'The lands of the Eastern Caliphate Mesopotamia, Persia, and Central Asia from the Moslem conquest to the time of Timur' [‎278] (317/586)

FARS.
[CHAP.
aforesaid, who also effected a much needed restoration of the
Band-i-Amir 1 .
The great lake of Bakhtigan into which the Kur flows, though
at the present day surrounded by desert lands, was in the middle-
ages bordered by many villages and towns situated in richly culti
vated territories. The waters of the lake form two great bays,
of which the southern one in medieval times was known as
Bakhtigan, the northern part of the lake being called the Buhayrah
Basafityah or Jubanan. The waters were salt, and abounded in
fish, which supplied the Shiraz market, and the lake shore was
covered with reeds that^ when cut, served as fuel. The Jaftlz
district was at the western end of the lake, with the town of
Khurramah (still existing as an important village) lying 14 leagues
distant from Shiraz, on the road to Kirman which went along the
southern shore of Bakhtigan. Mukaddasi speaks of Khurramah
in the 4th (xoth) century as a town with broad lands and a castle
crowning a hill-top; this last was very strong and well built,
according to Mustawfi writing in Mongol times, and the Pars
Namah refers to its cisterns 2 .
The south-eastern end of Lake Bakhtigan was of the Darabjird
district, and here lay Khayrah and Ninz, which will be spoken of
in the next chapter. Near the eastern end, in what is now a
waterless desert, stood in the 4th (10th) century the two important
towns of Great and Little Sahak or Sahik, a name which the
Persians wrote Chahik (meaning 'a small pit' or 4 well') At
Great Sahik the two roads—one along the north side of Bakhtigan
lake, from Istakhr ; the other by the southern shore, from Shiraz—
came together, and from Great Sahik one single road went on to
Kirman. Mukaddasi describes Great Sahik as a small town,
famed for its calligraphists, who wrote fine copies of the Kuran.
In the neighbourhood, according to Mustawfi, were steel and iron
mines, and the Fdrs Namah speaks of the excellent swords made
here.
On the road from Great Sahik to Istakhr, and lying on the
1 1st. 121. Muk. 444. F. N. 79^. Mst. 216, 218. Hfz. 32 Yak.
iii. 107.
2 1st. 122, 135. Muk. 437. F. N. 80^, 82 <5, 87^. Mst. 174, 179, 225,
226.