ETHNOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE TURANIAN AND IRANIAN RACES OF CENTRAL
ASIA.
THE TURKS OF EASTERN ASIA.--PHYSIOGNOMY AND CUSTOMS.
I think that there are few points upon the whole terrestrial globe,
which are of greater importance for our historical researches
than the oases of Central Asia. These in the primitive times were
inexhaustible floodgates for those warlike hordes, who often
inundated and conquered the most beautiful spots of Asia, streaming
towards the west in wild torrents, and even occasioning alarm among
Europeans. No people can be so interesting for us upon the subject
of Ethnography as the Turko-Tartars, who, under such various names
and forms, have appeared on the scene of the events of the world,
and have had such powerful influence over our own circumstances. Is
it not surprising that of all nations we are the least acquainted
with these? Huns, Avars, Utigurs, Kutrigurs, Khazars, and so many
others, float before our sight only in the mist of fable. The clash
of arms which sounded through them from the Yaxartes to the heart
of Gaul and Rome has long since ceased. In vain should we inquire
even into their origin, did we not find in the scanty dates of the
Western chronicles of that period some points of reliance. These
dates show us that between the Tartar tribes of that age and the
present inhabitants of Central Asia there did exist an analogy
of an unmistakeable character. We detect this in descriptions of
them--in the accounts of their manner of living--all evincing much
resemblance to the customs and physical condition of the present
inhabitants of Turkestan. A similar life to what Priscus describes
in the Court of the King of the Huns is met with to-day in the
tent of a nomadic chief. Attila is more original than Djingis or
Taimur, but as historical personages they resemble each other.
Energy and good fortune could now almost produce upon the borders
of the Oxus and Yaxartes one of those heroes, whose soldiers, like
an avalanche, carrying everything before them, would increase to
hundreds of thousands, and would appear as a new example of God's
scourge, if the powerful barriers of our civilisation, which has a
great influence in the East, did not stop the way. The people of
Central Asia, particularly the nomadic tribes, are, in the internal
relations of their existence, the same as they were two thousand
years ago. In these physiognomical signs we find already changes
from a mixture of Iranian and Semitic blood (chiefly after the
Arabian occupation). The features of the Mongolian-Kalmuck type
here and there approach the Caucasian race. The Tartar in Central
Asia is no longer what we see him represented by the Greek-Gothic
writers, for even in the times of Djingis he was no longer the
same. It is, therefore, of great interest to mark how this change
in physiognomical type continually decreases from the east to the
west--how this Deturkism, if I may so express myself, is perceptible
among the various races of Central Asia, and in what degree their
various gradations through social circumstances came, more or less,
in contact with foreign elements. This will especially be seen by a
cursory view of the Turkish nations of Central Asia from Inner China
to the Caspian Sea; but those Turks who stretch hence up to the
Adriatic, or to the banks of the Danube, are West Turks, and cannot
be included in the unity of race so much by physiognomical type as
by analogy of speech, characters, and customs.
With the former, whose masses have retained compactly together the
unity of the race, in spite of all those ways in which the Central
Asiatics differ remarkably from one another--in spite of our
ethnographical names,--the distinction shows itself clearly in their
features and common physical type. Whatever views we may entertain
of the origin of the Turks, so much is certain, that they are
closely related to the Mongols; the relation being much closer than
those which subsist between the Indians and Persians in Iran. Much,
very much indeed, is to be done before we have investigated the
mutual relations of the whole Turko-Tartaric race, which stretches
from the Hindu Kush to the Polar Sea, from the interior of China to
the shores of the Danube. Our present sketch is only a weak attempt
at a small portion--general views upon all that personal experience
has presented to our observation; and it may here and there exhibit
somewhat of novelty. Through the extent known to us from East to
West, we divide the Turks into the following classes:--
1. Buruts, black or pure Kirghese. 2. Kirghis, properly Kazaks. 3.
Karakalpaks. 4. Turkomans. 5. Œzbegs.
BURUTS.
These are pure, or black (Kirghis), and dwell on the eastern
boundary of Turkestan, namely, the valleys of the Thian-shan chain
of mountains, and inhabit several points on the shores of the Issik
Köl, close upon the frontier towns of Khokand. As I am told (I
have only seen a few of them), they are thick-set, but of powerful
stature, strong-boned, but remarkably agile, to which last quality
their warlike renown is attributed. By their physiognomy alone
are they to be distinguished from the Mongolians and Kalmucks:
the face is less flat, their cheeks less fleshy, their foreheads
somewhat higher, their eyes are less almond-shaped than those
of the latter. With regard to their colour, they can be little
distinguished from the neighbouring nomadic races; red or fair hair
and white complexion (by which type our European scholars would
claim relationship for this race with the Finlanders and other
north Altaic races) are rarely found; at least, my Khokand friends
assured me that among hundreds there were scarcely one or two.[38]
In all likelihood the Kiptchaks, of whom I have made mention in my
travelling journal at page 382, are no other than a division of the
Buruts, who are settled down in and around Khokand, and have caught,
both from Islam and from their social relationship with Turkestan,
far more than the rest of the Buruts, who, through their contact
with Kalmucks and Mongolians, now and then profess themselves more
or less Islam. Their language also contains many more Mongolian
words than the dialect of the Kiptchaks. From this most original
Turkish people we pass over to the second gradation, which is--
THE KIRGHIS.
