Zabulistan

Zabulistan
Map of Zabulistan, 7th-10th-century
Map of Zabulistan, 7th-10th-century
CountryAfghanistan
CapitalGhazni

Zabulistan (Persian: زابلستان, Zābulistān, Zābolistān, Zāwulistān or simply زابل Zābul, Pashto: زابل Zābəl), was a historical region in southern Afghanistan roughly corresponding to the modern provinces of Zabul and Ghazni.[1][2] 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.[1] 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.[3]

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 another historical region, located in present-day eastern Iran (Sistan and Baluchestan Province) and southwestern Afghanistan (Nimruz, Helmand and Kandahar).[4]

  1. ^ a b Minorsky 2015, p. 112.
  2. ^ Leyden & Erskine 1921, p. 8.
  3. ^ Rezakhani 2017, p. 115.
  4. ^ Minorsky 2015, p. 110.

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