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title given to various dynastic rulers of Ḵᵛārazm (see CHORASMIA).KHWARAZMSHAH i. AFRIGHIDS See ĀL-E AFRIḠ. KHWARAZMSHAH ii. MAʾMUNIDS See ĀL-E MAʾMUN. KHWARAZMSHAH iii. LINE OF ANUŠTIGIN After the Saljuq takeover in Khwarazm in the early 1040s, the Saljuq Sultans appointed various governors in the province, including Alp Arslān’s (r. 1063-72) son Arslān Arḡun, a son of the vizier Neẓām-al-Molk (1018-92), and several Turkish ḡolām commanders (see BARDA AND BARDADĀRI). One of these last was Anuštigin Ḡarčaʾi, Malek Šāh’s (r. 1073-92) ṭaštdār, or keeper of the royal washing b…

Nishapur (Nišāpur) was, with Balḵ, Marv and Herat, one of the four great cities of the province of Khorasan. It flourished in Sasanid and early Islamic times, but after the devastations of the Mongol invasions of the 13th century, subsided into a more modest role until it revived in the 20th century. i. Historical Geography and History to the Beginning of the 20th CenturyNishapur (Nišāpur) was, with Balḵ, Marv and Herat, one of the four great cities of the province of Khorasan. It flourished in Sasanid and early Islamic times, but after the devastations of …

sect of early Islam which arose out of the conflict between ʿAli b. Abi Ṭāleb (r. 656-61) and Moʿāwiya b. Abi Sufyān (r. 661-80). A version of this article is available in print Volume XVI, Fascicle 4, pp. 434-435 KHARIJITES IN PERSIA, adherents of a sect of early Islam that arose out of the conflict between ʿAli b. Abi Ṭāleb (q.v.; r. 35-40/656-61) and Moʿāwiya b. Abi Sofyān (r. 41-60/661-80), the fourth and the fifth caliph respectively, when their opposing armies met at Ṣeffin in 37/657. An intransigent element in ʿAli’s forces withdrew its allegiance (Ar. ḵaraja, ‘to leave’) when he ag…

region on the lower reaches of the Oxus (Amu Darya) in western Central Asia.A version of this article is available in printVolume V, Fascicle 5, pp. 511-520 CHORASMIA (Gk. Chorasmiē < OPers. (H)uwārazmiš, Av. Xᵛāirizəm, later Ḵᵛārazm [Khwārazm], generally derived from * hwāra-zam/zmī-, either “nourishing land” [Burnouf, p. cviii; Sachau, p. 473; Geiger, p. 29;  Pauly-Wissowa III/2, cols. 2406-8] or “lowland” [Lerch, p. 447; Veselovskiĭ, p. v; Kiepert, no. 60; MacKenzie,  Camb. Hist. Iran III/2, p. 1244; Bogolyubov, p. 370, has suggested “land with good cattle enclo…

(or Ebn Pūlād), military adventurer, probably of Daylamī origin, active in northern Persia during the Buyid period (early 11th century) and typical of the soldiers of fortune characterizing the “Daylamī intermezzo” of medieval Persian history. A version of this article is available in print Volume VIII, Fascicle 1, pp. 26-27 EBN FŪLĀD (or Ebn Pūlād), military adventurer, probably of Daylamī origin, active in northern Persia during the Buyid period (early 5th/11th century) and typical of the soldiers of fortune characterizing the “Daylamī interme…

b. Ebrāhīm KORDĪ, ABŪ SĀLEM, Kurdish commander who ruled sporadically in Azerbaijan between 938 and 955 after the period of Sajid domination there. A version of this article is available in print Volume VII, Fascicle 2, pp. 172-173 DAYSAM b. Ebrāhīm KORDĪ, ABŪ SĀLEM, Kurdish commander who ruled sporadically in Azerbaijan between 326/938 and 344/955 after the period of Sajid domination there. Daysam is described as the son of a Kurdish mother and an Arab father who had been a partisan of the Kharijite Hārūn Wāzeqī at Mosul during the caliphate of al-Moʿtaże…

