Fārs-nāmah - The Description of the Province of Fārs in Persia

IN the Journal for the year 1902 a summary was given of the description of Persia and Mesopotamia found in the Nuzhat-al-Qulūb, a geographical and cosmographical work written by Ḥamd-Allah Mustawfi in 740 (1340).¹ In the course of next year I hope to publish (in the series of the E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Fund) the Persian text of the geographical chapters of this work, and this will be followed by a full translation, with notes to elucidate geographical questions. Ḥamd-Allah, who is our earliest systematic geographer writing in Persian, collected his materials from the works of the earlier Arab geographers, and from various Persian monographs which had been written each to describe a single province of the Moslem Empire; and it is found that the texts of some of these monographs, thereto adding somewhat of his own knowledge, after much curtailment and a rearrangement of the order in the articles, he has transcribed almost verbatim, to form the various chapters of the Nuzhat. A good instance of this method of writing a new book is the chapter describing the provinces of Fārs and Shabānkārah, which in truth is little but a shortened transcript of the Fārs Nāmah, a work written two centuries before the time of Ḥamd-Allah, and of which the British Museum possesses an excellent MS.

The name of the author of this Fārs Nāmah is as yet unknown, but he states in his preface that his ancestor was a native of Balkh, and Ibn-al-Balkhī will serve as a convenient title by which to refer to him until his identity be better established. From the MS. all that appears is that the grandfather of Ibn-al-Balkhī (twice mentioned, fols. 2b and 63a) was Mustawfī, or Accountant for the Taxes, of Fārs about the year (4)92 under the Atabeg Rukn-ad-Dawlah Khumārtagīn, who had been sent to govern that province in the name of the Saljūq Sultan Bargiyāruq — 487-98 (1094-1104) — the son of Malik Shāh. Ibn-al-Balkhī, who accompanied his grandfather, was educated in Fārs, and becoming well acquainted with the physical and political condition of the country, was in due course of time commissioned by the brother and successor of Bargiyāruq, namely, Sulṭān Ghiyāth-ad-Dīn Muḥammad, 498-511 (1104-17), to compose the present work. No exact date for its completion is given, but since the book was dedicated to this Sultan, who died in 511, and further that the Atabeg Chāulī is frequently mentioned in the text as still living, who we know died in 510 (1116), it follows that this Fārs Nāmah must have been completed during the first decade of the sixth century A.H., equivalent to the twelfth A.D.

Two MSS. only of the work appear to exist in Europe. One a very old copy in the British Museum (Or. 5983), apparently undated,¹ but by the writing and archaic spelling judged to be not later than the early fourteenth century (eighth A.H.). The other clearly a copy made of this MS., which belongs to the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, and came there from the Schéfer Collection (Blochet Cat. MSS. Persans, i, p. 309, No. 503, and Supplément, 1052), and which was written in 1273 (1856). The Paris copy is indeed of little use except to show how a Persian of the present day read the older MS., and as occasionally giving us a word that has disappeared, partially or wholly, in the mending process to which the B.M. MS. was subjected when it came a few years ago, after presentation in loose leaves, to be bound for the Museum use. In some outstanding cases where lacunæ occur I have been able to fill these in by a reference to the Geography of Ḥāfiẓ Abrū, the Secretary of Timur—of which the India Office and the Museum (Or. 1577) both possess good copies— who has copied most of the Fārs Nāmah into the work he composed in 820 (1417). Further, of course, the MSS. of the Nuzhat very often serve to emend a reading.

The Museum MS. is written for the most part in double columns, a complicated system, which has led to the modern (Paris) copy having the articles very often transcribed out of order, through the carelessness of the copyist, who thus has given many towns (under their separate headings) to the wrong District (Kūrah). In the longer articles, however, the scribe of the Museum MS. has written across the page (i.e. in single column), and the order of this copy will be best understood by a reference to the following footnote.² The Persian text is in the B.M. MS. somewhat archaic, and in the spelling retains the older forms of kī for kih, ānk, and chunānk, for the modern ānkih and chunānkih. Further, we meet with a small number of words, mostly technical terms of revenue assessment, that are often wanting in the dictionaries, but the general meaning of which it is not difficult to come to from the context.

The Museum MS. at present consists of ninety folios. Fol. 1a begins with a short preface, followed by the dedication, fol. 2a, to “the Sulṭān—King of kings—whose glory shall never cease to increase, Ghiyāth-ad-Dunyā wa-d-Dīn Abū Shujā‘ Muḥammad son of Malik Shāh”, who further is given the title of Qasīm-i-Amīr-al-Mūminīn, “the Associate (in the government) of the Caliph.” The author then relates how his august master commissioned him to write the present work, “seeing that I had been brought up in Fārs, although by lineage descended from a native of Balkh … and knowing that I was well acquainted with the present condition of the people of Fārs … being well versed also in the events of their history, and exactly acquainted with the story of their kings and rulers, even from the days of Kayūmarth down to this present time.” Then on fol. 3a, after a summary description of the province, and citing a few of the chief Traditions about Fārs ascribed to the Prophet Muḥammad, we start with the long line of the early Persian kings, whose history, much in epitome, closes with the last of the Sassanians and the rise of Islam, on fol. 60a. This part of the work is merely a Persian version of Ḥamzah Isfahānī, and contains, apparently, nothing new. Next very briefly the story of the Arab conquest of Fārs is narrated, ending with the reign of the Caliph ‘Alī. Here follows an interesting account, fol. 62a, of the Qādīs— chief justices—of Fārs, to which we shall return later, and then, fol. 63b, the Geographical Part (translated below) begins, concluding with the Itineraries, fol. 83b. The author afterwards returns, fol. 87a, to the history of Fārs, giving an account of the Shabānkārah tribes and the Kurds, and this narrating details of almost contemporary history is of importance, as facts and personages are mentioned not noted, apparently, elsewhere. A summary follows of the revenues of Fārs down to the time of the writer, and some of this too is new matter, for the author, as already said, was of a family of accountants, and wrote from first - hand knowledge. And, finally, fol. 90b, the MS. closes with a short note describing the days of the last Buyid rulers of Fārs, and the advent of the Saljūq Sultans.

In the following pages a complete translation will be given of the Geographical Part, but before coming to this it will be useful to summarize what our author has narrated about personages and events immediately preceding his own time, and more especially the account he gives of the Kurdish tribes and of the Shabānkārah, who, at a later date, gave their name to the eastern part of the Fārs province round Dārābjird. The reader will recall to mind how about the middle of the fourth (tenth) century, namely, a century and a half before the time of our author, the Buyids, under ‘Aḍud-ad-Dawlah, from 338-72 (949-82) had been at the height of greatness: by the middle of the following century, however, this dynasty had collapsed before the rising power of the Saljūqs. Tughrul Beg, the founder of the new dynasty, on his death in 455 (1063), had left as heir his nephew Alp Arslān, whose brother, Qāvurd, had already, during the lifetime of Tughrul Beg, been put in possession of the government of some of the Eastern provinces, he thus ruling the most part of Persia under his uncle and brother from 433 (1041) down to the date of his death in 465 (1072). Alp Arslān was succeeded as Great Saljūq by his son, Malik Shāh, 465-85 (1072-92), whose Wazīr was the famous Niẓām-al-Mulk. Four of the sons of Malik Shāh in succession came to the throne, of whom, however, two only concern us here, and these have both been mentioned before, namely, the eldest, Bargiyāruq, 487 - 98 (1094 - 1104), in whose reign the grandfather of our author served as Revenue Accountant in Fārs; and Sulṭān Ghiyāth - ad - Dīn Muḥammad, his brother, 498-511 (1104-17), the patron of Ibn-al-Balkhī, and the prince to whom he dedicates his book. After the overthrow of the Buyids these Saljūq Sultans who ruled in their stead were wont to send their Atabegs, originally the Governors of their sons, to govern the outlying provinces, and the first of these, in Fārs, was the Atabeg Rukn-ad-Dawlah Khumārtagīn, under whom the grandfather of Ibn-al-Balkhī, as already stated, had served. The next Atabeg was Fakhr-ad-Dīn Chāulī (or Jāulī in the Arab chronicles), who was still living when our author wrote.¹ This Chāulī was famous for his many great buildings, and further, he had after much fighting succeeded in restoring order throughout Fārs by curbing the power of the Shabānkārah and subduing the various affiliated Kurdish tribes.

This much of the general history of the fifth century (eleventh A.D.) being premised, we come to what Ibn-al-Balkhī himself relates, which is the more valuable as being the almost contemporary history of the author’s own time. The last of the Buyids to exercise any real sovereignty in Fārs was (he says) Bākālījār or Bākālinjār (for the name is given under both forms in the B.M. MS. of the Fārs Nāmah), otherwise Abū Kālījār or Abū Kālinjār. In regard to the proper spelling of his name, it is to be remarked that in the Arab chronicle of Ibn-al-Athīr it is given as Abū Kālījār, while in the MS. of the Zīj-as-Sanjarī in the British Museum¹ (likewise in Arabic) the name is clearly written as Abū Kālīzār. On the other hand, Ḥāfiẓ Abrū always writes Bā or Abū Kālinjār, and this is the modern spelling (e.g. in the Fārs Nāmah Nāṣirī). The original meaning of the name is apparently unknown, but from its form it would seem to have been a nickname. The Fārs Nāmah, unfortunately, does not state who was the father of Bākālījār. The Persian historians and Ibn-al-Athīr, however, agree in the statement that he was the son of Sulṭān-ad-Dawlah, son of Bahā-ad-Dawlah, and hence the great grandson of ‘Aḍud-ad-Dawlah.² The Guzīdah (p. 432) followed by the Ḥabīb-as-Siyār (ii, pt. 4, p. 55) gives Bākālījār the titles of ‘Izz-al-Mulūk and ‘Imād-li-Dīn Allah, the latter authority also adding the third title of Ḥisām-ad-Dawlah. Ibn-al-Balkhī, however, makes no mention of these honorary names (fol. 90b), and gives no dates. Our other authorities say this prince reigned from 415 to 440 (1024 to 1048), and at his death he left five sons. The eldest, to whom our author gives the name of Abū Naṣr, died soon after his father, being succeeded by his brother, called Abū Manṣūr, whose government was thrown into disorder by the meddling of his mother Khurāsūyah, a political busybody, who in the Zīj is referred to under the title of As-Sayyidah—“the Lady”. Abū Manṣūr at first had governed according to the advice of his Wazīr, called the Ṣāḥib ‘Ādil (he had served Bākālījār, according to the Ḥabīb, in the same capacity), a man of mark who, Ibn-al-Balkhī writes, had given a fine library to the town of Fīrūzābād; but instigated by his mother, Abū Manṣūr put this Wazīr and his son to death, after which confusion became worse confounded throughout Fārs. Matters finally reached a crisis by the revolt of Faḍlūyah, the Shabānkārah chief, who managed to get the Lady Khurāsūyah into his power, and then shutting her up in a waterless hot-bath, suffocated her. Next Abū Manṣūr was taken prisoner, and brought to the Castle of Pahan Diz (near Shīrāz), where before long he too met his death, and Fārs passed to the government of Faḍlūyah, and under the overlordship of the Saljūqs.¹ The Guzīdah, however, adds that after the death of this Abū Manṣūr in 448 (1056) his brother, Al-Malik Abū ‘Alī, was given, during nearly forty years, nominal rank by the Saljūq Sultans, being allowed the privileges of the Kettledrum and Banner (Ṭabl wa-‘Alam) until the date of his death in 487 (1094) in the reign of Sulṭān Bargiyāruq.

Ibn-al-Balkhī gives at some length (fols. 87a to 88b) the history of Faḍlūyah and his Shabānkārah tribesmen, with details of their descent and doings that apparently are not to be found in the accounts of other historians. The men of the Shabānkārah tribe (he writes) had originally been herdsmen in Fārs, until, with the progressive disorganization of the Buyid rule in the latter days, the Kurds had become a power in the land. At this time, according to our author, the Shabānkārah were divided among five tribes, namely, the Ismā‘īlī, the Rāmānī, the Karzuvī, the Mas‘ūdī, and the Shakānī. Of these, the Ismā‘īlī were the noblest in descent, but the most important tribe was that of the Rāmānī (or Rāhānī, as the MS. may be read), of which Faḍlūyah¹ was chief. He inherited this dignity from his father ‘Alī (ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Ayyūb), and had in early youth, when only a neatherd, taken service under the Ṣāḥib ‘Ādil, the Wazīr of the last Buyid prince, becoming a great warrior, and rising to command the army in Fārs. The fate of this Wazīr, and the subsequent imprisonment and death of this Buyid prince and his mother, have been narrated above, the outcome of which events being that Faḍlūyah found himself before long the virtual master of Fārs. The Saljūqs, however, had now become the ruling power in the Caliphate, and Qāvurd, brother of the reigning Sultan Alp Arslān, was sent into Fārs to bring that province to due order. Faḍlūyah, finding that matters were going against him, submitted, presented himself at the Court of Alp Arslān, and was thereupon re-established as deputy-governor of the province. He, however, had not yet learnt wisdom, for once more seeking to be independent, he revolted. The celebrated Niẓām-al-Mulk, the Wazīr of Alp Arslān, thereupon besieged him, taking him prisoner in the Castle of Diz Khurshah, where he had sought refuge. From here he was sent to the castle of Iṣṭakhr, but managing in time to corrupt his guards, got this stronghold into his own hands. Sultan Alp Arslān on this lost patience, Faḍlūyah was hunted down and caught, and to avoid further trouble, after being put to death, his skin was stuffed with straw as a manifest warning to his neighbours.¹ Fārs, after the death of Faḍlūyah, was put under the rule of the Atabeg Rukn-ad-Dawlah Khumārtagīn, the patron of our author’s grandfather, as already narrated, but Ibn-al-Balkhī adds that in his day some of the Rāmānī still were to be found living under a chief called Ibrāhīm ibn Razmān, also under a certain Mahamat, son of Abū Naṣr ibn Malāk, whose name was Shaybān.

