Town · Tabaristan: the Bavandid kings · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Shalus

Shalus at the mouth of the Chalus river, with Kalar up the valley, are the old towns of the Ruyan district between Tabaristan and Daylam.

The Paduspanid lords of Ruyan were displaced when Ardashir killed Hazarasp in 586 AH (1190); the line comes back only in 1209-10.

Who holds it

Name
Husam al-Dawla Ardashir I
Title
Shah of Mazandaran
Since
586 AH (1190)
Confidence
medium

Lord in 1200

Ardashir I, through a governor (not named), since he killed the Paduspanid Hazarasp in 586 AH (1190)

How things stand that morning

Bavandid.

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

Tabari and Daylami villagers and townsmen.

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

An old fortress at Shalus (state in 1200 not pinned).

Trade and crafts

Timber, rice, the coast road and the pass road up the Chalus valley.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Bavandid occupation of Ruyan 1190-1209 per the Paduspanid lists (after Madelung).

Primary sources for Bavandids

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. Wikipedia, 'Paduspanids' (after Madelung, Iranica 'Baduspanids')
  2. G. Le Strange, The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate (1905), chs. on Tabaristan, Gilan, Jurjan, Qumis and Quhistan

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