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Zabulistan

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Zabulistan (Persian: زابلستان Zābulistān/Zābolistān/Zāwulistān or simply زابل Zābul, Pashto: زابل Zābəl) also known as Jaguda (Sanskrit: जागुड Jāguḍa), was an historic region of the Middle Kingdoms and Late Medieval periods of Western South Asian history, roughly corresponding to the modern Afghan provinces of Zabul and Ghazni[1][2]. The region was known by early Islamic chroniclers as part of the Indian frontier, whose royal families kept close familiar ties to the Hindu kingdom of Kāpisā. The region was slowly incorporated into the Perso-Islamic cultural realm with the coming of the Saffarids and Ghaznavids. By the 10th-century, Islamic sources mention Zabulistan as part of the Khorasan marches, a frontier region between between Khorasan and India. 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 Shahnama in which the word Zabulistan is used interchangably with Sistan, a historically seperate region located to its west[3].

Names

Jāguḍa (Sanskrit: जागुड), meaning saffron[4], was the Sanskrit name of the region. In the Mahabharata, the people of the region are described as a saffron cultivating people living somewhere beyond Kashmir[5]. It's also regarded as being refered to by this name in 644 CE by the Chinese traveling monk Xuanzang in the Chinese transliteration Tsau-kü-ta.[6]

Zābulistān (Persian: زابلستان) which is the Persian name of the region, literally means "the land of Zābul". The etymology of the name Zābul has been marred with speculation. The German historian Marquart, proposed the word, including its uncommon Medieval variant Jāwulistān (Persian: جابلستان) as being a variation of the Sanskrit term.[6] Others have speculated that the word zābul might be an abbrevation of zūnbīl, a supposed royal title of the region known from Arabic sources, earlier read as rutbīl, and now used to refer to a local dynasty of Zamindawar now called the Zunbils. This notion however currently stands on loose ground, and Minorsky holds that the consonant resemblence between these two words look merely fortuitous.[6]

Geography

Names of territories during the 7th century CE.

The earliest detailed description of Zabulistan comes from the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, written by the travelling monk Xuanzang in the early 7th-century. He places the country of Tsau-kü-ta (Jāguḍa) between the Great Snowy Mountains (the Hindu Kush) and the Black Range (probably the Sulaiman mountains), bordering the country of Vrjisthāna in the north, Kāpiśī to its north-east and Kaikānān to its east.[7] While the Chinese pilgrims never explored the south or west of the region, it is known from later Arabic accounts that Zabulistan at this time was boardered by Turan to its south and Rukhkhudh to its west.

"The country of Jāguda is more than seven thousand li in circuit, and its capital city, named Hexina (Ghazni), is over thirty li in circuit; but the capital is sometimes located in the city of Hesaluo (Guzar), which is also over thirty li in circuit, both cities being strongly fortified in invulnerable positions. The mountains and valleys are rich in natural resources, and the cultivated farmlands, divided by ridges, are high and dry. Crops are sown in proper seasons. Winter wheat is abundant, and vegetation is luxuriant with profuse flowers and fruits. The soil is good for growing aromatic turmeric, and it produces the hingu herb (Ferula asafoetida), which grows in the Rama-Indu Valley. In the city of Hesaluo there are gushing springs, the water of which flows to all sides, and the people make use of it for irrigation. The climate is severely cold with much frost and snow." - Xuanzang, 644 CE[7]

During the Medieval Islamic era, the region is continously mentioned in geographical works such as Istakhri's Kitab al-Masalik (930-933 CE), the Hudud al 'Alam (982 CE), Qazvīnī's Nuzhat al-Qulub etc.[8] as a dry region among the Khorasan marches, famous for its fruits, good hunting grounds and fine pastures.[9] The region is likewise described by Zahir ud-Din Babur in the early 16th-century in his memoirs the Baburnama, which he roughly equates with the Timurid province of Ghazni. At this time, the region of Ghazni is described as boardering Kabul in its northeast, Zurmat and Afghanistan to its east and Kandahar to its southwest.

"Ghazni, in the third clime, is also known as Zabul. Zabulistan consists of this province, and some consider Kandahar to be in Zabulistan. Ghazni is fourteen leagues southwest of Kabul. Those who take the road leave Ghazni at daybreak and arrive in Kabul in the afternoon, whereas the thirteen league road between Kabul and Adinapur (near modern Jalalabad) is so poor that no one can do it in a day. It is a miserable province. The river is a four- or five mill stream. The city of Ghazni and another four or five villages are watered by it, while another three or four others are irrigated by subterranean aquaducts. The grapes and melons of Ghazni are better than those of Kabul; the apples are also good and are taken to Hindustan (India). The agriculture is laborous because new soil must be brought in every year for whatever amount of land is planted. The yield, however, is better than that of Kabul. They plant madder, the best crop, all which is taken to Hindustan." Zahir ud-Din Babur, 1504-6 CE

History of Zabulistan

Newly excavated Buddhist stupa at Mes Aynak in Logar Province. Similar stupas have been discovered in neighboring Ghazni Province, including in the northern Samangan Province.

