'The lands of the Eastern Caliphate Mesopotamia, Persia, and Central Asia from the Moslem conquest to the time of Timur' [‎292] (331/586)

292
FARS.
[CHAP.
Furg, which lies three marches south-east of Darabjird, is still a
considerable town. Mukaddasi, who spells the name Furj, states
that beside it lay the twin city of Burk, but the two names would
appear merely to be variants of the original Persian place-name.
The city called Burk stood on a hillock, 'like a camel-hump/ two
leagues from the mountains ; it possessed a mosque in the market
street, was a fine place and an agreeable residence. Its neighbour,
Furg, had a castle on a hill, was not in the 4th (10th) century
a large town, but had its own mosque and many baths, water
being plentiful in both cities. Very naturally the names of the
two cities were often confounded, one replacing the other. The
Pars Namah writes the name Purk or Purg, and says that its
castle was impregnable, being built of stone and very large.
Mustawfi adds that both corn and dates were grown in Burk
(as he writes the name) most abundantly. Rustak-ar-Rustak is
described by Mukaddasi as a small town with good markets,
lying in the midst of a fertile district measuring four leagues across
in every direction. It lies one march to the north-west of Furg,
on the road to Darabjird 1 .
The town of Tarum, also spelt Tarum, like the district of this
name in the Jibal province (see above, p. 225), lies two marches
east of Furg, on the road to the coast. Mukaddasi refers to its
mosque, and praises the markets, gardens, and palm-trees, for
a stream ran through the town. Much honey was produced
here, and according to the Pars Namah it was nearly the size of
Furg, and had a strong castle well supplied with cisterns. From
Tarum the caravan road went almost due south to the coast,
where lay the port of Siini, or Shahni, over against the island of
Hurmuz. Mustawfi names the port Tiisar, but the reading is un
certain. The Arab geographers speak of Siirii as a village of fisher
men, having no mosque, and dependent for the water-supply on
wells dug in the neighbouring hills. There was, Mukaddasi adds,
much trade with 'Oman across the gulf, and the place, which
he speaks of as a small town, lay exactly on the Kirman frontier 2 .
1 Muk. 428, 454, note n, F. N. 6983^. Mst. 181. Yak. ii. 560.
I. B. ii. 240. The town of Burk appears to be identical with the old fort of
Bahman, with a triple wall and ditch, which lies about a mile south of the
present town of Furg. Stack, Persia, i. 756.
2 1st. 167. I. H. 224. F. N. 69^. Muk. 427, 429. Mst. 181, 201.