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XXIII. Description of the Province of Fārs, in Persia, at the beginning of the Twelfth Century A.D. Translated from the MS. of Ibn-al-Balkhī in the British Museum
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2011
Extract
Arrajān.—This city was first founded by King Qubād, the father of Chosroes Anūshirwān. It was a great city, with many dependencies, but during the troublous times when the Assassins held sway in the land it fell to ruin. It has a warm climate, and the city lies adjacent to the Thakān Bridge, where it spans the great river called the Nahr Ṭāb, which flows down from the neighbourhood of Sumayram. Further, many other streams flow past near here, with much water, whereby the land in this neighbourhood is most productive, growing all kinds of fruit. Groves of date-palms and of pomegranates abound, especially of the kind called mīlasī, which is most excellent. There are also many aromatic plants. The districts round and about Arrajīn are very numerous, and a mosque for the Friday prayers stands in the city.
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page 865 note 1 The ruins of Arrajān lie near a place called Sih Gunbadān (“the Three Domes”), a short distance to the north of Bihbahān (FNN. 275, 276).
page 865 note 2 Variant malīsī, a name not given in the dictionaries.
page 865 note 3 The MS. here repeats the text in the opposite column, and apparently a paragraph has been omitted.
page 866 note 1 In one place spelt Jallājān. None of these three places, nor Chahār Dāh, now appear on the map, but they are mentioned by the Arab geographers. Nīv (printed without points) is given by Iṣṭakhrī (p. 111), who names Dayr Ayyūb and Dayr ‘Omar (Iṣṭ. 112, 113) as of this region.
page 866 note 2 Common variants are Jins, also Jīs in place of Ḥabs or Khabs. Neither this place nor Furzuk occurs on the map, but they appear in the Itinerary. Hindījān, which Muqaddasī (p. 422) writes Hinduwīn, is now known as Bandar Hindiyān (FNN. 239). See above under Bilād Shābūr.
page 866 note 3 Probably to be identified with the modern Zaydūn (FNN. 278), for this Rīshahr cannot be the small town of that name lying 1½ leagues and to the south of Būshahr, though this last is stated to be “one of the ancient cities of Fārs” (FNN. 210).
page 866 note 4 The name of his father is uncertain. It may be read Nadāb, Hadhāb, or Badāb. Not given in Ibn-al-Athir.
page 866 note 5 The MS. may be read Diz Kilāb or Gulāb, and there exists a Qal'ah Gulāb or Kilāb, this castle standing 6 leagues south of Bihbahān and 4 east of Zaydūn (FNN. 278, 336).
page 867 note 1 The ruins known as Gunāvah lie somewhat to the north of Bandar Rig (FNN. 209).
page 867 note 2 The name of Sīnīz has disappeared from the map; its site is probably near modern Bandar Daylam, the chief town of the Qirāvī District (FNN. 279).
page 867 note 3 Now written Māh Rūbān (FNN. 239).
page 868 note 1 The Baghdād raṭl was under three-quarters of a pound avoirdupois: hence 4 to 5 stone-weight.
page 868 note 2 An Island of Hangām (FNN. 318) lies to the south of the Long Island (Jazīrah Ṭawīl), near Hurmuz, at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, but this Hangām Island could not be counted as of the Qubād Khūrah district. The Island of Khārik is well known (FNN. 315), but Ram (or Dam) and Balūr cannot be identified.
page 868 note 3 In FNN., pp. 322–30, an alphabetical list of 109 of the rivers and streams of Fāars is given. Each of these now for the most part takes its name, section by section, from the district through which it flows; hence one river during its course goes by many names, and the 109 enumerated do not stand for that number of distinct streams.
page 868 note 4 The Ṭāb-Kurdistān-Jarrāḥi River does not rise near Sumayram, for the upper basin of the Shustar River lies in between. Furthermore, its mouth now lies far to the north of Sīnāz, the Shārān River flowing down to the sea here in the intervening country.
page 869 note 1 The Zuhrah-Fahliyān River.
page 869 note 2 The Dāliki-Jamīlah River. Māsaram is the name of a village in this district (spelt now with a sīn in place of ṣād, FNN. 281). The spelling Naḥast Masjān is uncertain; possibly it is a clerical error for Nāḥiyat Sittajān, “the Sittajān District,” near the head-waters of the Thakān River (see below in the Itinerary). There is, however, a village in this region still called Dih Masghān, or Masqān, lying 1 league south-east of Shikuft (FNN. 281), which may be the place indicated if the reading be taken as Masjān.
page 869 note 2 The Dihram-Firūzābād-Hunayfqān River.
