§ 47. Discourse on the Country of the Khazarian Pechenegs

East of it is the mountain of the Khazars; south of it, are the Alāns; west of it, is the Gurz Sea; north of it, are the Mirvāt . These people were formerly a group of the Pecheneg Turks (Turkān-i Bachanākī); they came here, took the country by conquest (ba ghalaba īn nāḥiyat bisitadand), and settled down in it. They own felt-huts and tents (khargāh va qubba), cattle, and sheep. They wander within the same territory on the grazing grounds situated in the Khazar mountains. The Khazar slaves brought (uftadh) to the Islamic lands (musalmānī) are mostly from here.

These three (last) named countries are little favoured by nature (kam-ni'mat).
 

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