Pre-Islamic period

The first mentions of the region coincides with its takeover by the so-called Iranian Huns in the 4th century. Initially being conquered by the Alkhan, then the Nezaks in the 5th century. The region fell to the Turk Shahis in the 7th century being controlled by a collection loose suzerians of the Hindu Shahis to 11th century, when it was finally conqured and islamized by the Ghaznavids.

The Alkhans

The first mentions of the word Zabul is from coinage of what's known as "the early anonomous clan-rulers". These were late 4th-century tribal chiefs and possibly former governors of the Sasanids from the north of the Hindu Kush, who following the course of the Kidarites, declared independence from Sasanid dominance. By 384/5 CE, they controlled Kāpiśī and Gandhara, and started minting their own characteristic coins in the formerly Sasanian mint.[10] A set of these anonomous coins including some of the coins of king Khilgila I, the first Alkhan kings known by name, bore the legend Shāh Zāwbul Ālkhān (Bactrian: ϸαυο ζαοβλ αλχανο) translated as ‘King of Zabul Alkhan’.[11] This suggests Alkhan control of the Zabulistan region southwest of modern Kabul from an early time of Alkhan dominance in the region.[12] Alkhan power, primarily based in the Kapisa and Gandhara valleys, was seldom concentrated with one king alone, as shown by the variety of Alkhan coins minted simultaneously in the different regions of the empires control, which by 484 CE reached all the way to Mawla in Central India.[13] Northern Zabulistan is understood to have remained under nominal control of the Alkhan rulers of Kāpiśī, with the rest remaining under nominal Sasanid rule until Peroz I's defeat by the Hephthalites in 484 CE, which fasciltated the takeover of Zabulistan by the new independent ruler Nezak Shah.

Zunbils

Main article: Zunbils

According to book writer André Wink,

"In southern and eastern Afghanistan, the regions of Zamindawar (Zamin I Datbar or land of the justice giver, the classical Archosia) and Zabulistan or Zabul (Jabala, Kapisha, Kia pi shi) and Kabul, the Arabs were effectively opposed for more than two centuries, from 643 to 870 AD, by the indigenous rulers the Zunbils and the related Kabul-Shahs of the dynasty which became known as the Buddhist-Shahi. With Makran and Baluchistan and much of Sindh this area can be reckoned to belong to the cultural and political frontier zone between India and Persia. It is clear however that in the seventh to the ninth centuries the Zunbils and their kinsmen the Kabulshahs ruled over a predominantly Indian rather than a Persian realm. The Arab geographers, in effect commonly speak of that king of "Al Hind" ...(who) bore the title of Zunbil."[14]

According to another book by William Bayne Fisher and Richard Nelson Frye:

"One of the most important aspects of early Saffarid policy of significance for the spread of Islam in Afghanistan and on the borders long after their empire had collapsed, was that of expansion into eastern Afghanistan. The early Arab governors of Sistan had at times penetrated as far as Ghazna and Kabul, but these had been little more than slave and plunder raids. There was fierce resistance from the local rulers of these regions, above all from the line of Zunbils who ruled in Zamindavar and Zabulistan."[15]

Islamization

Further information: Islamic conquest of Afghanistan

The region of southern Afghanistan was first invaded by Muslim Arabs from Zaranj in what is now Nimruz Province. From there they marched toward Bost, Kandahar, Zabulistan, and reached Kabul. In 683 Kabul revolted and defeated the Muslim army, but two years later Zabul's army was routed by the Arabs.[16]

"We are told that it was only in 870 AD that Zabulistan was finally conquered by one Yakub who was the virtual ruler of the neighbouring Iranian province of Siestan. The king was killed and his subjects were made Muslims."[17]

"One of the most important aspects of the early Saffarid policy of significance for the spread of Islam in Afghanistan and on the borders of India long after their empire had collapsed, was that of expansion into eastern Afghanistan. The early Arab governors of Sistan had at times penetrated as far as Ghazana and Kabul, but these had been little more than slave and plunder raids. There was a fierce resistance from the local rulers of these regions, above all from the line of Zunbils who ruled in Zamindavar and Zabulistan and who were probably epigoni of the southern Hepthalite or Chionite kingdom of Zabul; on more than one occasion, these Zunbils inflicted sharp defeats on the Muslims. The Zunbils were linked with the Kabul-Shahs of the Shahi dynasty; the whole river valley was at this time culturally and religiously an outpost of the Indian world, as of course it had been in the earlier centuries during the heyday of the Buddhist Gandhara civilization."[18]

Sakawand a pilgrimage centre

Various scholars have recorded the importance of Sakawand as a major centre of Hindu pilgrimage.[19][20]

"It is related that, Amru Lais conferred the governorship of Zabulistan on Fardghan and sent him there at the head of four thousand horses. There was a large place of worship of the God Zhun in the country, which was called Sakawand, and people used to come on pilgrimage to the Idols of that place. When Fardaghan arrived in Zabulistan he led his army against it, took the temples broke the idols in pieces, and overthrew the idolators. Some of the plunder he distributed among the troops, the rest he sent to Amru Lais."[21]

