'The lands of the Eastern Caliphate Mesopotamia, Persia, and Central Asia from the Moslem conquest to the time of Timur' [‎312] (351/586)

312
KIRMAN.
[chap.
described as of the Bardasir district. Two days' march to the
south-east of Sirjan, on the road to Jiruft, stood a town the
name of which is written either Vajib or Najat (with some other
variants). Mukaddasi describes it as a very pleasant and populous
place with many gardens, the water being supplied by underground
channels, and the Great Mosque standing in the midst of its market
streets 1 .
The district of Bam (or Bamm, as the Arab geographers write
it), surrounding the town of this name, lies to the south-east of
Mahan, at the border of the (Sreat Desert, on the eastern frontier
of Kirman. Ibn Hawkal describes Bam in the 4th (10th) century
as larger and healthier than Jiruft, the town being surrounded
by palm-groves. Near by stood the celebrated castle of Bam,
held to be impregnable, and there were three mosques, the
Masjid-al-Khawarij, the Mosque of the Clothiers (Al-Bazzazin),
and the Castle Mosque. Cotton stuffs were largely manufactured
here and exported ; also napkins, the cloths for turbans, and the
scarfs for head-wear known as Taylasdn, Mukaddasi records that
the city wall, which made a strong fortification, had four gates,
namely, Bab Narmasir, Bab Ktiskan, Bab Asbikan, and Bab
Kurjin. There were great markets both within the city and
outside in the suburbs, while on the river which passed by the
castle was the market of the Jarjan bridge. A celebrated bath
house stood in the Willow street (Zukak-al-Bidh). A league
distant from Bam was the mountain called Jabal KM, where there
were mills, surrounded by a large village, and where much cloth
was manufactured. Mustawfi in the 8th (14th) century still
refers to the strong castle of Bam, and speaks of its climate as
rather hot 2 .
Rayin, lying due south of Mahan, and about 70 miles north
west of Bam, is described by Mukaddasi as a small town, with its
1 I. K. 49, 54. 1st. 168, 169. Muk. 464, 465. For Najat Ibn Hawkal
reads Ndjtah^ and Bdkhtah, Fdkhtah, or Kdkhtah, are the variants in Ibn
Khurdadbih ; all of which may possibly be merely clerical errors for Baft, the
town mentioned in the last chapter (p. 310), which still exists approximately
in the position indicated.
2 The ancient fort of Bam, which stands at the present day, is described by
Major Sykes (Persia, pp. 216, 218). The ruins of the medieval town are on
the river bank at Guzaran, about a mile distant from the fort.