ÿþ<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=unicode"> <meta name="Author" content="Vassil Karloukovski"> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 5.0"> <meta name="ProgId" content="FrontPage.Editor.Document"> <title>Hudud al-'Alam - 49 - Commentary of V. Minorsky</title> </head> <body> <font face="Palatino Linotype"> <b><font size=+1>Hudud al-'Alam, The Regions of the World</font></b> <br><b>V. Minorsky</b> <br>&nbsp; </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><img SRC="line_down.gif" height=18 width=596> <br>§ 49&nbsp;&nbsp; <i>The Sarir&nbsp;</i>&nbsp; 447 </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><b>§ 49. The Sar+r.</b> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><i>Sar+r</i> is no original name of the country, being only an abridgement of the title&nbsp;<i>s</font><font face="Arial Unicode MS">#</font><font face="Palatino Linotype">h</font><font face="Arial Unicode MS">#</font><font face="Palatino Linotype">ib al-sar+r</font></i><font face="Palatino Linotype"> "Master of the Throne" which the Arabs gave to the local king (on his golden throne <i>sar+r</i>, in our text <i>takht</i>, see I.R., 147, Mas'kd+, <i>Murkj</i>, ii, 41, Is</font><font face="Arial Unicode MS">#</font><font face="Palatino Linotype">t</font><font face="Arial Unicode MS">#</font><font face="Palatino Linotype">., 223). I.R. and Gard+z+, 101, call the king respectively&nbsp;<img SRC="447_1.jpg" height=22 width=30 align=ABSBOTTOM> and&nbsp;<img SRC="447_2.jpg" height=24 width=29 align=ABSBOTTOM>. This detail suggested to Marquart and Barthold (<i>Da<u>gh</u>estn</i> in <i>EI</i>) the identification of the Sar+r with the Avar people in Daghestan (on the middle one of the Qoy-su rivers of which the united waters, under the name of Sulaq, flow into the Caspian south of the Terek). <a href="#447 1.">[1]</a> Baldhur+, p. 196 <i>in fine</i>, discussing the titles given by Ankshirvn to the princes of Daghestn says: "the khqn of the mountain (<i>khqn al-jabal</i>!) who is the Master of the Throne is called&nbsp;<img SRC="447_3.jpg" height=24 width=79 align=ABSBOTTOM> (variants:&nbsp;<img SRC="447_4.jpg" height=23 width=168 align=ABSBOTTOM>)". Thomas Artsruni (tenth century) mentions the people Aurhaz-k' (<img SRC="447_5.jpg" height=25 width=96 align=ABSBOTTOM>) jointly with the Tsanar-k' (S</font><font face="Arial Unicode MS">#</font><font face="Palatino Linotype"><i>anr</i>, § 36, 33.), cf. Marquart, <i>o.c.</i>, 496. In the&nbsp;<i>Z</i></font><i><font face="Arial Unicode MS">#</font></i><font face="Palatino Linotype"><i>afar-nma</i> (written in A.D. 1424), i, 772, 777, 779, the Daghestan Avars are called <i>Auhar</i>, and this form is very much like the first element of the king's name in Baldhur+. <a href="#447 2.">[2]</a> Mas'kd+, ii, 41, relates a story of the descendance of the Master of the Throne from Bahrm Gkr, and abusively confers on him an additional title of <i>F+ln-shh</i> (<i>v.i.</i>, § 50, 3c.). The connexion with the Master of the Throne seems to have been much appreciated for not only Mas&#39;kd+ speaks of the matrimonial ties between the Aln and the Sar+r princely families but we know that Ish</font><font face="Arial Unicode MS">#</font><font face="Palatino Linotype">aq b. Ism'+l, ruler of Tiflis <i>circa</i> A.D. 830-53, was married to a daughter of this king, see&nbsp;T</font><font face="Arial Unicode MS">#</font><font face="Palatino Linotype">abar+, iii, 1416, and Thomas Artsruni, transl. Brosset, pp. 143, 168. The important historical role of the Avar principality is shown by the fact that the Avar language is still a sort of <i>lingua franca</i> in Daghestan. This language, belonging to the local eastern Caucasian group has, however, nothing to do with the original language of the Avar invaders who first organized the principality of the Sar+r. See <b>Map xi.