Ka- 

 jar tribe, from which the Persian royal family 

 sprang. Fearless, capable of extraordinary 

 exertions and endurance, mounted on the 

 best horses in the world, and cruel beyond 

 conception, the horrors which they have 

 committed are well calculated to cause the 

 Persians to tremble at the mention of their 

 name. For three or four centuries they have 

 been the scourge of the country. The Belochee 

 marauders who infest the southern parts of 

 Persia, and travel several hundreds of miles 

 into the Salt Desert on their plundering expe- 

 ditions, carried by their wonderfully fleet and 

 enduring camels, are simple robbers. They 

 drive off the sheep and camels which they find 

 in their way, and lurk in ambush behind the 

 sand-hills of the desert to fall upon passing car- 

 avans. They treat their victims rudely and 

 plunder them thoroughly, but seldom commit 

 murder. The Turkomans, on the other hand, 

 would lay whole villages waste, carry off into 

 slavery those whom they selected, and slay all 

 the rest. When hotly pressed in pursuit they 

 were accustomed to cut off the hands and feet 

 of their captives and leave them by the way- 

 side. The more aristocratic captives were pref- 

 erable for sale or ransom. Women slaves \\i-iv 

 valued the most. Their inroads were as swift 

 as they were daring, and, unless there were 

 military to oppose them, always successful. 

 The prisoners were lashed on the backs of 



horses and given no rest until they reached 

 the Turkoman tents. There they were heavi- 

 ly ironed with a ring around their neck and a 

 chain fastening it to a tent-peg, and with rings 

 around each leg, joined by a short chain. Their 

 market was in Khiva and Bokhara. Until the 

 slave-trade was suppressed in those places by the 

 Russians there were as many as 100,000 slaves 

 kept in the khanates and among the Turko- 

 mans themselves. The trade is still carried on 

 secretly in Bokhara to a small extent, and the 

 Turkomans still capture slaves in some parts of 

 Khorassan to work them in their own country 

 or hold them for ransom. The Russians are 

 said to have liberated 40,000 slaves in Khiva 

 alone. Great numbers were killed when re- 

 turning to Persia, but in all parts of Khorassan 

 there are emancipated captives, of all ranks, 

 who are full of gratitude toward their deliver- 

 ers. The place where the Turkomans former- 

 ly captured the most valuable slaves was on the 

 caravan-road from Teheran to Meshed, in the 

 neigh borhood of Miandasht, which is far in the 

 interior and not far from the middle of the 

 route. The Shah pays a reward of five toman* 

 (about ten dollars) for every Turkoman killed 

 while raiding in his dominions, upon the deliv- 

 ery of the scalps. 



The nominal strength of the Persian army is 

 100,000 men ; but it is doubtful whether more 

 than one fifth of that number are ever in camp 

 at one time, or would be likely to obey a call 

 to arms. The army is not recruited from the 

 Persians, who are not warlike nor habituated 

 to the use of arms, and who, by influence and 

 bribery, manage to evade the conscription. It 

 is mainly drawn now, and probably was in 

 ancient times, when the Persian conquests ex- 

 tended from Egypt to China, from the Toorks 

 of Azerbaijan, the Kurdish mountaineers of 

 Kurdistan, and from the Loor, Bukhtirgar, and 

 Kliant tribes inhabiting the mountain chains 

 south and east of the Zagros range. The stand- 

 ing army, with the exception of the Shah's 

 body-guard, is entirely composed of these tribe- 

 men, who still keep up much of the tribal or- 

 ganization, and whose chiefs and khans are 

 appointed to the commissions in the regiments 

 composed of their hereditary followers. The 

 organization of the army is according to the 

 European model, but it is only so in name. It 

 was introduced by British officers, who have 

 twice been employed by the Shall to organize 

 and instruct his army. Austrian officers have 

 recently been called to Persia as instructors, 

 but only a few remained there. There are 77 

 battalions of infantry, with an average strength 

 of 800 men each, and 79 regiments of cavalry, 

 consisting of eight troops of 50 sabers caeh. 

 The officers are without military education, 

 and the men are devoid of drill or discipline. 

 Bribery and favoritism govern tin- promotions. 

 There is often, however, a strong attachment 

 between officers and men, and an e*j>rit de. 

 enr}* partaking of the clan filing. Many of 

 the officers are devoted to their profession, and 



