Historical Reference

The Merv Oasis: Travels and Adventures East of the Caspian During the Years 1879-80-81,
Including Five Months' Residence Among the Tekkes of Merv
By Edmund O'Donovan
Published by G. P. Putnam's sons, 1883 Volume II

Page 19

RADCAN. 19
CHAPTEE XXXI.
DERGUEZ.
Radcan — A village wiseacre — Erudition — Blowing up with strychnine — A Homeric draught — A remarkable building — Nadir Shah's cruelties — Cairns and sacred trees — Meeting a caravan — Feminine cariosity — The Allah Akbar range — Ghastly trophies — The Derguez — Military colonists — Mehemet Ali Khan — Border raids — A picnic with an exciting end — Persian dress fashions — A Turcoman inroad — A distracted land — Sports of the border — Cattle lifting as a national diversion — Attempts to subdue the nomads — The Persian expedition to Merv — Prospects of Central Asia — The Persian frontier line — The Turcoman captives.

The little town of Eadcan, pronounced Eathcan, is one of the most cheerful places in this corner of Persia. It is clean, and well supplied with good water, unlike Meshed, where one has to drink a mixture of twenty different kinds. The numerous trees within the town add to its pleasant appearance. The population of about three thousand is almost exclusively Kurdish. It has the usual curtain walls and flanking towers, beyond which a belt of houses has sprung up, a rare occurrence in these parts. A deep ditch has been dug on the outside to protect them. The chief industries of the place seem to be dyeing calico and tanning black sheepskins for the manufacture of hats. There is a small bazaar of some fifty booths, principally for the sale of groceries and provisions. In it, also, are to be found two shoemakers and a coppersmith. The inhabitants all speak Kurdish; but Persian and Turkish are generally understood. The Kurds of the valley are very civil and obliging,

Chapter 30 - Chapter 31 - Chapter 32 - Chapter 32 - Chapter 33 - Chapter 34 - Chapter 35 - Chapter 36 - Chapter 37 - Chapter 38 - Chapter 39 - Chapter 40

Some other works:

• Balfour on the Turkmen 1883
• Basin of the Helmand. By Markham
• Care and feeding of the Akhal Teke/Tekke Horses by Boulger
• On Journeys Between Herat, and Khiva.By Goldsmid
• Origin of the Turkmen, with an Account of the Minor Tribes by Marvin
• Road to Merv. By Rawlinson
• The Turkmen by Boulger

Last count I have over 29,000 web pages in my notes. My main sites are www.SpongoBongo.com and www.PersianCarpetGuide.com