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The Frontiers and Place-Names of Kurdistan in the Ilkhanid Period Based on Nuzhat al-Qulūb
Open accessAbstract
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.
Overview
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TL;DR
This article argues that Kurdistan became a distinct province from Iraq-i 'Adjam in the early 13th century under Sulaymanshah of Īvih, and uses Mustawfī's *Nuzhat al-Qulūb* to reconstruct its Ilkhanid-era borders and town locations. It places the province from the Karkhih River to the Little Zab River and from Iraq-i 'Arab to the Seymarih River/Asadabad pass, with Bahār Castle as capital in present Ilam rather than Hamadan.
Key findings
- Kurdistan separated from Iraq-i 'Adjam in the early 13th century, after Seljuq decline, due to mountainous geography and Īvih Turkmen power; Sulaymanshah of Īvih ruled from 1213 onward and paid nearly 2 million dinars in taxes.
- Ilkhanid Kurdistan's borders are described as Iraq-i 'Arab in the west, Azerbaijan and Dijarbakr in the north, Iraq-i 'Adjam in the east, and Khuzistan in the south; the abstract states it extended from Kangawar to Hulwan and from the Karkhih River to the Little Zab River.
- Mustawfī's towns are located in four zones: Shahrazur, Khuftiyān, Darband-i Zangī, and Darband-i Tādj Khātūn in present Sulaymāniyyih, Iraq; Alānī, Dartang, Kirind, Khūshān, Māhidasht, Kirmanshah, Wisṭām, Sultanabad-i Chamchamal, Harsin, Kangawar, and Dinawar in Kirmanshahan; Alīshtar in Luristan; and Bahār Castle in Ilam. The current Iranian province of Kurdistan had no urban center.
- Taxation in the Ilkhanid period decreased to 89.5 percent compared with Sulaymanshah's time; Mongol armies passed through Kurdistan in 1257, and Kirmanshah was entered on 27 Muḥarram 655 A.H./15 February 1257 and its people massacred.
Methods
- Historical-geographical study based primarily on Hamdullah Mustawfī's *Nuzhat al-Qulūb* (c.1339), compared with classical Islamic geographers, chronicles, Safavid/Qajar sources, and modern local and archaeological reports.
- Borders and toponyms are identified through textual comparison, orthographic variant analysis, route reconstruction, and correlation with present provinces, rivers, and mountains; no statistical sampling is used.
Limitations
- The paper states there is little information on Kurdistan's geography, that place-names are erroneously recorded in classical texts, that some town locations are unknown, and that there are no detailed records of the Mongol conquest or internal conditions.
- Evident from the text: many locations are inferred from variant spellings and later sources using terms such as "seems," "probably," and "can be inferred," and the study relies heavily on Mustawfī, making several identifications tentative.
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Claims the paper makes
0 Valid · 7 Not valid · 62 Not checked · 79 Own results and interpretations
A result the paper states — it cites no source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“It follows that Duzdān was located on the western slopes of Shāhū Mountain near the Sīrwān River.”
§ The Frontiers and Place-Names of Kurdistan in the Ilkhanid Period Based on Nuzhat al-Qulūb > 5.1 The Eastern Part in the Current Kurdistan of Iraq
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
In the paper
“Although Guy Le Strange says that the location of Sarmaj is unknown, lxxix the ruins of it have discovered in the Southwest of the Bīstūn Mount, near a village called Sarmaj-i Ḥussein Khānī.lxxx”
§ The Frontiers and Place-Names of Kurdistan in the Ilkhanid Period Based on Nuzhat al-Qulūb > 5.2 The Iranian Province of Kirmanshahan
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites lxxx
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
A result the paper states — it cites no source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“For example, he has taken the Bahār Castle, the capital of Kurdistan, for the town of Bahār in Hamadan.”
§ The Frontiers and Place-Names of Kurdistan in the Ilkhanid Period Based on Nuzhat al-Qulūb > 1.1 Literature Review
plainSingle case- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: unclear — It is unclear why the paper says it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Khuftiyān, Nīmrāh, Darband-i Tādj Khātūn, and Darband-i Zangī were within Sulaymāniyyih province in Iraq”
§ The Frontiers and Place-Names of Kurdistan in the Ilkhanid Period Based on Nuzhat al-Qulūb > Abstract
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
None of the sources cited for this claim could be matched to a paper in Crossref, so there is nothing to check it against.
In the paper
“Clearly, therefore, there were two castles by the names of Khuftiyān”
§ The Frontiers and Place-Names of Kurdistan in the Ilkhanid Period Based on Nuzhat al-Qulūb > 5.1 The Eastern Part in the Current Kurdistan of Iraq
What the sources say
- Not matchedcites xlvii
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
- Not matchedcites xlviii
Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.
boosted- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
- Not matched
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- It may state two separate claims as one. 64
- Probably not a substantial claim. 18
- The quote only partly states this claim. 1
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.
Rated minor: it would not touch a result — a value no result rests on, a p-value that stays on the same side of the significance level, or a conflict that is clerical, resolved elsewhere in the paper, or outside its own findings.
