Page:England & Russia in Central Asia,Vol-I.djvu/230

210 CHAPTER IX. THE TTIECOMANS. Far and wide, althougli no longer so far or so wide as formerly, over the waste expanse of Kara Kum there roam tribes who are independent of all earthly authority, whose hand is against every' man, and who are known as Turkmen or Turcomans. The great desert of Kara Kum, extending from the Caspian to the Oxus, and from Khiva to Persia, has been their home for centuries ; and they are still to be found there in the same wild state of independence as their fathers were seven centuries ago. Their irregular confederacy has stood the test of time far better than some more regular modes of government, and so far as matters have yet progressed they appear to be better able to defend their rights than the other States and nationalities of Central Asia. The practical importance of the Turcomans in the present phase of the Central Asian Question cannot be over-estimated. They are evidently the next opponent with which Eussia will come into contact, and to some degree the contest may