</b> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">[The Avars were the great conquerors of the fifth century who about A.D. 461-5 drove the Sabirs westwards. They are the people which the Chinese call <i>Jou-jan</i> or <i>Juan-juan</i> and which, according to P. Pelliot, was of Mongol race. <a href="#447 3.">[3]</a> In A.D. 551 they were vanquished by the Turks (T&#39;u-chüeh) <br>&nbsp; </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><a NAME="447 1."></a><font size=-1><b>1.</b> The Avars are now an entirely Daghestanian people, but their name may reflect that of some former dynasty issued from the pre-Islamic&nbsp;<img SRC="447_6a.jpg" height=19 width=61 align=ABSBOTTOM>,&nbsp;<img SRC="447_6b.jpg" height=19 width=65 align=ABSBOTTOM>, see I.Kh., 92 and 119: <i>al-Abar</i>, cf. Marquart, <i>Komanen</i>, 74-5.</font> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><a NAME="447 2."></a><font size=-1><b>2.</b> In Armenian <i>Aurhazk'</i>, <i>k' </i>is the suffix of plural and the group <i>rh</i>, with usual metathesis, must stand for <i>hr</i>. In *<i>Auhraz</i> I consider <i>z</i> as an Iranian suffix of origin similar to that of <i>Gur-z, Lak-z, Ly-z</i> (§ 36, 36.). Consequently the Armenian form *<i>Auhra-z </i>(easily &lt; <i>Auhar-z</i>) is identical with later Persian <i>Auhar</i> ( > <i>Avr</i>) and in its light we may restore Baldhur+'s title, which consists of a name + suffix <i>z</i> + suffix&nbsp;<i>n</i>. As regards the form&nbsp;<img SRC="447_7.jpg" height=23 width=37 align=ABSBOTTOM> we may suppose that it is a result of several tentatives to transcribe the difficult name containing the elements&nbsp;<img SRC="447_8.jpg" height=23 width=33 align=ABSBOTTOM> usually confused in writing. One of the&nbsp;<img SRC="447_8b.jpg" height=20 width=14 align=ABSBOTTOM> may be superfluous and with&nbsp;<img SRC="447_9.jpg" height=24 width=39 align=ABSBOTTOM> (or still better&nbsp;<img SRC="447_10.jpg" height=24 width=32 align=ABSBOTTOM>) we approach the Armenian form. The tentative restoration would be *<i>Auhar-z-n-shh</i>.</font> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><a NAME="447 3."></a><font size=-1><b>3.</b> Cf. <i>T.-Pao</i>, xxxii/4, 1936, p. 235.</font> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><img SRC="line_down.gif" height=18 width=596> <br>448&nbsp;&nbsp; <i>Commentary</i>&nbsp;&nbsp; § 49 </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">and according to Theophylactos Simocatta fled partly to China (<img SRC="448_1.jpg" height=21 width=74 align=ABSBOTTOM> = <i>Tabghach</i> = the Wei dynasty) and partly to the&nbsp;<img SRC="448_2.jpg" height=21 width=62 align=ABSBOTTOM>. On the contrary, the Avars who first came into touch with the Byzantines towards A.D. 557 only assumed the name of their famous predecessors whereas in reality they belonged to the&nbsp;<img SRC="448_3.jpg" height=21 width=56 align=ABSBOTTOM> (Uyghur) tribes&nbsp;<img SRC="448_4.jpg" height=21 width=110 align=ABSBOTTOM>, &amp;c. Cf. Marquart, <i>Die Chronologie d. alttürk. Inschriften</i>, 94,&nbsp;<i>rnaahr</i>, 52-5, 84, &amp;c., <i>Streifzüge</i>, <i>passim</i>, and Chavannes, <i>Documents</i>, 229-33. One should think then that the Avars who gave a dynasty to northern Daghestan belonged to the later "Pseudo-Avars", though the question needs still a special investigation. As regards the <i>Mukri</i> who were joined by a part of the true Avars they are usually identified with the Tunguz people <i>Mu-chi</i> (<i>Wu-chi</i>) or <i>Mo-ho</i> which lived north of Corea, cf. Herrmann, <i>Historical Atlas of China</i>, Cambridge, U.S.A., 1935, Map 30), but Marquart,&nbsp;<i>rnaahr</i>, p. 54, <i>ult.