This name appears under the various aspects of Kaikánán, Kíkán, Kaikán, Kízkánan, Kabarkánán and Kírkáyán,—the first being of most frequent occurrence. Though so often mentioned, we can form but a very general idea of its position.
The Chach-náma tells us that, under the Ráí dynasty, the Sindian territory extended “as far to the north as the mountains of Kirdán* and Kaikánán” (p. 138). Again, the Arabs “marched in A.H. 38 to Kaikánán, by way of Bahraj and Koh-páya,” where, after some partial successes, their progress was intercepted by the mountaineers in their difficult defiles, and in the end the Arabs sustained a complete defeat. One of the objects of these expeditions to Kaikánán, which lasted for about twenty years, was to obtain horses from that province, as they are represented to have been celebrated for their strength and proportions. The tract of Budh was reached during one of these incursions, and we find one of the Arab armies returning from another incursion by way of Síwistán.*
Biládurí also mentions these expeditions, with some slight variations in the details; and is the only author who adopts the spelling of the Arabic káf, and omits the last syllable,—representing the name as “Kíkán,” or “Kaikán” (p. 116),—whereas the Chach-náma prefers Kaikánán (p. 138). He says “it forms a portion of Sind in the direction of Khurásán,” and he speaks of “Turks” as its inhabitants. In an important expedition directed against a tract of country lying between Multán and Kábul, in A.H. 44, “Turks are encountered in the country of Kaikán.” In another, 'Abd-ulla sends to Muá'wiya the “horses of Kaikán” (p. 117), which he had taken amongst other spoil. In another, Asad attacks the Meds, after warring against Kaikán (p. 117). In the year 221 H. Biládurí speaks of a portion of Kaikán as occupied by Jats, whom 'Amrán defeated, and then established within their country the military colony of Baizá (p. 128). On this occasion, the country was attacked from the side of Sind, not from Makrán, which will account for the mention of the “Jats,” instead of “Turks.”
It may also be doubted if the Kabákánán (p. 39) or Kízkánán of Ibn Haukal refers to this tract,—and yet it would be more difficult to account for its total omission, if it do not. According to them, Kaikánán was in the district of Túrán, and a city in which the governor of Kusdár resided. This apparent discrepancy can only be reconciled by supposing that there was both a province and town of that name. They give us no further indication of its position, except that the district of Atal is said to lie between Kaikánán and Kandábel,—which, of itself, attributes to it a much greater extension to the north, than if it were a mere portion of Túrán.*
The later Arab geographers follow these authorities, and add nothing further to our information.
Abú-l Fazl Baihakí mentions Kaikahán amongst the other provinces under the authority of Mas'úd, the Ghaznivide; and as Hind, Sind, Nímroz, Zábulistán, Kasdár, Makrán, and Dánistán are noticed separately, it shows that Kaikáhán was then considered a distinct jurisdiction.*
In Hwen Tsang's travels we have mention of the country of Kikan, situated to the south of Kábul, which is evidently no other than the province of which we are treating.*
From this time forward, we lose sight of the name, and are left to conjecture where Kaikánán was. Under all the circumstances of the case, we may be justified in considering it so far to the east as to include the Sulaimání range, which had not, up to a comparatively late period, been dignified with that name. As with respect to Asia, and many other names of countries, so with respect to Kaikánán, the boundaries seem to have receded with the progress of discovery; and though, on its first mention, it does not appear to have extended beyond Shál and Mustúng, yet, by the time of the Ghaznivides, we are authorised to conclude that it reached, on the east, to the frontier of Multán, and, on the south, to the hilly tract of Síwistán, above the plains of Sind.
Under the present condition of Afghánistán it may be considered, in general terms, as including the whole of the country occupied by the Kákars. The expedition of A.H. 44 to the country between Multán and Kábul certainly shows that Kaikánán must have comprised the Sulaimání range to the south of the Gúmal; and the celebrity of its horses would appear to point to a tract further to the west, including Saháráwán and Múshkí, where horses, especially those used on the plain of Mangachar, are still in great demand, and whence they are often sent for shipment to the coast.
There is no place extant which recalls the name of the old province, except it be Káhán, which was perhaps included within its south-eastern frontier. It is barely possible, also, that there may be some connection between the name of the Kákars and that of the ancient province which they occupy. It will be observed above, that Baihakí mentions a district of Dánistán, and the order in which it occurs is “Kusdár, and Makrán, and Dánistán, and Kaikáhán.” This implies contiguity between the several places thus named, and it is, therefore, worthy of remark, that Dání is entered in all the genealogical lists of the Afgháns as the eldest son of Gharghasht, the son of their great progenitor, Kais 'Abdu-r Rashíd Pathán; and that Kákar, from whom the powerful tribe of that name is descended, was himself the eldest son of Dání. Names change in the course of ages, especially among people in a low stage of civilization; and it may perhaps be conceded that “Kákarán” and “Kaikáhán” would, under such circumstances, be no very violent and improbable metathesis.