According to Ibn-al-Balkhī, the noble tribe of the Ismā‘īlī Shabānkārah were descended from Minūchahr, grandson of the celebrated Farīdūn, an ancient and mythical king of Persia, and the chiefs of the Ismā‘īlī had aforetime been Ispahbads, or sub-kings, under the Sassanians. After the Arab conquest their tribe was settled in the Dasht Urd meadowlands, and in this neighbourhood remained, till the coming into those parts of Sulṭān Mas‘ūd, son of Maḥmūd of Ghaznah, some time between 421 and 432 (1030 and 1040). His general Nāsh Farrāsh,² finding the Ismā‘īlī tribe in possession of Isfahān, expelled them, causing them to migrate south to the lands round Kamah and Fārūq. The Buyids having reason to object to their presence here, they next wandered westward and ultimately settled round Dārābjird, where, in the times of Bākālījār, they were ruled by two brothers, Muḥammad and Namrad, the sons of Yaḥyā. The descendants of these two brothers, of course, quarrelled as to who should be chief of the tribe. Muḥammad had left two sons, Bayān and Salk, the latter again leaving a son called Ḥasūyah, while Namrad had a son called Mamā, who became the father of Ibrāhīm ibn Mamā. The first chief of the clan had been Muḥammad, the elder brother of Namrad; and he, our author states, in sign of his rank “was wont to strike (the Kettledrum) five times, the same becoming a custom among these people almost down to the present time, but which has now been forbidden by the Atabeg Chāulī” (successor in Fārs of the Atabeg Khumārtagīn). On the death of this Muḥammad the elder son Bayān succeeded, but was put to death by his uncle Namrad, who seized on the chiefship of the tribe, establishing himself in Dārābjird. Salk, Bayān’s younger brother, thereupon called in the aid of Faḍlūyah, at this time ruling supreme throughout Fārs, as described above. Faḍlūyah re-established Salk in the chiefship, routed (and presumably killed) Namrad, and at the date when our author wrote, Ḥasūyah, son of Salk, was chief in his father’s room, governing the towns of Ij, Fustajān, Iṣṭahbānāt, and Darakān, with other places of the Dārābjird district. But, as Ibn-al-Balkhī adds, between the cousins there could be no peace, Salk ibn Muḥammad, and his son Ḥasūyah after him, living in perpetual war with Mamā ibn Namrad and his son Ibrāhīm ibn Mamā, and this state of things still obtained at the time when our author wrote.

The three remaining Shabānkārah tribes were of less importance. The chief of the Karzuvī clan was a certain Abū Sa‘d, who is mentioned more than once in the geographical part of the work. Abū Sa‘d was the son of a certain Muḥammad ibn Mamā; he took service under Faḍlūyah, and in the disorders of the last Buyid days obtained possession of Kāzirūn with its districts. All this country he held till the arrival of the Atabeg Chāulī in Fārs, who before long dispossessed him of Kāzirūn. Abū Sa‘d, when our author wrote, was apparently already dead, having left a son named, after his early patron, Faḍlūyah (ibn Abū Sa‘d), now become chief of the remnant of the Karzuvī clan.

Of the Mas‘ūdī tribe, the chief had been a certain Amīruwayh, who, making himself powerful in the time of Faḍlūyah, was put in possession of the castle of Sahārah, near Fīrūzābād, together with some neighbouring fiefs. The Atabeg Khumārtagīn, coming to Fārs, allowed him to hold all these under the Saljūq overlordship, and then Amīruwayh got into his possession the city of Fīrūzābād. Next the Mas‘ūdī, now become a powerful tribe, seized most of the district of Shāpūr Khūrah, round Kāzirūn, in addition to the lands of Fīrūzābād. The rise to power of Abū Sa‘d, the chief of the Karzuvī clan, however, proved the ruin of Amīruwayh and his people: fighting took place, and the town of Kāzirūn, held by Amīruwayh, having been taken by storm, Abū Sa‘d forthwith put that chief to death. Amīruwayh left a son, Vishtāsf by name, and after Abū Sa‘d had himself come to his end, and when the Atabeg Chāulī had Fārs firmly under rule, he confirmed Vishtāsf, who was related to Ḥasūyah of the Ismā‘īlī clan on the mother’s side, in possession of Fīrūzābād, where he governed till his death. When our author wrote, the Mas‘ūdī were ruled by a certain Siyāh Mīl, descended from this Vishtāsf. In the geographical part of the work he is stated to have held the castle of Būshkānāt, and there were also of this family the two sons of a certain Abū-l-Habaḥ, who still held rank in our author’s time. The last clan of the Shabānkārah to be mentioned is that of the Shakānī, who lived in the mountain-lands of the coast or hot region. They were for the most part robbers and highwaymen, Ibn-al-Balkhī states, but had been brought to order in recent times by the Atabeg Chāulī.

Our author next speaks of the Kurd tribes, who in Fārs were divided among the Five Ramms (clans)¹ named the Jilūyah (or Jilawayh), the Ramm-adh-Dhīwān, the Lawalijān, the Kariyān, and the Bazūyān, and these five clans had occupied, he says, originally one hundred thousand Jawmahs, villages or households. In the days of the Sassanians, according to Ibn-al-Balkhī, the Kurdish troops of the Great King had been the flower of the Persian armies; hence, at the time of the Moslem conquest, of the Kurd warriors all, save one man only, had fallen in the numerous battles against the Arab invaders. The one survivor, ‘Alak by name, had subsequently become a Moslem, and some of his descendants were yet living when our author wrote. He adds that the Kurds settled in Fārs in his day were of a tribe that had been brought down there by ‘Aḍud-ad-Dawlah the Buyid from the neighbourhood of Isfahān.

Ibn-al-Balkhī closes this section of his book (fols. 88b-89b) with a short discussion as to how the Persians, who are a refractory folk, may best be governed, whether by force or by clemency. In regard to the Shabānkārah more especially, he remarks that you will certainly be respected by any one of these turbulent tribesmen if by force you take his turban and then restore it, and this much more than if in the first instance you had generously given him a new turban of your own as a present, for doing which indeed he would only despise you.

Immediately following after the very meagre notice of the Moslem conquest of Persia Ibn-al-Balkhī has inserted a short account of the family of the Chief Justice of Fārs (fols. 62a-63b); a summary of these paragraphs will be of use, before passing to the translation of the Geographical Section of his work, where an allusion to the family of the Shīrāz judge occurs. As is patent throughout his work, our author was an orthodox Sunnī, and he held in horror the Shī‘ah tendencies of the Buyids, whose heterodox beliefs (he further avers) had always when possible been combated by the Qādīs of Shīrāz. These judges were of a family come down in direct descent from Abū Burdah of the Arab tribe of Fazārah,¹ and during the reign of the Caliph Rāḍī, that is to say between 322 and 329 (934-40), the grandson of the grandson of this Abū Burdah, by name Abū Muḥammad ‘Abd-Allah, was promoted from being Judge in Baghdād to be Qādī-al-Qudāt, or Chief Justice of Fārs, his jurisdiction being afterwards extended to include the outlying provinces of Kirmān and ‘Omān, with the city of Tīz in Makrān. Ibn-al-Balkhī adds that the Qādī Abū Muḥammad, who had composed no less than eighteen works on jurisprudence, “had every care to order well, with good intent, both the (orthodox) Faith and the (Sunnī) Tradition, thus firmly laying the foundations in the matter of the Law.” ‘Aḍud-ad-Dawlah, the Buyid prince of that day, in spite of his own strong inclination towards the Shī‘ah doctrines, had honoured the Qādī with his trust and esteem, for, putting him to the proof, he had ever found him to be incorruptible. This Abū Muḥammad left five sons: Abū Naṣr, the youngest, succeeded him in the judgeship, of whom later; next Abū Dharr and Abū Zuhayr, who settled down as Dihqāns, or provincial nobles, in Kirmān; Abū Ṭāhir, who acted as his father’s deputy in the Kirmān judgeship, and was called to the Sublime Court (Dargāh-i-A‘lā, Baghdād presumably) for consultations on the affairs of that province; and lastly Abū-l-Ḥasan, who, after having been associated with his younger brother (Abū Naṣr) in the Fārs judgeship, was sent for by Sultan Maḥmūd, some time between 388 and 421 (998 and 1030), who appointed him Qādī at Ghaznah, and his descendants still held the office of judge there at the time when Ibn-al-Balkhī wrote. Abū Naṣr, the youngest of the Qādī Abū Muḥammad’s five sons, as already said succeeded him as Judge of Fārs. He was a man of great learning and influence throughout the province, his power coming to be increased upon his marriage with the only daughter of the Mirdāsī chief, a family of local nobility. His son was named ‘Abd-Allah, and when in due course he succeeded to the office of Chief Justice he became also, in his mother’s right, the hereditary chief noble of the Fārs district. This power, judicial and tribal, Ibn-al-Balkhī adds, had afterwards passed to both his son and grandson, whose names our author does not specify, and the grandson was Judge of Shīrāz when our author wrote. The Judge ‘Abd-Allah had flourished in the reign of Bākālījār, the penultimate Buyid prince, whose heterodox Shī‘ah proclivities the orthodox ‘Abd-Allah had always valiantly striven to combat; and further, to his exceeding honour, a brother of the Qādī ‘Abd-Allah had through scruples of conscience always refused to be made judge in Isfahān. But, as our author writes, “in the days of Bākālījār, the sect of the Seven Imāms had become very rampant,” and to the grief of Qādī Abd-Allah the Buyid prince now appeared to be paying great attention to the preaching of a certain Shi‘ah missioner named Abū Naṣr ibn ‘Amrān, whom the people also were beginning to look upon as a prophet. The pious zeal of the judge becoming inflamed by the disastrous influence which the missioner was getting to exercise over Bākālījār, with much astuteness demanded a private audience, and succeeded in persuading the Buyid prince that the missioner, having succeeded in corrupting the fidelity of the troops, was now inciting them to revolt against the Government. Bākālījār thereupon, without pausing to inquire, ordered out a hundred men of his Persian horse-guards and a hundred of his Turk pages, putting them under the orders of a trustworthy person supplied by the Qādī ‘Abd-Allah. This officer managed matters promptly and cleverly. The missioner was seized and carried many days on horseback without rest or delay, being at length set free on the further side of the Euphrates, where a decree was forthwith published that it were lawful to slay him if he repassed that stream eastward.

With this anecdote our author concludes his notice of the Chief Justices, and next comes the description of the province of Fārs (fols. 63b-86b), which will be found translated in the pages which follow. For a general description of the province and its towns, I may refer the reader to the chapter on Fārs in The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate. References to the earlier Arab geographers are to the texts printed in the volumes of the Biblioteca Geographorum Arabicorum (BGA.) of De Goeje. For the present condition of the province I have consulted the (modern) Fārs Nāmah Nāṣirī (referred to as FNN.), written by Ḥājī Mirzā Ḥasan Ṭabīb of Shīrāz (folio lithograph, Tihrān, A.H. 1313, A.D. 1895), of which the great map, in Persian, on the scale of about ten miles to the inch, gives us the position of every village and stream throughout the province. This work has enabled me to identify many names written defectively in the manuscript, and also to verify the fact in regard to the names which, in the lapse of eight centuries since Ibn-al-Balkhī wrote, have disappeared leaving no trace.¹ And it may be remarked that in many cases the name of an ancient town, or village, that has disappeared, is preserved in the modern district, and sometimes vice versa.

Section giving the description of Fārs.—This land, after the coming of Islām, became the first camping-ground of the Arab armies, but in the days of the old Persian kings Fārs was the centre of their government and the original seat of their power. For at that time all the countries from the banks of the Oxus to the borders of the Euphrates went by the name of the Land of the Persians; all here were the cities of the Persians, and all the world paid them taxes and tribute. When, however, Islām arose and Fārs came to be conquered, this province became the camping-ground of [one of the armies of] ‘Irāq, for no sooner had the Moslems come hither than they took up their quarters permanently in the land, on the one part the troops from Kūfah, on the other those from Baṣrah, and from this base they went forth to the conquest of all lands and to subjugate the [eastern] world. Afterwards they gave the names of these two townships, whence originally the armies of Islām had been recruited, to the conquered provinces. Now, the army from Kūfah had taken possession of Quhistān and Jibāl, [with all the country from] Isfahān to Ray and Dāmghān [going north] to Ṭabaristān; these provinces, therefore, were given the name of Māh Kūfah, and in the [registers of] taxes this name still occurs. The army from Baṣrah, on the other hand, had conquered Baḥrayn and ‘Omān, with Tīz in Makrān, also Kirmān, Fārs, and Khūzistān, with the adjacent lands and the Arab districts that lie on the frontier; and so all this region came to be known as Māh Baṣrah, and in the registers this name too occurs. Fārs, therefore, is one of the Baṣrah camping-grounds, for it was conquered by the army from Baṣrah, and it came to be called Māh-al-Baṣrah, and the name is so written in the registers.

The extent of Fārs, with its districts, is 150 leagues in length by 150 leagues in breadth. In regard to the positions of the angles [of its frontier line], these, as shown in the figure on the margin of the manuscript¹ lie at the four cardinal points, east, west, north, and south, and not at the corners [to the N.E., N.W., S.E., and S.W.]. Thus, the shape of the province is a square [or lozenge], of which the angles are to the four main points of the compass, while the four sides lie cross-wise facing the intervening compass-points, all of which will be clearly understood if the accompanying figure drawn [on the margin of the manuscript], and which represents the outline of the province, be carefully considered. The frontier lands at these four angles of Fārs are as follows: To the north the [province here] adjoins Isfahān, the frontier between Isfahān and Fārs being at Yazdikhwāst, and then come Yazd, Abarqūyah, and [on the other side] Sumayram. The eastern angle of Fārs is towards Kirmān, in the direction of Sīrjān, the frontier being at Rūdān. This place Rūdān was originally in the Fārs province, but in the reign of the late Sulṭān Alp Arslān, when the frontier came to be re-established between Fārs and Kirmān, at the time that Qāvurd [his brother was made governor of Fārs], Rūdān was then counted as of Kirmān. The angle to the south lies on the seashore at the frontier of Kirmān, and the districts of Huzū are at this place; and next comes the Sīf [or Coast District] lying along the sea. The western angle of Fārs is towards Khūzistān, in the direction of the Sea of ‘Omān, the frontier being near Arrajān [which should of right be counted] as of the province of Fārs. However, at the time when [the Buyid prince] Bākālījār¹ was driven from his kingdom, the governor of that district was a certain Wazīr, Abu-l-‘Alā by name, and he, making common cause with Hazār Asp² [the chief of that frontier], delivered over Arrajān into his hands. Hence it has come about that since the time when Khūzistān [about 443 (1051)] on the first establishment of the present [Saljūq] dynasty, was placed under the governorship of Hazār Asp, Arrajān has been included in the Khūzistān province.

