The district of Nawbandagan on the road from Shiraz to Khuzistan, taken over in the twelfth century by the Shul, a Lur people from the mountains to the north-west, and called after them Shulistan.
In Tekele's reign the Hazaraspid Hazarasp ibn Abi Tahir invaded Shulistan; Tekele could not defeat him and had to come to an agreement (Mercil). On 1 January 1200 the Shul govern themselves under their own chiefs, between the Salghurids and the Hazaraspids.
Who holds it
- Name
- Not named
- Title
- Chiefs of the Shul
- Since
- Not pinned
- Confidence
- low
Overlord
Disputed between the atabeg of Fars and the Hazaraspid atabeg of Greater Lur.
What it holds
- Nawbandagan (Fahliyan, modern Nurabad)
- The valleys towards Kuhgiluya
How things stand that morning
Self-governing; contested overlordship.
Customs
Lur tribal chiefs; herding between summer and winter pastures.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The Hazarasp episode is from Mercil (TDV); the Shul settlement from the geographers (Mustawfi, via Le Strange).
On the map: Rough outline round Nurabad.
Primary sources for Zagros Kurds
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
- E. Mercil, 'Salgurlular', TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi (after Muhammad b. Ibrahim, Wassaf, Zarkub and Mercil, Fars Atabegleri Salgurlular, 1975)
- 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
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.