The Achaemenid road began from the
Median capital city of
Ecbatana and terminated at the Central Asian city of Bactra (
Balkh), passing through Rhagae (
Rey), the
Caspian Gates (modern Tang-e Sar-e Darra),
Hyrcania, and
Parthia. The
Grand Trunk Road connected Bactra to the Indus Valley. s'' The Khurasan Road is possibly the best documented of the roads of the Abbasid realm; not only is it described in detail by
Ibn Rustah, but most other medieval Muslim geographers such as
Qudama ibn Ja'far and
Ibn Khordadbeh refer to it and give distances along its various stretches in their works. The road began at the Khurasan Gate on the eastern side of the
Round City of
al-Mansur, and exited the city at the second Khurasan Gate of East Baghdad. The first settlement after Baghdad was Nahrawan or Jisr Nahrawan ("Bridge of Nahrawan"), named after the great
Nahrawan Canal which passed through it. In the Abbasid period it was prosperous, but was abandoned and fell in ruin when the road moved north to
Ba'quba. The surrounding district was known as
Ṭarīq-i-Khurāsān after the Khurasan Road. The next town was known in Arabic as Daskarah al-Malik ("Daskara of the
King"), and is identified with
Sassanian-era
Dastagird. Then followed
Jalula, near which a large Sasanian-era bridge crossed the
Diyala River, and
Khaniqin, also the site of a major bridge, and
Qasr Sjirin, the "Castle of
Shirin", named after the wife of the Sasanian shah
Khosrow II. At
Hulwan, the road left the
Mesopotamian plain and entered the
Zagros Mountains and the province of
Jibal. The road continued to Madharustan and finally exited the Hulwan pass at the town of
Kirind and the village of Khushan. Then followed Tazar or Qasr Yazid and al-Zubaydiya, where the road turned east towards
Kirmanshah across the plain of Mayidasht or
Mahidasht. On most of these localities, the Muslim geographers record the presence of remnants of Sasanian palaces. From Kirmanshah the road continued to
Hamadan and
Sivah, turned north to
Rayy, and from there passed east into the province of
Qumis. The road was the main lifeline of Qumis, and most of the province's towns were located along its course:
Khuwar, Qasr or Qariyat al-Milh (the "Salt Castle"), Ras al-Kalb ("Dog's Head", identifiable with
Lasgird),
Samnan,
Damghan, al-Haddadah ("the Forge") or
Mihman-Dust, and
Bistam. Near Bistam, at the village of Badhash, the road entered Khurasan. After entering Khurasan, the road divided in two: a northern branch, also called the "
caravan road", leading to
Jajarm, and thence via
Azadvar to
Nishapur, and a shorter southern branch or "post road" along the edge of the
Dasht-e Kavir desert, via
Asadabad,
Bahmanabad or
Mazinan, and
Sabzivar, again to Nishapur. Shortly after Nishapur, at Qasr al-Rih ("Castle of the Wind"), the road divided again into two branches leading southwest and northeast. The southwestern branch led to
Herat, from where it branched out further, with roads leading east to
Ghur, or via
Asfuzar and
Farah south to
Zaranj in
Sijistan. The northeastern branch of the main road led from Qasr al-Rih via
Mashhad,
Tus,
Mazdaran, and
Sarakhs to
Marw the Great and
Marw al-Rudh. From Marw the Great the road continued to the crossing of the
Oxus River at
Amul and on to
Bukhara and
Samarkand. From Marw al-Rudh a branch led south to Herat, while another went northeast to
Balkh and, likewise crossing the Oxus, to
Tirmidh, whence it branched out to various roads into the districts of
Saghaniyan and
Khuttal, while another branch led west to Bukhara and Samarkand. From Amul, another branch also led along the southern bank of the Oxus to
Khwarizm and the
Aral Sea. From Samarkand, the road crossed the
Sughd River and led to the town of
Zamin in
Usrushana, east of the local capital,
Bunjikath. There the road divided again, with one branch leading north to
Shash and the lower course of the
Jaxartes, and the other east to the upper course of the Jaxartes, the
Ferghana Valley and China. ==See also==