Description of the Kūrahs [Districts] of Fārs.—The province of Fārs contains five [Districts or] Kūrahs, and each Kūrah is called after the name of the king who first established it; these districts therefore stand thus: the Iṣṭakhr Kūrah, that of Dārābjird, that of Ardashīr Khūrah,³ of Shāpūr Khūrah, and of Qubād Khūrah; and each one of these five Kūrahs contains various cities and sub-districts, as will be fully detailed in what follows.

The name of this district is from [the capital, Persepolis] Iṣṭakhr, which same was the first city to be built in Fārs, and it was founded by [the mythical king] Kayūmarth. The Kūrah extends over a total area of 50 leagues in the breadth by 50 in length. Its frontiers in the length are at Yazd [on the east] and at Hazār Dirakht [“the Thousand Trees,” on the west],¹ and in the breadth extend from Qūhistān² to Nāyrīz. The chief cities of the Kūrah are the following.

Yazd.—This city, with its dependent towns Maybud, Nāyīn, Kathah [Old Yazd], and Fahraj, with some others, belongs to Fārs, and it lies on the frontier of the Iṣṭakhr Kūrah. Yazd has its water from underground channels [kārīz]; its climate is temperate, but by reason that the city stands on the border of the [Great] Desert, it is at times hot. Fruits of all kinds grow well, and pomegranates are in greater abundance here than anywhere else, those of Maybud being the best in quality. In Fahraj the water-melons are excellent, sweet, and so large that two of them are a load for any beast.³ In the districts round silk is produced, for the mulberry-tree here is abundant. Further, they manufacture excellent cloths in brocade, also of the kind named mushṭī, farakh,⁴ and the like, for in [Yazd] they rear goats only, no sheep, and the hair from these is very strong. The people [of Yazd] are all of the Sunnī sect, orthodox, pious, and strict [in religious observance]. The coin in use here is known as the Amīrī gold piece, and three of these dīnārs go to the red dīnār.¹

Greater and Lesser Urd.—A meadow-land, 30 leagues in length by 3 in breadth. In this meadow-land there are districts that are full of villages with fiefs paying the state and the land taxes.² The chief town of those districts is Bajjah.³ The climate here is extremely cold, hence there are neither trees nor gardens. Both in the plain and in the hills around are many springs. In this district also is a village [called Kushk-i-Zard⁴], of the state-domains, and this is the frontier village of the district. All these places are most populous, and to this district also belong the villages of Dih Gawz, Abādah, and Shūristān.⁵

Kūrad and Kallār.⁶ —Kūrad is a small town, Kallār a large village; and a wide district lies round them, producing corn crops, for the climate here is very cold. There are running streams, and the source of the River Kur is in this district. It is most populous.

Isfīdān and Qūhistān.⁷ —Both these places are much like Kūrad. The climate here is extremely cold; and in the neighbourhood there is a cavern in the mountain that can be used as a place of refuge.

Yazdikhwāst.—This place, with Dih Gawz, Shūristān, Abādah [above mentioned], and other villages of these parts are all of the cold district, growing corn but no fruit. There are running streams and springs here, but at Shūristan [“the Salt Village”] the water is brackish.

Khabraz and Sarvāt.—[Both these are] small towns, having many districts round them, of which they are the chief places. The climate here is cold but temperate; there are running streams and springs, and fruit of all kinds is grown plentifully. The district is populous, and in the chief town there is a mosque for the Friday prayers.¹

Khabrak and Qālī.—Khabrak is a large village and Qālī a meadow-land, some [5 or 6]² leagues in length. The climate here is cold but healthy; also there are hunting-grounds. Their water is from the river [Purvāb], which is very wholesome. The district is populous, and near by is the village of Khuvār, the climate and water of which are as aforesaid, and here too there is a castle called Qal‘ah Khuvār.

Māyīn.—A small town in the hill country, lying at the foot of a pass, at a point where many roads meet. The climate is cold, and the water from running streams excellent. They have corn and fruit, but in no great quantities. Most of the people here are thieves and robbers.

Abarqūyah.—Abarqūyah is a small town, with a broad district round it, having a temperate climate, somewhat cooler than that of Yazd. Its water is from running streams partly, and in part from underground channels. There are corn-lands, and much fruit is grown. It is a pleasant place, with an invigorating climate, but other crops [beyond those above mentioned] do not grow here. The town is populous, and there is a mosque for the Friday prayers.

Iqlīd.—A small town, with a fortress; also a mosque for the Friday prayers. The climate is cool, for it lies in the cold country, and is both temperate and invigorating. The water is good, being from running streams. Fruits of all kinds are cultivated here, and there are corn-lands, but no other crops are grown. The place is very populous.¹

Surmaq and Arjumān.—[Both are] small towns, with their districts, that resemble in every way Iqlīd. They also grow here apricots; the equal thereof for excellence and sweetness will not be found anywhere else in all the world, and the dried apricots from this place are exported to other lands. The district is very populous.

Rūn Greater and Lesser.² —These are meadow-lands, 16 leagues in length by 2 in width. There are many districts among these meadows, where are fiefs and crown lands¹; and the chief town lies among gardens. The climate is cold, their water is from springs, and they have hardly any fruit, nothing being grown except corn. You go from here to the pass above Māyīn, a fearful road, by reason of the footpads, who infest all the villages of that district.

Kāmfīrūz.² —A district lying on the banks of [the River Kur]. There is here a great forest of oak-trees, with medlars and willows. Lions are met with in great numbers, very fierce and bold, and in no other place [in Fārs] are they so numerous. The climate is cold, but temperate, and they get their water from the river [Kur], which is excellent and digestible. The chief town of the district is [Tīr Māyijān],³ but most of its villages are now in ruin.

Kamah, Fārūq, and Lasīrā.⁴ —[Three] small towns, with many villages and their districts. The climate here is cold but temperate. There are many fine running streams, and much fruit of all kinds is grown. Hunting-grounds abound near by. All the district is populous, and in the chief town is a mosque for the Friday prayers.

Ṣāhah and Harāh.⁵ —Two small towns; the climate here is temperate, but running streams are scarce. In Ṣāhah they get iron, and of the steel make swords and other blades, which [after the name of the town] are called Chāhakī. Both these towns are populous, each having a mosque for the Friday prayers.

Bavvān and Marvast.¹ —Bavvān is a small town, with a mosque for Friday prayers; and Marvast is like it. There are fruit orchards, so extensive that their trees make a forest. These two towns lie near the districts of Kirmān. The climate is temperate, and there are running streams; also, both places are very populous.

Abraj.² —A large village lying at the foot of a hill. This hill is their sure refuge, and they have dug their houses, [building them] one above another in its flank. An abundant stream flows down from its summit, and the water for the whole district is taken from this.

Iṣṭakhr³ and Marvdasht.—Iṣṭakhr in the days of the ancient Persian kings was their capital. It was, in fact, first founded by Kayūmarth, and after him each king on his accession added something to the city, more especially Tahmūrath, who built here many palaces. When Jamshīd came to be king of [Persia and] the whole world, he made Iṣṭakhr such an enormous city that its limits extended from Ḥafrak or Khafrak [on the east] to the further parts of Rāmjird [on the west], its area measuring 4 leagues in length by 10 in breadth. Within the circuit of the city there were three castles, one Qal‘ah Iṣṭakhr, the second Qal‘ah Shikastah [the Broken Castle], and the third Qal‘ah Shakanvān. These were known as the Three Domes.¹ Next he built a palace at the foot of the hill, the equal of which was not to be found in the whole world; and the description thereof is after this wise. At the foot of the hill [north of Iṣṭakhr] Jamshīd laid out a platform of solid stone that was black in colour, the platform being four-sided, one side against the hill foot and the other three sides towards the plain, and the height of the platform was on all sides 30 ells. In the fore-face thereof he built two stairways, so easy of ascent that horsemen could ride up without difficulty. Then upon the platform he erected columns of solid blocks in white stone, so finely worked that even in wood it might be impossible to make the like by turner’s art or by carving; and these columns were very tall. Some were after one pattern, while others were differently carved; and among the rest there were two pillars in particular which stood before the threshold [of the palace], these being square in shape, and formed of a white stone that resembled marble. Nowhere else in all the province of Fārs is any stone like this found, and no one knows whence these blocks were brought. This stone is [a stiptic] for wounds, hence they break off pieces thereof, and when any one has received a hurt they file some piece of the stone down, and laying [the powder] on the wound it forthwith is staunched. The wonder is however these great stones were set up here, for each pillar measures more than 30 ells round and about, being also more than 40 ells in height; and each is built up of only two or [at most] three blocks. Further, there is to be seen here the figure of [the steed] Burāq,¹ and the figure is after this fashion: the face is as the face of a man with a beard and curly hair, with a crown set on the head, but the body, with the fore and hind legs, are those of a bull, and the tail is a bull’s tail. Now all these columns had borne originally upper stories erected on their summits, but of these buildings no trace now remains. Round and about lie mounds of clay, and the people going up there dig out this clay and wash it; and they find in among the clay Indian tutty,² which same is a medicament for the eyes; but no one knows how this has here come to be mixed up with the clay. In Iṣṭakhr everywhere and about may be seen the sculptured portrait of Jamshīd, [and he is represented] as a powerful man with a well-grown beard, a handsome face, and curly hair. In many places his likeness has been so set that he faces [south to] the sun. In one hand he holds a staff, and in the other a censer, in which incense is burning, and he is worshipping the sun. In other places he is represented with his left hand grasping the neck of a lion, or else seizing a wild ass by the head, or again he is taking a unicorn [or rhinoceros] by the horn, while in his right hand he holds a hunting-knife, which he has plunged into the belly of the lion or unicorn aforesaid. In the hill [above Iṣṭakhr] they have made a hot-bath, cutting tanks in the solid rock; and the water which flows into these tanks from the sides and the ceilings is from a natural hot spring, which goes to prove that the source of the water lies in a sulphur-bed. On the hill-summit [beyond Iṣṭakhr] are many great Dakhmahs,³ to which the people have given the name of the Prison of the Wind.

The Marvdasht District¹ in part was built over by the houses of the city [of Iṣṭakhr], but the greater portion was occupied by the gardens of Jamshīd’s palaces. The River Purvāb is the celebrated stream that flows past Iṣṭakhr and through the Marvdasht district; its waters are wholesome to drink. The climate of Iṣṭakhr is cold but temperate, and resembles that of Isfahān. In the early days of Islām when Iṣṭakhr was first conquered [by the Arabs], once and twice even the people revolted treacherously, which led to a massacre of the inhabitants, as has been already mentioned in the first [historical] part of the present work, and the city was laid in ruins. Then long after this, in the latter part of the reign of Bākālījār [the Būyid], there was a certain Wazīr who, being at enmity with another [noble], set out to contend with him. Upon this the Amīr Qutulmish² came up with a [third] army, and they [fought], demolishing all that remained of [ancient] Iṣṭakhr, and pillaged the whole township. Wherefore at the present time Iṣṭakhr is become a mere village, with only a hundred men for population. The River Kur [as already said] flows through [the plain of] Marvdasht; its source is near Kallār, and it flows out into Lake Bakhtigān, the description of which will come in its proper place. Near Iṣṭakhr is seen the mountain of Nafasht, on which was preserved the Book of Zand,³ which [the prophet] Zoroaster revealed.

Rāmjird.⁴ —A district lying on the banks of the [Kur] River. In this part of the stream they had in former days erected a dam in order to secure a sufficiency of water to irrigate the lands, but in the times of disorder [when the Arabs overran Persia] this dam fell to ruin, and all the district of Rāmjird went out of cultivation. In recent years the Atabeg Chāulī has rebuilt this dam, and the country round has again been brought under cultivation. This dam is named [after the Atabeg whose surname is Fakhr-ad-Dawlah] the Fakhristān. The climate of the district is cold but temperate, and there are corn-lands giving abundant crops, but no fruit is grown.

Quṭruh.¹ —A small town with a temperate climate. There are running streams, and both corn and fruit are grown. It is now under the rule of Ḥasūyah.² There are iron-mines here, and the district is populous.

Khayrah and Nayrīz.³ —These are two small towns, and Nayrīz possesses a castle. They grow grapes here abundantly, and most of the grapes they dry to make raisins. The climate is temperate, and there are running streams. In each town there is a mosque for the Friday prayers, for they are very populous. Near by is the district governed by Ḥasūyah, and in Khayrah there is a very strongly fortified castle⁴ on a hill-top.

Upper and Lower Kirbāl.⁵ —[In these districts] they have built three dams across the Kur River, whose waters serve to irrigate their lands. Of these districts parts are of the hot region, parts of the cold, and there are corn-lands.

Bayḍā.⁶ —A small but well-built town, and the soil here is white, and it is from this fact that the place has its name. Before the gate of the town there stretches out a fine meadow-land, 10 leagues in length by 10 leagues in width, and in all the country round there is none other to equal it. There are many dependent districts, and the fruit grown here is excellent, being of all kinds. The climate is cold but temperate, and running streams of good water abound. The town is populous, with a mosque for the Friday prayers. In the neighbourhood of Bayḍā lie the two [villages of] Āsh and Ṭūr.¹

Abādah.² —A small town, having a strongly fortified castle. The climate is temperate, and its water is derived from the overflow of the Kur River, for near by lies the lake [of Bakhtigān]. Grapes in abundance grow here. The district [governed by] Ḥasūyah is near here, and it is very populous.

Khurramah.³ —A small but pleasant town, with a temperate climate and running streams. Fruit and corn grow abundantly. There is a castle here, on the hill-top, which is very strongly fortified and known as Qal‘ah Khurramah; in the town is a mosque for the Friday prayers.