In the paper
§ The Frontiers and Place-Names of Kurdistan in the Ilkhanid Period Based on Nuzhat al-Qulūb > 5.2 The Iranian Province of Kirmanshahan
“-It was formerly a medium-sized town, but is now merely a village‖.”
§ The Frontiers and Place-Names of Kurdistan in the Ilkhanid Period Based on Nuzhat al-Qulūb > 5.2 The Iranian Province of Kirmanshahan
“Consequently, its prosperity increased as Mustawfī described it as being equal in rank with Kirmanshah -a medium-sized town‖.”
Rated minor: it would not touch a result — a value no result rests on, a p-value that stays on the same side of the significance level, or a conflict that is clerical, resolved elsewhere in the paper, or outside its own findings.
In the paper
§ The Frontiers and Place-Names of Kurdistan in the Ilkhanid Period Based on Nuzhat al-Qulūb > 5.1 The Eastern Part in the Current Kurdistan of Iraq
“The Mongol conquest of Baghdad in 1257 resulted in the depopulation of Shahrazur”
§ The Frontiers and Place-Names of Kurdistan in the Ilkhanid Period Based on Nuzhat al-Qulūb > Copyrights
“He defended against Mongls agressors to1257, and was finally murdered by Hulagu when he conquered Baghdad in 1258.”
Rated minor: it would not touch a result — a value no result rests on, a p-value that stays on the same side of the significance level, or a conflict that is clerical, resolved elsewhere in the paper, or outside its own findings.
In the paper
§ The Frontiers and Place-Names of Kurdistan in the Ilkhanid Period Based on Nuzhat al-Qulūb > 4. The Mongol Conquest of Kurdistan
“the first formal Mongol army's advance into Kurdistan territory occurred in 1257”
§ The Frontiers and Place-Names of Kurdistan in the Ilkhanid Period Based on Nuzhat al-Qulūb > 5.2 The Iranian Province of Kirmanshahan
“Hulagu entered Dinawar two times, once in Rabī' al-Thānī 654 A.H./May1256, and once again in Muḥarram 655 A.H./February 1257”
Citations
Cites
Still being checked.
Research works printed but not linked: 4
- lxxvi Rashid al-Din, Jāmi'al-Tawārīkh, 2:1009. lxxvii Juwayni, Tārīkh-i Jahāngushāy,1: 67, 77. lxxviii Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kamil, 8: 705-708; vol.9, 538, 556. lxxix Le Strange, The lands, 189. lxxx http://hamgardi.com/place/23039/(Accessed 2 September 2015) lxxxi -Le Strange, Mesopotamia and Persia, 57.
- lxxxiii Abbas Mutarjim, and Ya‗qub Muhammadifar, -A Suggestion on Locatin of Ilkhani city, Sultan abad of Chamchamal (tiny Baghdad) In Bistūn of Kirmanshah‖, Payām-i Bāstānshinās 3(2005): 99-102. Doi: http://www.noormags.ir/view/fa/articlepage/330156;
- Muhammad Eqbal Chehri and Zahid Garavand, -On Intend of Sultan abad of Chamchamal; a Comparison of Historical data with Archaeological Founds in Hale Bag Hill‖, Archaeological Researchs 6 (2012): 59-60. Doi: http://www.noormags.ir/view/ar/magazine/number/56053.
- xci Khazradjī, Risālat al-Thānia, 64; Mas'ūdi, al-Tanbīh-i wa-l-Ishrāf,70; Muqaddasi, Aḥsan al-Taqāsīm, 211; Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil, 2:525; 3:16; 8: 202; 9: 464-65, 493, 528-34, 537-40, 545, 570, 612, 650; 11:119, 195, 229, 249, 286, 328,409. xcii Mardūkh, Tārīkh-i Mardūkh, 267. xciii Muqaddasi, Aḥsan al-Taqāsīm, 300; Ravandi, Rāḥat al-Ṣudūr, 375-89. res.ccsenet.org Review of European Studies Vol. 10, No. 2; 2018 xciv Ibn al-Faqīh, Mukhtaṣar al-Buldān, 240. xcv Yaqut al-Hamawi, Mu'djam al-Buldān, vol.5, 410-17. xcvi Mustawfī, Nuzhat al-Qulūb, 71-2. xcvii Juwayni, Tārīkh-i Jahāngushāy, 1: 115-16.
Cited by
Metadata
- Authors
- Rahmati, M.
- Affiliations
- Lorestan University (IR)
- Corresponding author
- Rahmati, Mohsen
- ORCID
- Rahmati, Mohsen
- Venue
- Review of European Studies
- Published
- 2018-03-28
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 68
- ISSN
- 1918-7173 (ISSN-L)
- 1918-7181
- OpenAlex
- W2794922406
- Semantic Scholar
- 85eb7f7a8d83a64958b5fb7914b80d9273884c02
- Cited by
- 1
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 3.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Review of European Studies (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Eurasian Exchange Networks
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Islamic Studies and History
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Medieval History and Crusades
- Keywords
- Kurdistan, Ilkhanid period, provincial boundaries, place names, historical geography, Ilam Province, Lorestan Province, historic towns
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