Gaskar and Talysh

Who holds it

Title

Local chiefs

Since

not pinned

Confidence

low

Overlord

None known; the Eldiguzid atabeg at Ardabil and Tabriz claims the country beyond the hills (not pinned).

What it holds

• Gaskar (round Rezvanshahr)
• The Talysh coast and hills to Astara

How things stand that morning

Under local chiefs (not pinned).

Wealth

Rice, silk, timber, cattle; the passes to Ardabil.

Military

Not in the sources.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: No source read names its chiefs in 1200; drawn so that the ground is not left blank. The Anatolia map leaves Astara and Lankaran outside its research.

On the map: Very approximate; the realm colour (gilan) is a convenience for local chiefs of the Gilan coast.

Primary sources for Gilan and Daylam

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• History of Tabaristan, Ibn Isfandiyar (Baha al-Din Muhammad ibn Hasan) (begun 1206, extended about 1216; continued anonymously to 1349). The local history of the Caspian province and the only account of the Bavandid kings of Tabaristan: Husam al-Dawla Ardashir (reigned 1173 to 1206) at Sari and Amul, his dealings with the Khwarazmshahs Tekish and Ala al-Din Muhammad, the Nizaris of Alamut, the Eldiguzids and the caliph, and the marriages, feuds and raids of the Daylamite and Gilaki lords. Read online
• Dictionary of Countries, Yaqut al-Hamawi (1224 to 1228, at Aleppo). An alphabetical gazetteer of every place Yaqut had read of or seen: he travelled as a bookseller's agent through Syria, Iraq, Persia, Khurasan and Khwarazm (about 1213 to 1220) and settled in Aleppo. Read online