1 BULKH 475.
2 this piovmoe. They were (ffigminyiniaeil at.Cinbul fiir penanaA
3 flervice in Bolkh, whidi, fiom the ykixdty of tlie frontier of Bofc^
4 iiHm, always rei|iiued % itrong feiwe» Not lew dun five thffniMmA
5 lunre been entertained from first to laat, but the aernce waa ao'niqio-
6 pillar, that althmigh a bounty of five tomauns (equal to £10)' waa
7 gtfea to recxuits, none but the lowest ofders would endist; amd.even
8 pf them so many have retained to Ganbul, that the. number of the
9 Cohneh Nokur is now under one thousand fiunilies. They are paid
10 by assignments of land which descend from ftther to son | and from
11 the interest which this gives them in the country, they have acquired
12 almost all the feelings of the natives* They bear much the same re-
13 lation to the King Uiat the janissaries , of Syria do the Forte ; and if
14 Killich Ally Beg were to rebel, they would be moris likidy to adhere,
15 to him than to their own government.
16 This, however, is not an event very likely to happen, for thoiij»h
17 Killicli Ally may be reorder! an independent prince, he is never
18 deficient in respect to tlie King ; and as the only advantage that
19 monarch ever derived from Bulkli, was the protection of his frontier
20 from the Uzbeks, he is probably not ill pleased to sec the control of
21 it in the bauds of a chief, so able to maintain its trauc^uillity, and so
22 willing to acknowledge his dependence.
23 Th^e are few princes in this part of Asia who enjoy so extensive,
24 and so well merited a reputation as Killidi Ally. A trnveHer towaedi
25 the west from Hindnitan> hears the praises of his good govemment
26 from the G8imvans» long before he reaches the Indus; and all meiw
27 chants who have passed thn>u|^ his country, speak With equal ap*
28 plause of the exemption item duties which he aUoWs^ and of the
29 eflbrtual protection he aflbrds*
30 His army may consist . of about twelve thousand hcaie, of whtcli
31 two thoosaod are in hk own pay, and the rest are fiimlshed by men
32 who hold lands of him, on condition of militaty service. He could
33 also draw about five thonsand men fimn Ebondoos. Zfis revenue,
34 after deducting the eqieiice of his army, may be estimated at a lacE
35 and a half of riipeea (about i£l9,000). His eldest Mm had a grant
36 3 p «
37 Digrtized by Google