The Nāṣirī Generations 19: 3.—Amir Suri.

19

The writer of this work has not been able to obtain the annals of the kings of Ghor from the reign of Amir Banji down to the present reign, so as to enable him to write their history in detail. The author resides in Dehli, and through the disorders which the inroads of the infidel Mughals have caused in the territories of Islam, there has been no possibility of his copying from the histories which he had seen in Ghor. He has written what he found in the Tárikh-i Násirí and the Táríkh-i Haizam Nábí, as well as what he was able to glean from old men of Ghor, but his readers must pardon imperfections.
It is said that Amir Súrí was a great king, and most of the territories of Ghor were in his possession. But as many of the inhabitants of Ghor, of high and low degree, had not yet embraced Muhammadanism, there was constant strife among them. The Saffarians came from Nímroz to Bust and Dáwar, and Yakúb Lais overpowered Lak-lak, who was chief of Takínábád, in the country of Rukhaj. The Ghorians sought safety in Sarhá-sang, and dwelt there in security, but even among them hostilities constantly prevailed between the Muhammadans and the infidels. One castle was at war with another castle, and their feuds were unceasing; but owing to the inaccessibility of the mountains of Rásíat, which are in Ghor, no foreigner was able to overcome them, and Shansabání Amír Súrí was the head of all the Mandeshís. In Ghor there are five great and lofty mountains, which the people of Ghor agree in considering as higher than the Rásíat mountains. One of these is Zár Murgh, in Mandesh, and the capital and palace of the Shansabání kings are at the foot of this mountain. It is said that Zál Zar, father of Rustam, was here nourished by a Símurgh, and some of the inhabitants of the foot of the mountain say that between the fifth and sixth centuries a loud voice of cry and lamentation was heard to proceed from it, announcing the death of Zál. The second mountain is called Sar Khizr; it is also in the territory of Mandesh, in the vicinity of Takhbar. The third is Ashak, in the country of Tímrán, which is the greatest and highest of the whole territory of Ghor. The country of Tímrán lies in the valleys and environs of this mountain. The fourth is Wazní, and the territories of Dáwar and Walasht, and the fort of Káhwardn, are within its ramifications and valleys. And the fifth mountain is Faj Hanisar, in the country of Ghor. It is very inaccessible and secure. It is said that the length, breadth, and height of this mountain are beyond the limits of guess, and the power of understanding. In the year 590 (1194 A.D.), a piece of the trunk of an ebony tree was found on this mountain, which exceeded two hundred mans in weight, and no one could tell how large and high the tree must have been.