Zabulistan

Zabulistan (Persian: زابلستان, Zābolistān, Zāwulistān or simply زابل ), is an ancient and medieval name for a historical region that included mainly southern Afghanistan as well as southeastern Iran. By the tenth century, Iranian sources mention Zabulistan as part of the Khorasan marches, a frontier region between Khorasan and India. In the Tarikh-i Sistan, finished around 1062 CE, the author regards Zabol as part of the land of Sistan, stretching from the Hamun Oasis all the way to the Indus River. Today, the Afghan province of Zabul and the Iranian city of Zabol take their names from the historical region. Zabulistan has become popularized as the birthplace of the character Rostam of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, in which the word "Zabulistan" is used interchangeably with "Sistan", which is the same historical region, located in present-day southern Afghanistan (Nimruz, Helmand, Zabul and Kandahar) and some parts of Iran (Sistan and Baluchestan Province).