Dih Mūrd and Rādān.⁴ —Two villages lying at no great distance from Bavvān. The climate is cold, and in the first-named village myrtles grow abundantly.

THIS district¹ takes its name from Dārā [Darius] the Great, son of King Bahman ibn Isfandiyār.

Dārābjird.² —This city was founded by Dārā, son of Bahman. It was built circular as though the line of circumference had been drawn with compasses. A strong fortress stood in the centre of the town, surrounded by a ditch kept full of water, and the fortress had four gates. But now the town lies all in ruins, and nought remains except the wall and the ditch. The climate here is that of the hot region, and there are date-palms. The streams of running water are of bad quality. A kind of bitumen [mūmīyā] is found [near Dārābjird] at a place up in the mountain, which bubbles up and falls drop by drop. Also there is a rock-salt found in these parts which is of seven colours where it comes to the surface of the ground.

Purg and Tārum.³ —Two small towns, of which Purg is the larger, where there is a strong castle. Both towns lie on the frontier of Kirmān, and they are of the hot region, whereby the dates and raisin-syrup [dūshāb] consumed in that region for the most part come from here. Indeed, the whole revenue from hence is derived from [the tax on] dates and corn. They also weave excellently here by hand-loom. In both towns there is a mosque for the Friday prayers, and the [celebrated basin called] Pharaoh’s Cup¹ is to be seen near here.

Pasā.² —This is a great city that was founded by King Bahman, father of Dārā [Darius]. It was formerly as large in area as Isfahān, but now is gone to decay, so that the most part lies in ruin. It has many dependencies and districts. Their water is entirely obtained from underground channels, for there are neither springs nor brooks. The climate is temperate and bracing, the place being very pleasant and good to live in. The products of both the hot and the cold regions are to be found here, so that in all the gardens of Pasā you will find nuts and oranges, citrons and grapes, with figs and the like, namely, tropical fruits, together with those of the north, all in abundance. Indeed, there is no place equal to this elsewhere. There is also a strong fortress in Pasā, which the Shabānkārah had left in ruin, but which the Atabeg Chāulī has rebuilt. Kurm and Rūnīz are of the dependencies of Pasā.

Kurm and Rūnīz.³ —These are two towns lying on the road into Pasā [from the north]. The climate is temperate; there are running streams; also in each town a mosque for the Friday prayer, and in both the districts corn and fruits are grown. In the time of one of the Atabegs, when misfortune had overwhelmed Purg, the people of [Kurm and Rūnīz] also behaved traitorously, on which [the Atabeg] took both towns by assault and laid them in ruin.

Shaqq Rūdbāl [“the River Gorge”] and Shaqq Mīshānān.¹ —These are two districts of the dependencies of Pasā. They are of the hot region, and corn is grown here, the water being from underground channels. There are many villages and farmsteads, but no town here. Now in these parts are many other districts like the above, but which will not here be more particularly described, lest we run to too great a length, and all are alike one to another.

Ḥasū, Darākān, Miṣṣ, and Rustāq-ar-Rustāq.² —All these places are of the Dārābjird District and have a hot climate. The date-palm grows here, for there are running streams; also other fruit-trees abound. The [pass called] Tang-i-Ranbah³ lies near here, and in the middle of the pass stands a strongly fortified castle, which was formerly held by Ibrahīm ibn Mamā.⁴ It is now garrisoned by the Kirmān troops.

Ij and Fustajān.¹ —The [first town, otherwise called] Ig, was in former times a mere village, but under the rule of Ḥasūyah it became a city. Its climate is temperate, but the water here is indigestible. Fruit is in plenty, more especially grapes. There is a mosque for the Friday prayers [in Ij]. Wayshkān² is a small town, now in ruins, with a bracing climate, though it lacks for water.

Iṣṭahbān.³ —A small town full of trees such as bear every kind of fruit. It has running streams, and there is a castle here, that is very strongly fortified, and was formerly in the hands of Ḥasūyah.

Jahram.⁴ —A medium-sized town, neither large nor small. There are corn-lands here, and much cotton is grown, which is also exported. Kirbās [a kind of muslin] too comes from here, and the [celebrated] Jahramī blankets [zīlū] are woven in this town. The climate is that of the hot region, and water is from both underground channels and from running brooks. There is a castle here called [Khurshah],⁵ very strongly built, and he from whom this castle took its name was a certain Arab, of the time of [the Omayyad viceroy] Ḥajjāj, and this [Khurshah] built the fortress. [Faḍlūyah of the] Shabānkārah⁶ rebelled in this castle, but Niẓām-al-Mulk laid siege to the place, taking it by assault. At the time when Persia [was conquered by the first Caliphs]⁷ this town of Jahram was accounted especially to belong to the heir-apparent [of the Persian Chosroes], hence he who was declared heir to the throne, was held nominally to be the Governor of Jahram.

Mīshkānāt.¹ —A district near Nayrīz, and the road going through it leads to Nayrīz. It is in every way like to Nayrīz and Khayrah [which are of the Iṣṭakhr Kūrah], though Mīshkānāt belongs by all accounts to the Dārābjird Kūrah.

Juwaym of Abū Aḥmad.² —This is of the Irāhistān District, of which indeed it is the Jawmah [or chief town. Further, though this last district is counted as of Ardashīr Khūrah, Juwaym] is of the Dārābjird Kūrah. It is of the hot region, and its water comes from underground channels and from wells. Dates and corn are grown here, and kirbās [muslin] is manufactured. There is a castle here, known as Qal‘ah Samīrān,³ and the town has a mosque for Friday prayers. The people, like all the rest of the men of Irāhistān, are a warlike folk, being for the most part noted as footpads, thieves, and highwaymen.

This district takes its name of Ardashīr Khūrah—“the Glory of King Ardashīr”—from Ardashīr the son of Bābak [founder of the Sassanian dynasty]; and he began his reign by building the city of Fīrūzābād, as has been already mentioned [in the historical portion of our work]. The cities and sub-districts of this Kūrah are as follows.

Shīrāz and its Districts.—In the days of the [older] Persian kings, where Shīrāz now stands was but [a townless] district with some forts lying in the open countryside. After the [Arab invasion and] the establishment of Islām, the place remained in the same desolate state till the reign of [the Omayyad Caliph] ‘Abd-al-Malik [65-86 (685-705)], who appointed Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf his viceroy in these lands. Ḥajjāj thereupon sent his own brother, Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf, to act as his lieutenant in Fārs, of which he became later the permanent governor, and it was this Muḥammad who laid the foundations of Shīrāz. The original extent of Shīrāz was equal to that of Isfahān, and they even say that Shīrāz was a hundred paces the greater [in length]; but now the city all lies in ruins, and except for one or two quarters all the older part has disappeared. But during the times of the Buyid rule [fourth (tenth) century] it had come to be so densely populated that there was no room within the city for the garrison of [Daylamite] soldiers, for which reason ‘Aḍud-ad-Dawlah established a place for them outside Shīrāz, to which he gave the name of Gird Fanā Khusrū.¹ Here he laid out most excellent market streets, of which the rents² for the shops amounted to 16,000 dīnārs [yearly, about £8,000], which sum was paid into his treasury. The place, however, has now so gone to ruin that the area of Gird Fanā Khusrū is at present merely a ploughed field, which yields a crop valued at 250 dīnārs [yearly]. The actual rent that it pays, however, is never more than one hundred and odd dīnārs, and the remainder of the site is of but small value, the rent being less. The climate of Shīrāz is cold but temperate, like that of Isfahān. The water comes in part from the river and in part is from underground channels. The fruit here is most excellent, and of all sorts and kinds. The people of Shīrāz are a turbulent folk and valiant. The [Buyid prince] ‘Aḍud-ad-Dawlah had built himself a palace [in the city], with many fine gardens; but Abū Ghānim, the son of ‘Amīd-ad-Dawlah, when he took up his abode in the castle of Pahan-Diz,¹ laid the palace in ruins, carrying off the woodwork and the iron, which he made use of for the needs of the new castle [of Pahan-Diz]. In early days Shīrāz had no town wall, but at the time when the present [Saljūq] dynasty was coming to power Bākālījār [the Buyid prince] caused stones to be cut, and with them built a strong wall that went all round and about the city. Of this wall the remains may still be seen. Then, again, during the latter days of the Buyid dynasty, when there was continual fighting between Qāvurd [brother of Alp Arslān] and Faḍlūyah [the Shabānkārah chief], Shīrāz was raided again and again, whereby all its lands were given to ruin, and so remained till the coming of the good times when [the Atabeg] Rukn-ad-Dawlah [Khumārtagīn] was appointed governor, who knew how to restore matters to order, giving peace to the country, so that [houses were rebuilt] and the lands were again brought under cultivation. Later on, however, during a single year, the city was twice stormed during the troubles of successive Shabānkārah insurrections, and then again it was ravaged by the Turks and the Turkomans, who carried off all that they could lay hands on, exacting a poll-tax also on every man of the inhabitants, so that they were absolutely brought to beggary. But there is hope now that by the power of the present [Saljūq] government— which may Allah perpetuate!—security will be permanently re-established, for Shīrāz, indeed, is a city that is without equal when its population live in peace. The Friday mosque in Shīrāz is a noble building, and then there is the Hospital [bīmāristān] of ‘Aḍud-ad-Dawlah, though this is now fallen into disrepair. Again, there is the Library, which is very excellent. That portion of the city which is still inhabited stands under the protection and in the oversight of the family of the Chief Justice of Fārs,¹ for he is of untiring effort to relieve the wants of the poor and needy of the city.

Kavār.² —A small town, most pleasant to live in, having many dependent districts, where there are extensive orchards. Fruit here [is so abundant that it fetches] no price, though all the fruit grown here is of excellent condition. Especially so is the pomegranate, which is the equal of that which comes from Tihrān, and there are good quinces, also almonds in abundance. Hence most of the provisions consumed in Shīrāz and its district are brought thither from here. Further, they grow much corn, also both kirbās [muslin] and reed matting are made here. The climate is cold but temperate. They get their water from the River Thakān, and near by are excellent hunting-grounds. There is a mosque for the Friday prayers in this town; but the people are a rough folk and very thick-witted.

Khabr.¹ —This is a small town, somewhat larger than Kavār. Its climate is temperate and bracing; indeed, in all those parts nowhere is the air pleasanter. The water is very digestive, and as in the case at Pasā every fruit of both the hot and the cold region grows here. Thus the orange and the perfumed melon [called shamāmah], the lemon, and diverse aromatics are all found abundantly, also corn-lands. There was here a very strongly fortified castle, but the Atabeg [Chāulī] has laid it in ruins. Within the town there is a mosque for the Friday prayer. The people here are cleverer than those of Kavār. There are hunting-grounds near by, both in the hills and in the plain.

Khunayfqān.² —A large village lying at the head of the road going down into Fīrūzābād. The Persians pronounce the name Khunāfgān, and the road from here to Fīrūzābād is an extremely bad one, across passes and by steep mountains where [the hand must ever] be on the bridle. The road was also a fearful one by reason of being beset by footpads. The climate of Khunayfqān is cold but temperate. The River Burāzah, which is the stream that flows past Fīrūzābād, rises near by. The people of Khunayfqān have the evil character of all mountaineers, but at the present time under the sovereign [government of the Saljūqs] the roads, here as everywhere else, are now safe, and no one dare make any disorder.

Būshkānāt.³ —A district that lies entirely in the hot region, where there are plantations of date-palms. Its lands are the camping-grounds of the Mas‘ūdī tribe of the Shabānkārah.¹ There is no city here, but Būshkān and Shanānān [or Sanānā] are both of the Būshkānāt District.

Mūhū [or Mūhūd], Hamjān, and Kabrīn.² —These are all districts of the hot region, lying adjacent to the sea, on the coast of Irāhistān. The climate here is hot and the water unwholesome; but there are many palm-groves, though nowhere here is there a town of sufficient size to possess a mosque for the Friday prayer.

Kārzīn, Qīr, and Abzar.³ —Kārzīn is a fine town of no great size, but now in ruins by reason of the disorders [of the last Buyid days]. Qīr and Abzar are two small towns belonging to Kārzīn. They are all of the hot region, and they take their water from the Thakān River; also there are many groves of the date-palm. In Kārzīn there is a strong castle, and to supply it with water they have constructed a syphon tube [āb-duzdī] which goes down from the castle to the bed of the Thakān River. The [townships of] Harm and Kāriyān⁴ are of the dependencies of Kārzīn.

Tawwaj.¹ —This of old was a township of considerable size, and it was settled by a population of Arabs, for it lay in the hottest and most desert part of the hot region. But at the present day it lies in ruins, and of these Arab folk who peopled it in former times hardly any remain. [After the disappearance of these early inhabitants], however, ‘Aḍud-ad-Dawlah, had brought hither a tribe of Syrian Arabs, settling them here, and at the present time such Arabs as are still found here are the descendants of this tribe. There are no running streams [in Tawwaj], but there is a mosque for the Friday prayers.

Māndistān.² —This is a desert region measuring 30 leagues in length by the like across, where there are many villages and districts like those found throughout Irāhistān. This district lies along the sea-coast, and its crops are so fertile that one mann-weight of seed-corn produces a thousandfold harvest. There is, however, no ground-water for irrigation, and they depend on the rains alone for their supply. The people have their drinking-water from the tanks which they have made. All along this coast-region the rains should come in the beginning of winter, in the months of Azar-Māh and Dī-Māh [corresponding with November and December], and then they get for that year a magnificent crop, gaining much wealth. If, however, in those two aforesaid months no rain falls—even though it may come later, and in abundance during a subsequent month—then they get no good crops and the harvest is wanting.

