Tamisha is the old frontier town and gate where a wall runs from the mountains to the sea, dividing Tabaristan from Gurgan.
Since about 1191-94 it marks the border between the Bavandid kingdom and the Khwarazmian province of Gurgan. Marked here at modern Galugah; the exact site is not pinned.
Who holds it
- Name
- Husam al-Dawla Ardashir I
- Title
- Shah of Mazandaran (the gate)
- Since
- not pinned
- Confidence
- low
Lord in 1200
Bavandid on the western side; the Khwarazmian shihna holds the land east of it (since 1194)
How things stand that morning
The Bavandid-Khwarazmian border.
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.
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
The Tamisha wall and gate (ancient).
Trade and crafts
The coast road from Sari to Gurgan.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Position approximate.
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
- Encyclopaedia Iranica, 'Bavandids' (W. Madelung), on Hosam-al-dawla Ardashir after Ibn Esfandiar
- 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.