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, nom d’un chef turc d’Asie Mineure et de la dynastie issue de lui, dont le territoire a, jusqu’à nos jours, conservé le nom (l’antique Mysie, rivage et arrière-pays asiatique des Dardanelles). Ni l’étymologie ni le sens du mot n’ont fait l’objet d’hypothèses autres que gratuites. Et toute l’histoire de la dynastie, la première de celles qui devaient être supprimées par les Ottomans, est enveloppée d’obscurité. L’historien byzantin Dukas, qui écrit un siècle et demi après les faits, la classe au milieu de celles qui s’installèrent en Anatolie occidentale sous …

(or ḳarasi̇ ). 1. The name of a Turkish chief in Asia Minor and of the dynasty arising from him; his territory has retained this name until the present time (sc. the ancient Mysia, the coastland and hinterland of the Asiatic side of the Dardanelles). Only unsubstantiated hypotheses have so far been put forward for the sense and etymology of the name. Indeed, the whole history of the dynasty, the first of those which were to be suppressed by the Ottomans, is wrapped in obscurity. The Byzantine historian Ducas, who wrote 150 years after the events in question, classes Ḳarasi̊ amon…

city of southwestern Iran, located in the province of Ḵūzestān on the Kārun river. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 7, pp. 688-691 AHVĀZ, a city of southwestern Iran. Located in the province of Ḵūzestān at 31°19′ north latitude and 48°46′ east longitude, elevation 82 feet, Ahvāz lies on the Kārūn (early Islamic Doǰayl) river below its confluence with the Dezfūl river or Āb-e Dez in the Ḵūzestān plain, but at a point where the river breaks through the low ridge of sandstone hills, the Jabal …

a port city and capital of Hormozgan province on the Persian Gulf. A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 7, pp. 685-687 BANDAR-E ABBAS(I), a port city and capital of Hormozgan province on the Persian Gulf. BANDAR-E ʿABBAS(I) i. The City Geographical situation and historical background. At the entrance to the Persian Gulf, Bandar-e ʿAbbās extends about 2 km along the shallow Clarence (Ḵūrān) strait between Qešm island and the mainland; its lack of a natural harbor obliges vessels to use tenders to handle cargo, a h…

a town of central Iran between Kāšān and Nāʾīn. A version of this article is available in print Volume II, Fascicle 4, pp. 385-387 i. Geography The town is undoubtedly a very ancient one, and its name should probably be explained not as Moqaddasī (p. 390) would have it from the whitish color of its soil compared to flour ( ārd), but, following Jackson’s suggestion as derived from Old Persian ardastāna ( aΘangaina, a stone construction) attested in Achaemenid inscriptions. Arab geographers located there the birth-place of Ḵosrow I Anōšīravān and also a fire-temple, t…

(also ANDĀMEŠ, ANDĀLMEŠK), the name of medieval Dezfūl. A version of this article is available in print Volume II, Fascicle 1, pp. 26 ANDĪMEŠK (also ANDĀMEŠ, ANDĀLMEŠK), the name of medieval Dezfūl. Modern Andīmešk is the former village of Ṣāleḥābād, 8 km northwest of Dezfūl. Lying at the foot of the Zagros mountains (altitude 160 m) it owes its recent growth (7,324 inhabitants in 1956, 16,195 in 1966) to its location as the site of an important station on the Trans-Iranian Railway in 1929 which served as the starting…

(now Bandar-e Torkaman), a port on the southeastern Caspian Sea at the entrance of Astarābād Bay and about eight km south of the mouth of the Atrak. It was constructed from scratch during the 1930s at the terminus of the trans-Iranian railroad. A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 7, pp. 688-689 BANDAR-e ŠĀH (now Bandar-e Torkaman), a port on the southeastern Caspian Sea at the entrance of the Astarābād bay and about eight km south of the mouth of the Atrak. It was constructed from scratch during the 1930s at the terminu…

(in Arabic, Bamm), a town in southeastern Iran, located on the southwestern rim of the Dašt-e Lūt basin at an altitude of 1,100 m. i. History and modern town. ii. Ruins of the old town. A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 6, pp. 650-654 i. History and Modern Town Bam is a large oasis that owes its existence to the runoff from the Jabal Bārez mountains; during the wet season rivers such as the Tahrūd, which traverses the town, provide enough flow to run the mills. However, since the dry season lasts most of the year, …