Sīrāf³ and its Neighbourhood.—Sīrāf in old times was a great city, very populous and full of merchandise, being the port of call for caravans¹ and ships. Thus in the days of the [Abbasid] Caliphs it was a great emporium, for here might be found stores of ‘attar [of roses] and aromatics such as camphor, aloes, sandal-wood, and the like. [For its merchants] immense sums of money were to be gained here, and so matters continued till the last days of the Buyid supremacy. Then, however, the ancestors of the present Amīr Kaysh attained to power, and they got into their possession the Island of Qays² with the other neighbouring islands, whereby the revenue that had formerly been taken by Sīrāf was cut off and fell into the hands of the Amir Kaysh. Further, the Atabeg Rukn-ad-Dawlah Khumārtagīn [when he had first been appointed governor of Fārs] lacked power and statesmanship to provide a remedy for this state of affairs. None the less he did truly on one or two occasions proceed to Sīrāf with a view of building ships of war that should invade the Island of Qays and the other isles, but each time that he did so the Amīr Kaysh sent presents to him and gave bribes to those persons who were about him, so that they dissuaded him from accomplishing his project. Next it came to pass that a certain one of the Khāns [of Qays Island] named Abū-l-Qasim succeeded finally in getting possession of Sīrāf also, and then every year or two [Khumārtagīn] would dispatch an army thither with great effort [to make him evacuate Sīrāf], but he could accomplish nothing against him. Thus, therefore, as matters now stood, no merchant would bring his ship into the port of Sīrāf to refit, nor for shelter would any anchor there on the voyage to Kirmān from Mahrubān or Dawraq or Baṣrah, wherefore no goods but leatherware and pots,¹ and things that the people of Fārs alone had need of, now passed by the road of Sīrāf, and thus the town fell to complete ruin. There is still here, however, a mosque for the Friday prayer, and there are many dependencies and outlying lands. The climate is excessively hot, and there is no water, except for one or two springs, wherefore they have always to depend on collecting the rainwater [in tanks] for drinking purposes.

Ramm [or Zamm] Zavān, Dādhīn, and Davvān.² — These are three districts of Ardashīr Khūrah, all lying in the hot region, but with some parts within the hill country, where the climate is temperate, corn being grown here. These districts come between Kāzirūn and Nawbanjān.

Fīrūzābād.³ —This city was called Jūr in ancient days, and the celebrated Jūrī roses came from here. In the times of the Kayānī kings of old this was a mighty city with strong fortifications. Then when [Alexander the Great] he of the Two Horns invaded Fārs, at first, however much he tried, he could not succeed in taking this city. But there is near here a stream called the Burāzah River, which flows at a high level, going by the mountain-slopes. This river Alexander turned from its course, throwing it against the city [walls], and he set his army round and about until at length they obtained possession. Now the city of Fīrūzābād stands in the midst of many gorges, and all around and about its circuit there are mountains, for the which cause all the roads that lead thither have to traverse the summits of divers passes. The [diverted] river therefore soon afterwards laid the city completely under water, for the gorges filled and became as a lake, seeing that the water could find no outlet. In this condition Fīrūzābād remained for many long years, the waters continually rising, until Ardashīr the [founder of the Sassanian dynasty] came to the throne and began the conquest of the [eastern] world. And when he reached Fīrūzābād, he assembled together many engineers and sage persons in order to contrive a means of clearing away those waters. Now there was a great master among his engineers, whose name was Burāzah.¹ With skill he contrived to bore [the beginning of] a tunnel to carry off the waters; but first he set in the mountain side iron posts, each one like a column for size, attaching thereto huge and strong chains, and these posts were very firmly planted. Then he continued his tunnel through the flank of the mountain, he himself labouring with the workmen, until but a little part remained before the boring would get through. King Ardashīr now was brought to be present, and Burāzah the master engineer spoke, saying: “When I shall have pierced this tunnel through, the water will rush out with force, which would carry me away and also [carry away to destruction] those who are working at the boring with me. Therefore [for our safety] I have caused this great leathern sack to be made.” In this Burāzah and his many workmen now took their place, and it was firmly fastened to the great chains [above described], a great number of men being appointed to haul back with all their might on the chains as soon as the tunnel should come to be bored through. These therefore, in companies, sat down to the task. Then the portion that remained unbored of the tunnel was finally carried through. And the water now began to get power, drawing after it the sack in which the engineer Burāzah and his company of workmen were sitting, and however much from above the people strained all their strength, it was of no avail, for the stream at last became so strong that it burst the chains asunder, [whereby Burāzah and all his men perished]; and the remains of those chains are still to be seen on the mountain side. When therefore after this fashion the waters had been drawn off [King Ardashīr] laid the foundations of Fīrūzābād as the city now exists; and its ground-plan is circular, even as though drawn with compasses. In the middle of the city, even as it were the centre point of the circle, they laid out and built a platform to which the name of Irān Girdah [or Ayvān Girdah, “the circular hall”] was given, and this the Arabs call Ṭirbāl [“the Tower”]. On the summit of the platform pavilions¹ were built, and in their midst a mighty dome, which was called Gunbad [Kīrmān or Gīrmān]. The four walls below this dome, up to the spring of the cupola, measured in height 75 ells, and these walls were built of blocks of stone. The cupola rising above this was built of kiln-burnt bricks. Water was brought hither from the top of a mountain, 1 league distant, and carried to the height [in tubes to make] a fountain. They dug also two tanks, one called Būm Pīr, “the Old Owl,” the other Būm Javān, “the Young Owl,” and over each of these tanks they built a fire-temple. The city [of Fīrūzābād] is most pleasant to live in and a place to see; also hunting grounds abound near by; the climate is temperate, bracing, and very agreeable. Luscious fruit in plenty and of all kinds is found here; also digestible water is abundant, for there are many running streams. They have built here too a mosque for the Friday prayers, also a fine hospital; and Ṣāḥib ‘Ādil¹ [the Wazīr of the last Buyid prince] founded a very good Library here, the equal of which will be met with in no other place. The castle of Sahārah stands in the neighbourhood of Fīrūzābād. The people of this city are a clever folk, accustomed to business and given to good works.

Ṣimkān and Hīrak.² —Ṣimkān is a small town but most pleasant, and the wonder of the world, for this reason, that through its midst runs a river, spanned by a bridge, and in the one half of the city which stands on the hillside along this bank of the stream the climate is of the cold region. In this quarter there are only vineyards, producing such abundance of grapes that these fetch no price, so they [dry and] press them for the most part, making a condiment³ thereof, while some being kept are left till a syrup is formed, which after boiling down, coagulates into a block that becomes hard as stone. These blocks [of grape-raisins] are made very large, and before one can eat of them they have to be soaked in two or three times their weight of water. Further, they are sold at a very cheap rate. And as to the quarter of the city which lies on the other side of the river, this is entirely of the hot region, where the date-palm grows, also oranges, lemons, and the like. Hīrak is a large village, where there is a much venerated shrine [ribāṭ]. In Ṣimkān there is a mosque for the Friday prayer; the people here are [warlike, always] carrying arms.

Maymand.¹ —A small town of the hot region, where fruits of all kinds grow, especially most excellent grapes. There are running streams, and the climate is more temperate than in the other towns of the hot region. There is here a mosque for the Friday prayers.

Ḥatīzīr.² —A district that lies entirely in the hot region, where the date-palm grows. There is no city here, and this district lies adjacent to Irāhistān. Its people always go armed.

Sarvistān and Kūbanjān.³ —These are two towns that lie between Shīrāz and Pasā. Their climate is like that of Shīrāz. There are running streams and some few gardens, producing grapes and other fruits of the cold region. The hunting-grounds here are famous, especially the mountain region of Kūbanjān. Near here is the Salt Lake [Namakistān],⁴ where no fish or creature can exist for its saltness. Each town has a mosque for the Friday prayers, and the people here carry arms, being overbearing in their ways.

The Sīf [or Coast] Districts.—These districts lie along the seashore. They are all of the hot region, and for the most part the inhabitants are Arabs. The climate here is extremely unhealthy. The best-known of these coast districts are the two called respectively the Sīf of the People of Abū Zuhayr and the ‘Umarāh Sīf.¹ In neither district is there any town with a Friday mosque, and nothing is grown here but dates.

Lāghir and Kaharjān.² —These are districts lying near Kārzīn. They are of the hot region, and the climate is unhealthy. Dates are grown here. The people are all highwaymen, and in neither district is there any town with a mosque for the Friday prayer.

Kurān and Irāhistān.³ —Both the Irāhistān District and Kurān lie in the desert country, and Kurān is counted as of Sīrāf. Its climate is so extremely torrid that only men who are native-born can stay here by reason of this excessive heat during the summer. There are no running streams nor underground channels. Their corn-lands lack irrigation entirely, and no fruit is grown here excepting only dates. Further, in their plantations the date-palms do not stand on the level ground, for by reason of the lack of water, and that these may not perish from the drought, they dig in the soil a great trench, as deep down as the date-palm is high, and the palm-trees are planted in the bottom of this trench, so that only their very tops appear above the ground-level. Then during the winter these trenches are filled by the rains with water, [which sinks in]. and so all the year round the palms get moisture. The dates are of rare excellence. Hence it is a saying “Where is it that the date-palms grow in a pit?” and the answer is “In Irāhistān”. In this country near every village there stands out in the desert a fort, for all the people here are footpads, and everyone carries arms seeing that each man seeks to rob his neighbour and to shed his blood. When a man here is about to go out as highwayman he will take threshed corn, with some dry bread crumbled, in a wallet, and in a night and a day will cover 20 leagues of the road, and so accomplish his villainy. Further, the people here are always in revolt against the Government, since no army can stay in these parts for more than the three months of the springtime, for they cannot hold out the winter here by reason of the rains, with the consequent lack of fodder [for their beasts], nor during the summer by reason of the heat. Nevertheless, in the days of the Buyid supremacy they were brought under subjection, and for a time forced to obey authority; and during the reign of ‘Aḍud-ad-Dawlah 10,000 of their men served in his army as soldiers. Their chief at this time was one of the name of Ḥābī.¹ Then after the days of ‘Aḍud-ad-Dawlah they again revolted, and none of them could be got to pay any tribute until recently, indeed, when the Atabeg Chāulī by force of arms has become master in their territories.

Najīram and Ḥūrashī.² —Najīram is a small town and Ḥūrashī a village, both being of the dependencies of Sīrāf, and lying in the very hot region.

Huzū and Sāviyah.³ —These, with some other districts, are of the coast-lands that belong to the Island of Qays, being under the rule of the Amīṛ Kaysh. They all lie adjacent to the hot region of the Kirmān province.

The islands that belong to this district of Ardashīr Khūrah are these: the Island of Lār, the Island of Afzūnah, and the Island of Qays; and the Island of Qays is the chief among them all. The description of these and of the other islands [of the Persian Gulf] will be given in the chapter which the author has written describing the seas, and which will be found on a later page, wherefore there is no need to detail them here. [It is, however, wanting.]

This district took its name from Shāpūr, son of King Ardashīr founder [of the Sassanian dynasty]; and the central city of the district is Bishāvbūr; this with the other towns and sub-districts being as follows.

Bishāvūr.¹ —The Arabs wrote the name Bishābūr, it having originally been Bī-Shābūr, and then to lighten the pronunciation the Bī was dropped, so that finally it has come now to be called Shāpūr. In the most ancient days a city was founded here by King Ṭahmūrath, at a time when there was no other city in all Fārs excepting only Iṣṭakhr, and the name [of Shāpūr town] was then called Dīn Dilā. When Alexander the Great appeared in Fārs, he laid this town in ruins, so that nought remained standing thereof. Then when the kingdom had come to the hands of Shāpūr he for the second time founded it, and brought all its buildings to completion, giving to the new city his own name. Indeed, to every city that King Shāpūr founded, he gave the same his own name, that his memory might thus be kept in mind; and this was the city of Bishāpūr. The climate here is that of the hot region; and by reason that on the north side it is shut in [by hills] the town is unhealthy and damp. The water supply is from a great stream that is called the Bishāpūr River. It is a very large river, but seeing that there are here many rice-fields, its water is noxious and unwholesome. There are, however, in this district so many orchards of fruit-bearing trees of all kinds, such as date-palms, orange, shaddock, and lemon-trees, that fruit here fetches no price; and those who pass by the road even fail to pluck it. There are also aromatic flowers in great abundance, such as water-lilies, the narcissus, violets, and jasmine; further, they produce much silk here, for mulberry-trees grow luxuriantly. Then honey and wax are cheap, both in this city and in Kāzirūn. Of late years Bi-Shāpūr has fallen much to ruin through the tyranny of Abu Sa‘d.¹ Now, however, since the establishment of the present Saljūq government its buildings are all being restored. It has a mosque for the Friday prayers, and the people are intelligent.

Jirrah.² —Called in Persian Girrah. It is a small town, having a warm climate. Its water is from a stream that is known as the Girrah River, and this takes its rise in the Māṣaram District. This town produces nothing but rice—which pays the land-tax³ —dates, and corn. The people for the most part go armed. There is a mosque here for the Friday prayers. The district called Mūr-i-Jirrah⁴ is of this neighbourhood.

Ghundījān.¹ —This is known as Dasht Bārī in Persian. It is a small town of the hot region, and its water is from a single brackish well, there being no other source in the place. No corn is grown here. There is a mosque in the town for the Friday prayer, and many pious men were natives of this place. There are now many shoemakers and weavers living here.

Khisht and Kumārij.² —Two small towns lying in the hill country of the very hot region. Innumerable date-palms grow here, but no other fruit-trees. There are some running streams, but the water of these is warm and not wholesome to drink. The corn crops here sometimes fail entirely, but at other times are abundant.³ The people of the place carry arms, and for the most part they are robbers.

Anburān and Bāsht Qūṭā.⁴ —These places lie contiguous to Nawbanjān. Anburān is a small town, of which a number of pious folk are natives. The climate is temperate, and there are many running streams. Bāsht Qūṭā is a district lying in the cold region of the mountain lands.

Junbad Mallaghān.⁵ —This is a small town which stands in its own district. The climate is hot, and there are many running streams. Fruit is grown, also aromatic plants. There is a castle here, among other neighbouring castles that are well fortified and celebrated. The air in this castle is so cool that [stores of] wheat can be kept here without damage, and they have made good cisterns for water. There is a mosque for the Friday prayer in the town.