Among the Kirghis or Kasak (as he calls himself), the character
of the Mongol Kalmuck type is no longer to be met with in such a
striking manner as among the Buruts, although he is hardly to be
distinguished from the latter in language and manner of life. In
colour, he nearly resembles the rest of the inhabitants of the
deserts of Central Asia. The women and youths, in general, have
a white and almost European complexion; still this becomes soon
altered, through the manner of living in the open air, in heat and
cold. The Kirghis are of thick-set and powerful frames, with large
bones; they have mostly short necks,--a real type of the Turanian,
opposed to the long-necked Iranian; not very large heads, of which
the crown is round, more pointed than flat. They have eyes less
almond-shaped, but awry and sparkling, prominent cheek-bones, pug
noses, a broad flat forehead, and a larger chin than the Buruts.
Their beards have little hair on the chin, only on both ends
of the upper lip; and it is remarkable, that they lament this
deficiency, and by no means find such delight in this physiognomical
characteristic as in the projecting cheek-bones, small eyes, &c.,
which are esteemed by them as beauties.[39]
[38] Klaproth, and Abel Remusat, in his "Researches on the Tartar
Languages," counts this stock with the Hindu-Gothic race, which
assertion is now considered by every one an error. Castren may,
without doubt, be right, if he in his investigations in south
Siberia finds relationship in a light-coloured Turkish stock; but
these are not Buruts. I believe that even the learned Mr. Schott is
deceived, when, following Chinese sources, he favours this opinion,
in his treatise, "Upon the Pure Kirghese." Berlin: 1863. It appears
that the Buruts are confounded with the Uisuns, who dwell further
north, are light-coloured, and probably are the remnant of a Finnish
stock. See "The Russians in Central Asia," by Mitchell, p. 64.
[39] That many nomads censured this deficiency in projecting
cheek-bones in myself, as a disfigurement, I have already
mentioned. This need not astonish us; and it appears to me truly
remarkable, that Dr. Livingstone, in his book, "The Zambesi and its
Inhabitants," can assert that he has seen African women, from the
Makololo race, who, standing before the mirror, strove to lessen the
broad mouth, which is common among them, with the intention to make
themselves more beautiful.
Since, as we have said, the type of the primitive race is no longer
so striking among them and universal as among the Buruts and
Kalmucks, so also we find their ideal of perfect beauty derived
only from their neighbours, with whom they gladly intermix; and
Lewschine[40] has rightly stated a fact, when he mentions the
preference they allow the Kalmuck women before their own. That from
their great extension through the northern desert lands of Central
Asia, perceptible shades may be met with in the external traits is
scarcely to be doubted;[41] but one easily comprehends that our
classification into great, little, and middle hordes, is unknown
to them; for, from the mutual tie of the manner of living, customs
and dispositions, they remain always the same, in spite of the many
subdivisions into branches, families and lines, which they, like the
Turkomans, gladly consider as decided separations. Whether on the
shores of the Emba or of the Sea of Aral, as well as in the environs
of the Balkhash and Alatau, there is little difference to be found
in the dialects spoken by them. Many tales and songs, many national
dishes, and national games, are, throughout the year, to be met with
in like manner; and although they may occur but seldom, still, love
of travelling and warlike disturbances have often brought together
the most distant races.
[40] "Description of Kirghese Kazaks," by Alexis de Lewschine.
Paris: 1840; page 317.
[41] _See_ the former work, page 300, chapter II.
In their dress, the Kirghis are to be distinguished from the rest
of the nomadic tribes and settlers: in Central Asia, mostly by
their head-gear. The men wear, in summer, a felt hat (_kalpak_); in
winter, a cap (_tumak_), with fur covered with cloth, the back-flaps
of which protect the neck and ears. Besides these, they have still
a little fur cap (_koreysh_), which, however, is employed more for
in-door use. The women wear a _sheokele_, which is distinguished
from the Turkoman head-dress in that it is more conical, and allows
the veil to fall not before, but down the back to the loins. The
hair, also, is dressed in a different fashion. The young Turkoman
women plait the hair in two plaits; the Kirghis with eight thin
ones, four on either side. They cover their heads with a _letshek_,
in cloth, which covers head and neck. In negligé attire, the girls
twist red handkerchiefs round their heads, but the women white or
dark-coloured ones. The upper garments have the same tasteless form,
with many folds, as everywhere in Central Asia, only more of the
bright and glittering colours are liked; and in the north of Khokand
it is the custom for the young Kirghis to prepare for themselves a
garment from the raw hide of the fox-coloured horse, besides which
they let the horse's tail hang down from the neck as an ornament.
