Zabulistan

Zabulistan (Persian: زابلستان, Zābolistān, Zāwulistān or simply زابل ), is an ancient and medieval name for a historical region that included mainly southern Afghanistan as well as southeastern Iran.

By the tenth century, Iranian sources mention Zabulistan as part of the Khorasan marches, a frontier region between Khorasan and India. In the Tarikh-i Sistan, finished around 1062 CE, the author regards Zabol as part of the land of Sistan, stretching from the Hamun Oasis all the way to the Indus River.

Today, the Afghan province of Zabul and the Iranian city of Zabol take their names from the historical region. Zabulistan has become popularized as the birthplace of the character Rostam of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, in which the word "Zabulistan" is used interchangeably with "Sistan", which is the same historical region, located in present-day southern Afghanistan (Nimruz, Helmand, Zabul and Kandahar) and some parts of Iran (Sistan and Baluchestan Province).

Zābulistān (Persian: زابلستان) which is the Persian name literally means "the land of Zābol". The etymology of the name Zābol has been marred with speculation. The German historian Marquart, proposed the word, including its uncommon Medieval variant Jāwulistān (Persian: جابلستان) as being a variation of the Sanskrit term. Others have speculated that the word zābol might be an abbreviation of zūnbīl, a supposed royal title of the region known from Arabic sources, earlier read as rutbīl, and now used to refer to a local dynasty of Zamindawar now called the Zunbils. This notion however currently stands on loose ground, and Minorsky holds that the consonant resemblance between these two words look merely fortuitous.

Jāguḍa (Sanskrit: जागुड), meaning saffron, was the Sanskrit name of the region. It is also regarded as being referred to by this name in 644 CE by the Chinese traveling monk Xuanzang in the Chinese transliteration Tsau-kü-ta.

The earliest detailed description of Zabulistan comes from the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, written by the travelling monk Xuanzang in the early seventh century. He places the country of Tsau-kü-ta (Jāguḍa) between the Great Snowy Mountains (the Hindu Kush) and the Black Range (probably the Sulaiman mountains), bordering the country of Vrjisthāna in the north, Kāpiśī to its north-east and Kaikānān to its east. While the Chinese pilgrims never explored the south or west of the region, it is known from later Arabic accounts that Zabulistan at this time was bordered by Turan to its south and Rukhkhudh to its west.

"The country of Jāguda is more than seven thousand li in circuit, and its capital city, named Hexina (Ghazni), is over thirty li in circuit; but the capital is sometimes located in the city of Hesaluo (Guzar), which is also over thirty li in circuit, both cities being strongly fortified in invulnerable positions. The mountains and valleys are rich in natural resources, and the cultivated farmlands, divided by ridges, are high and dry. Crops are sown in proper seasons. Winter wheat is abundant, and vegetation is luxuriant with profuse flowers and fruits. The soil is good for growing aromatic turmeric, and it produces the hingu herb (Ferula asafoetida), which grows in the Rama-Indu Valley. In the city of Hesaluo there are gushing springs, the water of which flows to all sides, and the people make use of it for irrigation. The climate is severely cold with much frost and snow." - Xuanzang, 644 CE

During the Medieval Islamic era, the region is continuously mentioned in geographical works such as Istakhri's Kitab al-Masalik (930-933 CE), the Hudud al 'Alam (982 CE), Qazvīnī's Nuzhat al-Qulub etc.