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He was also very stern in his measures for the
promotion of religious fervor, as indeed behooved a true
fakir. Five times a day were loiterers in the streets
driven into prayers, and a sense of devotion was
quickened by the liberal employment of the whip. His
police also carried a small memorandum book with a
catechism to test the orthodoxy of the citizen who
appeared to be neglecting his religious exercises; and in
the event of his failing to give a correct answer; a
punishment was inflicted upon so lax a Moslem. But this
ruler did something more for the advancement of his
religion than by a mere enforcement of its rites. He held
out numerous inducements, such as free education and
subsistence, to all such as desired to become mullahs,
and it is said that his patronage of the madrassees
— colleges — produced such great fervor among
the people, that at one period the students in them
exceeded thirty thousand in number. Much more might be
said of the justice and the vigor of Mourad's government,
but enough has been related to show that, in his way,
this seldom-mentioned prince of Bokhara possessed many
striking qualities of greatness.
The capture of Merv caused a rupture between the Courts
of Bokhara and Kabul, and Timur Shah, the son of Ahmed
Khan, advanced with a large army upon the Oxus. It is
computed that the Afghan army consisted of one hundred
thousand men, but whether this number is correct or not
we may be sure that it was a very formidable army, being
commanded by Timur in person. The Afghan army advanced to
Akche, on the borders of
the Merv desert, and there halted. The Bokharan army
boldly crossed the Oxus at Kilif, and several skirmishes
occurred between small detachments of either army. In
these fortune favored Shah Mourad, whose principal
strength lay in his cavalry; but he had the good sense to
perceive that his interests would be better served by a
peace than by a continuation of the war. Timur, who was
by this time wearied of the contest, readily made peace,
and Shah Mourad was permitted to retain Merv — his
sole object. A few years later on he died, and was
succeeded by his son Hyder Torah.
With the death of Shah Mourad, Merv
speedily obtained its independence, becoming the chief
possession of the Salor Turkmen. From that time to
this it has been independent. Khiva has at several times
sent armies against it, and even levied tribute from it;
but the claims of Persia, Khiva, and Bokhara, and the
aspirations of Kabul, have slumbered with regard to this
ancient city of Khorasan during the present century. For
seventy years and more the Turkmen confederacy —
only, unfortunately for themselves, the confederacy has
existed only in name — has been supreme in Kara Kum;
and the various clans have maintained in their districts
that freedom which has become their boast. The
circumstances under which these clans exist are by no
means identical with what they used to be, nor are they
even similar with each other. Some are peaceful
agriculturists, others are irreclaimable (?) robbers;
this tribe is actually subjected to Russia, that is as
free as the wind of its own steppe. Let us consider one
and all of these clans. Firstly, let us take those who
are most to the north. The
Chodors dwell in the country between the Caspian and
northern Khiva — that is to say, on the southern
slopes of the Ust Urt. They are computed to number twelve
thousand tents, with certainly not fewer than five and
possibly six or seven persons to each tent. As they have
of late years been undisturbed, and have settled down
into a regular mode of earning their existence, it is
possible that their numbers have increased since Vambery
computed them to be of the number mentioned. Far to
the south of the Chodors, but still in the vicinity of
the Caspian, come the Goklans. These are, for the most
part, subjects of Persia, dwelling along the banks of the
Gurgan River, but some of them are to be found across the
Atrek in the Sumbur region. Vambery computed them at
twelve thousand tents, or at sixty thousand persons at
the least. Mr. Schuyler gives them only a fourth of that
number, but as very little is yet known of this portion
of the Persian frontier it is impossible to affix
accurately what the number of the Goklans may be. They
are a settled people, carrying on agricultural pursuits,
and the breeding of the silkworm; and they give the
Persian authorities little trouble.
. It
is amongst the Yomuds that the Russians have been most
markedly busy, and the efforts of Lomakine, Markozof, and
others, have not been in vain in this quarter. Through
the intervention of the Russian authorities old feuds
have been settled, and bitter opponents reconciled to
each other. The Yomuds are divided into the two grand
divisions, the settled Tchomura — and the nomad
— Tcharva; but there are clannish distinctions of
which we do not as yet possess full information. In the
khanate of Khiva itself there is a large colony of
Yomuds, who, it will be remembered, were chiefly settled
on the lake Aibughir, and played a certain part in the
Khivan campaign.
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