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Arabicized form of Persian Gowzgān(ān), a district of eastern Khorasan in early Islamic times, now roughly corresponding to the northwest of modern Afghanistan. A version of this article is available in print Volume XV, Fascicle 1, pp. 81-82 JOWZJĀN, the Arabicized form of the Persian Gowz-gān(ān), a district of what was in early Islamic times eastern Khorasan, now roughly corresponding to the northwest of modern Afghanistan, adjacent to the frontier with the southeastern fringe of the Turkmenistan Republic. Vladimir Minorsky surmis…

vizier of the Ghaznavids in the 5th/11th century. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 3, pp. 261 ABŪ BAKR B. ABĪ ṢĀLEḤ, vizier of the Ghaznavids in the 5th/11th century. He is first heard of as the second vizier to serve Sultan Farroḵzād b. Masʿūd (443-51/1052-59). He was called to this office, probably at the end of 445 or beginning of 446/spring-summer, 1055, in succession to Ḥosayn b. Mehrān. He had already had a long career as official and soldier and for thirty years had been a governor…

member of the Dailamite dynasty of the Kakuyids (d. 536/1141?). A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 3, pp. 328-329 ABŪ KĀLĪJĀR GARŠĀSP (II), ʿALĀʾ-AL-DAWLA ʿAŻOD-AL-DĪN B. ʿALĪ B. ABĪ MANṢŪR FARĀMARZ B. ʿALĀʾ-AL-DAWLA MOḤAMMAD, member of the Dailamite dynasty of the Kakuyids (d. 536/1141?). Like his father ʿAlī and grandfather Abū Manṣūr Farāmarz, Abū Kālīǰār Garšāsp was head of the Kakuyid family in their fief of the town of Yazd, which had been granted by the Saljuq Toḡrïl Beg in 433/1051. …

Chorasmian king of the line of Anuštegin Ḡarčaʾi (r. 1156-72). He was the son and successor of ʿAlāʾ-Din Atsïz b. Moḥammad, , who had skillfully preserved the autonomy of Chorasmia. A version of this article is available in print Volume XII, Fascicle 6, pp. 643-644 IL-ARSLĀN, ABU’L-FATḤ, Chorasmian king of the line of Anuštegin Ḡarčaʾi (r. 1156-72). He was the son and successor of ʿAlāʾ-Din Atsïz b. Moḥammad (see ATSÏZ ḠARČAʾI), who had skillfully preserved the autonomy of Chorasmia (see CHORASMIA ii.) and had taken a prominent role in affa…

(350-66/961-76), Samanid ruler in Transoxania and Khorasan and successor of his brother ʿAbd-al-Malek after the latter’s death in Šawwāl, 350/November, 961. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 4, pp. 383-384 ABŪ ṢĀLEḤ MANṢŪR (I) B. NŪḤ B. NAṢR, called AL-AMĪR AL-SADĪD and AL-MALEK AL-MOẒAFFAR (350-66/961-76), Samanid ruler in Transoxania and Khorasan and successor of his brother ʿAbd-al-Malek after the latter’s death in Šawwāl, 350/November, 961. ʿAbd-al-Malek’s reign had been filled with discord, the ami…

a region of eastern Transcaucasia. A version of this article is available in print Volume II, Fascicle 5, pp. 520-522 ARRĀN, a region of eastern Transcaucasia. It lay essentially within the great triangle of land, lowland in the east but rising to mountains in the west, formed by the junction of the Rivers Kur or Kura and Araxes or Aras. It was thus bounded on the north by Šervān; on the north west by Šakkī (Armenian Šakʿe) and Kaxeti in eastern Georgia; on the south by Armenia and Azerbaijan; and on the southeast …

official of the Buyids and writer in Arabic of the 4th/10th century. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 3, pp. 324 ABU’L- ḤOSAYN AḤMAD B. SAʿD KĀTEB, official of the Buyids and writer in Arabic of the 4th/10th century. Little is known of him beyond what Yāqūt records in his biographical notice. He apparently came from Fārs; in 323/935 he was appointed head of the finances of the province of Isfahan by the Buyid amir ʿEmād-al-dawla, who had in the previous year taken over Fārs from the governor o…