or Böritigin, name of a Turkish commander in Ḡazna and of the ruler of the western branch of the Qarakhanid dynasty of Transoxania. A version of this article is available in print Volume IV, Fascicle 4, pp. 372 BÖRI, or Böritigin (Turkish böri “wolf” plus tigin “prince”; cf. G. Clauson, Etymological Dictionary of Pre-Thirteenth Century Turkish, Oxford, 1972, pp. 356, 483). 1. The name of a Turkish commander in Ḡazna (the name is written in Arabic sources Bīrī, Bīrītekīn, in the Persian ones Pīrī, Pīrītegīn). After the death in battle at Gardīz in 364/974-…

the name given in medieval Arabic literature to the non-Arabs of the Islamic empire, but applied especially to the Persians. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 7, pp. 700-701 ʿAJAM, the name given in medieval Arabic literature to the non-Arabs of the Islamic empire, but applied especially to the Persians. In origin, the verb ʿaǰama simply means “to speak indistinctly, to mumble;” hence ʿAǰam or ʿOǰm are “the indistinct speakers,” sc. the non-Arabs. The Arabic lexica state at the outset that ʿaǰama is the antonym of ʿaraba “to speak clearly,” so that ʿoǰma beco…

(“The book of the long historical narratives”), title of a historical work by the Persian writer of ʿAbbasid times Abū Ḥanīfa Aḥmad b. Dāwūd b. Wanand Dīnavarī. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 7, pp. 715-716 AḴBĀR AL- ṬEWĀL, KETĀB AL- (“The book of the long historical narratives”), title of a historical work by the Persian writer of ʿAbbasid times Abū Ḥanīfa Aḥmad b. Dāwūd b. Wanand Dīnavarī, d. ca. 282/894-95 or, at the latest, by 290/902-3. Although very few of his numerous works have survived (the best-known, apart from this, being his Ketāb al-nabāt, a ph…

a town on the Caspian shore in the southwest of the modern province of Māzandarān, medieval Ṭabarestān. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 9, pp. 980-982 i. History In classical times, Āmol (Old Pers. *Āmṛda) fell within the province of Hyrcania, and in Alexander the Great’s time it was the home of the Mardoi or Amardoi, possibly a people of the pre-Iranian substratum, who were subjugated by the Parthian king Phraates I ca. 176 B.C. In the Sasanian period, Kavād’s eldest son Kāvūs was made ruler o…

a town of Central Asia, in early Islamic times the main settlement of the region known as Yeti-su or Semirechye “the land of the seven rivers,” now mainly within the eastern part of the Republic of Kazakhstan. A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 6, pp. 582-583 BALĀSĀḠŪN, a town of Central Asia, in early Islamic times the main settlement of the region known as Yeti-su or Semirechye “the land of the seven rivers,” now coming mainly within the eastern part of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The exact site of Balāsāḡūn is…

(Ar. Šāš), the name of a district and of a town in medieval Transoxania; the name of the town was gradually supplanted by that of Tashkent from late Saljuq and Mongol times onwards. A version of this article is available in print Volume IV, Fascicle 6, pp. 604-605 ČĀČ (Ar. Šāš), the name of a district and of a town in medieval Transoxania; the name of the town was gradually supplanted by that of Tashkent (q.v.) from late Saljuq and Mongol times onwards. The pre-Mongol period. The province of Čāč lay on the right bank of the Syr Darya or Jaxartes, with those of Īlāq to its south …

town situated three miles from the left bank of the Oxus river (Āmū Daryā). A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 9, pp. 982-983 ĀMOL (ĀMŪYA), a town situated in 39°5’ north latitude and 63°41 ° east longitude, one farsaḵ or three miles from the left bank of the Oxus river (Āmū Daryā). In medieval Islamic times it fell administratively within the province of Khorasan; today it is Čārǰūy/Čardzou (“Four irrigation canals”), one of the main towns of the Turkmenistan S. S. R. Although surrounded by desert, Āmol ma…

