hat 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 ashamed or afraid to
measure their courage and numbers with the proudest sovereigns of Asia.
Massoud, the son and successor of Mahmud, had too long neglected the
advice of his wisest Omrahs. "Your enemies," they repeatedly urged,
"were in their origin a swarm of ants; they are now little snakes;
and, unless they be instantly crushed, they will acquire the venom and
magnitude of serpents." After some alternatives of truce and hostility,
after the repulse or partial success of his lieutenants, the sultan
marched in person against the Turkmans, who attacked him on all sides
with barbarous shouts and irregular onset. "Massoud," says the Persian
historian, "plunged singly to oppose the torrent of gleaming arms,
exhibiting such acts of gigantic force and valor as never king had
before displayed. A few of his friends, roused by his words and actions,
and that innate honor which inspires the brave, seconded their lord so
well, that wheresoever he turned his fatal sword, the enemies were mowed
down, or retreated before him. But now, when victory seemed to blow on
his standard, misfortune was active behind it; for when he looked round,
he beheld almost his whole army, excepting that body he commanded in
person, devouring the paths of flight." The Gaznevide was abandoned by
the cowardice or treachery of some generals of Turkish race; and this
memorable day of Zendecan founded in Persia the dynasty of t