トハーリスターン行政地理研究序説

Abstract

The appearance of the Bactrian documents and their decipherment by N. Sims- Williams has brought to light a wealth of new information about the history, geography, and society of Tukhāristān. This new information will allow us to investigate a subject that has not previously been studied. In this article, I attempt a new study of the administrative geography of Tukhāristān, focusing on the structure of its administrative divisions. In the first section, I verify the geographical range designated by the regional name Tukhāristān in several sources, as well as the topographical features of the areas where the Bactrian documents were written -- Rōb, Gūzgān, and Kadagstān. In the second chapter, I investigate the administrative divisions of Tukhāristān by analysing Bactrian contracts. The date and place for the conclusion of such contracts appear at the beginning of the documents. Examining all of the places where these contracts were concluded, we find that there were four administrative divisions : þαρο/ þαυρο 'city, ωδαγο 'district', λιζο 'fortress', and ανδαγο 'borough'. The sizes of a 'city' and a 'district' were the same. As Sims-Williams has already mentioned, however, the appellations were used at different times, that is, 'city' became 'district' in the 7th century. Considering the topographical features of some 'cities' and 'districts', we can infer that these two types of administrative divisions did not cover a vast area. Furthermore, a 'city' or a 'district' could include a 'fortress' or some 'boroughs'. We can view the 'fortress' as equivalent to the 'quhandiz' in an oasis town and estimate its size based on that of the site of Surkh Kotal, where a well-known Bactrian inscription (SK4) was found in which the site is referred to as the 'fortress'. Concerning the 'borough', we only know that there were three 'boroughs' in the 'city' of Rōb. It is noteworthy that we can observe the differences between the structure of the administrative divisions of Gūzgān and those of Rōb and Kadagstān.In the final section, I examine the relationship between the governing structure introduced by a political power ruling Tukhāristān and the local structure of the administrative divisions. This study focuses on the periods under the Tang dynasty and the Abbasid Caliphate. Based on Chinese sources and the newly discovered Arabic documents, I suggest the possibility that these two political powers used the local administrative divisions when they introduced their governing structures to the region.