Journal of the Royal United
Service Institution
VOL. XIX. 1875. No. LXXX.
LECTURE.
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they
levy iniquitous taxes on caravans, and, moreover,
threaten and harass the Heratis, being only nominally, or
occasionally, subservient to whatever chief or Government
it appears policy to conciliate; they are scattered here
and there about the Paropamisus in a destitute
condition; and they now number, according to the best
authenticated estimates, from 8,000 to 9,000 families
(though Colonel Taylor says 12,000, capable of turning
out 4,000 horse). The name, “Jamshid," is that
of a Persian monarch of the fabulous period, and its use
for purposes of clan distinction strengthens the belief
that the families so- called came for the most part from
Seistan, the cradle of Persian prehistoric heroes. Abbott
represents them of Turkish origin, “short. "
stout, very dark, with decidedly Tartar features."
He may probably refer to the Moghul section of the
Aimaqs, who are not to be confounded with the Iranians;
or it may be to home-returned descendants of compulsory
colonists of the Lower Oxus, who had intermarried with
local tribes.1
Shakespeare
visited a large “Khail “of Jamshidis. The
" Khargahs.'" or nomad tents, of which there
were about twenty, were arranged in lines, and there were
calves and lambs inside the square. Abbott. a< already
stated, was at Khushk, the Jamshidi capital, a place
dignified by a few mud huts and a quasi fort, in addition
to the tents. He does not bear testimony to the
precarious existence so many are reported to lead. For,
in the present case, we are told,” the females
seemed very “busy at their domestic arrangements,
and the children fat and happy." South of
Panjdeh, and before the junction of the Khushk and
Murghab, is the beat of the “Salor," a Turkmen
tribe, which Vambery calls the oldest recorded in
history. He gives them 8,000 tents, and a reputation for
bravery. At the actual point of junction of the rivulet
with the river, is the beat of the “Sarik." To
these, also, Vambery
attributes a character for valor, and rates the
number of their tents at 10,000. The
“Tekes," (Tekke) the greatest and most powerful
of the Turkmen tribes, reckoned by the same authority at
60,000 tents, have one of their two principal encampments
at Merv. Of the doings of these and the Yomuds, much
is now communicated by correspondents of the press and we
shall -probably hear much more, for there is a great
change brooding over the occupants of the Tartarian
Steppes. The
range of the Teke (Tekke) is of considerable extent along
the foot of the hills north of Persia and east of the
Caspian, and the Yomuds are not only located at the
south-east corner of the latter sea, beside the less
numerous Goklans. but they have a special Khivan division
in the neighborhood of the Oxus.
Concluding
Remark.
I regret not to have had time to put before you a more
complete map to illustrate this paper; the cross roads
have not been checked as I could have wished ; and the
distances, except on the road described, have been taken
from two of the twelve sheets of Central Asia, published
by the Military Geographical Institute in Vienna.
1 On this question, see “Selected Writings of
Viscount Strangford," vol. ii, p. 160. (Bentley,
1869.)
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