scholastic theologian (motakallem) and founder of the theological school of the Ašʿarīya. A version of this article is available in print Volume II, Fascicle 7, pp. 702-703 AŠʿARĪ, ABU’L-ḤASAN ʿALĪ B. ESMĀʿĪL B. ESḤĀQ, scholastic theologian ( motakallem) and founder of the theological school of the Ašʿarīya or Ašāʿera (ca. 260/874 to 324/936). He was born in Baṣra, a descendant of the famous companion of the Prophet and arbitrator at Ṣeffīn for ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭāleb, Abū Mūsā Ašʿarī, and for the first forty years of his life he was a zealous supporter…

a short-lived Iranian dynasty which ruled in the eastern Persian province of Kermān during the 4th/10th century. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 7, pp. 754-756 ĀL-E ELYĀS, a short-lived Iranian dynasty which ruled in the eastern Persian province of Kermān during the 4th/10th century. The founder of the family’s fortunes, Abū ʿAlī Moḥammad b. Elyās, was apparently of Sogdian origin; the family always retained estates in Soḡd. He started his career in the army of the Samanid amir Naṣr II b. Aḥma…

(d. 448/1056), intelligence officer in Khorasan under the early Ghaznavids. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 9, pp. 972 AMĪRAK BAYHAQĪ, ABU’L-ḤASAN AḤMAD B. MOḤAMMAD ʿANBARĪ (d. 448/1056), intelligence officer ( ṣāḥeb-barīd) in Khorasan under the early Ghaznavids. He stemmed from a prominent Bayhaq family of scholars and officials, the ʿAnbarīān (q.v.), who had shortly before produced the poet and vizier Abu’l-ʿAbbās ʿAnbarī. Abu’l-Ḥasan was a landowner in Bayhaq, where he built a madrasa; his main claim to fame was that he acted as castel…

An Arabic chronicle on the history of the Great Saljuq dynasty in Iran and Iraq. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 7, pp. 712-713 AḴBĀR AL- DAWLAT AL- SALJŪQĪYA, an Arabic chronicle on the history of the Great Saljuq dynasty in Iran and Iraq, conventionally ascribed to the person mentioned at the head of the work as “al-Amīr al-Sayyed al-Emām al-Aǰall al-Kabīr Ṣadr-al-dīn Abu’l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. al-Sayyed al-Aǰall al-Emām al-Šahīd Abu’l-Fawāres Nāṣer b. ʿAlī al-Ḥosaynī;” this same heading names the work itself as the Zobdat al-tawārīḵ aḵbār al-omarāʾ wa’l…

a celebrated geographical work in Arabic written towards the end of the 4th/10th century. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 7, pp. 679-680 AḤSAN AL- TAQĀSĪM FĪ MAʿREFAT AL-AQĀLĪM, a celebrated geographical work in Arabic written towards the end of the 4th/10th century by Šams-al-dīn Abū ʿAbdallāh Moḥammad b. Aḥmad b. Abī Bakr al-Bannāʾ al-Šāmī al-Maqdesī al-Baššārī (thus named in one of the two surviving principal manuscripts of his work). The form al-Maqdesī is preferable to al-Moqaddesī; in Samʿānī’s Ketāb al-ansāb (Leiden, fol. 539b), we find o…

Turkish name associated with personalities before and during the Ghaznavid period. A version of this article is available in print Volume IV, Fascicle 3, pp. 254-255 BILGETIGIN (Turkish bilge “wise man, counselor,” an element found in the onomastic of the Orkhon inscriptions, e.g., Bilge Kaḡan, plus tigin “prince”; cf. Clauson, Etymological Dictionary of Pre-Thirteenth Century Turkish, Oxford, 1972, pp. 340, 483), in the sources written Belkātekīn. 1. The name of a Turkish governor in Ḡazna in the years before the assumption of power there by Sebüktigin (q.v.)…

a town and district in Khorasan. i. The town and district. ii. History. The town (1976: 47,719 inhabitants; lat 37°29’ N, long 57°17’ E) is situated at the foot of the Ālādāḡ. A version of this article is available in print Volume IV, Fascicle 3, pp. 326-327 BOJNŪRD, a town and district in Khorasan. i. The Town and District The town of Bojnūrd (1976: 47,719 inhabitants), situated at 37°29’ north latitude and 57°17’ east longitude at the foot of the Ālādāḡ (q.v.) and in the center of the Khorasan trench, is of relatively recent origin. Possibly founded b…

