Historical Reference

The Merv Oasis: Travels and Adventures East of the Caspian During the Years 1879-80-81,
Including Five Months' Residence Among the Tekkes of Merv
By Edmund O'Donovan
Published by G. P. Putnam's sons, 1883 Volume II

Page 59

Lotfabad— DIVINATION. 59
detachments on the wings. Ah1 the men had scimitars and guns. The latter were a miscellaneous but serviceable assortment of weapons. The majority carried long heavy rifles, somewhat resembling the hunting rifles used by Kentucky sportsmen, but there was a considerable number of Chassepots, and also some guns of large caliber, not unlike short duck guns. There was no uniform; the soldiers wore the common dress of the country.

Mounting again, we rode forward, passing the villages of Mir and Mianabad, at the latter of which the brother of the Khan joined us with two hundred additional troopers. The Guebre salutation was given at both places. In the evening we reached Lotfabad, i and established ourselves in the citadel for the night. After supper the Khan amused himself with a peculiar kind of divination. Before setting out on his official duties he had sent a party off on an aleman, or private foray, and he was anxious to know what luck had befallen his little venture. A plate of ‘destiny ‘(fall) was brought in, being only a slab of unbaked earth on which a circle had been traced, and divided by radial lines into twenty-nine sections. Three pieces of straw were placed at random on the divisions, and the Khan, taking a division at haphazard, and counting to the left, repeated the letters of the alphabet, and announced the letters corresponding to the three straws. An old Turkmen interpreted the result, and announced that the party would return the next day with success. Oddly enough, in the main this turned out to be true.

Lotfabad presents a good appearance from a distance, being surrounded with trees and well fortified. The country around, though forming part of the Attock, an insecure and debatable land, is well cultivated, and vast tracts of stubble i The original name of this place was Boftga Jik. It was named Lotfabad after Lutf Ali Khan, the father of the present Governor of the Deregez, Mohemed Ali

Chapter 30 - Chapter 31 - Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Page 55 - Page 56 - Page 57 - Page 58 - Page 59 - Page 60 - Page 61 - Page 62 - Page 63 - Page 64 - Page 65 - Page 66 - Page 67 - Page 68 - Page 69 - Page 70 - Chapter 34

Some other works:

• Balfour on the Turkmen 1883
• Basin of the Helmand. By Markham
• Care and feeding of the Akhal Teke/Tekke Horses by Boulger
• On Journeys Between Herat, and Khiva.By Goldsmid
• Origin of the Turkmen, with an Account of the Minor Tribes by Marvin
• Road to Merv. By Rawlinson
• The Turkmen by Boulger

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