The oasis city (called Kathah by the early geographers) on the edge of the central desert, watered by underground canals (qanat), at the meeting of the roads from Kerman and the Gulf to Isfahan, Khurasan and Fars.
The Kakuyids embellished it in the eleventh century (the tomb of the Twelve Imams, 429/1037-38); the atabegs Sam and Langar rule it now, and Langar has built forts, mosques, bath-houses, gardens, qanats and caravanserais. Zoroastrians live in the city and its villages (numbers not pinned).
Who holds it
- Name
- Izz al-Din Langar
- Title
- Atabeg of Yazd
- Since
- 590 AH (1193-94)
- Confidence
- high
Lord in 1200
The atabeg Izz al-Din Langar's capital.
How things stand that morning
Langar's capital, at peace as far as the sources show.
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
The atabeg, the qadi and the notables. Names for 1200 not pinned.
Communities
Persian Sunni townsmen; Zoroastrians in the city and its villages; a Jewish community (size not pinned).
Fairs and markets
Daily or weekly markets; no fair dates recorded.
Militia
Not recorded for 1199-1200.
Walls and castle
A walled town with a citadel (not described in detail for 1200); Langar's forts round the oasis.
Trade and crafts
Silk and cotton weaving, the caravan trade between Kerman, the Gulf, Isfahan and Khurasan.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Local histories are late but detailed.
Primary sources for Yazd
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.
- 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
- S. C. Fairbanks, 'Atabakan-e Yazd', Encyclopaedia Iranica (after Ja'fari, Tarikh-i Yazd; Ahmad b. Husayn, Tarikh-i jadid-i Yazd; Mufid Bafqi)
- G. Le Strange, The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate (1905), chapters XVII-XXIV (Fars, Kirman, Makran) after Istakhri, Muqaddasi, Ibn al-Balkhi, Yaqut and Mustawfi
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.