page 869 note 4 The Kāmfīrūz-Rāmjird-Kirbāl River.
page 869 note 5 FNN. 325.
page 870 note 1 FNN. 257, the Band-i-Amīr.
page 870 note 2 Now known as the Fayḍābād Dam (FNN. 257).
page 870 note 3 The Armish and Zard streams. Its source is much to the south-west of Sumayram.
page 871 note 1 The Shīrīn, Sar Faryāb River. Whatever it may have done in the past, the mouth of the Shīrīn is now at a place on the Persian Gulf, lying far to the north of Sīnīz and Jannābā.
page 871 note 2 The Zīrah, Khisht, and Shāpūr River. Dīh Mālik is no longer marked on the map, but its position is given in the Itinerary.
page 871 note 3 This is the very long river of many names, of which the first portion is now known as the Qārah Aghāch (“Black Wood”), and the last reach as the Mand River of Mandistān. Jatrūyah is possibly identical with the village of Bāndhūyah, lying 6 leagues north of Shikuft and a little south of the village of Māsaram (FNN. 280). The village of Thakān is probably represented by Kākī, the chief town of Mandistān(FNN. 214).
page 871 note 4 Otherwise written Pulvār. The Purvāb-Kamīn River. The village of Purvāb no longer exists.
page 872 note 1 More correctly spelt Arzhin or Arjin, Dasht Arjin being now the name of a neighbouring village (FNN. 280).
page 872 note 2 FNN. 321. The places mentioned here have all been noticed above.
page 873 note 1 The name is now spelt Mahārlū, and it is also known as Buḥayrah Namak, “the Salt Lake” (FNN. 322).
page 873 note 2 The Darkhwīd Lake and River are mentioned by the Arab geographers. They do not give any other name to the river, and the reading Barvāt is uncertain. The MS. may read Purvāb, which is, however, inadmissible. The lake appears to have occupied the position of the present swamp, called Sarāb Bahram; at the source of the Nūrābād River (FNN. 302, 303).
page 873 note 3 The Mūr (in error often given by the MSS. as Mūz) Lake is that now known as Fāmūr, or Daryāchah Parishān, lying east of Kāzirūn (FNN. 322). Mūr-i-Jirrah has already been mentioned, p. 51.
page 873 note 4 For Ūrd see above, p. 21. Ṭaymurjān is no longer to be found on the map. The name may be read Ṭamīrjān; it is probably to be identified with Tīmāristān, which Yāqūt (i, 197, 908) gives as the chief town of Ūrd.
page 873 note 5 The name of Shīkān is now unknown.
page 874 note 1 See p. 872, note 1.
page 874 note 2 See above under Khabrak and Qāll (p. 22). The reading of the name Baldāḥī is very uncertain; he is an unknown personage.
page 874 note 3 Near Pasargadæ, but the name is not to be found on the map. The tomb is in point of fact that of King Cyrus.
page 874 note 4 See above, under Rūn (p. 23).
page 874 note 5 Probably near Dih Bīd. The village of Mashkān or Mashkūn, of the Qunqurī District, lies on the Pulvār River, 10 leagues north of Pasargadæ, (FNN. 245). In Ḥamd-Allah Rubāt Mashk, in the Itinerary, occupies the position of Dih Bīd. The Arab geographers give Mushkān as the chief town of the Jawbarqān District, which lay at the head-waters of the Farvāb or Pulvār River (1ṣṭ. 121; IH. 192; Yaq. ii, HI; iv, 543). For Basīrā or Lasīrā see above under Kamah and Fārūq (p. 24). Dih Bīd is given below in the Itineraries.
page 875 note 1 Margh is apparently an abbreviation for Marghzār, “meadow-land.” There is a place marked on the map, 2½ leagues north-east of Tall Bayḍā, which is called Bahmanī. Juwaym, as already said, is modern Jūyum or Gūyum (FNN. 191, 194).
page 875 note 2 Shīdān was one of the Earthly Paradises (see above, p. 58). Its position is nowhere given.
page 875 note 3 See above, p. 24.
page 875 note 4 See above under Ḵhabraz and Sarvāt, pp. 22, 24.
page 876 note 1 For the Three Castles of Persepolis see above (p. 26) under Iṣṭakhr. The Iṣṭakhr Castle lies 2 leagues to the north of the village of Fatḥābād. Qal'ah Shikastah (the Broken Castle) is now known as Miyān Qal'ah (the Midmost Castle), and lies 2½ leagues to the north-west of Fatḥābād. The castle of Ashkanvān stands one league south-east of Dashtak, the older Abraj (FNN. 332–6).
