a. Yarali-- Iri Tomatch, Kizil Sakalli, Arigköseli, Tchokkan borkan, Onuk Tomatch. b. Nurali-- Kelte, Karindjik, Gazili Kör, Hasankululu kör Pankötek. 3. Sheref Djuni, of whom one part dwells in Görghen, and the other in Khiva, a. Görghen-- Karabölke, Tevedji, Telgay Djafer. b. Khiva-- Oküz, Salak, Ushak, Kodjuk, Meshrik, Imreli. 4. Ogurdjali-- Semedin, Ghiray Terekme, Nedin. The Ogurdjali, hardly ever busying themselves with marauding and robbery, refuse to recognise the Yomuts as of their tribe, and dealing themselves peaceably with Persia, with which they have great activity of commerce, they have become subjects of {309} the Shah, to whom they pay a yearly tribute of 1000 ducats. The Persians, however, do not interfere in their internal government. The Yomuts themselves are accustomed to count the number of their tents in the aggregate at from forty to fifty thousand. Their calculations are as little to be guaranteed as the statements of the other tribes, for the greatness of their numbers always constitutes, with these nomads, a question of national pride. Let us now add together the different tribes:-- _Tribes._ _No. of Tents._ 1. Tchaudor-- 12,000 2. Ersari-- 50,000 3. Alieli-- 3,000 4. Kara-- 1,500 5. Salor-- 8,000 6. Sarik-- 10,000 7. Tekke-- 60,000 8. Göklen-- 12,000 9. Yomut-- 40,000 Total 196,500 Reckoning to each tent five persons, we have a sum-total of 982,500 souls; and as I have myself diminished the Turkoman statements by at least a third, we may regard this as the lowest possible estimate of the whole population. POLITICAL CONDITION OF THE TURKOMANS. What surprised me most during my sojourn amongst this people, was my inability to discover any single man among them desirous of commanding, or any individual inclined to obey. The Turkoman himself {310} is wont to say, 'Biz bibash khalk bolamiz (We are a people without a head), and we will not have one. We are all equal, with us everyone is king.' In the political institutions of all the other nomads, we occasionally discover some sign, more or less defined --some shadow of a government, such as the Aksakal amongst the Turks, the Rish Sefid amongst the Persians, or the Sheikh amongst the Arabs. Amongst the Turkomans we find no trace of any such character. The tribes have, it is true, their Aksakals; but these are, in effect, merely ministers to each particular circle, standing, to a certain degree, in a position of honourable distraction. They are liked and tolerated so long only as they do not make their supremacy felt by unusual commands or extravagant pretensions.