§ 48. Discourse on the Country of the Alāns (al-Lan) and its Towns

East and south of it is the Sarīr; west of it, Rūm; north of it, the Gurz Sea and the Khazarian Pechenegs. All this country is broken and mountainous (andar shikastagī-hā va kūh-hā) and is favoured by

§ 48-50   "The Regions of the World"   161

nature. Their king is a Christian. They possess 1,000 large villages. Among them there are both Christians and idol-worshippers (but-parast). Some of the people are mountaineers and some plain-dwellers.

1. KĀSAK, a land (shahr) of the Alān on the coast of the Gurz Sea. It is a pleasant place and there are merchants in it.

2. KHAYLĀN (?), the town where the king's army is stationed.

3. DAR-I ALĀN ("the Alān gate"), a town situated like a fort on the summit of a mountain. Every day 1,000 men by turn mount guard on its wall. [1]
 

1. Cf. § 5, 18 c.
 

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