Abīward (Bāward), was a medieval Iranian city in northern Khurāsān on the northern slopes of the Hizār Masjid mountain range, stretching towards the Qarāqum desert. The ruins of this ancient town are now in the Republic of Turkmenistan, about 8 km west of the Trans-Caspian railway station of Qahqaha on the road from ʿIshqābād to Marw (Bosworth, 218). Beyond the old town of Abīward lies another village, which was also called Abīward in the past and is now known as Pishtak (Bartol'd, 3/130).

In early texts the name Abīward is written with a long front vowel /ē/ (Abēward) (see Marquart, Ērānšahr,…