In their coverings for their feet, the only distinction is, that
the western have adopted the Russian form of boot; the eastern, on
the contrary, the Chinese; namely, with pointed, curved toes, and
slender, high heels.
The religion is almost universally the Mohammedan; still, in a very
lax condition, which is the case with nearly all the nomadic tribes
in connexion with Islam.[42] Before and long after the Arabian
occupation of Central Asia, the Kirghis professed Shamanism, and it
is not to be wondered at, considering the little influence which the
teachers of Mohammed could maintain there, that much of the early
faith remains there now, and out of a whole tribe, which consists of
many hundred tents, there are often only one or two persons among
the chiefs who can read the Koran a little.
[42] The Islam of faith was established, according to Fischer
("History of Siberia," pages 86, &c., and elsewhere) towards the
middle of the sixteenth century, by one Kutshum. This date is
admitted by those in the north, as well as by the dwellers in South
Siberia, still in Turkestan that conversion is reported to have
taken place much earlier.
The greater part of them are the bad students out of the schools
of the three Khanats, who for pay go into the army in the deserts.
The true proselyte zeal has long become extinct, and the able seek
employment in the town.[43] To keep a Mollah or an Akhond is besides
more fashionable, for it points out the affluent condition of a
party. To the nomadic tribes their material condition is of more
consequence; they look upon religion as a secondary object. They
call themselves Mohammedans, but prayers, fasts, and other religious
acts are little observed by them, and it will in consequence not
appear at all remarkable that superstition, that reminiscence of
the infancy of all people, still plays here an important part.
Chiromancy, astrology, casting out devils, breathing on the sick,
and other humbugs we will not mention, since we find them in
the educated Islamite countries, as Persia, Turkey, and even in
enlightened Europe. Of the superstitions of the Kirghis those
only are most interesting for us which relate especially to the
earlier faiths of these nomadic tribes, and furnish us thereby with
some ideas as to their earlier social relations. That sacrifices
were offered, the still existing oracle upon the shoulder-blades
and entrails proves. The first, called Keöze süyeghi, consists
in placing on the fire, clean and pure, the shoulder-blade of
a sheep just slaughtered, keeping it in the flames until it is
quite reduced to powder. It is then carefully laid down, and the
experienced person, who is generally a grey-beard, a Bakhshi, or a
Quack (Kam) studies the crevices of the burnt leg with the greatest
seriousness and a countenance full of importance.[44] When the
cracks run parallel with the broad end of the leg it signifies
good fortune, but if in the opposite direction a misfortune. The
latter, naturally, is seldom detailed. Still this is no wonder,
for when the civilized Greeks were cheated at Delphi and Dodona,
why should not this happen among the Kirghis deserts. To prophesy
from the position and twisting of the entrails is a rare knowledge,
in which the Kalmucks pretend to be particularly distinguished.
It is remarkable that this oracle is only consulted when they are
curious to know the sex of a child that is to be born. Fire also
must probably have been held in high honour, because it was not
allowed to spit on it. Ceremonies and dances are held around it, a
custom which exists in a wonderful manner in so many parts of Asia,
Africa, and Europe, and is still carried on in this district as well
as in Khiva and Khokand. To blow out a light is considered very ill
bred by the Kirghis in the whole of Central Asia; and finally from
the colour of burning oil, fat, &c., many prognostics are divined.
The superstition of the women is enormous, and really deserves the
trouble of a particular study. A girl, when only in her fourth year,
is possessed with it as completely as an elderly nomadic matron
who has passed her whole life in the lonely desert which developed
all her intellectual faculties in that direction. Each individual
part of the tent, each utensil, has some superstition in connexion
with it, which is strictly observed in pitching a tent, in milking,
cooking, spinning, and weaving, far more than the laws of Islam,
which are never particularly taken to heart. But the favourite
divination of these soothsayers is from fresh-spun thread. Four
stones are laid down, two white and two black; in the midst is a
thread, _strong twisted_, and the other end suddenly set free. If
the thread in its fall sink down to the black stones, it signifies
misfortune; to the white, the contrary. From the hand of the twister
no action is descried, for the oracle must be infallible. This is
called Tyik Yip, and is to be found everywhere in Central Asia.
[43] Lewschine says the same in his above-named work upon the
Kirghis, page 358.
[44] Dr. A. Bastian has found the oracle of the shoulder bone even
among the Buruts who profess Shamanism, and it is considered by the
Kirghis as a remnant of the same religion. See Ausland, No. 23, 1869.
Of food which is peculiar to the Kirghis we will name Sürü, which
consists of smoke-dried flesh (horse or sheep's flesh) cut into
small pieces, roasted in fat. The preference for this arises from
its keeping for weeks carried about without spoiling. Ködje,
ordinary wheat, is cooked in water and eaten in sour milk.