“country of the Balās,” designating a region located for the most part south of the lower course of the rivers Kor (Kura) and the Aras (Araxes), bordered on the south by Atropatene and on the east by the Caspian Sea. i. In pre-Islamic times. ii. In Islamic times.A version of this article is available in printVolume III, Fascicle 6, pp. 580-582i. In Pre-Islamic Times The country and its inhabitants. The heart of this country was the dašt i-Bałasakan “Balāsagān plain,” which the Armenian Geography of Pseudo-Moses of Khorene (Adontz, p. 124*) places in Albania and which is …

(d. Khorasan 999), Turkish eunuch and slave commander of the Samanid army in Transoxania and Khorasan during the closing decades of that dynasty’s power. A version of this article is available in print Volume IX, Fascicle 2, pp. 156 FĀʾEQ ḴĀṢṢA, ABU’L-ḤASAN (d. Khorasan 389/999), Turkish eunuch and slave commander of the Samanid army in Transoxania and Khorasan during the closing decades of that dynasty’s power. Except that he was part of the Samanid amirs’ slave guard nothing is known of Fāʾeq’s antecedents, but at the beginning of the reign of the minor Nūḥ …

B. MOḤAMMAD QOMĪ (d. 1099), mostawfī or financial intendant to the Saljuq sultan Berk-yaruq (Barkīāroq) b. Malekšāh and then vizier. A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 6, pp. 583 BALĀSĀNĪ, MAJD-AL- MOLK ABUʾL- FAŻL ASʿAD B. MOḤAMMAD QOMĪ, mostawfī or financial intendant to the Saljuq sultan Berk-yaruq (Barkīāroq) b. Malekšāh in the early years of the latter’s reign and then, from 490/1097 until his death in 492/1099, vizier to that monarch. The nesba also appears in the form Barāvestānī, from the name of a village in the region of Qom. Majd-al-Molk had been m…

or ḴᵛĪŠĀVAND, ZAʿĪM-AL-ḤOJJĀB, Turkish military commander of the early Ghaznavids Maḥmūd, Moḥammad and Masʿūd I. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 8, pp. 872 ʿALĪ B. IL-ARSLAN QARĪB or ḴᵛĪŠĀVAND, ZAʿĪM-AL-ḤOJJĀB, Turkish military commander of the early Ghaznavids Maḥmūd, Moḥammad and Masʿūd I, and a dominant figure in the disputes over the succession at Maḥmūd’s death in 421/1030. Under Sultan Maḥmūd, ʿAlī had been commander-in-chief ( ḥāǰeb-e bozorg, al-ḥāǰeb al-kabīr) of the army; the designation qarīb/ḵᵛīšāvand “kinsman” may denote actual …

ṢAFFĀRĪ, military commander and second ruler of the Saffarid dynasty of Sīstān (r. 879-900). A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 9, pp. 9990-991 ʿAMR B. LAYṮ ṢAFFĀRĪ, military commander and second ruler of the Saffarid dynasty of Sīstān (r. 265-87/879-900). Though of humble birth, the four Saffarid brothers from the Sīstān countryside were able to further their military ambitions by joining the ʿayyār bands that had originally arisen there to combat the local Ḵawāreǰ sectaries. While Yaʿqūb b. Layṯ was building up in Afghanistan an…

4th-5th/10th-11th century poet and prose stylist of Khorasan and statesman in the service of the Qarakhanids. A version of this article is available in print Volume II, Fascicle 1, pp. 6 ʿANBARĪ, ABU’L-ʿABBĀS ESMĀʿĪL B. ʿALĪ B. AL-ṬAYYEB, 4th-5th/10th-11th century poet and prose stylist of Khorasan and statesman in the service of the Qarakhanids. He stemmed from an important family of Bayhaq of Arab origin, the ʿAnbarīān (q.v.), from whom had originated many scholars and traditionists (see the section on them in Ebn Fondoq, Tārīḵ-e Bayhaq, ed. A. Bahmanyār, Tehran, 1317 Š./1938,…

