'The lands of the Eastern Caliphate Mesopotamia, Persia, and Central Asia from the Moslem conquest to the time of Timur' [‎43] (74/586)

Ill]
'IRAK.
43
the capital of the district of Maysan, otherwise called Dasti-
Maysan. Madhar is described as lying four days' journey from
Basrah, and was celebrated for its beautiful mosque and the much
venerated tomb of 'Abd-Allah, son of the Caliph f Ali. The
neighbouring town of 'Abdasi, according to Yakut, was of Persian
origin, that name being the Arabic form of the older Afdasahi,
which had been a hamlet of the Kaskar district before the
conquest. Kaskar and Maysan were the two districts of the
eastern part of the Great Swamp, and Kaskar, according to
Kazwim, produced much excellent rice which was exported. On
its pastures buffaloes, oxen, and goats were fattened ; the reed-
beds sheltered ducks and water-fowl that were snared and sent
in to the markets of the surrounding towns, while in its canals
the shad-fish (called Shabbut) was caught in great numbers, salted
and exported. Further, in Maysan might be seen the tomb of the
prophet £ Uzayr, otherwise Ezra, which Kazwini says was at a
place settled entirely by Jews, who served the shrine. This was
renowned throughout the countryside as a spot where prayers
were answered, and in consequence the shrine was made rich by
votive offerings 1 .
The broad estuary formed by the combined Tigris and
Euphrates waters, nearly a hundred miles in length, began at the
exit of the Abu-l-Asad canal, and flowed out to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
at 'Abbadan. This estuary was variously known as the Blind
Tigris (Dijlah-al- c Awra), or the Fayd (the estuary) of Basrah, and
the Persians named it Bahmanshir; at the present day it is
generally known as the Shatt-aPArab, ' the Arab River.' The tide
from the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. came up it, reaching as far north as the
head of the channel at Madhar and 'Abdasi, also filling and
emptying the numerous canals of Basrah, and those irrigating the
lands east and west of the estuary. Basrah, the great commercial
port of c Irak, lay close to the border of the desert, at some distance
to the west of the estuary, with which it was in water communica
tion by means of two canals. Both north and south of Basrah
numerous canals drained the lower waters of the Great Swamp
1 I. R. 94, 185. I. S. 28. Kud. 240. Baladhuri, 293, 342. Kaz. ii.
2 97 j 3 10 * Yak. i. 669; iii. 603; iv. 468, 830. J. N. 455.