a town in medieval northern Khorasan. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 2, pp. 218-219 ABĪVARD, a town in medieval Iran situated in northern Khorasan, in the northern foothills of the Hazār Masǰed range where these mountains slope down in the Qara Qum desert. It is important historically as part of the protective chain of frontier defense posts established by the ancient Iranian kings against the irruption of barbarians from the steppes of Inner Asia. Its site (now called Kohna Abīva…

Official, soldier and poet of the Ghaznavid empire, flourished in the second half of the 5th/11th century during the reigns of the sultans Ebrāhīm b. Masʿūd I and Masʿūd III b. Ebrāhīm. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 4, pp. 350-351 ABŪ NAṢR HEBATALLĀH FĀRSĪ, QEWĀM-AL-MOLK NEẒĀM-AL-DĪN, official, soldier and poet of the Ghaznavid empire, flourished in the second half of the 5th/11th century during the reigns of the sultans Ebrāhīm b. Masʿūd I and Masʿūd III b. Ebrāhīm. His antecedents and his dates of birth an…

called JAHĀNSŪZ, Ghurid sultan and the first ruler of the Šansabānī family to make the Ghurids a major power in the eastern Islamic world (544-56/1149-61). A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 7, pp. 778-779 ʿALĀʾ-AL- DĪN ḤOSAYN B. ʿEZZ-AL-DĪN ḤOSAYN, called JAHĀNSŪZ, Ghurid sultan and the first ruler of the Šansabānī family to make the Ghurids a major power in the eastern Islamic world (544-56/1149-61). By the early 6th/12th century the Šansabānī chiefs had acquired the main power in the mountainous region of Ḡ…

Samanid prince, the cousin of the amir Aḥmad b. Esmāʿīl (295-301/907-14) and uncle of his successor Naṣr b. Aḥmad (301-31/914-43). A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 4, pp. 383 ABŪ ṢĀLEḤ MANṢŪR B. ESḤĀQ B. AḤMAD B. ASAD SĀMĀNĪ, Samanid prince, the cousin of the amir Aḥmad b. Esmāʿīl (295-301/907-14) and uncle of his successor Naṣr b. Aḥmad (301-31/914-43). Little is known of his personal life, except that he filled various governorships on behalf of the Samanid rulers. Esmāʿīl b. Aḥmad (279-95/892-90…

town and district in northeastern Azerbaijan. A version of this article is available in print Volume II, Fascicle 4, pp. 357-365 i. History of Ardabīl Ardabīl (spelled Ardavīl in the Ḥodūd al-ʿālam, and vocalized Ardobīl by Samʿānī), the name of a town and a district in northeastern Azerbaijan. It is situated at 48° 17’ east longitude and 38° 15’ north latitude, about 25 miles from the present Soviet frontier and 40 miles from the Caspian Sea across the mountains and then the lowlands of Ṭāleš. The town of Ardabīl lies on a p…

one of the five administrative divisions (kūra) of Fārs, in Sasanian and early Islamic times. A version of this article is available in print Volume II, Fascicle 4, pp. 384-385 ARDAŠĪR-ḴORRA, one of the five administrative divisions ( kūra) of Fārs, in Sasanian and early Islamic times (the other four being enumerated under the Sasanians as Šāpūr-Ḵorra, Arraǰān, Eṣṭaḵr and Dārābīerd). The name means literally “glory of Ardašīr,” with reference to the founder of the Sasanian monarchy, Ardašīr I, son of Pāpak, just as Šāpūr-Ḵorra (lyin…