</i> was inclined to take them for the <i>Merkit</i> (see, however, his later <i>Komanen</i>, 88). In favour of this opinion one could quote a fact which seems to have escaped the notice of the scholars. According to Rash+d al-d+n, ed. Bérézine, vii, 90 (transl. v, 70) one of the four divisions of the&nbsp;<img SRC="448_5.jpg" height=27 width=42 align=ABSBOTTOM> or&nbsp;<img SRC="448_6.jpg" height=26 width=46 align=ABSBOTTOM> was called&nbsp;<img SRC="448_7.jpg" height=24 width=31 align=ABSBOTTOM> (*<i>Auhar</i>?), which name is, indeed, reminiscent of the title borne by the Sar+r king. This item does not, of course, constitute a proof for the "true-Avar"' origin of the rulers of Sar+r, who, following Theophyl. Simocatta's theory, could have usurped a name which did not strictly belong to them, but the resemblance of the names in both cases is a testimony for its original form. It must be finally remembered that the evidence for the distinction of the true Avars and Pseudo-Avars, depending chiefly on one Byzantine source, is rather frail and a complete disappearance after A.D. 552 of a warrior race would be unexpected.] </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">On the mountain of the Sar+r see § 5, 18. On the wrong idea of the sources of the Kur see § 6, 56. Our author makes the Sar+r border on the Rkm, the latter term evidently referring only to the Georgians (§ 42, 15.). </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">No parallels could be found for the story about the giant flies (<i>pasha</i>). Mas'kd+, ii, 42, gives the name *<i>Maghas</font><font face="Arial Unicode MS">#</font><font face="Palatino Linotype"><sup>un</sup></i> to the Aln capital (<i>v.s.</i>). Could not some popular etymology *<i>Maghas</font><font face="Arial Unicode MS">#</font><font face="Palatino Linotype"></i> > Persian <i>magas</i> "fly" have served as a starting-point for a story reflecting some discontent with the neighbours? [?] </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">1. On the king&#39;s castle see also § 5, 18 c. Mas&#39;kd+, ii, 42, calls the seat of government (<i>dr al-mulk</i>) of the Sar+r&nbsp;<img SRC="448_8.jpg" height=21 width=44 align=ABSBOTTOM> (<img SRC="448_9.jpg" height=21 width=40 align=ABSBOTTOM>; d'Ohsson quotes the variant&nbsp;<img SRC="448_10.jpg" height=24 width=40 align=ABSBOTTOM>). This place may correspond to the present centre of the Avar territory, Khunzakh (<img SRC="448_11.jpg" height=26 width=49 align=ABSBOTTOM>). See <b>Map xi.</b> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">2.&nbsp;<img SRC="448_12.jpg" height=20 width=46 align=ABSBOTTOM> (perhaps repeated under § 48, 2.) corresponds to&nbsp;<img SRC="448_13.jpg" height=24 width=40 align=ABSBOTTOM> in I.R., 147, and Gard+z+, 109, and&nbsp;<img SRC="448_14.jpg" height=23 width=45 align=ABSBOTTOM> in Mas'kd+, ii, 7, 39. Already d'Ohsson in his very good book <i>Des peuples du Caucase</i>, Paris 1828, p. 19, wrote: &quot;il me paraît hors de doute qu&#39;il faut lire&nbsp;<img SRC="448_15.jpg" height=24 width=46 align=ABSBOTTOM> puisque le pays ici désigné est encore habité par les Kaitacs (<img SRC="448_16.jpg" height=23 width=28 align=ABSBOTTOM> dans Abul-Fid<a href="#448 1.">[1]</a> et <br>&nbsp; </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><a NAME="448 1."></a><font size=-1><b>1.</b> Abul-Fid, p. 71, says that <i>Jabal al-Qytq</i> (perhaps for *<i>Qabq</i> ?) stretches from the coast of the Caspian sea near the town of <i>Bb al-abwb</i> in a southern</font> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><img SRC="line_down.gif" height=18 width=596> <br>§ 49&nbsp;&nbsp; <i>The Sarir</i>&nbsp;&nbsp; 449 </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">Ktib-Chelebi)." <a href="#449 1.">[1]</a> Marquart in the additions to his <i>Streifzüge</i>, 492, came practically to the same conclusion. The Qaytaq (speaking [now] a Daghestanian language) live on the rivers Gumri (*<i>Humri</i>?) and Darbakh, along the coast immediately north of Darband. <a href="#449 2.">[2]</a> I.R., 147-8, quoting from some earlier source calls the king of <i>Khyzn</i> dharnars and says that he is equally respectful to the three religions of his subjects (Muslims, Jews, and