Abstract
Based on Mustawfī’s Nuzhat al-Qulūb, this study examins how Kurdistan became a distinct province and locates the boundaries and the cities during the Ilkhanids. Kurdistan was first separated from the Iraq-i ‘Adjam during the period. Given the location of Kurdistan, and given the role of the province in historical events, historical understanding can increase if borders and cities of Kurdistan are definitely located, which is hard work since there is little information thereof, and since the names of such places are erroneously recorded in classical texts.This study shows that Kurdistan became a distinct province after the Seljuqids due to its geography and after the domination of Īvih Turkmen. The province extended from Kangawar to Hulwan, and from the Karkhih River to the Little Zab River. This study determines the locations of towns listed by Mustawfī, as follows: Bahār, the provincial capital, was within the current Ilam province; Khuftiyān, Nīmrāh, Darband-i Tādj Khātūn, and Darband-i Zangī were within Sulaymāniyyih province in Iraq; Alānī, Drbīl (Dartang), Kirind, Khūshān, Māhidasht, Kirmanshah, Wisṭām, Sultanabad-i Chamchamal, Harsin, Kangawar, and Dinawar were within current Kirmanshahan; Alīshtar was, and still is, within Luristan. Moreover, this study finds that the current Kurdistan in Iran had no urban center.
Highlights
Kurdistan, as a province was located between Iraq and Central Iran, had a key role in historical events of Iran
This study shows that Kurdistan became a distinct province after the Seljuqids due to its geography and after the domination of Īvih Turkmen
Boris James has investigated the effect of rivalry between the Mamluks and Ilkhans on the ethnic identity and socio-economic situation of Kurds dwelling between their borders.iii Asatrian has focused on the ethnic history, identity, religion, language, and literature of the Kurds.iv In one article, Minorsky has briefly investigated the political and economical situation of Kurdistan in the Ilkhanid period,v and in the other has managed to only determine the Mongolian toponyms surrounding Zrrinih-Rud and southern parts of Urmiyyih Lake.vi Guy Le Strange is the most prominent researcher who has investigated the geography of Kurdistan
Summary
As a province was located between Iraq and Central Iran, had a key role in historical events of Iran. In the 14th century (c.1339), Hamdullah Mustawfī wrote a geographical text which was entitled Nuzhat al-Qulūb He explains the geography of Iran in details, and explains the geography of Iran in details the contemporary geography ( repeats just the words of previous geographers, and compares and contrasts various texts concerning the contemporary geography). He gives some important information about the borders and the cities of provinces, since the writer as the state accountant had access to authentic records and documents. During the Ilkhanid Period, the province has some places which some of them still exist and others have been destroyed, which the locations of some of them are unknown, and one can to locate them just through some researches
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