Tīr Murdān and Jūyikān.¹ —These are two districts wherein are many large villages but no town. Of villages there are Kharrārah, Dūdmān, and Dih Gawz [Nut Village]. All these districts lie among broken rocky ground, with stony ascents and descents like those in the Kharraqān [District in Persian ‘Irāq], though here the country is rougher and the roads steeper. The climate is of the cold region and good. On all sides there are orchards, with fruit of every kind; more especially groves of nut-trees, and in such numbers as to be beyond count, nuts being carried into Shīrāz and the surrounding districts from here. Honey, too, is abundant. Now all the hills here, with their ascents and descents, are everywhere sown for corn crops. Some, where the hillside is steep, lack for water, but the valleys are well irrigated, for there are numerous running brooks. The village of Kharrārah [which means “humming”] is so named because near by this village a stream falls into a deep gorge, where it makes a great noise [as of humming], which in the Arabic tongue is called Kharīr-al-Mā [“the Humming of the Water”]. Abū Naṣr, the father of Bā Jūl,² and who left so many descendants, came originally from Tīr Murdān. All the people of this district go armed, and for the most part they are bandits and highwaymen by night. Further, there are excellent hunting-grounds here.

Ṣarām and Bāzrang.³ —These are two districts lying between Zīr [or Zīz] and Sumayram. The climate is that of the cold region, for the districts stand high in the hill country, with torrents of water and many running streams. From year’s end to year’s end snow is never long absent from the mountains here, and there are many good hunting-grounds. The source of the Shīrīn River is in the Bāzrang District. The chief town of this region is Ṣarām. Most of the men here are muleteers.

Sīmtakht.¹ —This is a district of the very cold region lying near Ṣarām and Bāzrang. There are many running streams here.

Khullār.² —A large village where they quarry the millstones which are used throughout the greater part of the province of Fārs, for the stone here is of excellent quality. The curious part is that in all Fārs they grind their corn with millstones from this village, but when the people thereof have to grind their own corn they go to some other village to do so, for in their own place there is no stream [to turn a mill], and the springs even are very scanty in their water supply, on which the people have to depend for drinking. Except for these millstones the place produces nothing; there is neither corn nor fruit grown here, and they look to the quarrying of these stones for their means of living, whereby too they are enabled to pay taxes to the Treasury to the amount of 700 dīnārs yearly.

Khumāyijān and Dih ‘Alī.³ —These are two districts, and [Dih ‘Alī] the chief town has a mosque for the Friday prayers. The climate is cold, and there are many walnut and pomegranate trees here, also much honey and wax comes from these districts, which lie in the neighbourhood of Tir Murdān and near by Bayḍā. The people generally go armed; they are for the most part muleteers. In the neighbourhood are excellent hunting-grounds.

Kāzirūn and its District.—The original seat of Kāzirūn was at [the three villages called] Nawdar, Darīst, and Rāhbān, and the city was first founded by Ṭahmūrath. King Shāpūr, in later times, built greatly here, making of Kāzirūn an outlying part of Bishābūr. The climate is hot, like that indeed of Bishāvūr, and all the water they drink has to be taken from wells, for there are no running streams, only the three underground water-channels [of the villages above-mentioned]. Their corn-lands entirely lack irrigation and depend on the rains. The city of Kāzirūn lies in ruins, but the farms round about are populous, and their homesteads are not [mere cabins] like those of other hamlets in these parts, but are strongly built houses, well fortified, as a defence against the Shabānkārah [Kurds], who are numerous throughout this district. Each farmstead here stands separate one from another, and they are not built together [in groups of villages]. The cloths called Tūzī [originally coming from Tawwaj] which they make here are woven from the fibre of the flax-plant. Of this, first they tie up the fibrous stalks in bundles and throw these into a tank full of water, leaving the fibre loose until it has rotted. It is next gathered up, the fibre being separated out, and the flax is then spun into linen thread. Next, this linen thread is washed in the water of the Rāhbān water-channel; and though the water here is but scanty, it has the property of making white the linen thread that is washed in it, and if it be washed in any other water it never becomes white. Now, this Rāhbān water-channel is the property of the royal Treasury, and the custom is now established that the profit thereof belongs to the house of the Amīr, the Treasury having granted the usage thereof to the weavers who weave the cloths under the orders of the Treasury. There is an inspector who oversees on behalf of the Treasury, and there are the brokers who set a just price on the cloths, sealing the bales with a stamp before they are delivered over to the foreign merchants. In times past it was all after this wise. The brokers would make up the bales of the Kāzirūnī cloth, the foreign merchants would come and buy the bales as they stood thus made up, for they placed reliance on the brokers, and in any city to which they were carried the certificate of the Kāzirūnī broker was merely asked for and the bale would then be sold at a profit without being opened [for examination]. Thus it often happened that a load of Kāzirūnī bales would pass from hand to hand ten times over, unopened. But now, in these latter days, fraud has become rife, and the people becoming dishonest all confidence is gone, for the goods with the Treasury stamp are often found deficient, whereby foreign traders have come to avoid the merchandise of Kāzirūn. This fraud was especially common during the reign of the Amīr Abū Sa‘d,¹ whose bad government and tyranny were manifest to all. If, however, this evil state of things could be changed, much wealth would still accrue from this manufacture. Further, in addition to the revenues to be derived from the Kāzirūnī cloths, which belong to the house of the Amīr, there are the land-tax and the customs, both of which would increase greatly under a just and stable government. In various of the townships of Kāzirūn there are mosques for the Friday prayers. The people, however, are covetous and needy; further, they are a slanderous folk. In all these parts there are places where [a criminal] may take refuge, as it were in a Ḥarīm [or Sanctuary], and of such is [the shrine] of Shaykh Abū Isḥāq Shīrāzī, whom Allah sanctify! Among the populous districts of Kāzirūn are Mūr and Shitashgān.¹

Nawbanjān² and Sha‘b Bavvān.—Nawbanjān in former times was a very great and beautiful city, but during the misrule of Abū Sa‘d of Kāzirūn it was more than once taken by storm, being sacked and burnt, so that even the great mosque was then destroyed by fire. In this state of ruin it remained for many years, being but a lair for lions and wolves, a place of ravenous beasts and their prey; its population was scattered abroad, and its people perished in foreign lands. When, however, the Atabeg Chāulī arrived in Fārs, and the province was rid of Abū Sa‘d, he began to rebuild the city, and it may now be hoped that under the stable government [of the Saljūqs] its prosperity will be restored. The climate here is that of the hot region but temperate. It has many running streams. Fruits of all kinds grow here, also aromatic plants in abundance.

The Vale of Sha‘b Bavvān³ lies in the neighbourhood of Nawbanjān; and it may be thus described. It is a great valley enclosed between two ranges of mountains, 3½ leagues in length by 1½ leagues across. Its climate is that of the cold region, none better anywhere. Villages one after another extend along the valley, and a great river flows down the middle part thereof, so that no place is cooler or more healthy to live in. Further, there are many excellent springs everywhere about, and from the head of the valley to its foot, all down its length and across it, there are fruit-trees growing everywhere, so that from their shade the sunlight never falls upon the ground. The fruit here is of all kinds, and very excellent in quality. Should a man walk from one end of the valley to the other, the sunshine will nowhere fall on him; and from one end of the year to the other the snow remains on the summits of the mountains that lie on either hand. It has been said by wise men that there are four Earthly Paradises, to wit, the Ghawṭah [Garden-lands] of Damascus, Sughd [Sogdiana] of Khurāsān, [this Valley of] Sh‘ab Bavvān, and lastly the Meadow of Shīdān¹; by which they mean that these four places just mentioned are the loveliest and pleasantest places of the whole earth. There are here in the neighbourhood, besides this valley of Sha‘b Bavvān, many other districts, both in the hill country and in the plains, which are well populated, fertile, and rich, with running streams. The White Castle—Qal‘ah Sapīd—stands at the distance of 1 league from Nawbanjān, and the description of the same will be given later in the section relating to the Castles. All the district round Sha‘b Bavvān is of the hill country, and round Nawbanjān there are limitless hunting-grounds. The people of Nawbanjān are a discreet folk, with an aptitude for politeness.

Bīlād Shābūr.² —This countryside lies between the Fārs and Khūzistān provinces. In olden times it was very populous, but it now has fallen to ruin. Its climate is temperate though of the hot region, and there are many running streams.

Zīr and Kūh Jīlūyah.³ —The Jīlūyah Mountain is a hill district with many lands, and its chief town is Zīr. The climate here is cold; there are abundant running streams and numerous fine villages. During the recent times of disorder, and especially when the Assassins—and may Allah cause them to perish!—held sway in the land, all this district fell greatly to ruin. Fruit orchards are numerous, and in Zīr there is a mosque for the Friday prayer. This district lies not far distant from Sumayram, and there are fine hunting-grounds within its borders.

Arrajān.¹ —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,² which is most excellent. There are also many aromatic plants. The districts round and about Arrajān are very numerous, and a mosque for the Friday prayers stands in the city.³

Jallādjān, Nīv, and Dayr.⁴ —These are all districts of Arrajān, with climate and general conditions the like thereto, so that it is needless to say more. Of this district too is the hamlet called Chahār Dīh, “Four Villages.”

Khabs, Furzuk, and Hindījān.¹ —These are districts lying between Arrajān and the inner districts of Fārs. Khabs was a post for the customs, and all these places in climate and general conditions exactly resemble Arrajān in all points.

Rīshahr.² —A small town lying on the seashore, near by to the castle of the Amīr Firāmurz ibn Handāb.³ The climate here is extremely hot, so that the men have, in summer-time, to wrap the inner rind of the acorn on parts of the skin in certain places, otherwise it would chafe into sores by the excess of sweat and the heat engendered there. Further, they have the habit of putting on many shirts, and they wear them very long. By reason of the dampness and the unwholesome climate no one who is not a native of the place can stay out the summer here; all others go up to Diz Kilāt⁴ and the castles that belong to the Amīr Firāmurz, and there they remain [during the hot months]. In this district nothing is to be had except sea-borne goods that are brought hither in ships, for nothing except fish, dates, and Rīshahrī flax is to be come by in this place. The people are almost entirely occupied with the sea trade, but they have neither excellence nor strength of character, being of a weak nature. The town stands on the frontier line between the Arrajān District and Khūzistān. The men here are honest, occupying themselves with their own affairs, but they have been mishandled by one tyrant after another, fate having been against them. Further, some of the districts near by are far more populous than that round Rīshahr.

Jannābā.¹ —A small town lying on the seashore, and in Persian they call it Ganfah, which signifies “Stinking Water”. Now, a city that has “Stinking Water” for its name must be described as of an evil stinking character, and therefore there is no occasion to speak of its condition. Nothing that need be mentioned is produced in this place, and all that can be said is that it lies on the road of one going from Mahrūbān to Sīrāf.

Sīnīz.² —A little town lying on the seashore. There is here a small fort. The place lies between Mahrūbān and Jannābā, and they weave linen cloths here which are very thick and soft, and these are known as Sīnīzī stuffs. They, however, do not wear well. Nothing else is produced excepting dates and oil for lamps. The climate is good.

Mahrūbān,³ with its District.—Mahrūbān is a place lying so much on the seashore that the waves of the sea beat on the houses of the town. It has a warm, damp, unwholesome climate, worse even than that of Rīshahr. It is a seaport that all ships come into that sail either from Fārs going towards Khūzistān, or that set out by sea from Baṣrah and Khūzistān. Likewise all the ships from the sea that have cargoes from, or for, the districts inland come and go from Mahrūbān, whereby its custom-dues from these ships are very considerable. Except for dates they grow no fruit here. They breed sheep, however, in great numbers, and likewise goats; also they raise calves, which are for size like those they breed in Baṣrah, for it is reported that some weigh as much as 80 to 100 raṭl in weight, or even more.¹ Linseed and flax are grown here abundantly, being exported to neighbouring parts. In the town there is a mosque for the Friday prayers. The people of Mahrūbān are weak in character.

The Islands which belong to this district of Qubād Khūrah are as follows: Jazīrah Hangām, Jazīrah Khārik, Jazīrah Ram [or Dam], and Jazīrah Balūr.²

The description of the towns and districts of Fārs being completed, we shall now proceed to notice all the great rivers and the lakes, and then the meadow-lands and such castles as are still in good repair. These, therefore, are the great and celebrated rivers other than those of which a part only [lies in the Fārs province].³

Nahr Ṭāb.—This river takes its rise in the neighbourhood of Sumayram,⁴ increasing in size till it reaches Arrajān, where it passes under the bridge called Pūl-i-Thakān. Then it waters the district of Rīshahr and flows into the sea near Sīnīz.

Nahr Khwābdān.⁵ —The source of this river is at Jūyikān. It waters the district round Nawbanjān, and then flows through Jallādjān until it joins the River Shīrīn, by which its waters reach the sea.

Nahr Jirrah.¹ —This river rises in Māṣaram, and it waters the district of Naḥast Masjān, thence passing on it waters Jirrah and its district, also part of the Ghundijān District. Beyond this it joins the Bishāpūr River, and thus its waters reach the sea.

Nahr Burāzah.² —The Burāzah River is that of Fīrūzābād, and its source is at Khunayfghān. It irrigates Fīrūzābād, with its district, and then joins the Thakān River, by which its waters reach the sea. This river has its name from Burāzah, the great engineer, who drained the [lake] off from round and about the city of Fīrūzābād [as described above].

Nahr Kur [Cyrus River].³ —This river rises in the neighbourhood of Kallār, and it is a rebellious stream that will irrigate no lands unless a dam has been thrown across it to raise the level, and thus enable the waters to be led over the surface of the soil. Now the dams that have been built across its stream are the following: The Rāmjird Dam⁴ is of very ancient construction, and it gave irrigation to all the villages of the Rāmjird District. It had, however, fallen to ruin, and has been restored recently by the Atabeg Chāulī, who has given it the name of Fakhristān [after himself, he holding the title of Fakhr-ad-Dawlah]. Next comes the ‘Aḍudī Dam,⁵ the like of which, as is well known, exists nowhere else in the whole world. To describe it it must be known that the Kirbāl District [which lies round and about] originally was a desert plain without water. But ‘Aḍud-ad-Dawlah seeing this opined that if a dam were built here the waters of the River Kur would work wonders on this desert land. He therefore brought together engineers and workmen, and expended great sums of money to make side canals to lead off the waters of the river from the right and the left bank. Then he [paved the river-bed] above and below the dam, with a mighty weir [shādurwān] constructed of blocks of stone set in cement. Next he built the dam itself with [stones set in] tempered cement and sifted sand, so that even an iron tool could not scratch it and never would it be burst asunder. The summit of the dam was so broad that two horsemen could ride abreast across it without the water touching them, for to carry this off sluices were made. Thus, finally, the whole of the district of Upper Kirbāl received its irrigation by means of this dam. The Band-i-Qaṣṣār¹ [the Fullers’ Dam] had been built of old to water the district of Lower Kirbāl, and it too had fallen out of use; but the Atabeg Chāulī has likewise restored this to working order, and [some distance below it] the River Kur flows out into the Lake of Bakhtigān.

