They Have No Gunsmiths Amongst Them; Nor
Any Artizans At All, Except Some Farriers, And A Few Makers Of Bridles
And Of Horse Accoutrements[.]
There are no lawyers or Ulemas among the Ryhanlu.
Some families of
consequence carry with them a Faqui or travelling Imam, to teach their
children to read and to pray, and who in case of need performs likewise
the duties of a menial servant, much like the young German baron’s
governor. These Faqui are for the greater part natives of Albostan,
educated there in mosques: they follow the Turkmans to participate in
the pious alms which the Koran prescribes. They are generally ignorant,
even of the Turkish law: they are often consulted however by the chiefs,
and their sentence is generally confirmed by the chief whenever there is
no precedent or customary law in point to the contrary.
I did not see any books amongst the Turkmans, and I am certain that out
of fifty hardly one knows how to read or write. Even few of them know
the text of their prayers (which are throughout the Mohammedan countries
in the sacred language, the Arabic), and therefore perform the
prescribed prostrations silently and without the usual ejaculations. The
married people, men as well as women, are tolerably exact in the
performance of their devotions, but the young men never trouble
themselves about them.
I did not stay long enough among the Turkmans to be able to judge
correctly of their character, especially as I was ignorant of their
language. I saw enough, however, to convince me that they possess most
of the vices of nomade nations, without their good qualities. The
Turkmans are, like the Arabs and Kurds, a people of robbers, that is to
say, [p.641] every thing which they can lay hold of in the open country
is their lawful prize, provided it does not belong to their acknowledged
friends. The Arabs make amends in some measure for their robberies by
the hospitality and liberality with which they receive friends and
strangers. In this respect I soon found that I had been led to form a
very erroneous opinion of the Turkman character. I was introduced at
Aleppo to Mohammed Ali Aga, a man of considerable influence amongst the
Ryhanlu, as a physician who was travelling in search of herbs, and I
succeeded in supporting my assumed character during near a fortnight’s
stay under his tent. Before my departure from Aleppo, I made him a
present of coffee and sweetmeats, to the amount of sixty piastres, and I
promised him another present, when he should have brought me back in
safety to Aleppo. Notwithstanding these precautions, my reception in his
tent was rather cool, and I soon found that I was among men who had no
other idea than that of getting as much out of me as they could. They
were not under the least restraint, but calculated in my presence how
much my visit was worth to them, as I sufficiently understood, from
their animated tone and gestures, added to the few Turkish words, which
I learnt.
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