Christians). He places <i>Khyzn</i> at 12 <i>manzils</i> "to the right" <a href="#449 3.">[3]</a> of the Master of the Throne's castle which distance is certainly exaggerated, unless it is based on a confusion with a different <i>Khyzn</i>. According to Mas'kd+ the <i>Jydn</i> was formerly a part of the Khazarian principalities (<i>dkhila fi jumlat mulkk al-Khazar</i>); in his times the king, a Muslim said to be of the Qah</font><font face="Arial Unicode MS">#</font><font face="Palatino Linotype">t</font><font face="Arial Unicode MS">#</font><font face="Palatino Linotype">n tribe, bore the hereditary name of&nbsp;<img SRC="449_1.jpg" height=26 width=49 align=ABSBOTTOM>. <a href="#449 4.">[4]</a> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">A certain difficulty results from some of Baldhur+'s data on&nbsp;<img SRC="449_2.jpg" height=26 width=44 align=ABSBOTTOM>: p. 204, in the enumeration of Salmn's federates he mentions "Shakk+, <i>Khyzn</i>, Shirvn", &amp;c., as if they were neighbours; p. 206, he says that Jarrh</font><font face="Arial Unicode MS">#</font><font face="Palatino Linotype"> after having attacked the people of&nbsp;<img SRC="449_3.jpg" height=21 width=52 align=ABSBOTTOM> (<img SRC="449_4.jpg" height=21 width=53 align=ABSBOTTOM> *H</font><font face="Arial Unicode MS">#</font><font face="Palatino Linotype"><i>umr+n</i>? cf. Baldhur+, 208) settled them in the "<i>rustq</i> (<i>sic</i>) of Khyzn" which suggests a place in the rear [?]. Finally I.Kh., 124, in his identification of the places mentioned in the Qor'nic legend of Moses, mentions "the village of Khyzn" <a href="#449 5.">[5]</a> along with Bjarvn (south of the Araxes) and Shirvn. Between Baku and Qubba there exists on the Ata-chay a village and a district of <i>Khizi</i> which may be taken into consideration in connexion with the above hints. Its distance from the capital of the Sanr would roughly suit I.R.'s "12 <i>manzils</i>" (<i>v.s.</i>). </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">Mas'kd+ entirely separates <i>Jydn</i> from the Sar+r but I.R. and Gard+z+ speak of <i>Khyzn</i> in the middle of the chapter on the Sar+r. This arrangement which evidently existed in the common source is responsible for the place which our author assigns to <i>Kh.ndn</i> in the present chapter. The Sar+rian "generals" living in the town may be only an echo of the original report on the king&nbsp;dharnars . </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">3. A parallel of&nbsp;<img SRC="449_5.jpg" height=21 width=48 align=ABSBOTTOM> is found only in I.R., 148, who places&nbsp;<img SRC="449_6.jpg" height=22 width=48 align=ABSBOTTOM> at a distance of 10 farsakhs from the town of <i>Khyzn</i> and describes the cult of the tree practised by its inhabitants, cf. Marquart, <i>Streifzüge</i>, 15. The <br>&nbsp; </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><font size=-1>direction. Then quoting from <i>al'-Az+z+</i> (cf. note to §60, 4.) Abul-Fid adds that this mountain is called<i> Jabal al-alsun</i> because some 300 languages are said to be spoken on it. Then he proceeds "and on its northern side are&nbsp;<img SRC="449_7.jpg" height=27 width=47 align=ABSBOTTOM> *<i>Qaytaq</i> who are a (special) race (<i>jins</i>); and on southern side the Lazg+ who are also a (special) race .</font> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><a NAME="449 1."></a><font size=-1><b>1.</b> <i>Jihn-nüm</i>, pp. 401-2.</font> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><a NAME="449 2."></a><font size=-1><b>2.</b> Marquart, <i>o.c.</i>, p. 492, identifies <i>Jydn</i> with <i>Majlis</i> (on the left bank of the Buam). However, the usual residence of the <i>Utsmi</i> of the Qaytaq was at <i>Bashl<img SRC="i_k.jpg" height=17 width=8 align=ABSBOTTOM></i>, or <i>Barshli</i> on the Humri river, cf. Klaproth, <i>Tableau du Caucase</i>, 1827, p. 139. D'Ohsson, <i>o.c.