As national games of the Kirghis, we may mention tadjak-kisimo
(stocks). It consists in leaping over a rope held high. The winner
is applauded, the clumsy, on the contrary, are pressed between two
chairs, and exposed to the jeers of the company. Further, "eshek
yagiri" (wounded asses' back), in which in running they must leap
over three or four squatting play-fellows.
3. KARAKALPAKS.
These form the third division in the race, and are essentially
different from the Kirghis in physiognomical expression, although
allied in language and customs. The Karakalpaks are distinguished
by a tall, vigorous growth and a more powerful frame than all the
tribes of Central Asia. They have a large head with flat full face,
large eyes, flat nose, slightly projecting cheek-bones, a coarse and
slightly pointed chin, remarkably long arms and broad hands. Taken
as a whole, their coarse features are in good harmony with their not
less clumsy forms, and the nickname of the neighbouring people
Karakalpak.
Yüze yalpak.
Üzi yalpak.
Karakalpak, (has a flat face, and is himself totally flat).
This sobriquet has not been uttered without reason. The complexion
approaches that of the Œzbegs, particularly that of the women,
who long retain their white complexion, and with their large eyes,
full face, and black hair, do not make an unpleasant impression.
In Central Asia they are highly renowned for their beauty. The men
have pretty thick, but never long beards. The Karakalpaks, who are
sometimes falsely ranked with the Kirghis, are at present only to
be met with in the Khanat of Khiva, to which they moved at the
beginning of this century. A man of this tribe relates to me that
they lived earlier on the banks of the Yaxartes, and certainly near
its mouth, whilst another portion abides in the neighbourhood of the
Kalmucks, probably in the government of the Semipalatinsk.
The first part of this report does not seem to me to be a mere
invention, for Lewschine (in the above-cited work, p. 114), reports,
speaking of the ruins of Djemkend, that even in the last century
Karakalpaks had lived there. According to all probability they have
separated for a long time from the Kirghis, to whom they approach
nearest, and now they form, with respect to their physiognomy, the
transit point from the latter to the Œzbegs. In their dress they
draw nearer to the Œzbegs than the Kirghis. The men wear large
_telpek_ (fur caps) which fit low in the neck and cover ears and
brow; the women have a cape like a cloak round the throat, and are
delighted with red and green boots. The tent of the Karakalpaks
is much larger, and of stronger construction than that of the
rest of the nomadic tribes, and is guarded by a species of large
dog, only to be met with among this tribe. In their dwellings in
general they are distinct from the other nomadic tribes in dirt
and uncleanliness; they evince also in their food and clothing a
carelessness, which makes them abundantly ridiculed and disliked by
their neighbours. To their national dishes belongs the _torama_,
which consists of finely chopped meat, and is cooked with a large
quantity of onions (which vegetable is much liked there) and
mixed meal. _Kazan djappay_, meal baked in a pan in fat, which is
considered a dainty. Lastly, _baursak_, a meal which consists of a
four-cornered piece of pasty filled with meat.
A favourite game is _kumalak_, resembling the game in Europe. It
is played with dried excrements of sheep. Many of them devote
themselves to games of chance.
4. THE TURKOMANS.
These, which I designate as the fourth gradation of the Mongolian
Turkish race in their westerly extension, possess many of the
peculiarities of the Kirghis as well as of the Karakalpaks. The
pure Turkoman type, which is to be found among the Tekke and
Tchaudor, living in the heart of the desert, is denoted by a
middling stature, proportionately small head, oblong skull (which
is ascribed to the circumstance, that they are not placed at an
early period in a cradle, but in a swing, made of a linen cloth),
cheek-bones not high, somewhat snub noses, longish chin, feet bent
inwardly, probably the consequence of their continual riding on
horseback, and particularly by the bright, sparkling, fiery eyes,
which are remarkable in all sons of the desert, but especially in
the Turkomans. As regards colour, the blond prevails, and there
are even whole tribes, as, for example, the Kelte race among the
Görgen Yomuts, which are generally half blond. On the borders of
the desert, but particularly at the Persian frontiers we find
this principal trait already quite altered by the frequent and
considerable intermixture with the Iranian race, in which one sees
many men with thick black beards, and often without the least trace
of the Mongolian Turkish race. Indeed, the Göklens are those who,
with the exception of the formation of the eyes, most resemble the
majority of the Persians.
Slave-dealing, which from immemorial times has been practised in
the northern provinces of Persia, has there, where the intermediate
trade with Persian slaves takes place, left many traces behind.
