Lahijan, east of the Sefid Rud, is one of the market towns of eastern Gilan (Biya-pish), among rice fields and mulberry groves for silk; it becomes the chief town of the east in the later Middle Ages.
In the twelfth century eastern Gilan and the neighbouring Daylam had followers of the Zaydi Alid imams; the chiefs who held Lahijan in 1200 are not named in the sources read.
Who holds it
- Title
- Local Gil chief
- Since
- not pinned
- Confidence
- low
Lord in 1200
A local chief of eastern Gilan (not named)
How things stand that morning
Under local chiefs.
Charter
None known: towns under Turkish and Daylami princes had 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 headman (ra'is), the qadi and the heads of the quarters speak for the town. Names for 1199-1200 are not in the sources read.
Communities
Gil townsmen and villagers; Zaydi Shi'is and Sunnis (proportions not pinned).
Fairs and markets
Daily markets (suq) and caravanserais; no fair days recorded.
Militia
Townsmen's young men's associations ('ayyarun) existed in the towns of Persia; nothing specific is recorded here for 1199-1200.
Walls and castle
Not recorded.
Trade and crafts
Silk, rice, timber; small coastal trade.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Gilan in 1200 is very thinly recorded.
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
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.