Abdoreza Kalmorzi; Mohammad Baqr Voosoughi Voosoughi
Abstract
Maqdisi in Ahsan al-Taqasim fi Maʻrefat Al-Aqalim offers new definitions for Mesr, Qasabe, Madine, and Qarye, and relates the life of each unit to the others, regarding their roles and functions. Illustrating their connection with each other, he resembles these geographical units to the kings, the hajeban ...
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Maqdisi in Ahsan al-Taqasim fi Maʻrefat Al-Aqalim offers new definitions for Mesr, Qasabe, Madine, and Qarye, and relates the life of each unit to the others, regarding their roles and functions. Illustrating their connection with each other, he resembles these geographical units to the kings, the hajeban (orderlies), the aswaran (heavy cavalry) and the infantrymen. By properly using these similes, he tries to picture the logical connection between these various units and the level of their relationship with the central political power. In this article, first, Maqdisi’s view on the units of Mesr, Qasabe, Madine, and Qarye is explained, then, the development and transformation of Dar al-Molk-e Bardsir (current Kerman city) during the Qara khitai era and the role of the political power in this development are described. This study shows that Bardsir's development in the Qara khitai era followed a meaningful pattern. Understanding this indigenous pattern can aid the researchers to analyze other central cities of Iran or the Islamic world.