"sons," term for the offspring of Persian soldiers and officials in the Yemen and of Arab mothers. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 3, pp. 226-228 ABNĀʾ “sons” in Arabic, used as a term for the offspring of Persian soldiers and officials in the Yemen and of Arab mothers. These people were known thus in the lifetime of the Prophet (ca. 580-632 A.D.) and survived as a distinct ethnic and social group in the first century or so of Islam. The Sasanians made Iraq an integral part of their empire, and Persians settled there in appreciable numbers (cf. …

governor ( ʿamīd) of Balḵ and northern Afghanistan under the Saljuq ruler of Khorasan, Čaḡrī Beg Dāʾūd, and then under his son, Alp Arslan. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 3, pp. 254 ABŪ ʿALĪ AḤMAD B. ŠĀḎĀN, governor ( ʿamīd) of Balḵ and northern Afghanistan under the Saljuq ruler of Khorasan, Čaḡrī Beg Dāʾūd, and then under his son, Alp Arslan. One of the main events of his tenure of power was the final capture from the Ghaznavids of the important bridgepoint over the Oxus of Termeḏ; after this event, the…

name of three historical localities: a village in Fārs, a fortress o the northeast of Lake Zereh in Sistān, and especially the district of that name in Khorasan. A version of this article is available in print Volume XV, Fascicle 1, pp. 59-61 JOVAYN, name of three locales. 1. Jovayn or Jovaym in Fars. A village in the district ( kura) of Ardašir Ḵorra (a major admistrative division of Fars during the Sasanian and early Islamic periods; q.v.) at five parasangs ( farsaḵ) from Shiraz on the road to Arrajān (Eṣṭaḵri, p. 133; Ebn Ḥawqal, p. 202; Moqaddasi, pp. 106, 455; Ḥodud al-ʿālam, p. 134, tr., p…

a survey from early pre-Islamic times to the mid-20th century. A version of this article is available in print Volume II, Fascicle 5, pp. 489-517 ARMY i. Pre-Islamic Iran Introduction. Source materials for a study of pre-Islamic Iranian military concerns fall into four categories: textual evidence; archeological finds of actual specimens of martial equipments; documentary representations (on monuments and objects of art); and philological deductions for organizational matters. The availability and value of these categories …

Ḵᵛārazmšāh who reigned in Transoxania and central and eastern Iran as well as in Ḵᵛārazm, (596-617/1200-20). A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 7, pp. 780-782 ʿALĀʾ-AL- DĪN ABU’L-FATḤ MOḤAMMAD B. TEKIŠ B. IL-ARSLAN, Ḵᵛārazmšāh who reigned in Transoxania and central and eastern Iran as well as in Ḵᵛārazm, 596-617/1200-20. ʿAlāʾ-al-dīn Moḥammad (before his succession to supreme power he was actually known by the laqab or honorific of Qoṭb-al-dīn, traditional amongst the Ḵᵛārazmšāhs of Anūštigin’s line) was the second son of Sultan Te…

a late and short-reigned sultan of the Ghurid dynasty in Afghanistan (607-11/1210-14). A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 7, pp. 777 ʿALĀʾ-AL- DĪN ATSÏZ B. ʿALĀʾ-AL-DĪN ḤOSAYN, a late and short-reigned sultan of the Ghurid dynasty in Afghanistan (607-11/1210-14). He was still a child when his father, the great ʿAlāʾ-al-Dīn Ḥosayn Jahānsūz died in 556/1161, and the succession in the Ghurid capital Fīrūzkūh went to his cousins, Šams-al-Dīn (later Ḡīāṯ-al-Dīn) Moḥammad and Šehāb-al-Dīn (later Mo…

Arāk was originally the popular name of Solṭānābād, a town in western Iran, but is now the official name as well. A version of this article is available in print Volume II, Fascicle 3, pp. 247-248 i. History Arāk was originally the popular name of Solṭānābād, a town in western Iran, but is now the official name as well. It lies at 49° 41’ east longitude and 34° 5’ north latitude, 284 km southwest of Tehran. It is situated at an altitude of 1,800 m in the plain of Farāhān, on the edge of the Zagros massif, adjoining the extensive Tuz…