This series of articles covers Central Asia. A version of this article is available in print Volume V, Fascicle 2, pp. 159 CENTRAL ASIA (See also Archeology v, vii; Architecture iv; Art in Iran vi, viii.) CENTRAL ASIA i. Geographical Survey The central expanse of the Asian continent, the land mass situated approximately between 55° and 115° E and 25° and 50° N, comprises two geographically distinct areas. The western part includes the Transcaspian plains and the low tablelands between the Aral Sea and the Tien Shan (lit. “heavenly moun…

a Turkish commander who controlled the town of Bost in southern Afghanistan during the middle years of the 10th century. A version of this article is available in print Volume IV, Fascicle 1, pp. 14 BAYTUZ, a Turkish commander who controlled the town of Bost in southern Afghanistan during the middle years of the 4th/10th century. Turkish control of the town dated from the time when the Samanid slave ( ḡolām) commander Qaratigin Esfījābī had withdrawn to Bost and the adjacent region of Roḵḵaj (at some time before his death in 317/929) where his followers apparently…

b. Manṣūr (d. Ahvā, 1074), vizier to the ʿAbbasid caliph al-Qāʾem from 9 May 1061 to 9 December 1062. A version of this article is available in print Volume VIII, Fascicle 1, pp. 11-12 EBN DĀROST, MAJD-AL- WOZARĀʾ MOḤAMMAD b. Manṣūr (d. Ahvā, 467/1074), vizier to the ʿAbbasid caliph al-Qāʾem from 15 Rabīʿ II 453/9 May 1061 to 4 Ḏu’l-ḥejja 454/9 December 1062. He seems to have been a native of Fārs, where he had been a wealthy merchant connected with the Buyid Abū Kālījār Marzbān. With the arrival of the Saljuqs in Iraq, the caliph w…

a baḵš and its town on the southern fringes of the Dašt-e Kavīr.A version of this article is available in printVolume II, Fascicle 1, pp. 2 ANĀRAK, a baḵš and its town on the southern fringes of the Dašt-e Kavīr (33° 20’ north latitude and 53° 35’ east longitude). It lies in a basin fifty miles northeast of Nāʾīn and seventy-seven miles north of Ardestān, with the low range of the Kūh-e Āšīn to its southwest. It does not seem to be mentioned by the classical Arabic and Persian geographers. Qanāts provide irrigation for a certain amount of cereal cultivation, and carpet weaving is a l…

or ESFARĀʾĪN; a district, and in pre-modern Islamic times, a town, of northwestern Khorasan. A version of this article is available in print Volume VIII, Fascicle 6, pp. 595 ESFARĀYEN, ESFARĀʾĪN ( Ḥodūd al-ʿālam, tr. Minorsky, pp. 64, 102, has “*Siparāyin” [Sabarāyen], possibly influenced by a popular etymology given, e.g. by Yāqūt, Boldān (Beirut), I, p. 177 “shield bearers”), a district, and in pre-modern Islamic times, a town, of northwestern Khorasan. It lay on the northern edge of the long plain stretching from Gorgān and modern Šāhrūd in th…

ROKN-AL-DĪN ABU’L-MOẒAFFAR B. MALEKŠĀH, Great Saljuq sultan (r. 1092-1105); his reign conventionꏂally marks the opening stages of the decline of Great Saljuq unity. A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 8, pp. 800-801 BARKĪĀROQ, ROKN-AL-DĪN ABU’L-MOẒAFFAR B. MALEKŠĀH, Great Saljuq sultan (r. 485-98/1092-1105). Barkīāroq (properly, Berk-yaruq, Tk. “firm, strong brightness,” see Clauson, An Etymological Dictionary of Pre-Thirteenth Century Turkish, pp. 361-62, 761-63) was the eldest of Malekšāh’s sons, but still only thirteen on…

the title of a geographical work composed in Arabic during the 7th/13th century by the Persian scholar Abū Yaḥyā Zakarīyāʾ b. Moḥammad Qazvīnī. A version of this article is available in print Volume II, Fascicle 8, pp. 909-911 ĀṮĀR AL- BELĀD, the title of a geographical wo…