</i>, p. 10, proposed the identification of this place to&nbsp;<img SRC="449_8.jpg" height=25 width=40 align=ABSBOTTOM>, where according to Baldhur+, p. 195, Ankshirvn met the khqn of the Khazars. Consequently&nbsp;<img SRC="449_9.jpg" height=26 width=61 align=ABSBOTTOM> may be Bashli =&nbsp;<img SRC="449_10.jpg" height=25 width=41 align=ABSBOTTOM> [ = Armenian <i>Vara 'an</i>].</font> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><a NAME="449 3."></a><font size=-1><b>3.</b> It can mean only to the south-east for, p. 148. the Aln territory begins at 3 days distance  to the left" of the Sar+r.</font> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><a NAME="449 4."></a><font size=-1><b>4.</b> The tltle may be Turkish, ct. the title <i>Se-li-fa</i> many times mentioned in Chinese sources, see Chavannes, <i>Documents</i>, Index.</font> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><a NAME="449 5."></a><font size=-1><b>5.</b> Marquart, <i>o.c.</i>, 492, was inclined to distinguish it from Mas'kdi's <i>Jydn</i>.</font> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><img SRC="line_down.gif" height=18 width=596> <br>450&nbsp;&nbsp; <i>Commentary</i>&nbsp;&nbsp; §§ 49-50 </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">only name I can think of is that of the river <i>Rubas</i> which waters the Tabarsarn district to the south-west of Darband. Following the coast north to south the districts come as follows: Qaytaq, Darband,&nbsp;T</font><font face="Arial Unicode MS">#</font><font face="Palatino Linotype">abarsarn, but west of Darband the sources of the Darbakh (in Qaytaq) and the Rubas (in&nbsp;T</font><font face="Arial Unicode MS">#</font><font face="Palatino Linotype">abarsarn) lie very close to one another. Therefore the mention of Rubas would not be unexpected after Qaytaq (*<i>Khaytq</i>).&nbsp;<img SRC="450_1.jpg" height=23 width=49 align=ABSBOTTOM> could easily be restored as&nbsp;<img SRC="450_2.jpg" height=26 width=65 align=ABSBOTTOM><i>Rubkhas</i> > <i>Rubas</i>. <a href="#450 1.">[1]</a> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">The mention of *Masqut lying farther south in the same direction (§ 50, 3.) may be explained by our author&#39;s reading off his map the whole series of names situated in one line. I.R., whose text is our sure parallel, after the intermezzo on <i>Khyzn</i> and <i>Rnh</font><font face="Arial Unicode MS">#</font><font face="Palatino Linotype">s</i>, finishes the chapter by mentioning a second castle belonging to the Master of the Throne: "it is called&nbsp;<img SRC="450_3.jpg" height=28 width=95 align=ABSBOTTOM> and has a strong position; in it is the treasury (<i>bayt al-ml</i>) of the king and it was given to him by Ankshirvn". This fortress is undoubtedly&nbsp;<img SRC="450_4.jpg" height=24 width=40 align=ABSBOTTOM> mentioned in Mas'kd+, ii, 39, in the neighbourhood of Zir+garn and the Sar+r,<i> i.e.</i> the present-day Qumiq situated on the southern branch of the Qoy-su in the proximity of the Avar territory. <a href="#450 2.">[2]</a> <br>&nbsp; </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><a NAME="450 1."></a><font size=-1><b>1.</b> The <i>T'r+kh Bb al-Abwb</i> quoted by A. Z. Validi, <i>Azerbaycan</i>, p. 39, spells the name&nbsp;<img SRC="450_5.jpg" height=26 width=54 align=ABSBOTTOM> but the name may have had an older form.</font> </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype"><a NAME="450 2."></a><font size=-1><b>2.</b> The territory of Qumiq is occupied by the Lak who are also called <i>Qazi-Qumuq</i> (to be distinguished from the Turkish <i>Qum<img SRC="i_k.jpg" height=17 width=8 align=ABSBOTTOM>q</i> living further north-east towards the Caspian sea). Cf. Dirr, in <i>Peterm. Mitteil</i>, 54, 1908, pp. 204-12.</font> <br>&nbsp; </font> <p><font face="Palatino Linotype">[<a href="hud_49.html">Previous</a>] [<a href="hud_50.html">Next</a>] <br>[<a href="index.html">Back to Index</a>] </font> </body> </html>