People or land · Gilan and Daylam · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Tarum

The deep valleys where the Qizil Uzun and the Shahrud meet to form the Sefid Rud, with the old Daylami castle of Samiran, once the seat of the Musafirid (Sallarid) princes.

The road from Zanjan and Qazvin to Gilan runs through it. Who held Tarum on 1 January 1200 is not pinned in the sources read; it is drawn here with the Daylami and Gilan hill communities.

Who holds it

Title
Local lords
Since
not pinned
Confidence
low

Overlord

not pinned: the Eldiguzids of Zanjan's side, the Nizaris of Rudbar and the Gilan chiefs all border it.

What it holds

  • The Tarum valleys of the Qizil Uzun (Ab-bar)
  • Manjil and Rudbar at the head of the Sefid Rud
  • The castle of Samiran (state in 1200 not pinned)

Wealth

Olives (Rudbar), the Zanjan-Gilan road, salt.

Military

Castles; not described for 1200.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: No source read for 1200.

On the map: Holder unknown; the colour is a placeholder for self-governing Daylami ground.

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

Sources and studies

  1. G. Le Strange, The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate (1905), chs. on Tabaristan, Gilan, Jurjan, Qumis and Quhistan
  2. W. Madelung, 'The minor dynasties of northern Iran', Cambridge History of Iran vol. 4 (1975) (background to Gilan and Daylam before the Seljuks)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.