|
Zabol (Shahnameh)
Zabulistan ( fa, زابلستان ''Zābulistān''/''Zābolistān''/''Zāwulistān'' or simply ''Zābul'', ps, زابل ''Zābəl''), was a historical region in southern Afghanistan roughly corresponding to the modern provinces of Zabul and Ghazni. Following the Ghaznavid rule (977–1186), "Zabul" became largely synonymous with the name of its capital and main city, Ghazni. By the tenth century, Islamic sources mention Zabulistan as part of the ''Khorasan marches'', a frontier region between Khorasan and India. In the Tarikh-i Sistan, finished around 1062 CE, the author regards Zabul as part of the land of Sistan, stretching from the Hamun Oasis all the way to the Indus River. Today, the modern Afghan province of Zabul and the Iranian city Zabol take their names from the historical region. Zabulistan has become popularized as the birthplace of the character Rostam of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, in which the word "Zabulistan" is used interchangeably with "Sistan", which was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ghazni
Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan with a population of around 190,000 people. The city is strategically located along Highway 1, which has served as the main road between Kabul and Kandahar for thousands of years. Situated on a plateau at 2,219 metres (7,280 ft) above sea level, the city is south of Kabul and is the capital of Ghazni Province. Ghazni Citadel, the Minarets of Ghazni, the Palace of Sultan Mas'ud III, and several other cultural heritage sites have brought travelers and archeologists to the city for centuries. During the pre-Islamic period, the area was inhabited by various tribes who practiced different religions including Zoroastrianism, Buddhism and Hinduism. Arab Muslims introduced Islam to Ghazni in the 7th century and were followed in the 9th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helmand Province
Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan Afghanistan is divided into 34 provinces (, '' wilåyat''). The provinces of Afghanistan are the primary administrative divisions. Each province encompasses a number of districts or usually over 1,000 villages. Provincial governors played a cr ..., in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 Districts of Afghanistan, districts, encompassing over 1,000 villages, and roughly 1,446,230 settled people. Lashkargah serves as the provincial capital. Helmand was part of the ''Loy Kandahar, Greater Kandahar'' region until made into a separate province by the Politics of Afghanistan, Afghan government in the 20th century. The Helmand River flows through the mainly desert region of the province, providing water used for irrigation. The Kajaki Dam, which is one of List of dams and reservoi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Istakhri
Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Farisi al-Istakhri () (also ''Estakhri'', fa, استخری, i.e. from the Iranian city of Istakhr, b. - d. 346 AH/AD 957) was a 10th-century travel-author and geographer who wrote valuable accounts in Arabic of the many Muslim territories he visited during the Abbasid era of the Islamic Golden Age. There is no consensus regarding his origin. Some sources describe him as Persian, while others state he was Arab. IV:222b-223b. The ''Encyclopedia Iranica'' states: "Biographical data are very meager. From his ''nesbas'' (attributive names) he appears to have been a native of Eṣṭaḵr in Fārs, but it is not known whether he was Persian". VIII(6):646-647 (I have used the updated online version). Istakhri's account of windmills is the earliest known. Istakhri met the celebrated traveller-geographer Ibn Hawqal, while travelling, and Ibn Hawqal incorporated the work of Istakhri in his book ''Kitab al-Surat al-Ard''. Works Istakhri's two surviv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asafoetida
Asafoetida (; also spelled asafetida) is the dried latex ( gum oleoresin) exuded from the rhizome or tap root of several species of ''Ferula'', perennial herbs growing tall. They are part of the celery family, Umbelliferae. Asafoetida is thought to be in the same genus as silphium, a North African plant now believed to be extinct, and was used as a cheaper substitute for that historically important herb from classical antiquity. The species are native to the deserts of Iran and mountains of Afghanistan where substantial amounts are grown. Asafoetida has a pungent smell, as reflected in its name, lending it the trivial name of "stinking gum". The odor dissipates upon cooking; in cooked dishes, it delivers a smooth flavour reminiscent of leeks or other onion relatives. Asafoetida is also known colloquially as "devil's dung" in English (and similar expressions in many other languages). Etymology and other names The English name is derived from ''asa'', a latinised form of Pers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rukhkhaj
Arachosia () is the Hellenized name of an ancient satrapy situated in the eastern parts of the Achaemenid empire. It was centred around the valley of the Arghandab River in modern-day southern Afghanistan, and extended as far east as the Indus River, in modern-day Pakistan. The Old Persian form of its name is ''Harauvatiš'', being the etymological equivalent of Vedic Sanskrit ''Sárasvatī''. The province name is derived after its main river, the modern Arghandab (in Greek called Arachōtós), a tributary of the Helmand river. The capital of Arachosia was Alexandria of Arachosia, an ancient Greek city that was situated over what is now known as Kandahar. Etymology "Arachosia" is the Latinized form of Greek (''Arachōsíā''). "The same region appears in the Avestan '' Vidēvdāt'' (1.12) under the indigenous dialect form 𐬵𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬓𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬍 - (whose ''-axva-'' is typical non-Avestan)." In Old Persian inscriptions, the region is referred to as 𐏃 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kapisa (city)
