'The lands of the Eastern Caliphate Mesopotamia, Persia, and Central Asia from the Moslem conquest to the time of Timur' [‎365] (408/586)

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CHAP. XXVI] KUMIS, TABARISTAN, AND JURJAN. 365
City of Kfimis'), the capital thus taking to itself the name of the
province. Damghan, according to Ibn Hawkal, had a paucity
of water-supply, and hence little cultivation, but the inhabitants
manufactured excellent cloth-stuffs which were largely exported.
Mukaddasi reports Damghan to have fallen much to ruin at the
end of the 4th (10th) century; but it was well fortified, and had
three gates, of which he names two, the Bab-ar-Ray and the Bab
Khurasan. He says that there were two markets, the upper and the
lower; and a fine Friday Mosque stood in the main street, with
water tanks 'like those of Marv. ; The extraordinary windiness of
the town is mentioned by all the later authorities. Yakfit and
others state that there was a ceaseless wind blowing down from
a neighbouring valley, so that the trees of Damghan were always
waving about. Within the city was a great building, dating from
the days of the Chosroes, which divided the waters flowing to
Damghan into 120 channels for irrigation purposes. Excellent
pears were grown in the town gardens. The walls of Damghan,
Mustawfi reports, were 10,000 paces in circuit. Yaktit adds that
one day's journey from Damghan (three leagues according to
Mustawfi) up in the mountains, and visible from the town,'was the
great castle of Gird-kfih, which had been a celebrated fortress of
the Assassins. This, writes Mustawfi, was called Diz Gunbadan,
'the Domed Fort/ and its district, which was very fertile, was
known as Manstkabad. Mustawfi further speaks of a gold mine
in the hills near Damghan at K6h Zar (Gold Mountain), but
the situation of the place is not given 1 .
The second town of Kiknis, for size, was Bistam (or Bastam,
now Bustam), which Ibn Hawkal states to have been situated
in the most fertile region of the whole province. Its gardens
produced abundant fruit, and Mukaddasi refers to its magnificent
Friday Mosque, which stood £ like a fortress' in the market-place.
Nasir-i-Khusraw, who visited the town in 438 (1046), appears to
regard it as the capital of the province, for he calls it the City
of Kilmis. He refers to the tomb here, already celebrated, of
the great Stifi Shaykh Abu Yazid, more generally known as
Bayazid Bistami, who had died and was buried here in 260 (874),
1 I. K. 23. Kud. 201. I. H. 271. Muk. 355, 356. Yak. ii. 539. Kaz.
ii. 245. Mst. 191, 204.