EARLY ARAB GEOGRAPHERS.
IX.
A′SA′RU-L BILA′D
OF
ZAKAI′YA AL KAZWI′NI′.
Zakaríya son of Muhammad son of Mahmúd is surnamed Kazwíní, from the town of Kazwín or Kasbín in Persia, where he was born. He was not a traveller, but compiled his works from the writings of Istakhrí, Ibn Haukal, and others, whom he regularly cites as his authorities. His works were written just after the middle of the thirteenth century, about 661 A.H. (1263 A.D.) according to Casiri, or 674 (1275 A.D.) according to Haji Khalfa. He has been called the Pliny of the East. He was author of the work called ’Ajáibu-l Makhlúkát wa Gharáibu-l Maujudát, “Wonders of things created, and marvels of things existing,” also of the Ásáru-l Bilád wa Akhbáru-l ’Ibád, “Monuments of countries, and memoirs of men.” A few extracts
have been taken from the last work, containing matter derived from other sources than the books previously quoted.
M. Reinaud, in his introduction to Aboulfeda, ascribes to Kazwíní the authorship of the work called Ajáibu-l buldán, “Wonders of Countries.” He found the contents of this work to be in the main identical with those of the Asáru-l bilád, but containing more biographical notices. This opinion is confirmed by a short Persian account of a work called “Bahru-l buldán,” which is among Sir H. Elliot's MSS., and seems to have been written expressly for him. There is no copy of the work itself among the MSS.,