page 877 note 1 Probably a mistake for Vishtāsf (see Introduction, p. 12). He was chief of the Mas'ūdī tribe. And see p. 39.
page 877 note 2 See p. 34.
page 877 note 3 See above, under Ramm Zavān, p. 43.
page 877 note 4 Of Ṭashk, near Lake Bakhtigān. See p. 30.
page 878 note 1 See p. 22. Now known as Qilāt Khār, lying 1 league to the south-east of Arsinjān (FNN. 174).
page 878 note 2 See above, p. 34, and for Ḥasūyah, of the Ismā'īlī, Introduction, p. 11.
page 878 note 3 A Diz is smaller than Qal'ah, a castle. See above, p. 23.
page 878 note 4 Now known as Ḥisār, lying half aleague south-west of Dashtak. See above, p. 25.
page 878 note 5 Now called Qal'ah Safīd (FNN. 334). See p. 58.
page 878 note 6 See above, p. 53.
page 879 note 1 Pādishāh-i-mustaqīm: the sense is by no means clear, and the text is probably corrupt. The passage has been copied verbatim by both Ḥamd-Allah and Ḥāfiẓ Abrū. Mustaqīm generally means “rightly directed” by Allah, but it might be taken to mean (the king who) “marches straight” on the fortress.
page 879 note 2 Now called Qal'ah Sārah (FNN. 334). See p. 46.
page 879 note 3 See Introduction (p. 12).
page 880 note 1 See above, p. 40.
page 880 note 2 Now known as Qal'ah ‘Uthmānlū, standing 2 leagues south of Juwaym, or Jūyum, of Abū Aḥmad; see above, p. 35 (FNN. 335).
page 880 note 3 Muqaddasī (p. 453) spells it Khwādhān, but it is probably identical in position with the village, or stage, of Khwābdān, mentioned below in the Itineraries and standing on the River Khwābdān, which has been already described (see p. 64). In that case, probably, it is the present Nūrābād, lying 1½ leagues to the south of Fahliyān (FNN. 303).
page 880 note 4 See above, p. 30.
page 880 note 5 See above, p. 29. Tīr, “arrow,” is also the name of the planet Mercury.
page 880 note 6 Probably on the hill above Iṣṭakhr, Persepolis, and not one of the Sih Gunbadān; see above, p. 26.
page 881 note 1 The castle near Purg is that now known as Qal'ah Bahman, and it stands 2 leagues to the south of modern Furg. The castle at Tārum is not given (see FNN. 217, 218). See p. 31.
page 881 note 2 The castle stands 4 leagues to the east of Dārābjird (FNN. 334). See p. 33.
page 881 note 3 See above, p. 52.
page 881 note 4 See above, p.48.
page 882 note 1 Neither Dih Gurg, “Wolf Village,” nor the Bridge over the Kur now exists; Shahriyār's Kiosk must have been at or near modern Ūjān; the village of Bāsht (or Māsht) near Aspās; while Kūshk-i-Zar (Golden Kiosk) is now generally called Kūshk-i-Zard, the Yellow Kiosk (FNN. 220). Māyīn and Dih Gawz (Nut Village) have been already noticed. Ḥāfiẓ Abrū adds that this last was also known in Arabic as Qariyat-al-Khamīr, “Yeast Village.”
page 882 2 Part of this route is given below, p. 82, in duplicate, in the itinerary for Shīrāq to Yazd. The village of Zarqān exists (FNN. 291). The stage called Pādust, which may also be read Māvdast, is uncertain, and possibly represents the village of Marvdasht. Kamah, as already said (p. 24), stands for Kalīlak. Kamhang (for variants see 1ṣṭ. 129, Muq. 457, 458) in the other itinerary has, probably, a double, under the form. Kamīnak; there given as another stage; it must stand for some place lying between Mashhad-i-Murghāb and Mashhad Mādir-i-Sulaymān, the Tomb of Solomon's Mother, otherwise the Tomb of Cyrus (FNN. 301). Dīh Bīd, “Willow Village,” exists (FNN. 244). Dīh Pūland or Būland, “Long Village,” must have stood near the present caravanserai, marked on the map as Karvān Sarāy Khān Khurrah, lying 6 leagues north-west of Dih Bīd. The remaining stages have already been noticed.