Still, only upon the borders, for those living in the interior
of the desert and occupying themselves more with the peaceable
occupation of keeping cattle than with alamans (foray) have, on
the average, preserved the marks of the pure Turkoman type. As the
nomads are generally more agile and quick than the settled tribes,
which is naturally to be attributed to the endless wanderings
of their adventurous existence; so the Turkomans are to be
distinguished in this peculiarity from all the dwellers in tents
in Central Asia. And their slender frames, hardened by a very poor
food, can outdo even the Arab in privations and endurance. Taken
as a whole, the Turkomans cultivate (spite of the type of a family
unity) a strange mixture of customs and habits, which are found
either here and there among the neighbouring nomads and Œzbegs,
or only among themselves. While their language approaches to the
Azerbaïdjan dialect, their customs have the pure Turko-Tartarian
stamp; and in their social relations, as well as in their warlike
existence and their abundant religious usages, they have more in
common with the Kiptchaks than with the Kirghis, Karakalpaks, and
Œzbegs, with whom they have lived in close connexion for so many
centuries. That they separated themselves early, very early, from
the greater part of the Turko-Tartarian nations, admits of no
question. There is no doubt, according to their own assertions, that
they moved first from the east to the north-west, namely, towards
the southern frontier of the former main horde, and thence towards
the south. This assertion is very probable, and as alleged proofs
of it, we may cite the small number who have remained behind on the
road as remnants, and are still now to be found. As such, are cited
the Turkomans to the north of Kermineh and Samarkand, who, in the
midst of kindred elements have remained true to their nationality.
Their emigration from Mangishlak, unquestionably the oldest abode of
the Turkomans, is indicated by the Central Asiatics themselves in
the following chronological order. As the oldest in their present
native country, we name the Salor and Sariks; after them come the
Yomuts, who, before the period of the Sefevides, stretched from the
north towards the south along the shores of the Caspian. It is said
that the Tekke, at the time of Taimur, were transplanted to Akhal in
small numbers, in order to paralyse the great strength of the Salor.
The Ersaris, towards the end of the last century, from Mangishlak
have settled upon the shores of the Oxus; whilst, finally, the
Tchaudors, of the more recent period of Mohammed Emin Khan (Khiva),
from the shores of the Aral and Caspian Seas, are shifted to the
opposite bank of the Oxus, although many of that tribe are to be
found in the old places. As the Turkoman's chief employment aims at
pillage, it is natural to expect that many of their customs should
harmonize with this. Their attire, although in its origin of the
Khiva fashion, is made shorter and closer, that they may be able
more easily to take hard exercise: the heavy fur cap is replaced by
a smaller one. Their drawers, which supply the place of trousers,
are very wide, and remind one of the national garb of the Hungarian
peasants. The curls of hair which hang down behind the ears far over
the shoulders of the young, are peculiar to this tribe. These are
allowed to grow by the young; during the first year of married life,
they are worn concealed in the cap, and only after its lapse cut
off. This ornament gives to the young cavalier a stately appearance
whilst riding, and he is not a little proud of it. The dress of
the women, also, has some peculiarities, to which belong the upper
garment, hanging down, long-armed, like the Hungarian jacket; the
head-gear, and the masses of silver ornaments,--as bracelets,
necklaces, amulets, etuis, &c. It is not unusual to meet among the
women perfect beauties, not inferior to the Georgians in growth and
regularity of features. Though the young girls in all nomadic tribes
are tolerably practised riders, the young Turkoman women stand
pre-eminent in this art. With regard to their religious zeal for
Islam, their proneness to superstition is the same as that of the
Kirghis; and as the readers of my "Travels" are more acquainted with
them, we will pass from them to the Œzbegs.
ŒZBEGS.
These may be considered the established and civilized inhabitants
of Central Asia, and they have retained only feeble traces of the
Mongolian-Turkish race, owing to considerable intermixture with
the ancient Persian elements, and also the great number of slaves,
who are brought there out of the present Iran. In their broad
faces, sound of voice, the sharp angle which the temples form, and
especially the eyes, we recall their Tartar origin. The Œzbegs
were always pointed out by the Tadjiks by the nickname of Yogunkelle
(thick skull), and really this part of their body is thicker and
coarser than that of the rest of their Turanian fellow races.
Besides the diversity that reigns among them in the three Khanats
and in Chinese Tartary, you may further observe that the dwellers
in villages generally possess more signs of the national type than
townsmen. For instance: Œzbegs of Khiva are to be recognised by
the broad, full face, low, flat forehead, large mouth; the Œzbegs
of Bokhara, by the somewhat more arched foreheads, more oval faces,
and long, pointed, oblong chin, and the great majority by black hair
and eyes. Also in colour there are some shades of resemblance. In
the neighbourhood of Kashgar and Aksu yellowish-brown to blackish
tint prevails; in Khokand, brown; in Khiva, white is the reigning
colour. Indeed, the Œzbegs are bastards of the Turanian race,
in the same manner as the Tadjik and Sarts (the aborigines of
the ancient Transoxiana, Sogdia, and Fergana[45]). Of the origin,
immigration, and settlement of the Œzbegs, we have but little
information, and that highly confused. Whilst some maintain that the
name of Œzbeg was the name of one of their most renowned princes,
who, in the time of Djingis, ruled over the whole desert; others
discover, in the etymology of the word Œzbeg (independent prince,
independent head), the signification of that actual independence
for which the tribe was distinguished, as it disengaged itself from
any ruler, and attempted, on its own account, its march of conquest
toward the west. The name becomes prominent with the family of
Sheibani, viz., with Ebul Kheir Khan, as founder, in the foreground;
for, although Taimur may belong to the same tribe, still the Turkish
state is more prominent than the Œzbeg.
