Pushang, also known by its Arabicized form of Bushanj, Bushang, and Fūshanj, was the name of a town in Khorasan, close to

Herat Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...

in present-day

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Foundation

According to medieval Iranian scholars, Pushang was the oldest town in Khorasan, and was founded by the Iranian mythological figure Pashang. However, according to modern scholars, it was only said to be founded by Pashang because of his name similarity with the town. Some other sources state that the second

Sasanian The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...

king

Shapur I Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; ) was the second Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The precise dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardashir I as co-regent u ...

(r. 240–270), was the founder of the town.

History

In 588, a

Nestorian Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian ...

bishopric at Pushang is mentioned. In the 650s, the town was captured by the invading Arabs. After the Abbasid Revolution in 750, Pushang was under the governorship by Mus'ab ibn Ruzaiq, an

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

companion of the Abbasid general Abu Muslim. Mus'ab's grandson

Tahir ibn Husayn Ṭāhir ibn Ḥusayn (, ''Tahir bin al-Husayn''), also known as Dhul-Yamīnayn (, "the ambidextrous"), and al-Aʿwar (, "the one-eyed"), was a general and governor during the Abbasid Caliphate. Specifically, he served under al-Ma'mun during the ...

would later play an important role in the affairs of the Abbasid Caliphate and establish the Tahirid dynasty, which would rule Pushang and the rest of Khorasan until 873, when the

Saffarid The Saffarid dynasty () was a Persianate dynasty of eastern Iranian origin that ruled over parts of Persia, Greater Khorasan, and eastern Makran from 861 to 1002. One of the first indigenous Persian dynasties to emerge after the Islamic conque ...

ruler

Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar Ya'qub ibn al-Layth Saffar (; 25 October 840 – 5 June 879), was a coppersmith and the founder of the Saffarid dynasty of Sistan, with its capital at Zaranj (a city now in south-western Afghanistan). Under his military leadership, he conquered ...

wrested Khorasan from him. During the decline of the Saffarid dynasty in the early 10th-century, the town was captured by the

Samanids People Samanid Samanid Samanid The Samanid Empire () was a Persianate society, Persianate Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim empire, ruled by a dynasty of Iranian peoples, Iranian ''dehqan'' origin. The empire was centred in Greater Khorasan, Khorasan an ...

. According to the 10th-century traveler

Ibn Hawqal Muḥammad Abū’l-Qāsim Ibn Ḥawqal (), also known as Abū al-Qāsim b. ʻAlī Ibn Ḥawqal al-Naṣībī, born in Nisibis, Al-Jazira (caliphal province), Upper Mesopotamia; was a 10th-century Arab Muslim writer, geographer, and chronic ...

, the town was half the size of

. He also states that the town was well-built, being surrounded by three gates. In 998, the town was captured by the

Ghaznavid The Ghaznavid dynasty ( ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a Persianate Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin. It ruled the Ghaznavid Empire or the Empire of Ghazni from 977 to 1186, which at its greatest extent, extended from the Oxus to the Indus Va ...

ruler Mahmud. After the

battle of Dandanaqan The Battle of Dandanaqan () was fought in 1040 between the Seljuq Turkmens and the Ghaznavid Empire near the city of Merv (now in Turkmenistan). The battle ended with a decisive Seljuq victory, which subsequently brought down the Ghaznavid domina ...

in 1040, the city was seized by the

Seljuq Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persian culture. The founder of t ...

. In 1152, Pushang was briefly occupied by the

Ghurid The Ghurid dynasty (also spelled Ghorids; ; self-designation: , ''Šansabānī'') was a Persianate dynasty of eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Tajik people, Tajik origin, which ruled from the 8th-century in the region of Ghor, and became an Emp ...

ruler Ala al-Din Husayn, who was defeated and captured by the Seljuq ruler

Ahmad Sanjar Sanjar (, ; full name: ''Muizz ad-Dunya wa ad-Din Adud ad-Dawlah Abul-Harith Ahmad Sanjar ibn Malik-Shah'') (6 November 1086 – 8 May 1157) was the Seljuq ruler of Khorasan from 1097 until 1118,Mongol invasion The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire, the Mongol Empire (1206–1368), which by 1260 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...

(1206–1337), Pushang was destroyed, but after some time managed to recover. In 1245, the town was captured by the Kurt ruler Shams-uddin Muhammad Kurt I. During the 14th-century, the town was famous for its water melons and grapes. In 1381, the

Turko-Mongol The Turco-Mongol or Turko-Mongol tradition was an ethnocultural synthesis that arose in Asia during the 14th century among the ruling elites of the Golden Horde and the Chagatai Khanate. The ruling Mongol elites of these khanates eventually assim ...

ruler

Timur Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. An undefeat ...

had the town destroyed after having made the last Kurt ruler, Ghiyas-uddin Pir 'Ali his vassal. However, the town was later restored and is mentioned many times by the Iranian historian Hafiz-i Abru. During the

early modern period The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

, Pushang was destroyed due to land disputes between the

Safavids The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

Uzbeks The Uzbeks () are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, being among the largest Turkic ethnic groups in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakhs, Kazakh and Karakalpaks, Karakalpak ...

and the

Afghans Afghans (; ) are the citizens and nationals of Afghanistan, as well as their descendants in the Afghan diaspora. The country is made up of various ethnic groups, of which Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks are the largest. The three main lan ...

. However, the town was once again revived and is today known by the name of Ghurian.

References

Sources

* * * {{coord missing, Afghanistan Former populated places in Afghanistan Sasanian cities Shapur I