Two horses each, and the Volga swum
Editorial contextAfter a Kalmyk raid on the Karakalpaks, Cook describes how Kalmyks went to war: bow, quiver and scimitar, at least two horses per man, herds grazing as they marched. He says he had seen thousands cross the Volga by swimming their animals, and that lame or dead horses were cut up and shared as food.
The Kalmucks in time of war are armed with a bow and a quiver full of arrows of different shapes, and a large scymitar. Every man has at least two horses … They need neither bridges nor boats to cross rivers, for I have seen thousands cross the Volga by swimming their cattle over
About Kalmyks (Oirat Mongols)
Prisoners tied beneath the horses' bellies
Editorial contextIn revenge for a Kalmyk raid, some 15,000 Karakalpaks crossed the frozen Volga, killed Kalmyk old and young and carried off the youths. Cornered by a Russian force, they broke through and fled, leaving about three hundred Kalmyk prisoners bound to horses by their feet. The Kalmyks then rode off with thousands of the Russians' own horses and camels.
they, being about fifteen thousand, made a very sudden unexpected attack upon the Russians, and actually, bravely broke through them, got over the ice, and fled to the desart, leaving about three hundred Kalmuck prisoners fixed to their horses, by tying their feet with cords to one another under the horses bellies.
About Karakalpaks, Kalmyks, Russian Cossacks and Tatars
Keep in mind
Cook was at Astrakhan but not with the troops; numbers are reported.
Allies, not subjects: the Kalmyks and Russia
Editorial contextExplaining why Russian generals let irregular cavalry plunder freely, Cook says these troops were Cossacks, Kalmyks or other Tartars on the borders. The Kalmyks owned no subjection, only Russian protection, and could not be forced to move; even their khan could not act without the consent of his many elders, some of them lords of five or six thousand fighting men.
The Kalmucks acknowledge no subjection, but only live under the protection of Russia. They are barbarous to a great degree, but yet they must be treated with great lenity ; for, if they do not incline to leave their own country, the whole force of Russia is not able to oblige them, nor even their prince, unless with the approbation of their seniors
About Kalmyks and other Tatars serving as Russian irregulars
Muslim Tartars with stone crosses and Christian feast days
Editorial contextCook says all the Tartars from Astrakhan to Derbent were Sunni Muslims, but he suspected many had once been Christians. They held yearly gatherings they could not explain, which he says fell on Greek Orthodox feast days, and he was told there were many stone crosses in the hills where they still met.
The Tartars from the borders of Astrachan to Derbent, are all Mahometans, of the sect of the Turks; but some things make me believe, that a majority of them had formerly professed the Christian religion. They have meetings at certain times of the year, where they divert themselves, without being able to account for the cause, any other way than that their ancestors did so before them
About 'Tartars' between Astrakhan and Derbent (Kumyks and Dagestani peoples)
Keep in mind
Cook's inference; the crosses are reported, not seen.
A hundred thousand tents on the Mughan plain
Editorial contextCrossing the plains near the Aras River, Cook was told that the kings of Persia bred their best horses there, and that the plains had held more than 100,000 tents of roving people 'as the Kalmucks do in Astrachan' when Nadir Shah took the throne. He passed a few of the last groups being moved to Khorasan on Nadir's orders.
these plains were formerly inhabited by roving people living in tents, as the Kalmucks do in Astrachan ; and that upwards of a hundred thousand tents were in these happy plains when Kouli Khan mounted the throne of Persia.
About Nomadic tent-dwellers of Persia (compared to Kalmyks)
Keep in mind
Reported figure.
Dagestan Tartars versus Lezgi Tartars
Editorial contextCook admits writers were confused about the peoples of the eastern Caucasus and sets his own rule: 'Dagestan Tartars' for the hill people between Derbent and Circassia, 'Lezgi Tartars' for those south and south-east of Derbent to the Kura. It shows 'Tartar' being used simply as a label for Muslim mountaineers who spoke many languages.
The difference between the Dagestan and Lesgee Tartars, I think is not clear in authors; I therefore desire my readers to remember, that I call the Dagestan Tartars, those who inhabit the hills between Derbent and Circassia; and I call those who inhabit the hills south, and south-east of Derbent, all the way to the north banks of Cura, Lesgee Tartars.
About Dagestani highlanders
A jar of old Tartar coins falls out of a cliff
Editorial contextResting under red gravel cliffs on the Volga near Astrakhan, Cook was told by his colonel that merchants picnicking there had seen part of the cliff collapse, releasing an earthen jar full of old Tartar coins in gold and silver. The colonel said he had seen some of them.
when they were taking their dinner, part of the cliff fell down, and with it, an earthen jar full of old Tartar coin, some of which he had seen, both gold and silver.
About Tartars (Golden Horde era, by implication)
Keep in mind
Second-hand; the coins are not described further.