Turkish slave commander of the Ghaznavid sultans and governor in Ḵᵛārazm (408-23/1017-32). A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 9, pp. 914-915 ALTUNTAŠ (ĀLTŪNTAŠ) ḤĀJEB, ABŪ SAʿĪD, Turkish slave commander of the Ghaznavid sultans and governor in Ḵᵛārazm (408-23/1017-32). He began his career under Sebüktigin, founder of the Ghaznavid dynasty, and under his son Maḥmūd was a leading general. He commanded the right wing of the forces in the battle near Balk in 398/1008 between Maḥmūd and the invading Qarakhanids under the ilig Naṣr b. ʿAlī. In 401/1010-11, he is mentioned as governor of Herat. In 408/1017 he accompanied Maḥmūd when the latter invaded Ḵᵛārazm ostensibly to avenge his brother-in-law, the Ḵᵛārazmšāh Maʾmūn b. Maʾmūn, but in reality to annex Ḵᵛārazm to his empire. Once Ḵᵛārazm was secured for the Ghaznavids, Altuntaš was appointed governor with the ancient title of Ḵᵛārazmšāh. During his fifteen years’ governorship, he always remained faithful to the sultan and defended the frontiers of his province agai…

also known under her married surname of Bishop (1831-1904), British traveler in western Iran and Kurdistan during the late Victorian period. A version of this article is available in print Volume IV, Fascicle 3, pp. 264-265 BIRD, ISABELLA L., also known under her married surname of Bishop (1831-1904), British traveler in western Iran and Kurdistan during the late Victorian period. Coming from a line of Warwickshire gentry with strong links with the East India Company and the Anglican Church, Isabella inherited a firm Evangelical Christian faith plus a strong humanitarian strain, doubtless strengthened by her family’s links with the Wilberforce family, which had been active in the agitation against the slave trade in ea…

the name of a family of spiritual and civic leaders in Bokhara during the 6th/12th and early 7th/13th centuries. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 7, pp. 753-754 ĀL-E BORHĀN, the name of a family of spiritual and civic leaders in Bokhara during the 6th/12th and early 7th/13th centuries; stemming from Marv, they were so called because virtually all of them seem to have had the …

nesba (attributive name) for Dargazīn (or Darjazīn), borne by several viziers of the Great Saljuqs in the 12th century. A version of this article is available in print…

early 10th-century military leader during the period of Samanid expansion. A version of this article is available in print Volume II, Fascicle 7, pp. 747-748 ASFĀR B. ŠĪRŪYA (Asfār is a local Caspian form of Mid. Pers. aswār, NPers. savār “rider, cavalryman;” Justi, Namenbuch, p. 46), a military leader from Lāhīǰān in Gīlān. In the early decades of the 4th/10th century, after the breakdown of caliphal control in northwestern Persia, he carved out a momentary share of power in Ṭabarestān, Daylam, and the regions along the …

lit. “keeper, bearer of [the royal] inkwell or inkstand”; title of various officials in medieval Islamic states. A version of this article is available in print Volume VII, Fascicle 2, pp. 136 DAWĀ(T)DĀR (lit., “keeper, bearer of [the royal] inkwell or inkstand”), title of various officials in medieval Islamic states. At an early stage in the development of the vizierate under the ʿAbbasid caliphs the vizier bore an inkstand ( dawāt) as emblem of his office; it was usually suspended from the wrist on a chain and carried in a slee…

b. Būya b. Fanā-Ḵosrow, the eldest of three brothers who came to power in western Persia during the tenth century as military adventurers and founded the Buyid dynasty. A version of this article is available in print Volume VIII, Fascicle 4, pp. 376-377…

…

town in in the medieval Islamic province of Farḡāna, modern Russian Andizhan, in the easternmost part of the in the easternmost part of Uzbekistan. A version of this article is available in print Volume II, Fascicle 1, pp. 24-25 ANDEJĀN, town in the medieval Islamic province of Farḡāna, modern Russian Andizhan, in the easternmost part of the Uzbekistan SSR (latitude 40° 43’ north and longitude 72° 25’ east). It lies in the fertile valley of Farḡāna, below the upper reaches of the Jaxartes (Syr Darya). It was apparently of little importance in early Islamic times: in any case Farḡāna was not brought under Muslim control until the 3rd/9th century. The geogr…

b. Fażl, a client (mawlā) and governor of Sīstān 815-19. A version of this article is available in print Volume VIII, Fascicle 1, pp. 43 EBN MORSAL…

