Firuzabad

Who holds it

Name

Sa'd ibn Zangi, through his governor (not named)

Title

Atabeg of Fars

Since

1198

Confidence

medium

Lord in 1200

Held for the atabeg Sa'd (on the majority reading).

How things stand that morning

A Salghurid town.

Charter

None known: the towns of the atabegs have no charters; the governor, the judge (qadi) and the market inspector (muhtasib) answer to the ruler.

Council

No sworn council; the notables (a'yan), the qadi and the headman (ra'is) speak for the town. Names for 1199-1200 not pinned.

Communities

Persian townsmen.

Fairs and markets

Daily or weekly markets; no fair dates recorded.

Militia

Not recorded for 1199-1200.

Walls and castle

The old round walls; the citadel of Ardashir on the gorge above (in ruins).

Trade and crafts

Rosewater, fruit and the roads to the coast.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: General geographers' descriptions only.

Primary sources for Salghurids

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.

• Comfort of Hearts and Sign of Joy: a History of the Seljuks, Muhammad ibn Ali al-Rawandi (Ravandi) (1203 to 1204, dedicated to Kaykhusraw I of Rum). A history of the Great Seljuks from their origins to the death of the last sultan Toghril III in 1194, begun at Hamadan and finished for Kaykhusraw of Rum when the author moved to Anatolia. 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