page 883 note 1 The name of Tīr Māyijān, probably the chief town of Kāmfīrūz (see above, p. 24) does not exist on the map, and is not given by the Arab geographers. It must have stood near modern Ardakān (FNN. 172); Tīr Azjān, 6½ leagues to the north of Fahliyān, lies too far to the west (FNN. 304). The remaining stages to Sumayram are not to be found on the present map. Jarmaq may be for Kharbuq, given by Iṣṭakhrī (p. 106) as the capital of Al-Aghrastān; and Muqaddasī (p. 447) gives the spelling Kharmaq. Dih Tarsaān would appear to be identical with a stage given by Ibn Khurdādbīh as Tajāb, and by Muqaddasi as Az-Zāb.
page 883 note 2 This is the route by the north side of Lake Bakhtigān, and most of the stages have already been noticed. The ruins of Shahr-i-Bābak exist, but Mashra'ah Ibrāhīmī, “the Passage of Ibrāhīm,” is wanting, and for Mashra'ah Ḥafiẓ Abrū gives Mazra'ah, “the Field of Ibrāhīm,” while the Arab geographers put about here Qariyat-al-Jamal, in Persian Dih Shuturān, “Camel Village.” Rūdān, too, they give as the name of the district lying between Yazd and Shahr-i-Bābak (see above, p. 18).
page 884 note 1 This is the route along the south side of Lake Bakhtigān. The village of Būdan is probably modern Pūdinak, lying a league or more to the east of Shīrāz. The MS. of Ḥāfiẓ Abrū gives “Two Villages and Dāriyān”; also at the present day there are two hamlets, one called Dū Dih, “Two Villages,” the other Dāriyān, lying respectively 7 and 8 leagues to the east of Shīrāz (FNN. 191). Kath (or Kisht) is now known as Khān Kat, standing 9 leagues to the north-west of Isṭahbānāt (FNN. 178). Here, again, both the places called Mashra'ah, “Pass” or “Passage”, are given in Ḥafiẓ Abrū as Mazra'ah, “a Cultivated Field”; and neither they nor Parbāl (with other variants, as Sarbāk, etc.) are to be found on the modern map.
page 884 note 2 The route along the south side of Lake Māharlū and most of the places have been already noticed. The stage Māhalūyah is modern Māharlū, a village on the southern shore of the lake, 8 leagues to the south-east of Shirāz (FNN. 194).
page 885 note 1 Kūsjān is modern Kūsingān, 3 leagues to the south-east of Fahliyān, but neither Kishn (which may be read Kathan or Kanash), Ṣāhah (like Ṣāhah near Nīriz), nor Būstānāk are to be found on the map. The other stages have been already noticed, and all are mentioned in the Itineraries of the Arab geographers, from whom this road is copied.
page 885 note 2 The name Juzhīrkūn is uncertain, and not found elsewhere. Ḥamd-Allah gives it as “the Wall of Ḥūjji Qawwūm”. Dīh Mūlik, as already said (p. 67), is no longer to be found. The other places have been noticed.
page 886 note 1 Rūdbūl-i-Sittajān, “the river-bed of the Sittajān,” appears to be the river otherwise called the Thakān (see above, p. 65, and cf. Iṣṭ. 130,1. 6). Also it seems likely that the stages are inverted, and that Māṣaram should come after, south of, the river-bed. Rawā-adh-Dhīwān is identical with Ramm-Zavān already noticed (p. 43).
page 886 note 2 All these places have already been noticed (see above, p. 39).
page 886 note 3 Modern Kafr or Kafri, lying 2 leagues or more to the south-west of Shīrāz (FNN. 294). The remaining stages have all been noticed.
page 886 note 4 Added from the route already given (p. 78), Kamah, the next stage, is given in the MS. as Kamhang, a repetition.
page 887 note 1 The first half of this Itinerary as far as Dih Bīd is a duplicate of that already given (p. 78). Dīh Shīr, “Lion Village,” is marked on the map between Abarqūh and Yazd, but Tūmarah Bastar (with variant) is uncertain, not being mentioned by the Arab geographers, or to be found on the modern map, where, in the position indicated, now stands the village of Taft, possibly the same name corrupted.
page 887 note 2 The gold Dīnār was equivalent to about ten shillings, and the silver Dirham to about ten pence.
page 888 note 1 The word used is mu'āmalāt.
page 888 note 2 Cf. text of Ibn Khurdādbih, p. 237, and the translation, with notes, pp. 6–11. Our MS. gives the name as Ja'far ibn Qudāmah; it should be Qudāmah ibn Ja'far.
page 888 note 3 The MS. in error gives 4,044,380 by a mistake of hazārfor ṣad; the addition of the two items gives the sum as above.
page 889 note 1 The reading is uncertain, and what place is meant unknown. The MS. might be read Maza’ or Maragh, with other variants.