This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
306
THE ORIGINS OF THE ISLAMIC STATE

despatched one of his great generals at the head of 12,000 men, who ravaged the land of Arrân and conquered the region lying between ar-Rass river and Sharwân. Kubâdh then followed him and built in Arrân the city of al-Bailaḳân, the city of Bardhaʿah—which is the capital of the whole frontier region, and the city of Ḳabalah, i. e., al-Khazar. After that he erected Sudd al-Libn [brick dam] lying between the land of Sharwân and al-Lan gate. Along this Sudd, he established 360 cities which fell into ruins after the erection of the city of al-Bâb wa-l-Abwâb.

Anûshirwân builds other cities. Ḳubâdh was succeeded by his son Anûshirwân Kisra who built the cities of ash-Shâbirân and Masḳat, and later al-Bâb wa-l-Abwâb[1] which was called Abwâb because it was built on a road in the mountain. He settled in the places he built a people whom he called as-Siyâsijûn.[2] In the land of Arrân, he established Abwâb Shakkan,[3] al-Ḳamibarân, and Abwâb ad-Dûdânîyah. Ad-Dûdânîyah are a tribe who claim to be descended from the banu-Dûdân ibn-Asad ibn-Khuzaimah. He also built ad-Durdhûkîyah[4] which consisted of twelve gates,[5] each one of which was a castle of stone. In the land of Jurzân he established a city, Sughdabîl, which he populated with a body of as-Sughd [Sogdians] and Persians, making it a fortified town. Next to the Greek lands in the region of Jurzân, he built a castle and called it Bâb Fairûziḳubâdh; another called Bâb Lâdhiḳah; still another Bâb

  1. Derbend. See Meynard, Dictionnaire de la Perse, p. 68; Hamadhâni, pp. 286–288; Ḥauḳal, pp. 241–242.
  2. Cf. St. Martin, Mémoires sur l'Arménie, vol. i, pp. 207–214.
  3. Hamadhâni, p. 288, "Shakka"; Yâḳût, "Shaḳa"; Ḥauḳal, p. 254, "Shakka".
  4. Hamadhâni, p. 288, "ad-Durzûḳiyah"; St. Martin, vol. ii, p. 189.
  5. Cf. Hamadhâni, p. 288.