The Frontiers and Place-Names of Kurdistan in the Ilkhanid Period Based on Nuzhat al-Qulūb

Based on Mustawfī’s Nuzhat al-Qulūb, this study examins how Kurdistan became a distinct province and locates the boundaries and the cities during the Ilkhanids. Kurdistan was first separated from the Iraq-i ‘Adjam during the period. Given the location of Kurdistan, and given the role of the province in historical events, historical understanding can increase if borders and cities of Kurdistan are definitely located, which is hard work since there is little information thereof, and since the names of such places are erroneously recorded in classical texts.This study shows that Kurdistan became a distinct province after the Seljuqids due to its geography and after the domination of Īvih Turkmen. The province extended from Kangawar to Hulwan, and from the Karkhih River to the Little Zab River. This study determines the locations of towns listed by Mustawfī, as follows: Bahār, the provincial capital, was within the current Ilam province; Khuftiyān, Nīmrāh, Darband-i Tādj Khātūn, and Darband-i Zangī were within Sulaymāniyyih province in Iraq; Alānī, Drbīl (Dartang), Kirind, Khūshān, Māhidasht, Kirmanshah, Wisṭām, Sultanabad-i Chamchamal, Harsin, Kangawar, and Dinawar were within current Kirmanshahan; Alīshtar was, and still is, within Luristan. Moreover, this study finds that the current Kurdistan in Iran had no urban center.