Nahr Masin.² —The source of this stream lies in the hill country near Sumayram and Sīmtakht. It flows down to join the River Ṭāb.

Nahr Shīrīn³ [the Sweet-water River].—This river has its source on the frontier of the Bāzrang District, and it flows past Gunbad Mallaghān, giving water to many districts, for besides that of Gunbad Mallaghān it irrigates certain of the lands of Arrajān, finally flowing out into the sea between Sīnīz and Jannābā.

Nahr Bishāpūr.¹ —The source of this river lies in the mountain land about Bishāpūr. It waters the city of Bishāpūr and its district, as likewise the homesteads of Khisht and Dīh Mālik, and falls into the sea between Jannābā and the Māndistān District.

Nahr Thakān.² —The source of this river is at a village called Jatrūyah [or Chatrūyah], which same is a well-known village with its district belonging to the Māṣaram sub-district lying round about Shīrāz, all of which lands this stream waters. From here it flows on, passing in turn Kavār, Khabr, Ṣimkān, Kārzīn, Qīr, Abzar, and Lāghir, giving water for irrigation to each in turn, and finally irrigating part of the district round Sīrāf. In its last reach the river passes the village of Thakān, from which same it takes its name. Then finally it flows out into the sea between Najīram and Sīrāf, and in all the province of Fārs there is no stream that is more bountiful for irrigation purposes than is this Thakān River.

Nahr Purvāb.³ —The source of the river is at a village called Purvāb. This is a most blessed river. Most of the district of Marvdasht is irrigated by its waters, and it flows to join the River Kur. This, therefore, as given above, is the description of the greater and most celebrated rivers of Fārs, and besides them there are many other streams and rivulets of lesser size, but these cannot be noticed lest the matter run to too great length.

In regard to the seas and lakes of Fārs, the Persian Gulf [Baḥr Fārs, otherwise called] the Sea of Fārs, is an arm of the Great Sea, which best is known as the Green Sea, being also called the Circumambient Ocean. On the shores of the Green Sea lie the lands of China, Sind and India, ‘Omān, ‘Aden, Zanzibar, and Baṣrah with diverse other districts; and each particular arm of the Green Sea bears the special name of the province whose lands lie on its shores. Thus we have [one arm called] the Sea of Fārs, another the Sea of ‘Omān, and then the Sea of Baṣrah, or the like; hence it comes that the arm [washing the coast of Fārs] is known as the Sea of Fārs.

[And now as to the lakes of Fārs, they are as follows.]

Buḥayrah Dasht Arzin¹ [the Lake of the Plain of the Wild-almond].—This is a sweet-water lake, and when there has been much rain it is very full, but when there has been lack of rain the lake dries up almost entirely, hardly any water remaining. It measures 3 leagues round and about.

Buḥayrah Bakhtigān.² —This lake lies surrounded by many well-cultivated lands. Such are those surrounding the towns of Ābādah, Khayrah, Nayrīz, and Khabraz; further, all these districts lie at no great distance from the lake shore. The waters of the lake are salt, and the circumference of the same is 20 leagues.

Buḥayrah Māhalūyah.³ —This lake lies between Shīrāz and Sarvistān. Its waters are salt. All the streams from near Shīrāz and its district flow into this lake. Its size round and about is 12 leagues.

Buḥayrah Darkhwīd.¹ —This is a small lake, and a stream flows out of it that is called the Barvāt River.

Buḥayrah Mūr.² —A small lake lying between Kāzirūn and [the district of] Mūr-i-Jirrah. It measures 2 leagues in circumference.

The most celebrated Meadow-lands of Fārs are these.

Marghzār Ūrd.³ —This is a very rich meadow-land, of the cold region. From end to end it has springs of freshwater and populous villages, and of these last are the hamlets of Bajjah and Ṭaymurjān. There are others too, and their lands are the property of the villages, though they have to pay the Land-tax to the government. This meadow-land measures 10 leagues in the length by 5 across.

Marghzār Sīkān. — This meadow - land lies between Shīrāz and Kavār. It is a very pleasant place, and there is here a great mass of standing water, near which is a forest abounding in lions. The length of this meadow-land is 5 leagues by 3 across.⁴

Marghzār Dasht Arzin.⁵ —This meadow-land lies beside the Arzin Lake; there is here a forest where lions are found. The length of the meadow-land is 10 leagues by 1 across.

Marghzār Dārābjird.—This is a small meadow-land, measuring only 3 leagues in the length by 1 in the breadth.

Marghzār Qālī.¹ —This meadow-land lies on the bank of the Purvāb River. It is a most pleasant place, and here [a certain] Baldāḥī built the palace of Qālī, with its beautiful garden and a fine tank. This meadow-land is 3 leagues in length by 1 in width. In winter-time the fodder here is excellent for cattle, but in the summer it is noxious for them to eat the grass here.

Marghzār Kālān.² —This lies near the tomb of the Mother of Solomon. It is 4 leagues in length, but has no breadth to speak of. The tomb of the Mother of King Solomon is of stone, in the form of a cube. No one can look into the chamber within the tomb, for, as it is said, a talisman has been laid on it, whereby anyone who shall give a look into it forthwith becomes blind. I myself, however, have never found one who had made the experiment.

Marghzār Rūn.³ —This is a fine meadow-land, but not so good as that of Ūrd. It is, like the last, of the cold region, and has many springs of water, also villages, that are either the freehold property of the villagers or granted to them in fief for military service. The length of this meadow-land is 7 leagues by 5 across.

Marghzār Bīd and Mashkān.⁴ —A fine meadow-land, and the district of Basīrā is of those parts. They report the climate as cold, and it is 7 leagues in length by 3 across.

Margh Bahman.¹ —This lies above Juwaym [to the north of] the Shīrāz District. It measures 1 league across by the same in length.

Margh Shīdān.² —This is a very beautiful meadow-land, the equal of which can hardly be met with elsewhere. All round and about it are well-cultivated lands, with many springs of water and running streams. In springtime water collects here, and being held back forms a lake in the midst of the meadow-land. The length of this land is 10 leagues by the like in breadth.

Marghzār Kāmfīrūz.³ —This is a meadow-land that stretches level after level along the banks of the Kur [or Cyrus] River. There is here a forest, which is the lair of lions, and the lions of Kāmfīrūz are noted for their savageness and strength.

Now besides all the above there are many other smaller meadow-lands, which, however, are places not necessary to mention in detail. Moreover, since throughout Fārs, from one end to the other, there are valleys and mountain regions; everywhere, therefore, grazing-grounds for cattle are to be found in an abundance. Lastly, the Marghzārs of Kamah and Sarvāt⁴ are meadow-lands, which, though not of the most celebrated, are such that cattle grazing on them soon become extraordinarily fat.

Qal‘ah Iṣṭakhr.¹ —In all the whole world there is no castle more ancient than this one, and every governor [of Fārs] who has held power has been master of this castle. From the times of the Pīshdādian kings this castle with two others standing near by have been known as the Three Domes. The other two are called Qal‘ah Shikastah [the Broken Castle] and the castle of Shankavān [or Shakanvān], but these last are now in ruins. [For the castle of Iṣṭakhr] ‘Aḍud-ad-Dawlah built a mighty tank, which is known as the Ḥawẓ-i-‘Aḍudī. It was constructed in a deep gully, down which the stream that passed by the castle flowed. First, ‘Aḍud-ad-Dawlah with boardings closed the end of this gully, making the like of a great dam, and next inside this he set cement [in forms] with wax and grease laid upon kirbās-stuffs, with bitumen, bringing the whole structure to the upper level all round, and afterwards when it had settled down firmly nothing could be stronger. Thus was the tank made, and its area was a qafīz [a square of 144 ells] all but a fraction, being 17 feet in depth, wherefore if a thousand men for a whole year were to drink therefrom, the water-level would not sink more than a foot. Then in the middle part of the tank they built up twenty columns of stone, set in cement, on which they rested the roof that covered over the tank. Further, ‘Aḍud-ad-Dawlah, besides this tank, built here other water-tanks and cisterns. The fault of this castle, however, is that it can very easily be taken by assault. Its climate is cold, being very like that of Isfahān. Within its walls are many fine kiosks and beautiful palaces, also a broad maydān [or ground for reviews].

Qal‘ah Būshkānāt.—This is a strong castle, that at the present day is still in the hands of Siyāh Mīl ibn Bahurast.¹ For he being a good man [the Saljūq Sultan] has allowed him to keep the command here, and has not dispossessed him [as has been the case with other local chiefs], and so this castle remains in his hands.

Qal‘ah Khurshah.—This castle stands 5 leagues distant from Jahram.² Khurshah, the man after whom the castle takes its name, was a certain Arab who had been appointed governor in these parts by [Muḥammad] brother of [the Omayyad Viceroy of ‘Irāq] Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf. Now Khurshah having amassed much money built this castle, and taking up his abode therein rebelled. On account of this, in later times the governor of the [Dārābjird] District has never been allowed to be master of this castle as well; for of a surety power and wealth in a governor will breed conceit, and to possess this castle would breed further conceit, and where in a man’s head two causes of conceit exist without fail these result in the disorder of rebellion. The castle of Khurshah is so strong a fortress that it cannot be taken by assault. Its climate is that of the hot region.

Qal‘ah Ramm Zavān.³ —This is a very strong castle which stands near Ghundijān, and it commands that district. The climate here is that of the cold region. Their water is from cisterns.

Qal‘ah Abādah.⁴ —This is a well-fortified castle, but in all general particulars like many other small castles. The climate is temperate, the water is stored in cisterns, and it would be possible to take the place by assault.

Qal‘ah Khuvār.¹ —This is a fortress that is not very strongly fortified. The climate is cold but temperate; and its water is obtained from wells.

Qal‘ah Iṣṭahbānān.² —A strong castle that was in the hands of Ḥasūyah. But Atābeg Chāulī went to war with Ḥasūyah, and though he afterwards made peace with him he dismantled this castle. Now, however, recently, it has again been re-garrisoned.

Diz Iqlīd.³ —This is merely a village that is well fortified, not a castle.

Diz Abraj.⁴ —Above Abraj stands a hill, one half of which is fortified, the other half remaining unfortified, so that it could be surrounded and easily besieged; still, it could not be taken by assault, or quickly invested. There is a running stream that passes along the fortified part of the hill, flowing down thence to the plain, where its waters are used by the people of the village.

Qal‘ahā Abādān, or “the Garrisoned Castles”.—This is the name of certain castles which are mentioned [in the histories], for in times past there were seventy and odd notable castles in the province of Fārs, all of which the Atabeg Chāulī took by force of arms, and then dismantled for the most part, all indeed but those which are more particularly mentioned in the foregoing section of the present work.

Qal‘ah Ispīd Diz, or “the White Fortress Castle”.⁵ — This in the most ancient days had been fortified, but for long years had been dismantled, so that no one could say at what time it had last been garrisoned. Then Abū Naṣr of Tīr Murdān, the father of Bā Jūl,⁶ during the times of trouble [at the end of the Buyid rule] rebuilt the fortifications. Now this is a fortress that entirely covers the mountain-top, measuring 20 leagues round and about, so that it is not a mere castle nor a place to be held by a handful of men. It is a great circular mountain plain, the cliffs below it being of white rocks, but on the upper level of the fortress there is arable land, the soil being red, which they sow for crops. Here too they have vineyards of grapes and orchards of almonds with other fruits: for there are many springs of water, everywhere in the ground, and when they dig down water is easily found. The air here is quite cool and pleasant, the crops too are most abundant. The fault of this castle, however, is that it must be garrisoned by a great company of troops, and that when the rightful sovereign [namely the Saljūq Sultan]¹ approaches to take possession thereof, the country folk will steal away [with the needful supplies and the forage]. The White Castle stands at a distance of 2 leagues from Nawbanjān, and below the castle there has been built a small fortress, but one that is well fortified, called Astāk. All round the White Castle there are many hunting-grounds among the hills, and within the castle limits there are numerous fine kiosks, and there is also a broad review ground.

Qal‘ah Sahārah.² —This stands on a great hill, which lies 4 leagues distant from Fīrūzābād. The castle was built by the Mas‘ūdī Kurds,³ and it is a very fine place. The climate is cold, the water excellent, and it lies surrounded by arable lands that are never let to go out of cultivation, for they are tilled by the Shabānkārah. It is indeed a great place, and all the year round corn is grown here.

Qal‘ah Kārzīn.¹ —This is a castle that is not so strongly fortified as some others. The climate here is very hot. It stands on the banks of the Thakān River, and they have constructed a syphon-tube, by which water from the river is brought up to the castle.

Qal‘āh Samīrān.² —This is a strong castle standing near by to Juwaym of Abū Aḥmad. The climate is hot, and their water is from cisterns.

Qal‘ah Khwādān, or Khwābdān.³ —A strong castle standing in the midst of many broad lands. The climate is temperate, and the water is from cisterns.

Qal‘ah Khurramah.⁴ —A well-fortified castle, standing among cultivated lands. The climate is temperate, and the water is from cisterns.

Qal‘ah Tīr-i-Khudā [the Castle of God’s Arrow].—This castle is near Khayrah,⁵ and it is a strong place, standing upon the summit of a high hill. It is for this reason that it is called God’s Arrow, for it cannot be taken in war. The climate is cold, and their water is from cisterns.

