Their
territory lay in the mountainous district immediately west of Ispahan, and
extended to the River of Dizful, which parted it from Little Lur.
The
stronghold of the Atabegs was the extraordinary hill fort of Mungasht, and
they had a residence also at Aidhej or Mal-Amir in the mountains south of
Shushan, where Ibn Batuta visited the reigning Prince in 1327. Sir H.
Rawlinson has described Mungasht, and Mr. Layard and Baron de Bode have
visited other parts, but the country is still very imperfectly known.
Little Luristan lay west of the R. Dizful, extending nearly to the Plain
of Babylonia. Its Dynasty, called Kurshid, [was founded in 1184 by the
Kurd Shodja ed-din Khurshid, and existed till Shah-Werdy lost his throne
in 1593. - H. C.].
The Lurs are akin to the Kurds, and speak a Kurd dialect, as do all those
Ilyats, or nomads of Persia, who are not of Turkish race. They were noted
in the Middle Ages for their agility and their dexterity in thieving. The
tribes of Little Lur "do not affect the slightest veneration for Mahomed
or the Koran; their only general object of worship is their great Saint
Baba Buzurg," and particular disciples regard with reverence little short
of adoration holy men looked on as living representatives of the Divinity.
(Ilchan. I. 70 seqq.; Rawlinson in J. R. G. S. IX.; Layard in
Do. XVI. 75, 94; Ld. Strangford in J. R. A. S. XX. 64; N. et E.
XIII. i. 330, I. B. II. 31; D'Ohsson, IV. 171-172.)
IV. SHULISTAN, best represented by Ramusio's Suolstan, whilst the old
French texts have Cielstan (i.e. Shelstan); the name applied to the
country of the Shuls, or Shauls, a people who long occupied a part of
Luristan, but were expelled by the Lurs in the 12th century, and settled
in the country between Shiraz and Khuzistan (now that of the Mamaseni,
whom Colonel Pelly's information identifies with the Shuls), their central
points being Naobanjan and the fortress called Kala' Safed or "White
Castle." Ibn Batuta, going from Shiraz to Kazerun, encamped the first day
in the country of the Shuls, "a Persian desert tribe which includes some
pious persons." (Q. R. p. 385; N. et E. XIII. i. 332-333; Ilch. I.
71; J. R. G. S. XIII. Map; I. B. II. 88.) ["Adjoining the Kuhgelus on
the East are the tents of the Mamasenni (qy. Mohammed Huseini) Lurs,
occupying the country still known as Shulistan, and extending as far east
and south-east as Fars and the Plain of Kazerun. This tribe prides itself
on its origin, claiming to have come from Seistan, and to be directly
descended from Rustam, whose name is still borne by one of the Mamasenni
clans." (Curzon, Persia, II. p. 318.) - H. C.]
V. ISPAHAN? The name is in Ramusio Spaan, showing at least that he or
some one before him had made this identification. The unusual combination
ff, i.e. sf, in manuscript would be so like the frequent one ft, i.e.
st, that the change from Isfan to Istan would be easy. But why Istanit?
VI. SHIRAZ [(Shir = milk, or Shir = lion) - H. C.] representing the
province of Fars or Persia Proper, of which it has been for ages the chief
city. [It was founded after the Arab conquest in 694 A.D., by Mohammed,
son of Yusuf Kekfi. (Curzon, Persia, II. pp. 93-110.) - H. C.] The last
Dynasty that had reigned in Fars was that of the Salghur Atabegs, founded
about the middle of the 12th century. Under Abubakr (1226-1260) this
kingdom attained considerable power, embracing Fars, Kerman, the islands
of the Gulf and its Arabian shores; and Shiraz then flourished in arts and
literature; Abubakr was the patron of Saadi. From about 1262, though a
Salghurian princess, married to a son of Hulaku, had the nominal title of
Atabeg, the province of Fars was under Mongol administration. (Ilch.
passim.)
VII. SHAWANKARA or Shabankara. The G. T. has Soucara, but the Crusca
gives the true reading Soncara. It is the country of the Shawankars, a
people coupled with the Shuls and Lurs in mediaeval Persian history, and
like them of Kurd affinities. Their princes, of a family Fasluyah, are
spoken of as influential before the Mahomedan conquest, but the name of
the people comes prominently forward only during the Mongol era of Persian
history. [Shabankara was taken in 1056 from the Buyid Dynasty, who ruled
from the 10th century over a great part of Persia, by Fazl ibn Hassan
(Fazluieh-Hasunieh). Under the last sovereign, Ardeshir, Shabankara was
taken in 1355 by the Modhafferians, who reigned in Irak, Fars, and Kerman,
one of the Dynasties established at the expense of the Mongol Ilkhans
after the death of Abu Said (1335), and were themselves subjugated by
Timur in 1392. - H. C.] Their country lay to the south of the great salt
lake east of Shiraz, and included Niriz and Darabjird, Fassa, Forg, and
Tarum. Their capital was I/g or I/j, called also Irej, about 20 miles
north-west of Darab, with a great mountain fortress; it was taken by
Hulaku in 1259. The son of the prince was continued in nominal authority,
with Mongol administrators. In consequence of a rebellion in 1311 the
Dynasty seems to have been extinguished. A descendant attempted to revive
their authority about the middle of the same century. The latest
historical mention of the name that I have found is in Abdurrazzak's
History of Shah Rukh, under the year H. 807 (1404). (See Jour. As. 3d.
s. vol. ii. 355.) But a note by Colonel Pelly informs me that the name
Shabankara is still applied (1) to the district round the towns of Runiz
and Gauristan near Bandar Abbas; (2) to a village near Maiman, in the old
country of the tribe; (3) to a tribe and district of Dashtistan, 38
farsakhs west of Shiraz.
With reference to the form in the text, Soncara, I may notice that in
two passages of the Masalak-ul-Absar, translated by Quatremere, the name
occurs as Shankarah.
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