[45] "Gibbon;" edited by Dr. W. Smith. London, 1862, page 296. Here
it is justly remarked, "The Œzbegs are the most altered from
their primitive manners. 1st.,--by the profession of the Mohammedan
religion; and, 2nd.,--by the possession of the cities and harvests
of Great Bucharia.
If I am not deceived, it appears to me, at least, that the Œzbegs
of to-day form a tribe, which, as a colony, highly inconsiderable
in numbers, only increased after it had received into its bosom
contingents of the various nomadic tribes passing from the north to
the south. This assertion is, perhaps, bold, still the following
circumstances render it not impossible.
1st. The already indicated diversity which shows itself between the
Œzbegs of Turkestan from Komul to the Sea of Aral, whereby the
degree of resemblance which exists between the latter and those
nomadic tribes living in the vicinity is not to be mistaken, who,
induced by certain circumstances, in which riches and religion
play an important part, settled in towns, and are amalgamated with
Œzbegs.
2nd. Many names of branches and families of the Œzbegs are common
amongst the rest of the tribes of Central Asia. Thus, for example,
we find the tribes Kungrat, Kiptchak, Naiman, Taz, Kandjigale,
Kanli, Djelair, by which the thirty-two chief divisions of the
Œzbegs are named, figuring also among the Kirghis. The Turkomans
and Karakalpaks can produce some, which, from the great importance
the nomadic tribes attach to family names, certainly would not be
the case if earlier mutual relations had not existed. We know little
of their origin, little in regard to the time of their settlement.
The opinion of Persian historians, that the Œzbeg power rose upon
the ruins of the Taimur dynasty is, indeed, correct, but forms no
guide to the Œzbegs themselves. The name only is apparent; but
who can tell us to which tribe that Turkish population professed
to belong, which at a period long anterior to Taimur, and before
Djingis, in the time of the Kharezmian princes, Sahi Charezmian, and
even further back in the thirteenth century, were established in
the three Khanats? In Khiva I often heard of the brilliant period
of ancient Ürgendj, namely, before the inroad of the Mongolians,
described as Œzbeg. Was this merely national vanity, or had the
Turks at that time at Khiva really called themselves Œzbegs?
Turks were already settled during the Arabian occupation, as may be
seen in the ancient history of Bokhara, although not directly in the
centre, certainly in the neighbourhood of the old Persian towns,
in the time of the Samanides; and it would be highly interesting
to know to which type they really belonged. In the customs of the
Œzbegs, also, much foreign admixture has been introduced chiefly
through Islam, and the restless manner of existence pursued by them;
but not nearly so much as with the Western Turks, who through the
foreign elements that they receive are already quite denationalized.
The Œzbegs are pious--one might say zealous--Musulmans. Nowhere
in Islam, Kashmir excepted, does the tendency to asceticism flourish
more than here: a third of the inhabitants of a town are Ishan,
Khalfa, Sofi, or aspirants to those holy titles, and nevertheless
the doctrine of Mohammed has little limited their customs in regard
to all this. In Khiva, and in some parts of Chinese Tartary, they
have remained truest to nomadic customs. They build houses, which
are used as stables and granaries; but for dwelling-places, they
prefer always the raised tent in the court-yard;--building durable
dwellings is scoffed at by the pure Œzbeg, and ridiculed as even
now usual only with the Sart (Persian aborigines). A general habit
is marked out in the proverb: "Sart baïsa tam salar--as soon as
the Sart becomes rich, he builds a house," in contradistinction
to the Œzbeg, who procures rather a horse or arms. Also in food
and clothing but few refinements have crept in, the chief towns
excepted. Whilst in the towns the Harem life is in full force, one
finds in the country all Œzbeg women unveiled, for, to the great
anger of the Mollah, they resist that restriction, to which their
nature is averse. Ceremonies at burials, weddings, births, contain
much of what is not only foreign to Islam, but even criminal. This
false step is a striking contrast with the otherwise enthusiastic
feelings of Central Asiatics. Not less does the rigid adherence to a
warlike existence, in which the Œzbegs are distinguished from the
rest of the established nations of Central and Western Asia, deserve
our attention. Agriculture and durable dwellings render people more
peaceable; but this is not the case with the Œzbegs, because they
excel so many nomadic tribes in bravery.
CHARACTER.