Kapisi (, ) or Kapisa was the capital city of the former Kingdom of Kapisa (now part of modern Afghanistan). While the name of the kingdom has been used for the modern Kapisa Province, the ancient city of Kapisa was located in Parwan Province, in or near present-day Bagram. The first references to Kapisa appear in the writings of 5th-century BCE Indian scholar Achariya Pāṇini. Pāṇini refers to the city of ''Kapiśi'', a city of the Kapisa kingdom. Pāṇini also refers to ''Kapiśayana'', a famous wine from Kapisa. The city of Kapiśi also appeared as ''Kaviśiye'' on Indo-Greek coins of Apollodotus/ Eucratides, as well as the Nezak Huns. Archeology discoveries in 1939 confirmed that the city of Kapisa was an emporium for Kapiśayana wine, discovering numerous glass flasks, fish-shaped wine jars, and drinking cups typical of the wine trade of the era. The grapes (''Kapiśayani Draksha'') and wine (''Kapiśayani Madhu'') of the area are referred to by several works of a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sulaiman Mountains
The Sulaiman Mountains, also known as Kōh-e Sulaymān ( Balochi/Urdu/ fa, ; "Mountains of Solomon") or Da Kasē Ghrūna ( ps, د كسې غرونه; "Mountains of Kasi"), are a north–south extension of the southern Hindu Kush mountain system in Pakistan and Afghanistan. They rise to form the eastern edge of the Iranian plateau. They are located in the Kandahar, Zabul, Paktika and Paktia provinces of Afghanistan, and in Pakistan they extend over the northern part of Balochistan and some southern parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In southwestern Punjab, the mountains extend into the two districts of Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur, which are located west of the Indus River on the boundary with Balochistan. Bordering the mountains to the east are the plains of the Indus River valley, and to the north are the arid highlands of the Central Hindu Kush whose heights extend up to . Together with the Kirthar Mountains on the border between Balochistan and Sindh, the Sulaiman Mountains form what ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hindu Kush
The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan". into northwestern Pakistan and far southeastern Tajikistan. The range forms the western section of the ''Hindu Kush Himalayan Region'' (''HKH''); to the north, near its northeastern end, the Hindu Kush buttresses the Pamir Mountains near the point where the borders of China, Pakistan and Afghanistan meet, after which it runs southwest through Pakistan and into Afghanistan near their border. The eastern end of the Hindu Kush in the north merges with the Karakoram Range.Karakoram Range: MOUNTAINS, ASIA Encyclopædia Britannica Towards its s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Tang Records On The Western Regions
The ''Great Tang Records on the Western Regions'' is a narrative of Xuanzang's nineteen-year journey from Chang'an in central China to the Western Regions of Chinese historiography. The Buddhist scholar traveled through the Silk Road regions of what is today Xinjiang in northwest China, as well as neighboring areas in Central Asia and south China. Beyond these Chinese locations, Xuanzang also travelled around the perimeter of India, as far south as Kanchipuram. Xuanzang's travels demarcate not only an important place in cross-cultural studies of China and India, but also cross-cultural studies throughout the globe. The text is set up as both an account of Xuanzang's religious pilgrimage as well as his report of the surrounding towns and provinces of Tang China. The book was compiled in 646, describing travels undertaken between 626 and 645. Bianji, a disciple of Xuanzang, spent more than one year editing the book through Xuanzang's dictation. Background While trade relations ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of his journey to India in 629–645 CE, his efforts to bring over 657 Indian texts to China, and his translations of some of these texts.Li Rongxi (1996), ''The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions'', Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai and Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Berkeley, , pp. xiii-xiv Xuanzang was born on 6 April 602 in Chenliu, what is now Kaifeng municipality in Henan province. As a boy, he took to reading religious books, and studying the ideas therein with his father. Like his elder brother, he became a student of Buddhist studies at Jingtu monastery. Xuanzang was ordained as a ''śrāmaṇera'' (novice monk) at the age of thirteen. Due to the political and social unrest caused by the fall of the Sui dynasty ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vladimir Minorsky
Vladimir Fyodorovich Minorsky (russian: Владимир Фёдорович Минорский; – March 25, 1966) was a Russian Orientalist best known for his contributions to the study of Persian, Lurish and Kurdish history, geography, literature, and culture. Life and career Minorsky was born in Korcheva, Tver Governorate, northwest of Moscow on the upper Volga River, a town now submerged beneath the Ivankovo Reservoir. There he was a gold medallist of the Fourth Grammar School. In 1896 he entered Moscow University to study law, graduating in 1900, then entered the Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages where he spent 3 years preparing for a diplomatic career. He made his first trip to Iran ( Qajar dynasty) in 1902, where he collected material on the Ahl-e Haqq. In 1903 he entered the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, serving 1904–1908 in the Qajar dynasty (now Iran), first in the Tabriz Consulate-General and then the Tehran Legation, and 1908–1912 in Saint ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zunbils
Zunbil, also written as Zhunbil, or Rutbils of Zabulistan, was a royal dynasty south of the Hindu Kush in present southern Afghanistan region. They ruled from circa 680 AD until the Saffarid conquest in 870 AD. The Zunbil dynasty was founded by Rutbil (Turkic: ''Iltäbär''), the elder brother of the Turk Shahi ruler (either Barha Tegin or Tegin Shah), who ruled over a Khalaj - Hephthalite kingdom from his capital in Kabul.Andre Wink, '' Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World'', Vol.1, (Brill, 1996), 115;"''"The Zunbils of the early Islamic period and the Kabulshahs were almost certainly epigoni of the southern-Hephthalite rulers of Zabul.''" The Zunbils are described as having Turkish troops in their service by Arabic sources like Tarikh al-Tabari and ''Tarikh-i Sistan''. The faith of this community has not been researched as much. According to the interpretation of Chinese sources by Marquarts and de Groots in 1915, the king of Ts'ao is said to have worn a crown with a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