(“The correct usages of war and bravery”), a treatise in a straightforward Persian prose style in the “Mirror for Princes” genre, written by Faḵr-al-dīn Moḥammad b. Manṣūr Mobārakšāh, called Faḵr-e Modabber. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 4, pp. 445 ĀDĀB AL-ḤARB WA’L-ŠAJĀʿA (“The correct usages of war and bravery”), a treatise in a straightforward Persian prose style in the “Mirror for Princes” genre, written by Faḵr-al-dīn Moḥammad b. Manṣūr Mobārakšāh, called Faḵr-e Modabber. He flourished in the late 6th…

(“The marvels of created things”), the name of a genre of classical Islamic literature and, in particular, of a work by Zakarīyāʾ b. Moḥammad Qazvīnī.A version of this article is available in printVolume I, Fascicle 7, pp. 696-699i. Arabic WorksWorks of this sort form part of a general interest by Muslim scholars in the monuments and buildings of classical antiquity, whether of anci…

b. Vošmgīr, ẒAHĪR-AL-DAWLA, Ziyarid amir in Ṭabarestān and Gorgān (r. 967-78). Much of his reign was spent in fending off Samanid claims to sovereignty over the Caspian provinces. A version of this article is available in print Volume IV, Fascicle 3, pp. 305-306 BĪSOTŪN, ẒAHĪR-AL-DAWLA ABŪ MANṢŪR b. Vošmgīr, the Ziyarid amir in Ṭabarestān and Gorgān (r. 357-67/967-78, not 356-66 as in Zambaur, pp. 210-11). The date of his father Vošmgīr’s (q.v.) death in a hunting accident is given by Ebn Meskawayh, Tajāreb II, p. 233, tr., V, p. 247, as 1 Moḥarram 357/7 December 967, and his own death at Astarābād by Gardīzī, ed. Nazim, p. 46, as falling in Rajab, 367/February-March…

A version of this article is available in printVolume VI, Fascicle 4, pp. 356-388COURTS AND COURTIERS i. In the Median and Achaemenid periodsAvailable information on the Median and Achaemenid imperial courts is very limited and not entirely reliable. From Herodotus’ report (1.114) of the child Cyrus’ playing at being king it seems that the Median court included bodyguards, messengers, the “king’s eye” (a kind of secret agent; see below), and builders, for it is likely that the game was modeled on the existing court (…

(or Bāhalīm), military commanders and governors in northern India under the later Ghaznavid sultans in the late 5th/11th and early 6th/12th centuries. A version of this article is available in print Volume IV, Fascicle 5, pp. 489 BŪ ḤALĪM (or Bāhalīm) ŠAYBĀNĪ, a family of military commanders and governors in northern India under the later Ghaznavid sultans in the late 5th/11th and early 6th/12th centuries. The …

Čaḡānīrūd in Farroḵī, the seventh and last right-bank tributary of the Oxus or Amu Darya. A version of this article is available in print Volume IV, Fascicle 6, pp. 615-616 ČAḠĀNRŪD (Čaḡānīrūd in Farroḵī, the seventh and last right-bank tributary of the Oxus or Amu Darya, rising in what in medieval Islamic times were known as the Bottamān mountains and flowing southwards through the principality of Čaḡānīān into the Oxus just above the important crossing-point of Termeḏ (modern Termez). Hence it flows from what is now the G…

(Afrighid dynasty), the name given by the Khwarazmian scholar Abū Rayḥān Bīrūnī to the dynasty of rulers in his country, with the ancient title of Ḵᵛārazmšāh. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 7, pp. 743-745 ĀL-E AFRĪḠ (Afrighid dynasty), the name given by the Khwarazmian scholar Abū Rayḥān Bīrūnī to the dynasty of rulers in his country, with the ancient title of Ḵᵛārazmšāh. According to him, the Afrighids ruled from 305 A.D. (year 616 of the Seleucid era), through the Arab conquests under Qotayba b. Mos…