The Qufs, called Kuch by the Persians, are the mountain people of south-eastern Kerman, between the Jiroft lowland, Bam and the coast behind Hormuz.
The tenth-century geographers describe them as a people of their own, living by herding and by robbing the roads; the Seljuk Qavurt broke the brigands of Kerman's hills in the eleventh century. Nothing specific is recorded of them in 1199-1200: they are drawn here as self-governing hill folk outside any governor's reach.
Who holds it
- Name
- Not named
- Title
- Headmen of the Qufs
- Since
- Not pinned
- Confidence
- low
Overlord
Claimed by the masters of Kerman; in practice self-governing.
What it holds
- The Jebal Barez range between Jiroft and Bam
- The Bashakird hills behind the Hormuz coast
How things stand that morning
Self-governing; no record for the year.
Customs
Tribal herding communities under their own headmen; Muslims in name in the tenth century (the geographers' account).
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Last described in detail by the tenth- and eleventh-century sources; their state in 1200 is not known.
On the map: A rough outline of the mountain block.
Primary sources for Kerman
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.
- 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
Sources and studies
- G. Le Strange, The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate (1905), chapters XVII-XXIV (Fars, Kirman, Makran) after Istakhri, Muqaddasi, Ibn al-Balkhi, Yaqut and Mustawfi
- C. E. Bosworth, 'The Political and Dynastic History of the Iranian World (A.D. 1000-1217)', Cambridge History of Iran 5 (1968), pp. 167-175, 184-185
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.