Page image — the source of record
Machine transcription
22
from Peter the Great, which demanded that he should make good the losses that the Russian nationals had suffered at the hands of some frontier tribes. By this protest and the demand of redress for the losses, which it was pretended the Russians had sustained on the Persian frontiers, the Czar wished to take advantage of the confused condition of Persia and if possible to lay his hands firmly on the Persian provinces bordering the Caspian Sea. Soon after, when he was told by Mahmud that as yet he had no control over the Uzbeks and Lazakis living in that part of the country, the Czar collected a force of 30,000 of his best soldiers, which was reinforced by some Cossacks and Kamlucks at Astracan. On 22nd July 1723, he sailed down from the Volga, reaching the coast of Daghistan on the 4th of August. His first step was to issue a declaration purporting that he had no aggressive designs of any kind but wanted to protect the rights of his subjects carrying on fair business in that part of the country. He proceeded along the coast, defeated some chiefs, by whom he was opposed, and took possession of Darband. After leaving 2,000 Russian troops
Roughly two thirds of characters agree with a modern printed edition of the same text. Much of the disagreement is editorial, not misreading. Treat the transcription as a finding aid and read the page image before quoting. How this was measured.