However great the extent over which the diverse branches of
Turkish tribes may be found, however variously the influence of
strange elements may have acted upon their social relations, still
the features of a common type of character cannot be denied;--a
picture in which more traces of analogy are to be found than in
the physiognomy and other physical signs respectively. The Turk
is everywhere heavy and lethargic in his mental and corporeal
emotions, therefore firm and stedfast in his resolves; not, perhaps,
from any principle of life philosophy, but from apathy, and sincere
aversion to everything which would alter his adopted position. This
lends him an earnest and solemn aspect, which is so often extolled
by European travellers. As upon the shores of the Bosphorus the
Osmanli, in his _keïf_, can gaze for hours on the clear sky, while
he only makes as much movement as will blow the blue wreaths of
smoke from his pipe towards the yet bluer firmament; so the Œzbeg
or the Kirghis can sit for hours, motionless, in the narrow tent,
or in the immeasurably wide desert; for, while the former turns
his gaze upon the colours of the felt coverlet or carpet, already
seen thousands of times,--the latter looks on the waving, curling
quicksands, which are to amuse him. As those who go about briskly
and nimbly, or even gesticulate, are only compassionated by the
Osmanlis as living proofs of partial insanity and misfortune; so
each quick movement of the feet and hands is considered by the
Œzbegs as highly unseemly. Indeed, when I called out to one of
my Tartar fellow-travellers to save himself from some falling bales
of goods by a side-spring, he exclaimed, indignantly: "Am I, then,
a woman, that I should disgrace myself by springing and dancing!"
With this profound seriousness and marble-cold expression of
countenance, we find everywhere among the Turks a great inclination
to pomp and magnificence; but this does not degenerate into
frivolity or fanfaronades, as is the case with the Persians. In
Constantinople one often hears the proverb: "Intellect is peculiar
to Europe, riches to India, and splendour to the Ottoman." The
solemn processions (alay) of the sultan and of the great nobles are
alike celebrated in the East and the West, and the imposing exterior
which is exhibited on such occasions is nowhere to be found so
faithfully reflected as among their fellow tribes in Central Asia.
An Œzbeg or Turkoman, when upon his horse, or seated in his tent
at the head of his family, has the same proud bearing, the same
self-consciousness of greatness and power. He is quite convinced
that he is born to rule, and the foreign nations which surround
him to obey,--just in the same way as the Osmanli thinks with
regard to Bulgarians, Armenians, Kurds, and Arabians. His love for
independence is boundless, and is also the chief cause why he cannot
long remain under the chieftain whom he loves in many respects;
and he would rather command ten or twelve miserable highwaymen or
adventurers than stand at the head of a well-equipped, elegant
troop, who might, in common with himself, own a greater master.
Coinciding with these traits of character, is also the predilection
of the Turks for repose and inactivity; for, although diligence and
activity, according to our European notions, are not to be met with
anywhere in Asia, still, work is not so much abhorred, either by the
Iranian or Semitic nations, as by the Turks, who consider hunting
and war alone worthy of man. Upon them husbandry is only forcibly
imposed, and is considered ignominious. A wondrous prosperity has
never befallen Turkey. The peasant was always idle and careless;
the number of craftsmen limited. Officials had only wealth when the
Janitchars came back from their pillaging excursions, laden with
treasures.
In Central Asia, agriculture is exclusively in the hands of the
Persian slaves; commerce and business with the Tadjiks, Hindoos, and
Jews; for even the Œzbegs, settled there for centuries, meditate
robbery and war, and if they can procure no foreign enemy they
attack each other mutually in bloody brother strife.
As concerns intellectual capacity, I have found that the Turk is
everywhere far inferior to other Asiatic nations, namely, the
Iranian and Semitic; and that, through narrowness of mind, he loses
those prerogatives which his superiority in other respects would
acquire for him. This weakness is denoted by the word Türklük
(Turkdom), of which Kabalik (coarseness), and Yogunluk (thickness),
are synonyms. By Türklük, one understands also rudeness and
roughness in manners; and if here and there this defect is palliated
by the appellation, Sadelik (simplicity), still, for the most part,
they are subjoined to the Turkish name as insulting epithets. As
the Osmanli is over-reached by the Armenian, Greek, and Arab; so is
the Œzbeg baffled by the subtle and yielding Tadjik, and the no
less crafty and avaricious Hindoo. Whether this is to be ascribed
to a national defect or to an extreme nonchalance, it were hard to
determine; still, it is highly remarkable that the Turk in the far
east, as well as in the immediate vicinity of the civilised western
country, shuns meditation, and that nowhere are his attempts at wit
particularly brilliant. This disadvantage is partially the reason
that among the Turks more honesty, frankness and confidence, is to
be met with than among the remaining nations of Asia.
