Page:England & Russia in Central Asia,Vol-I.djvu/232

212 212 ENGLAND AND EUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA.

Turk," and the Turcomans both of Kara Kum and of Asia Minor derive their name from the same cause. In both cases it is morally certain that they are the descendants of military settlers, who, separated from their main stem, have not possessed the necessary numbers or organization to become great conquerors, although they have never lost their warlike proclivities and ambition. It is probable that most of the Turcomans of Kara Kum participated in the wars of Timour, although their kinsmen in Asia Minor suffered severely at his ands ; but it was not until the time of Nadir Shah that we find them possessing any real sympathy with a great ruler. Shah Abbas the Great endeavoured to curb effectually and for ever the turbulence of the Turcomans by settling a belt of Kurd colonists along the frontier, principally at Bujnoord, Kooshan, and Dereges. During his reign and that of several of his successors the plan worked well. The Kurds effectually checked the Turcomans ; and the Khorasan frontier was for that space of time settled. The Persians benefited by the scheme, but soon the Kurds combined with the Turcomans, and then it is difficult to say whether there was greater danger from Turcoman hostility or from Kurd treachery. So recently as the year 1832 the Persian Government had to wage a regular war with the Kurds in order to compel them to revert to their allegiance. This the prince royal Abbas Mirza accomplished, but since that time the old state of things has revived, and quite recently there was much uncertainty with