Ar. Baḥrayn, lit. “two seas,” the name originally applied to the area of the northeastern Arabian peninsula now known as Ḥasā (Aḥsāʾ). i. Geography. ii. Shiʿite elements in Bahrain. iii. History of political relations with Iran. A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 5, pp. 506-510 (For Carmathians in Bahrain see carmathians.) i. Geography Several interpretations of the name Bahrain, both popular and learned, have been put forward. The most probable (Oestrup) explains it by the presence of the promontory and archipelago ext…

a port on the southern shore of Astarābād Bay in the southeastern Caspian Sea, a few kilometers from a group of nine hamlets known collectively as Gaz. The installation of Russians on the Āšūrāda islands after 1837 made it very important strategically. A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 7, pp. 688 BANDAR-e GAZ, a port on the southern shore of the Astarābād bay in the southeastern Caspian Sea, a few kilometers from a group of nine hamlets known collectively as Gaz. In the mid-nineteenth century, this shoreline (called K…

the chain of natural lakes 90 km west of Bāmīān in Afghanistan (lat 30°12’ N, long 66°30’ E). A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 7, pp. 681-682 BAND-E AMĪR, the chain of natural lakes 90 km west of Bāmīān in Afghanistan (30°12’ north latitude and 66° 30’ east longitude). Physiography. The lakes lie in beds of Cretaceous clay and limestone at 2,900 m altitude on the course of small rivers coming from the east (the headwaters of the Balḵāb). After flowing through gorges, the rivers are dammed at several points by natu…

“dam, ” something that factually or figuratively binds, ties, or restricts (cf. Av. banda- “bond,” Eng. bond). In geographical nomenclature it is applied to ranges (mainly in Afghanistan), passes ( darband), and old dams and barrages built to store or divert water. A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 7, pp. 679-680 BAND “dam.” General remarks. The word means something that factually or figuratively binds, ties, or restricts (cf. Av. banda- “bond,” Eng. bond). In geographical nomenclature it is applied to ranges (mainly in Afghanistan, e.g.…

(boundary wall of Turkestan), the mountain range in northwestern Afghanistan which runs in a west-east direction for 200 km between the upper valley of the Morḡāb to the south and the plains of the Āmū Daryā to the north. A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 7, pp. 682 BAND-E TORKESTĀN (boundary wall of Turkestan), or less commonly Tīrband-e Torkestān, the mountain range in northwestern Afghanistan which runs in a west-east direction for 200 km between the upper valley of the Morḡāb to the south and the plains of the …

town and province in central Afghanistan. Bāmīān’s position midway between Balḵ and Peshawar at the approach to the most difficult passes and the resultant opportunities to purvey provisions and accommodation for caravans explain why it became a particularly important stopping place. A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 6, pp. 657-661 i. The Bāmīān Basin The town of Bāmīān owes its rise to the presence of a tectonic depression, the Bāmīān basin, in the central highlands of Afghanistan and to the facilities for communicatio…

(Bandar-e Emām Ḵomeynī since the revolution of 1979), a port at the terminus of the trans-Iranian railroad, about 70 km from the Gulf along the northern shore of the Ḵor Mūsā, the outlet of the Jarāḥī river, which flows down from the Zagros mountains. A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 7, pp. 689 BANDAR-e ŠĀHPŪR (Bandar-e Emām Ḵomeynī since the revolution of 1979), a port at the far end of the Persian Gulf, at the terminus of the trans-Iranian railroad. The town is located at about 70 km from the Gulf on poorly reinforce…

(Bandar-e Maʿšūr), a port at the western end of the Persian Gulf, on the northern bank of the Ḵor-e Mūsā tideway, which forms the lower course of the Jar(r)āḥī river. A version of this article is available in print Volume III, Fascicle 7, pp. 688 BANDAR-e MĀHŠAHR (Bandar-e Maʿšūr), a port at the western end of the Persian Gulf, on the northern bank of the Ḵor-e Mūsā tideway, which forms the lower course of the Jar(r)āḥī river. At the end of the 19th century, Bandar-e Māhšahr was a small port used exclusively by native boats that hauled good…