Türklük, by which strangers understand the above-named fault,
is often used by the Turks themselves as a mark of plainness,
simplicity, and uprightness. The lights and shades of Türklük have
been at all times observable and discoursed on, whenever parallels
are drawn between the character of the Turks and of other nations,
especially the Persians. People praise the acuteness, the refined
manners of the latter; but still, he who wants to find a faithful
servant, an attached soldier, or an upright man, will always give
the preference to the Turks. Therefore, we find in earliest times
that foreign princes liked to use Turkish troops; they call them
into their country, and invest their officers with the highest
dignities; and as bravery, perseverance, and love of governing, is
more innate in them than in any other Asiatic people, it is very
easy to explain how they rise from simple mercenaries to governors;
and how they subjugated Iranian and Semitic peoples, from their
home up to the Adriatic, many of whom are still ruled by them. In
my opinion, it is not only superiority of physical powers which has
sustained the Turkish dynasties upon foreign thrones, and still
does so: this is also greatly ascribable to their superiority of
character. They are unpolished, and by nature wild, uncultivated,
but seldom cruel out of malice. They enrich themselves at the
cost of their subjects, but again divide generously the collected
treasures. They are severe towards their subordinates, but seldom
forget the duties that they have to fulfil towards the latter, as
patriarchal heads. In a word, in all deeds and works of the Turks
a sort of kindness is perceptible, which is, perhaps, more to be
ascribed to indolence and laisser-aller, than to a fixed purpose to
do good; but still it works as a virtue, whatever may be its origin.
Finally will we mention hospitality, in which the Turks are better
versed than the Iranian and Semitic nations, and certainly for
very simple causes. As acknowledged, hospitality is observed in
proportion to the degree in which a nation advances from a nomadic
condition to a settled manner of living, and as Asia is generally
far more prominent in this virtue than Europe, so are the Turks,
the majority of whom are incarnate nomads, to be distinguished
from the rest of Asiatics, who, long settled there, rejoice in an
older civilisation. This must be considered a mere sketch of the
common character of the Turks. Concerning the gradation of different
races, we find the Buruts wilder, more savage than the remaining
nomadic fellow races.[46] They are more superstitious, but also less
malicious than, for example, the Kirghis and Turkomans, because,
without having wholly deserted Shamanism, they know but little of
Islam; and it is well known that the weaker a nomadic people's
ideas of that religion are, the fewer are its vices, and the more
tractable are they with strangers. The Kirghis, on the contrary,
are in the chief features of character less warlike, although they
can easily make up their minds to undertake a baranta (pillaging
expedition). They form the greater part of Turkish nomads, are for
the most part devoted to a wandering life; and whilst the Turkomans
are in many places to be met with in a half settled state, for
example, along the left shore of the Oxus, from Belkh as far as
Tchardjuy, and in Khiva, one can only find very few examples among
the Kirghis. They are easier to subjugate than other nomads, because
they, as already stated, are more peaceable and less brave, still
their colonization appears almost verging upon impossibility; at
least it will require a gigantic task of Russia, if such be her
design. The Karakalpaks, through their remarkable simplicity, are
often considered foolish and dull. They represent the idiot among
Central Asiatic nations, and many droll anecdotes are composed
at their cost. In bravery they are even inferior to the Kirghis;
they have seldom appeared as conquerors, and are seldom employed
by others even as mercenaries. As they occupy themselves chiefly
in breeding cattle, and like best to sojourn in woody regions,
they are called by the Œzbegs, ayik (bear). Still, activity,
benevolence and faithfulness, are everywhere adjudged to them. The
Turkomans are notorious among all the races of Central Asia as the
most restless adventurers, and rightly; for not only there, but
throughout the whole globe, hardly can a second nation be found of
such a rapacious nature, of such restless spirit and untameable
licentiousness as these children of the desert. To rob, to plunder,
to make slaves, is in the eye of the Turkoman an honourable
business, by which he has lived for centuries. He considers those
who think otherwise as stupid or mad, and yields in such a manner
to this passion that he often commences plundering his own tribe,
indeed, often his own family, in case he is baulked in foreign
forays. As a very weak apology, it may be argued that they inhabit
the wildest and most savage countries, where even keeping of cattle
gives only a scanty revenue: still the fruits of their detestable
trade hardly ever alleviate their pressing poverty, for they are
just as dirty niggards, as avaricious, and starve often in the
possession of riches as much as the poorest being. The Œzbegs
play the fashionable among their fellow-races in Turkestan. They
are not a little proud of the education which, through Islamitish
civilisation, they obtained, and, starting from this point
of superiority, wish to govern their nomadic brethren. Highly
praiseworthy with them is their tenacious adherence to so many good
points of their national character; which, in other places, is
too easily transformed and disgraced by Islam. With the Œzbeg,
there is, in spite of the hypocrisy and pretended holiness, which
endeavour to spread themselves by Mohamedanism, still always very
much honesty, uprightness, and Turkish open-heartedness, in which
qualities they are considerably to be distinguished from the
reprobate and vicious Tadjiks, and are truly worthy to govern the
latter. The Œzbeg is, as far as personal knowledge has shown to
me, the only Turk, from China to the Danube, who represents all the
best side of the national character of the Turks.
[46] Radloff also confirms the same in his Report upon the Acad.
Imp. of Sciences of St. Petersb. See the bulletin of the society
named, vol. vi., p. 418.