aintains the spirit and exercise
of arms; they fight on horseback; and their courage is displayed in
frequent contests with each other and with their neighbors. For the
license of pasture they pay a slight tribute to the sovereign of the
land; but the domestic jurisdiction is in the hands of the chiefs and
elders. The first emigration of the Eastern Turkmans, the most ancient
of the race, may be ascribed to the tenth century of the Christian
aera. [12] In the decline of the caliphs, and the weakness of their
lieutenants, the barrier of the Jaxartes was often violated; in each
invasion, after the victory or retreat of their countrymen, some
wandering tribe, embracing the Mahometan faith, obtained a free
encampment in the spacious plains and pleasant climate of Transoxiana
and Carizme. The Turkish slaves who aspired to the throne encouraged
these emigrations which recruited their armies, awed their subjects
and rivals, and protected the frontier against the wilder natives of
Turkestan; and this policy was abused by Mahmud the Gaznevide beyond the
example of former times. He was admonished of his error by the chief of
the race of Seljuk, who dwelt in the territory of Bochara. The sultan
had inquired what supply of men he could furnish for military service.
"If you send," replied Ismael, "one of these arrows into our camp,
fifty thousand of your servants will mount on horseback."--"And if
that number," continued Mahmud, "should not be sufficient?"--"Send this
second arrow to the horde of Balik, and you will find fifty thousand
more."--"But," said the Gaznevide, dissembling his anxiety, "if I should
stand in need of the whole force of your kindred tribes?"--"Despatch my
bow," was the last reply of Ismael, "and as it is circulated around, the
summons will be obeyed by two hundred thousand horse." The apprehension
of such formidable friendship induced Mahmud to transport the most
obnoxious tribes into the heart of Chorasan, where they would be
separated from their brethren of the River Oxus, and enclosed on all
sides by the walls of obedient cities. But the face of the country was
an object of temptation rather than terror; and the vigor of government
was relaxed by the absence and death of the sultan of Gazna. The
shepherds were converted into robbers; the bands of robbers were
collected into an army of conquerors: as far as Ispahan and the Tigris,
Persia was afflicted by their predatory inroads; and the Turkmans were
not asha