Turkmen slave raids on the road to Mashhad
Editorial contextIn the appended notice on Mazandaran, Colonel Trezel explains why pilgrims to Mashhad gathered at Astarabad in caravans of seven or eight hundred. Turkmen raiders roamed the plains, plundered everything and carried off men and even children able to keep up, sending them to herd flocks around Bukhara and Samarkand; Sunni Turkmen, he says, were driven against Shia Persians by hope of plunder and by religion.
The Turkmen roam all these plains, plunder everything they find, and carry off into slavery the men, and even the children able to keep up with their raids. They send them to guard their flocks on the plains of Bukhara and Samarkand. These peoples are driven against the Persians by hope of plunder and by difference of religious opinion, because they are Sunnis.
Working translation
Original wording
Les Turkomans rodent sur toutes ces plaines, pillent tout ce qu'ils trouvent, et emmènent en esclavage les hommes et les enfans même en état de suivre leurs courses. Ils les envoient garder leurs troupeaux dans les plaines de Bokhara et de Samarcand. Ces peuples sont animés contre les Persans par l'espoir du pillage et par la différence des opinions religieuses, parce qu'ils sont sunnys.
About Turkmen of the south-east Caspian
Keep in mind
Trezel reports what he learned in Persia; he did not enter Turkmen country, and he does not call the Turkmen Tartars.