Kingdom of Guzgan | |
|---|---|
Location of the Kingdom of Guzgan in Central Asia, and in present-day northwestAfghanistan. | |
Approximate geographical region of Kingdom of Guzgan, in present-day northernAfghanistan. | |
| Government | Monarchy |
| Historical era | Ancient Era |
| Today part of | Afghanistan |
Guzgan (Persian:گوزگان, also known asGozgan,Guzganan orQuzghan) was ahistorical region and early medieval principality in what is now northernAfghanistan.
The area was known as "Guzgan" or in the plural form "Guzganan". OrientalistVladimir Minorsky derived the name from a word meaning "walnut", a product for which the area is still known today. The 19th-century scholarHenry George Raverty suggested that the plural form emerged from the division of the country in two parts by the riverMurghab.[1]
The boundaries of Guzgan were never well defined and fluctuated wildly over time. They certainly bear no relation to the modern administrative boundaries ofJowzjan Province, named after it, or the neighbouringFaryab Province, but historically included the lands around the towns ofMaymana (capital of Faryab province),Andkhuy,Shibarghan (capital of Jowzjan Province) andSar-e Pol (capital of thenamesake province).[1][2] Lying on the transition zone between theCentral Asiansteppes and theIranian Plateau, the region was characterized by a mixture of sedentary, urban populations in the fertile river valleys, alongsidenomad tribes engaged inpastoralism, which is singled out as the region's main source of wealth by medieval geographers.[2] Its location also meant that it was often used as a route for armies marching to and from Iran to Central Asia.[2]
In the early 7th century, the region of Guzgan was counted as part ofTokharistan. As attested by legal documents that have tentatively been dated to the late 7th and early 8th century, the area was controlled by a local family that used the country Gozgan as the dynastic name, a custom of the era.[3] Several are named, includingZhulad Gozgan, and Skag Gozgan, presumably one of his successors.[3]
TheKingdom of Rob, in which numerous documents inBactrian language were found, was located to the southeast of the Kingdom of Guzgan.[4]
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Guzgan was conquered by theArabs underal-Ahnaf ibn Qays in 653/4, as part of theMuslim conquest of Persia. But during the rule of the Rashidun caliphAli (656–661), the Arabs were expulsed from eastern Iran, as far asNishapur and the SasanianPeroz III was able to establish some level of control with the help of the yabghu of Tokharistan inSeistan.[5] TheWestern Turkic Khaganate itself was taken over by theTang dynasty in 657 CE, and most of his territories became protectorates of the Tang Empire, and organized into regional commanderies, as was the case for the region of Guzgan.[6][7][2]
In 737, the area was the site of the decisiveBattle of Kharistan between the Arabs underAsad ibn Abdallah al-Qasri, and theTurgesh under thekhaganSuluk.[2] In 743, theAlidYahya ibn Zayd, son ofZayd ibn Ali, rose in revolt but was defeated and killed at Guzgan by the forces of theUmayyad governor,Nasr ibn Sayyar. His tomb was later a site of pilgrimage.[2][8] InAbbasid times, the local governor resided in Anbar, possibly modern Sar-e Pol, but other accounts mention Shibarghan as the capital, and the geographersal-Muqaddasi andYaqut al-Hamawi considered al-Yahudiyya (modernMaymana) as the capital.[2]
Despite the Arab conquest, a native dynasty, theFarighunids, who claimed descent from the Persian mythological heroFaridun and bore the title ofGuzgan-Khudha, continued to rule from their capital,Kundurm.[2][9] They became vassals of theSamanids and then ofMahmud of Ghazni, one of whose daughters married the Farighunid emir Abu'l-Abbas Ma'mun Farighun. The latter was assassinated by his own troops in 1016, however, and Mahmud gave rule of the region to his chamberlain,Yalangtush.[9] The Farighunids were notable as patrons of the arts and literature; the most notable product of their court is the anonymous geographical workHudud ul-'alam min al-mashriq ila al-maghrib.[1][10]