"Fardaghan, the governor of Zabulistan region around Ghazni under Amr ibn Layth, plundered Sakawand, a place of pilgrimage to God Zhun, which was within the kingdom of the Shahis."[22]

"The activities of the Saffarid brothers on the Indian frontier attracted special attention in the Caliphate thanks to the care they took to send exotic presents from the plunder to the Abbasid court. Yaqub, for instance, at one time sent fifty gold and silver idols from Kabul to the caliph Al-Mutamid who dispatched them to Mecca. Another set of Idols lavishly decorated with jewels and silver, sent by himAmr in 896 from Sakawand (a place in the Logar valley between Ghazna and Kabul which the sources describe as a pilgrimage centre dedicated to God Zhun), caused a sensation in Baghdad on account of their strangeness."[23]

See also

References

  1. ^ Minorsky, V. (2015). Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam (The Regions of the World). Great Britain: The E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Trust. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-906094-03-7.
  2. ^ John Leyden, Esq.; William Erskine, Esq., eds. (1921). "Events Of The Year 910 (1525)". Memoirs of Babur. Packard Humanities Institute. p. 8. Archived from the original on 2007-11-13. Retrieved 2010-08-22. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Minorsky, V. (2015). Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam (The Regions of the World). Great Britain: The E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Trust. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-906094-03-7.
  4. ^ "Sanskritdictionary.com: Definition of jāguḍa". sanskritdictionary.com. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
  5. ^ www.wisdomlib.org. "Tribes With unclear Position". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
  6. ^ a b c Minorsky, V. (2015). Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam (The Regions of the World). Great Britain: The E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Trust. p. 346. ISBN 978-0-906094-03-7.
  7. ^ a b Li, Rongxi (1995). The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions. Berkeley, California: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research. ISBN 1-886439-02-8.
  8. ^ Minorsky, V. (2015). Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam (The Regions of the World). Great Britain: The E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Trust. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-906094-03-7.
  9. ^ Hamd-allah Mustawfi (1919). The Geographical Part Of The Nuzhat-al-qulub.
  10. ^ "6. ALKHAN: From the Anonymous Clan-rulers to King Khingila | Digitaler Ausstellungskatalog". pro.geo.univie.ac.at. Retrieved 2018-06-22.
  11. ^ Vondrovec, Klaus (2014). Coinage of the Iranian Huns and Their Successors from Bactria to Gandhara: 4th to 8th Century ce. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. {{cite book}}: line feed character in |title= at position 49 (help)
  12. ^ Rezakhani, Khodadad (2017). Reorienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Ltd. p. 115. ISBN 978 1 4744 0030 5.
  13. ^ "9. Toramana and Mihirakula - The Rise and Fall of the Alkhan in India | Digitaler Ausstellungskatalog". pro.geo.univie.ac.at. Retrieved 2018-06-22.
  14. ^ Al-Hind: Early medieval India and the expansion of Islam, 7th-11th centuries By André Wink Edition: illustrated Published by BRILL, 2002 Page 112 to 114 ISBN 0-391-04173-8, ISBN 978-0-391-04173-8
  15. ^ The Cambridge history of Iran By William Bayne Fisher, Richard Nelson Frye Page 110
  16. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-11-21. Retrieved 2009-02-04. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. ^ Medieval India Part 1 by Satish Chandra Page 17
  18. ^ The Cambridge History of Iran By Richard Nelson Frye, William Bayne Fisher, John Andrew Boyle Edition: reissue, illustrated Published by Cambridge University Press, 1975 Page 111 ISBN 0-521-20093-8, ISBN 978-0-521-20093-6
  19. ^ Mishra, Yogendra (1972). The Hindu Sahis of Afghanistan and the Punjab, A.D. 865-1026: a phase of Islamic advance into India. Vaishali Bhavan. pp. 42–43. When Fardaghan arrived in Zabulistan, he led his army against Sakawand, a large Hindu place of worship in that country with a temple and many idols. He took the temple, broke the idols into pieces, and overthrew the idolaters. He informed Amr ibn Lais of the conquest and asked for reinforcements. When the news of the fall of Sakawand reached Kamalu, who was Rai of Hindustan, he collected an innumerable army and marched towards Zabulistan to- take revenge.
  20. ^ Elliot, Sir Henry Miers (1953). The History of India. Trübner and Co. p. 20. There was a large Hindu place of worship in that country, which was called Sakawand, and people used to come on pilgrimage from the most remote parts of Hindustan to the idols of that place. When Fardaghan arrived in Zabulistan he led bis army against it, took the temple, broke the idols in pieces, and overthrew the idolaters. Some of the plunder he distributed among the troops, the rest he sent to Amru Lais, informing him of the conquest, and asking for reinforcements.
  21. ^ Jamiu-l-Hikayat of Muhammad Uffi Page 175 from The History of India told by its own Historians H M Elliot and Dowson Volume 2
  22. ^ The History and Culture of the Indian People: The age of imperial Kanauj By Ramesh Chandra Majumdar, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bhāratīya Itihāsa Samiti Published by G. Allen & Unwin, 1969 Page 113
  23. ^ Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World By André Wink Edition: illustrated Published by BRILL, 2002 Page 124
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