Note 699 — Chapter IX · Bokhārā, a Protected Native State

The Kirghiz style themselves Kazāk, “warriors.” They roam over the Khānates, and love to shelter themselves from the icy blasts in the long reeds lining the banks of the Sir Daryā. They are cruel, treacherous, and given to rapine. Government is exercised by hereditary Khāns, but the personal equation is everything, and the Khān who derogates is lost. Fighting men are called Bahādurs; the relatives of the tribal Khān, Sultāns.