1836.] 



Tartary and Afghanistan* 



37 



There are a great number of smaller tribes, particularly on the moun- 

 tains, whom it would be needless to mention. I was entirely guided in 

 my enquiries by the Honorable Mr. Elphinstone's account of the coun- 

 try, and found a perfect confirmation of his statements. The fixed 

 inhabitants even become subject, within the limits of the tribes, to 

 their chiefs, so but a small portion of the actual revenue reaches the 

 royal treasury. 



The Afghans have been only known, as an independent state, since 

 the beginning of the last century, and their empire then was formed 

 by several provinces severed from India and Persia. They were again 

 subdued by Nadir Shah, who, had he lived, would certainly have 

 broken the union of the tribes. He had marched some large bodies 

 into Persia, and intended planting them on the Turkish frontiers, fill- 

 ing up their places with Persians. Assad Khan he had actually taken 

 to Erivan, and orders had been issued for 100,000 families to be removed 

 to Kurdistan, and the Kurds, and other ill-affected subjects of the Turk- 

 ish frontier, to go to Afghanistan. On his death Assad Khan quitted 

 Erivan, and forced his way, with great talent and courage, to his own 

 country j he had about 5,000 men. 



The tribes of Persia have been for ages under a despotic govern™ 

 ment, and at times one of great power. The chiefs have been obliged 

 to frequent the court, enter into its intrigues, and expend in the capital 

 the funds which enabled them to preserve their ascendancy, and make 

 the men under them efficient. 



The King also fomented the dissensions among the sons and rela- 

 tions of any very powerful chief, whose tribe has thus been divided 

 into several branches, and the first opportunity taken of removing them 

 to distant parts of the country. 



The fixed revenues of Persia are also much more considerable, as 

 also the population of the towns, which gives them a greater command 

 of the materials of war. The establishment of regular troops has 

 given the finishing blow to the importance of the wandering tribes, as 

 a military body j great numbers of the people are now established as 

 cultivators, still retaining the name of their tribe. In times of civil 

 war, as these large bodies enjoy more security from petty oppression 

 than the villagers, a considerable number of the latter join the tribes, 

 who are then much augmented in number ; they return to their villages 

 when tranquillity is restored. In summer, when the tribes remove 

 their tents to the mountains (if they have not fixed estates in villages), 

 they will seldom listen to any orders of government, having it in their 

 option to remove to another province or even state ; but when the roads 

 are blocked up with snow, and no pasturage on the waste lands, they 

 hold a much more submissive tone. On this account the Persians sel~ 