Qal‘ah Iṣṭakhr.⁶ —This is a very strong castle, for the which reason it has been given the name of Iṣṭakhr-Yār, “the Friend of Iṣṭakhr” to wit. Its climate is temperate, and for water they have springs here, also cisterns.

The Castles of Purg and Tārum.¹ —The castle at Purg is very great and strong, it cannot be taken in war. The castle of Tārum is not so strong as the other in regard to its fortifications. Both have a hot climate, and their water is from cisterns.

Qal‘ah Ranbah.² —This castle stands in the Ranbah Pass. It is a strongly built and well-fortified place, and the control of the city of Dārābjird belongs to him who holds this castle. The climate is excellent, and its water comes from springs and from cisterns. At the present time it is in the hands of the people of Kirmān.

Qal‘ah Gunbad Mallaghān.³ —This is a castle that could be held by one single armed man, so strongly fortified is it. Its climate is temperate, and water is plentiful in the cisterns. They keep here a store of corn sufficient for three or four years.

The Irāhistān Castles.⁴ —These are so numerous as to be beyond count, for in this district every village has its own fortress, perched either upon a rock or crowning a hill, or again built on the level ground. And in all times the climate hereabout is extremely hot.

The distances [along the high roads] all start from Shīrāz, because this is the central point in the province. From Shīrāz going towards the Iṣfahān frontier there are three main roads, namely, the way by Māyīn and Rūn, the way by Iṣṭakhr, and the way by Sumayram.

Of these, on the Māyīn and Rūn Road it is counted as 52 leagues from Shīrāz to Yazdikhwāst, the frontier stage between Fārs and the Iṣfahān District. The first stage is of 6 leagues, from Shīrāz to Dih Gurg in the Shīrāz District; the second stage is 6 leagues to the head of the Bridge over the River Kūr; the third stage is of 4 leagues to Māyīn; the fourth stage is of 6 leagues to Kūshk-i-Shahriyār in [the plain of] Dasht Rūn; the fifth stage is 6 leagues to Dih Bāsht in [the plain of] Dasht Ūrd; the sixth stage is 7 leagues to Kūshk-i-Zar, also of Dasht Ūrd; the seventh stage is of 7 leagues to Dih Gawz; and the eighth stage is of 10 leagues to Yazdikhwāst.¹

The road by Iṣṭakhr. This also comes out by Yazdikhwāst, and going by Iqlīd and Surmaq it is 69 leagues in length, being longer than [the Māyīn Road]; and this is the Winter Road, which is used when the other roads are impassable [from snow]. The first stage is of 7 leagues from Shīrāz to Zarqān, the second stage is 6 leagues to [Pādust or Pāvdast], the third stage 4 leagues to Iṣṭakhr, the fourth stage is of 6 leagues to Kamah, the fifth stage is 4 leagues to Kamhang, the sixth stage is of 8 leagues to Dīh Bīd, the seventh stage is 7 leagues to Dīh Pūland, the eighth stage is 7 leagues to Surmaq, the ninth stage is 5 leagues to Abādah, the tenth stage is 7 leagues to Shūristān, and the eleventh stage is 8 leagues to Yazdikhwāst.²

The road to Sumayram; and from Shīrāz to Sumayram it is 45 leagues. The first stage from Shīrāz is of 5 leagues to Juwaym, the second stage, on to Bayḍā, is 3 leagues, the third stage is 4 leagues to Ṭūr, the fourth stage is of 5 leagues to Tīr Māyijān of Kāmfīrūz, the fifth stage is 4 leagues to Jarmaq, the sixth stage is 4 leagues to Kūrad: the seventh stage is 5 leagues to Kallār, the eighth stage is 7 leagues to Dīh Tarsaān, and the ninth stage is 8 leagues to Sumayram.¹

From Shīrāz to the province of Kirmān there are three main roads, namely, the Rūdān Road, the Shīrjān Road, and the road by Purg to Tārum.

The Rūdān Road; and from Shīrāz to Rūdān it is 75 leagues. The first stage is in 10 leagues to the head of the Dam built by ‘Aḍud-ad-Dawlah, the second stage is in 10 leagues to the village of Khuvār, the third stage is 10 leagues to Abādah, the fourth stage is 6 leagues to Dih Mūrd, the fifth stage is 7 leagues to Ṣāhah, the sixth stage is 11 leagues to Rādhān, the seventh stage is 7 leagues to Shahr-i-Bābak, the eighth stage is 7 leagues to Mashra‘ah Ibrāhīmī, and the ninth stage is 7 leagues to Rūdān.²

The Shīrjān Road; and from Shīrāz to Shīrjān is 80 leagues. The first stage is in 4 leagues to Dih Būdan, the second stage is 3 leagues to the two villages of Dāriyān, the third stage is 7 leagues to Khurramah, the fourth stage is 6 leagues to Kath [or Kisht], the fifth stage is 7 leagues to Khayrah, the sixth stage is 9 leagues to Nayrīz, the seventh stage is 7 leagues to Quṭruh, the eighth stage is 7 leagues to Mashra‘ah, the ninth stage is 5 leagues to Parbāl [or Parbāk], the tenth and eleventh stages are together 15 leagues to Mashra‘ah Muhaffafah [“the Passage of the Mirage”], and the twelfth stage is of 10 leagues to the border of the stony [or salt] plain of Shīrjān.¹

The road by Purg to Tārum; and from Shīrāz to this last it is 70 leagues. The first stage is in 6 leagues to Māhalūyah, the second stage is 9 leagues to Sarvistān, the third stage is of 9 leagues to the village of Kurm, the fourth stage is in 5 leagues to Pasā, the fifth stage is 7 leagues to the village of Fustajān, the sixth stage is in 4 leagues to the frontier of the Dārābjird District, the seventh stage is in 6 leagues to Dārābjird, the eighth stage is in 6 leagues to Rustāq-ar-Rustāq, the ninth stage is 12 leagues to Purg, and the tenth stage is 10 leagues to Tārum.²

From Shīrāz to the frontier of the Khūzistān province is 62 leagues. The first stage [from Shīrāz] is to Juwaym in 5 leagues, the second stage is 5 leagues to Khullār, the third stage is 5 leagues to Kharrārah, the fourth stage is 4 leagues to Dih Gawz of Tīr Murdān, the fifth stage is 3 leagues to Kūsjān, the sixth stage is 3 leagues to Nawbanjān, the seventh stage is 4 leagues to Khwābdān, the eighth stage is 6 leagues to Kishn, the ninth stage is 5 leagues to Gunbad Mallaghān, the tenth stage is 4 leagues to Ṣāhah, the eleventh stage is of 4 leagues to Ḥabs, the twelfth stage is of 6 leagues to Furzuk, the thirteenth stage is 4 leagues to Arrajān, and the fourteenth stage is of 4 leagues to Būstānak.¹

From Shīrāz. to the coast towns (Sāḥiliyyāt), namely, Jannābā, Sīnīz, and to Mahrūbān, it is 62 leagues. The first stage [from Shīrāz] is 4 leagues to Juzḥīrkān [or Jūḥīrkān], the second stage is 6 leagues to Dasht Arzān, the third stage is 10 leagues to Kāzirūn, the fourth stage is 9 leagues to Khisht, the fifth stage is of 7 leagues to Tawwaj, the sixth stage is 4 leagues to Dīh Mālik, the seventh and eighth stages are 10 leagues to Jannābā, the ninth stage is 6 leagues to Sīnīz, and the tenth stage is 6 leagues to Mahrūbān.²

From Shīrāz to the coast districts (A‘māl-i-Sīf), being 39 leagues. The first stage [from Shīrāz] is in 7 leagues to Māṣaram, the second stage is 6 leagues to the Sittajān river-bed, the third stage is 3 leagues to Jirrah, the fourth stage is 4 leagues to Ghundijān, the fifth stage is 6 leagues to Rawā-adh-Dhīwān, the sixth stage is in 6 leagues to Tawwaj, the seventh stage is 7 leagues to the coast.¹

From Shīrāz to Najīram, which is 65 leagues. The first four stages [from Shīrāz] to Ghundijān are in total 20 leagues by the road that has just been given. Then the fifth stage is in 7 leagues to Būshtakān, the sixth stage is in 5 leagues to Būshkānāt, the seventh stage is in 10 leagues to the village of Shanānā, the eighth stage is in 8 leagues to [the beginning of] Māndistān, the ninth stage is 7 leagues to the further limit of Māndistān, and the tenth stage is 8 leagues to Najīram.²

From Shīrāz to Sīrāf by way of Fīrūzābād it is 86 leagues. From Shīrāz the first stage is of 5 leagues to Kafrah,³ the second stage is 5 leagues to Kuvār, the third stage is 5 leagues to Khunayfqān, the fourth stage is 5 leagues to Fīrūzābād, the fifth stage is 8 leagues to Ṣimkān, the sixth stage is 7 leagues to Habrak [or Hīrak], the seventh stage is 5 leagues to Kārzīn, the eighth stage is of 8 leagues to Lāghir, the ninth stage is 8 leagues to Kurān, the tenth stage is of four days’ march from Kurān to Sīrāf, this being of 30 leagues.

From Shīrāz to Yazd it is 60 leagues. The first stage is to Zarqān, in 6 leagues; the second stage [is of 6 leagues to Pādust, and thence on to Iṣṭakhr it is 4 leagues];⁴ the third stage is of 6 leagues to [Kamah], the fourth stage is of 4 leagues to Kamhang, the fifth stage is of 4 leagues to Dīh Bīd, the sixth stage is of 12 leagues to Abarqūyah, the seventh stage is of 5 leagues to Dih Shīr, the eighth stage is of 4 leagues to Tūmarah Bastar [or Tūfarah Basb], and the ninth stage is of 9 leagues to Yazd.¹

[Ibn-al-Balkhī next relates the history of the Shabānkārah and of the Kurdish Ramms, with a short discussion of the characteristics of the Persians from the point of view of their government. These sections have already been given in epitome in the Introduction. After which follows a succinct account (fols. 89b-90b) of the revenues of Fārs, which needs to be translated in full; and then the MS. closes with the long paragraph, epitomized in the Introduction, relating the closing years of the last of the Buyids.]

In the Histories it is reported that in the days of the early Persian [Sassanian] kings and until the reign of Chosroes Anūshirvān the revenue of these provinces was assessed at one-third or one-fourth or one-fifth of the crop, according to its abundance, and this custom of Fārs was similar to that in usage in other parts of the kingdom. When, however, Anūshirvān established his land-tax (kharāj) in all his kingdoms, the land-tax of Fārs amounted to 36 million [silver] dirhams, equivalent to 3 million [gold] dīnārs.² In the early days of Islām, after Fārs had been conquered [by the Arabs], for a time there was nothing but massacre and pillage and all things were taken by force, but at length matters quieted down, and the ruin and disorder that had overspread the land began to be amended. Then finally, in the reign of the Caliph ‘Abd-al-Malik, Hajjāj [Viceroy of ‘Iraq] dispatched his brother Muḥammad to be Governor of Fārs, who founded Shīrāz and built many towns throughout the province; at this time the total revenue from the customs¹ of Fārs, which included the one-tenth on the sea ships, amounted in all to three million dirhams. Next, in the geography of Qudāmah² it is stated that the land-tax of Fārs in the reign of Hārūn-ar-Rashīd was registered at two million dīnārs. Then during the troubles of the reign of Amīn, with the massacre of the people and the disorders, all the registers were carried off and burnt; but as soon as Māmūn found himself firmly established in the Caliphate he ordered new assessments to be drawn up, when it was established that the total of the revenue of the provinces of Fārs, Kirmān, and ‘Omān was to amount to 2,600,000 dīnārs. This assessment was effected in the year 200 (815). Next, in the reign of the Caliph Muqtadir [295 to 320 (908 to 932) the Wazīr] ‘Alī ibn ‘Īsā made a [new] general assessment, and the copy of the portion relating to Fārs, with which province Kirmān was also reckoned, is as follows: The total revenue of Fārs, Kirmān, and ‘Omān, in regard to the yearly receipts from the customs, amounted to 2,331,880 red gold dīnārs. Of this total the portion paid over by Fārs with its dependencies, including the customs collected at [the port of] Sīrāf and the one-tenth levied on the sea-shipping, amounted to 1,887,500 dīnārs. And of this last total Fārs with its dependencies, excluding the Sīrāf customs, paid in 1,634,500 dīnārs, while Sīrāf, with the one-tenth levied on the sea ships, paid 253,000 dīnārs.

[Of the grand total first given] Kirmān and ‘Omān together paid 444,380³ dīnārs, but of this sum Kirmān with its dependencies contributed only 364,380, this being reckoned as excluding the revenues of [the towns of] Fahl and Fahraj, and also not counting the [revenue of] districts collected in the name of individual Amīrs by their agents, and further not including the revenues set aside for the two sanctuaries [of Mecca and Medina] and which Mūnis the chamberlain [of the Caliph Muqtadir] was responsible for collecting. [The sum therefore above given is] the net remainder which is paid over to the Divān. But taking the places in ‘Omān by themselves, these paid 80,000 dīnārs.

In [early] times the Amīrs [of Fārs] called themselves the Sons of the Caliph, for none would call himself merely Amīr. Further, they had seized, on their own behalf, upon much property that of right belonged to the State, and this mostly by force of arms; then those parcels of land which had now come to belong to them were ever afterwards reckoned to be their own fiefs, those who had come into possession taking for themselves the revenues, though before these had all belonged to the State. At the time when ‘Aḍud-ad-Dawlah came to power he made buildings [and constructions] without number, such as dams [on the rivers for irrigation which watered] the lands he brought under cultivation. Wherefore in his days the sum-total of the revenues of Fārs, Kirmān, and ‘Omān, including the one-tenth derived from the seaports at Sīrāf and Mahrūbān, amounted to 3,346,000 dīnārs. Of this sum Fārs, with the one-tenth levied on the ships which sailed from Sīrāf and Mahrūbān, paid 2,150,000 dīnārs; while from Shīrāz and [the new suburb of] Gird Fanā Khusrū came 316,000 dīnārs. Then Kirmān with [the port of] Tīz and its districts gave 750,000 dīnārs; while the towns in ‘Omān, not including Fara‘,¹ paid in 130,000 dīnārs.