310 
THE COUNTRY BETWEEN 
PERSIA AND RUSSIA. 
are bringing forth, when a march is de- 
structive to their property. From the long 
and inveterate feuds which have existed be- 
tween many of these communities, it is not 
difficult to form a party ; but they soon get 
tired of any foreign power, and return to 
their own people. With one of a different 
religion, no dependence can be placed on 
tlieir alliance. 
The kings of Persia have always had the 
greatest difficulty in keeping them in sub- 
jection. Shah Ismail and Shah Abbas at- 
tempted to form a royal tribe, calle 1 the 
Shah Pussunds, or Shasewunds, by taking 
volunteers from all and giving them the best 
lands. The measure was not successful, 
and they quickly became the most unruly 
body in the kingdom. Nadir Shah being 
an Afshar, that tribe rose to great power 
under his family; to them succeeded the 
Zunds, of which Kerim Khan was the chief, 
and now the Kadgars. The present family 
have much reduced the power of the tribes, 
by raising regular troops and a corps of 
Artillery. This, with the party they are able 
to form, has been sufficient to restrain all 
but those of the province of Khorasan ; had 
Abbas Mirza, lived that too would have be en 
perfectly subdued. In Azerbijan, formerly 
the most turbulent province, no tribe dares 
disobey the orders of government ; but op- 
pression has followed, and, in the late wars 
with Russia, theytook no part in the strug- 
gle, and joined General Paskewitch’s forces 
after the fall of Tabreez.” 
Colonel Monteitli says that travellers are 
much deceived as to the I'esources of Persia ; 
they merely judge of its population and ferti- 
lity from what they see in passing through 'it ; 
but he adds that a considerable part of the 
country is desert. Alluding to cultivation, he 
observes that it generally depends on irriga- 
tion : in the plains water is seldom to be met 
with ; fortunately, however, the rain is suffi- 
cient for vegetation. The want of population 
is best shown by our author’s statement that 
one may march for days and not see a sin- 
gle village. This, however, appears to be no 
inconvenience to travellers ; for, from our 
author’s account, the traveller is able to pro- 
cure every supply from the keeper of the 
caravanserai. The cheapness of bread and 
meat is truly astonishing. Colonel Monteith 
states that 40 lbs. of bread for a rupee is 
considered high, and that 10 lbs. of excellent 
mutton may be had for the same price. Th© 
villages which supply these things are ten 
miles to the right and left. On the subject 
of supplies to marching armies, the following 
under existing circumstances is of deep im- 
portance. 
“ An army, under the Persian govern- 
ment, would be directed to assemble at a 
certain point in some fertile district, and but 
a small part would follow the high road. 
The Khorasan troops annually come to the 
camp at Sultania, and 30,000 pilgrims pass 
the same way ; they all purchase provisions 
without difficulty. An invading army could 
be deprived of this advantage, and it would 
be necessary to march by several parallel 
columns, joinin? at certain towns, where a 
large stock of provisions is always kei<t. 
An army should therefore have one month’s 
supply of provisions (biscuit is better than 
grain or floui'). When the crops are on the ] 
ground, forage for the cavalry will be pro- I 
curable, and the country ruined, and a fa- I 
mine generally follows the passage of a large I 
army, if arrangements have not been ma le 
for at least one year before, and the mea- ' 
dows strictly preserved in the line the troops 
take. 
The country between Russia and Persia, jj 
to the east of the Caspian and sea of Aral, !! 
is generally considered a desert, though for- | 
merly it comprised the povverful kingdom of i 
Khorasan, and several parts of it, as Bokha- |t 
ra, Sameraud, Ko Khan, &c. are described ' |i 
as the most agreeable residencies in the vast i| 
empire of Timur, abounding in great and l! 
flourishing towns, and frequented by mer- i 
chants from every part of the world. It is at I: 
present much more thickly inhabited than is 
generally supposed, but, the population 
being principally migratory, it presents a 
very different appearence, according to the 
season of the year. In winter the low lands 
are covere 1 with tents, wherein summer not 
a soul will be seen, all having gone to the 
mountains or upper part of the rivers near 
Ala Taug., 
Russia first settled the present govern- 
ment of Orenburg, and established t ie line 
of the Yaik, or Oral, in 1730. It wms at 
that time infested by the Cossack pirates 
who had fled from the Volga, and, joining 
the Baschiers and other Tartars, made ir- 
ruptions into the neighbouring provinces. 
The town of Orenburg was then founded, 
and a line of forts drawn from the Caspian 
to the ‘;reat chain of the Aral mountains. 
The Cossacks and Baschiers were taken into 
the service of Russia, and formed into 12 
regiments of 500 men each, to whom were 
granted lands, a small pay, and freedom 
from taxes. 
They have since been good subjects, and 
opposed the great Kalmook emigration, 
which, however, they were nbt able to pre- 
vent ; the 60,000 families of whom forced 
the line and retired into China. The line 
was subsequently reinforced wdth 12,000"^ 
regular troops and artillery ; settlers arrived 
from Russia, and it is at present one of the 
most fertile provinces supplying Ashter- 
khan and other places, with a vast quantity 
of grain and provisions. The finest horses, 
and most numerous studs, are also kept here. 
• Now more consideiable, said to be near 
30,000 men. 
